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Actual Books
Who Hates Whom:
Well-Armed Fanatics,
Intractable Conflicts,
and Various Things Blowing Up
A Woefully Incomplete Guide™
“Revelatory... Harris's sly wit and infectious curiosity make understanding world chaos fascinating... witty, horrific, and necessary.”
-- Boston Globe
"Brave... irreverent... charges into the thick of the globe's myriad simmering wars... hilariously relaxed."
-- New York Observer
“Fascinating, enlightening, and surprisingly: NOT TOTALLY DEPRESSING.”
-- John Hodgman,
author, The Areas of My Expertise and correspondent for The Daily Show
"A rollicking ride of intellectual discovery and emotional growth... his comic timing never fails"
-- The Wall Street Journal
"A surprisingly touching memoir"
-- Entertainment Weekly
"Effortlessly funny and informative... tender, human, and very wise... A must for anyone who loves Jeopardy!, or has ever seen it, or is breathing."
-- Joss Whedon, creator, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
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Stuff I like
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Got tagged by Greg. So:
1. Name a book you want to share so much that you keep giving away copies:
I gave several copies of Hell In A Handbasket as holiday presents. But I actually put up a whole list of books I liked not long ago, so I refer you there.
2. Name a piece of music that changed the way you listen to music:
Believe it or not, the theme to I Dream of Jeannie.
I was in music school for a while in my 20s, and our composition course
was just getting to rhythmic variations on a simple theme, changing
melody but maintaining the basic bounce. And we had all these
hifalutin examples in Beethoven and whatnot. But later I was back in
the dorm, and the lesson was still in my head as I flipped on my tiny
TV, and on comes a rerun... and sure enough: doooo-dit,
doo-dit-da-doo-dit, etc. Sure, it's a pedestrian example. But
suddenly I was hearing rhythm in a new way.
3. Name a film you can watch again and again without fatigue:
Spinal Tap. And anything by Monty Python. And Galaxy Quest.
4. Name a performer for whom you suspend all disbelief:
The regulars on any of the CSI
shows, especially the leads. Even when their characters may have
little arc in a given scene, or are forced to spout dense science and
make it sound almost casual, or sometimes are given nothing on the page
beyond (off his look) and then "let's go." And they make it rich
enough that even though I've stood right there, watching them do lines
I wrote, knowing damn well what I contributed was not much and not all
that great... and they made it good. I still believed it in the final show.
Most of the people over there are pretty brilliant, in every department
of the show. But the actors... man, those people can bring it.
5. Name a work of art you'd like to live with:
The Yellow Submarine cover art. But in real life. Like a real submarine and all.
6. Name a work of fiction which has penetrated your real life:
1984, unfortunately.
7. Name a punch line that always makes you laugh:
Galaxy Quest: "That was a badly written episode!"
If you haven't seen it, see it. One of the great comedy scripts ever. Waaaaay underappreciated.
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