I'm Buried Too

Award-winning journalist and photographer Robert Dillon from the blog An Alaskan Abroad may have started a new theme. He photographed a pile of unread books he's trying to find time to devour, writing, "I normally read one book at a time, but at the moment I seem to be buried beneath a bunch of books that I am part of the way though.

"And let's not talk about the pile of uncracked New Yorker magazines or this Sunday's untouched New York Times that hang over my head."

Robert goes on to explain why each book is there.

Here's my explanation:

I normally read at least two books simultaneously, or, more accurately, in alternation. But I usually don't count professional books I'm reading or reading, and reference books. But I will this time:

Gallows Thief by Bernard Cornwell - I love Cornwell's lowbrow versions of British history during the Napoleonic War period.

As You Like It by William Shakespeare - I'm reading and re-reading sections of it, as I start writing incidental music for a fall UAA production.

The Oxford Book of English Madrigals - some of the madrigals and texts date from the time of As You Like It, and are inspiring me.

Basic Atonal Theory by John Rahn - the classic on set theory in musical analysis and composition. A re-read for another piece I'm working on.

Disturbing the Peace by Vaclav Havel - a re-read as I'm reading and watching Diane Benson's plays. It is Havel's explanation of his life as an artist in Czechoslovakia, among other topics, mostly evolutionary politics in the midst of authoritarianism.

Sharing Our Stories of Survival - stories of women who have conquered incidents or lives of abuse, with a chapter by Diane Benson.

American Indian Quarterly - Winter/Spring 2003 - This issue contains Diane Benson's side of the Indian Girls controversy.

American Theocracy by Kevin Phillips - almost done with this excellent analysis of immensely hypocritical dysfunctional politics and government. Although it rarely mentions Alaska, it is a very important text for Alaskans!

Broken Government by John Dean - I've read much of the material in slightly different form in Dean's columns at Findlaw, but am trying to find essays I haven't read before within it.

A World Undone: The Story of the Great War 1924 to 1918 by G.J. Meyer - This came out last year in paperback, and I finally picked up a copy at Sea-Tac Airport. It is not thorough, but contains some great sketches of historical figures and thumbnails of cities and countries at important points of the crisis.

The New Cambridge Modern History Atlas - for reference in the Phillips and Meyer books.

We keep our New Yorkers in the bathroom, so they do get read. At least the cartoons...