An Antidote For Cynicism

If you find yourself - as I frequently do - periodically succumbing to mindless, lazy cynicism when discussing the rancorous partisan divide in modern American politics, Accidental Presidents: Eight Men Who Changed America (2019) can be an effective antidote. In my experience, reading a book of history as rich and well researched as Jared Cohen's can restore some perspective to those of us who are regularly disillusioned watching our elected officials make asses of themselves. Because, much worse things have occurred in our not distant past. Consider:

* The 1876 Presidential election, decided by the House of Representatives when the votes of the Electoral College were in dispute. Samuel Tilden won the popular vote that year but Rutherford B. Hayes was handed the Presidency after his Republican party agreed to rollback Reconstruction. Thus was a good part of Lincoln's legacy, first casually tossed aside by our first-ever impeached Chief Executive, the despicable Andrew Johnson, now officially in the shitter. The South is still recovering.
 
* You think a Congressman yelling "Liar!" at then President Obama was bad? How about a fistfight in Congress? Or, even better, one elected official drawing a gun on another in those hallowed halls? You only need to go back to the mid 19th century to re-learn of politicians pulling far worse stunts than sleeping on the job, like the late, not-so-great Strom Thurmond.
 
* Despite my political affiliations, I've never been a big Kennedy fan; the patriarch of that clan was no role model. Still, reading Accidental Presidents reminded me - again - how LBJ got stuck with a growing morass in Vietnam in large part because JFK's crew - all nominal Democrats - were master obfuscators. And, Kennedy talked a good game vis-à-vis civil rights, but it took a lifelong Southerner with no progressive racial views to make things happen, helping to realize the long-delayed promise first codified by the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, one of the last Lincoln triumphs.

Reading the tangled, messy web of history is a source of constant inspiration for me. I hope one or more of you will pick up Accidental Presidents and share here what you learn or re-learn. Even better, I hope you'll tell me reading it acted as an antidote for that cynicism.  

My Ideal Reader

Anyone who puts their writing into the public sphere - no matter how many people are reading it - must have an ideal reader in mind. From the inception of this blog eight and one-half years ago, my ideal reader has been my wife. She remains the person I most rely on to keep me tuned up day-to-day. Many of the questions I've asked here are questions for which I'd like her answer. And whenever I challenge myself to be more, it's not false modesty or any need for affirmation that prompt me to do so. Each of those challenges to be more are put to the test when my wife holds me accountable for my public statements. How do people close to you know what you'd like to be held accountable for?  

My ideal reader is also a window to look through to help me see others reading this blog. As long as she continues telling me my questions provoke her, I'm confident those questions will provoke others. When she tells me from time-to-time that she laughed at something I wrote, I'm confident others will be similarly amused. If a post about a book that has moved me prompts her to pick up that book, I'm confident she won't be the only reader so inclined. 

Notoriety aside, if you're a writer, who is your ideal reader? When did you last acknowledge the valuable role that person plays in your creative life?  

Not A Fishing Expedition

Apologies to only children for excluding you on this particular post.

Since a recent intense conversation my wife and I had about her place in the birth order (fourth of five) vs. mine (oldest of four), some reasonably vivid early-in-life memories re-surfaced for me. And a couple of the less benign of those memories prompted me to reflect on a mildly unsettling question: What effect did any of my casually cruel or insensitive behaviors have on my younger siblings? If you're not the youngest in your brood, how recently did you pause to consider this potentially uncomfortable topic? What conclusions have you reached?

Near as I can recollect, this is not a subject that came up during my years in therapy. Writing today, avoiding this useful piece of self-scrutiny back then feels expedient at best, perhaps dishonest. At the same time, I'm not sure how productive it would be to have a conversation about this today with three adults in their sixties. What benefit is to be had from opening old wounds?

Before anyone accuses me of the "glass half empty" trope, I'm aware that - not being a psychopath - there are likely many positive effects this oldest child had on the three that followed him. Maybe to offset today's slightly darker reflections, any of you with older siblings will share some heartwarming anecdotes? If either of my sisters or my brother reads this post, I'm not fishing, I swear.

#55: The Mt. Rushmore Series

Which four authors have had enough of their work successfully adapted to film that you can erect a Mt. Rushmore featuring their visages? Though my mountain also lists four worthwhile films for each  author I selected, I'll be satisfied if you give me one worthy movie to go with your four selections. Or, if you have another favorite film adapted from a book by any of my guys - sorry they're all guys, and white ones at that - tell me about that. Alphabetically, by author:

1.) Nick Hornby - About A Boy, High Fidelity, Juliet, Naked & The Long Way Down are all worth watching. My favorite is About A Boy, especially the scene when Hugh Grant warbles Killing Me Softly With His Song. I do have a minor quibble with High Fidelity. Why Chicago instead of London? Was John Cusack unable to nail a British accent? If so, why not cast Gary Oldman like I did?

2.) Stephen King - Of the slew of King's work made into film, Dolores Claiborne, Misery, The Shawshank Redemption, & Stand By Me are my standouts. Two novels, two short stories; Stand By Me was originally called The Body. My favorite - today - is the underrated Dolores Claiborne, perfectly cast - Kathy Bates, Jennifer Jason Leigh and a sublimely creepy David Strathairn.

3.) John le Carre - The Constant Gardener, A Most Wanted Man, Russia House, & Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Each of these spy thrillers has something to recommend it. My favorite is the bleak but brilliantly acted A Most Wanted Man, with Philp Seymour Hoffman in the last movie released before his untimely death.

4.) Elmore Leonard - Get Shorty, Hombre, Jackie Brown, & Out Of Sight all feature Leonard's trademark crackling dialogue. Jackie Brown - originally known as Rum Punch - is my favorite Quentin Tarantino film. Get Shorty is my favorite adaptation of a Leonard book and my favorite film of the four favorites listed here; it also has some of John Travolta's best onscreen moments.

I'm curious about what you're constructing out in the Badlands. I bet others are too.

Help From The Other Side

Soon after realizing politics was opening a gap between myself and someone dear to me, I made a purposeful decision to begin more regularly reading the work of leading conservative thinkers. I want to better understand how someone I care about reaches such different conclusions than me about ways to solve - or at least ameliorate - some of America's most intractable problems.

By every measure, the most rewarding part of this new journey to date has been finishing Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America From the Culture of Contempt (2019). Author Arthur Brooks has been President of the American Enterprise Institute - arguably the most influential conservative think tank in the U.S. - since 2009. This game-changing book is humane, smart, and straightforward. I've already used several of the common sense techniques Brooks suggests when confirmation bias has me in its grip. Brooks has also helped me see which of my political positions need better grounding. Which thinker from the other side of the political spectrum has similarly assisted you?

My Friend Ambiguity

I'm not surprised Wakefield escaped my radar upon its release in 2016. The film's ambiguous ending likely destined it for a brief run in theaters. Too bad; this movie deserves to be seen and discussed. If you happen to catch it on cable TV, please share your impressions with me and others.

Based on E.L. Doctorow's updated version of a Nathaniel Hawthorne short story, the title character is portrayed - with predictable excellence - by Bryan Cranston. The central premise of escaping a life that has become routine is not new but Doctorow/Hawthorne spin that tale in intriguing, imaginative, and comical fashion. And who among us has never entertained Howard Wakefield's fantasy, however briefly?

Though films using a lot of voiceover can sometimes annoy me, that device worked beautifully for Wakefield. My guess? Much of the voiceover material - intelligent, insightful, and bitterly funny - was lifted directly from Doctorow. Soon after watching the movie, I put Doctorow's 2008 short story near the top of my post-November reading queue. I will be greedily devouring it right after my one-year resolve to read only authors new to me concludes. Anyone out there already read it? Is the ending ambiguous? I bet it is.

When No Problem Makes No Sense

Over the next week, pay close attention to what others say when ...

* You thank them for something or ...
* A person in the service industry responds to a routine request you make.

Using just these two simple and common situations, I'm curious to compare how many times you hear the phrase "no problem" over the next week vs. how often I do. When exactly did "no problem" replace "you're welcome" in the common parlance? In your view, is "no problem" more likely to be used by one generation vs. another? If you answered yes, which generation do you think is more fond of this ubiquitous modern coinage - baby boomers, Gen X, millennials, the iGeneration?

I'm usually neutral when someone uses this phrase in either of the situations I asked about above. At the same time, I am often struck by how inappropriate the same phrase can be in other situations. So, pay close attention to those other situations as well over this next week. Then let's compare examples of when "no problem" makes no sense.

When Our Own Words Provide Solace

"Writing is the act of self-discovery."  - David Hare

In 2014, I suggested some of you might benefit taking an occasional backward glance at something  captured in a journal entry you made on the same date three or more years back. In those instances over the last five years when I've used this blog to follow my own suggestion, my reactions to what I'd previously written here have been - perhaps predictably - a mixed bag. I've noticed both growth and backsliding. Some announced goals have been realized; others abandoned. I've been pleased with my honesty and cringed at my over-sharing. If you have joined me, re-visiting your younger self, I'd welcome hearing what shifts you've detected over the ensuing years.  

https://reflectionsfromthebellcurve.blogspot.com/2015/05/re-thinking-originality-in-my-voice.html

Before today I've never been tempted to print out a post - as I will do shortly with the one above from four years ago today - so I can place the printout somewhere easily visible from this laptop. I can hear you from cyberspace. What would possess even a solipsistic blogger - redundant as that phrase may be - to do something so obnoxiously self-referential?

The answer lies in playwright David Hare's wise words. On May 26, 2015 the conclusions I reached about being hobbled by originality - conclusions that surfaced as I wrote - were worthy of embracing and remembering. To be given solace by my own words four years later is a gift I will not let go of no matter how self-referential it may be. Please don't judge me. In turn, if you share written words of your own that you've chosen to print out and post somewhere, I won't judge you either.