Books of 2021

 

It’s that time again, LOBers. In early December, I always take a moment to take stock of the cultural artifacts that meant most to me, starting with book. Books have continued to be a particular salve for me this year, as the pandemic has ground on. Along with more recently published books, Kate and I have continued our project of reading some of the classics that we'd neglected to read. This year, these included Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, George Eliot’s Middlemarch and an anthology of Romantic poetry. Here are the some of the books that meant most to me this year:

1. M.L. Stedman - The Light Between Oceans: My favorite novel this year was M.L. Stedman’s quietly charged look at a couple in charge of a lighthouse in a remote corner of Australia whose relationship implodes after they rescue a baby after a storm. It’s a devastating story of loss on a variety of levels.

2. Rickie Lee Jones - Last Chance Texaco: I chose the audiobook version so that I could immerse myself in Rickie Lee’s unique voice, which always sounds like she’s laughing, and a bonus I found with the format is that Rickie Lee often breaks into song, providing uniques takes on her most loved songs and many other standards and pop songs.

3. Rumaan Alam - Leave the World Behind: Alam’s thriller about a family on vacation on Long Island during a cryptic, apocalyptic event was one of the buzziest novels of the year. The novel is a slow burn as it wends it’s way toward a cataclysmic climax, and that’s as it should be.

4. Andy Greene - The Office: When The Office started in 2004, I hadn’t enjoyed a sitcom since maybe Taxi or Cheers. Maybe even Fawlty Towers. Rolling Stone writer Andy Greene documents all of this in the form of an oral history based on exhaustive interviews with all of the principal figures in the production. I hadn’t realized how much I had missed the show until I read this book.

5. Bob Gruen - Right Place, Right Time: Legendary Rolling Stone photographer Bob Gruen has lived some life. He is someone who has been a sort of rock and roll Zelig for the past fifty years, starting with the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. This book is peppered with his best images, my favorite of which is of Sid Vicious with a messy hot dog all over his face.

6. Nick Hornby - Just Like You: I’m always interested to know what’s going on in Nick Hornby’s head. In his latest novel, Nick returns to the romantic comedy genre with which he made his name back in the 90s. Hornby investigates the irony, no doubt learned from first experience, that partners of the same class and cultural background don’t always make for the best relationships.

7. Andrew Grunzke - Education and the Female Superhero: I had the great pleasure of participating in a panel discussion on Andrew Grunzke’s book on female superheroes at the History of Education Conference in November. As Andrew knows well my views on superhero narratives, I was very flattered by the offer.

8. David Mitchell - Utopia Avenue: The latest novel by David Mitchell, best known for Cloud Atlas, traces the history of a British psychedelic rock band. It’s the best work of fiction about music I read all year.

9. Ronald Brownstein - Never a Dull Moment: I’ve long felt that the early 70s represented a high water mark of American culture. Ron Brownstein’s exhaustive study of the music, movies, television and politics of the year 1974 only reinforced that view.

10. Richard Powers - The Overstory: Powers’ momental novel traces the family histories of a number of individuals from across the country whose lives collide during a protest against logging practices in the Pacific Northwest. It raises profound questions about the efficacy of activism.

Notable Others:

* Ragan Fox - Inside Reality TV

* Ezra Klein - Why We’re Polarized

* Alfred Lansing - Endurance

* Andrew McCarthy - Brat:

* Jonathan Rauch - The Constitution of Knowledge

Disappointment:

* Matt Taibbi - Hate, Inc.: I was an ardent reader of Matt Taibbi’s reporting in Rolling Stone for many years, so I was saddened when he left the magazine last year and imagined that he was treated badly by the magazine’s editors. Instead, it seems that Matt has lost his way and is plodding the same maddening path as Glenn Greenwood, replete with false equivalency and a baffling admiration for Trump.