Tag Archives: Memoir

BOOKS; “Rental Person Who Does Nothing” by Shoji Morimoto

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Rental Person Who Does NothingRental Person Who Does Nothing by Shoji Morimoto
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site — Harper Collins

This quirky little book is the memoir of a man who formed a business lending himself out as “rental person who does nothing.” At the time the book came out, Morimoto did this without charging his “customers” anything except travel expenses and any food and beverages consumed as part of the activity in question. [As I understand it, he eventually began charging a per session fee ($85 USD at the time of the 2022 BBC piece on him that I watched.)] The book does discuss Morimoto’s thoughts about how to charge (i.e. hourly or per session,) how much to charge, whether to find a different financing model (e.g. sponsorship or patronage,) and why he ultimately rejected them all (at least for a time.) In fact, the whole penultimate chapter (ch. 4) is about the economics of his business.

The most interesting aspect of the book is the psychological insight on offer. The first question that arises is why people would use a stranger for these activities, and not a friend. One might jump to the conclusion that the people who use his service have no friends, but this is generally wrong. There are a number of reasons why people who have friends use his service. First, many times friends can’t just sit and listen empathetically, but rather they have to try to solve the problem. This can be irritating because it is often dismissive of the challenges confronting the other person. But also, as Morimoto points out, it also creates a hierarchy (a top dog) in what would otherwise be a co-equal relationship. A fascinating second factor pointed out by the author is that adults, unlike children, rarely have general-purpose friends. Adults, instead, have contextual friends. So, if one wants to engage in an activity that is outside the domain of one’s contextual (work, bar, hobby, etc.) friendship, it might not be easy. There are many other psychological insights relating to what people ask him to do, the issue of reciprocity, and what Morimoto defines as “doing nothing” for the purposes of this business.

I found this quick and simple book to be packed with insights into human nature, and I’d highly recommend it for readers interested in what makes people tick.

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BOOK REVIEW: “Becoming Ghost” by Cathy Linh Che

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Becoming Ghost: PoetryBecoming Ghost: Poetry by Cathy Linh Che
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Publisher Site – Simon & Schuster

This collection is built around the surreal emotionality of the author’s parents having both lived through the war in Vietnam and also having served as extras in the film, Apocalypse Now. [For those unfamiliar, Apocalypse Now was a Francis Ford Copp0la film based loosely (and partially) on Joseph Conrad’s novel,Heart of Darkness. The film follows a military officer sent upriver to assassinate a rogue Special Operations colonel during the Vietnam War, and shows the war from various perspectives as the would-be assassin travels through the country to complete his mission.]

At times, the poems read like a poem-shaped biography, but that’s not all there is to the book. There are points that imagery and language are used to shoot beyond a mere telling of events, in order to create emotional resonance with the core strangeness of living through a traumatic event only to portray a background individual (someone like one’s own past self) in a fictional retelling of events based on those through which one lived.

The poetic forms vary somewhat, though all within the modern, free verse style. Most notably, the author uses the golden shovel approach of Terrence Hayes extensively.

This collection grabbed me both with its clever language and its thought-provoking central premise. I’d highly recommend it for readers of poetry.

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PROMPT: Title

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Daily writing prompt
If there was a biography about you, what would the title be?
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The Bigger they Fall, The Harder They Are

PROMPT: Opening Sentence

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You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?

“From humble beginnings would come humbling ends.”

PROMPT: Biography

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If there was a biography about you, what would the title be?

“Stumbling Through: A Life”

BOOKS: “Simple Passion” by Annie Ernaux

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Simple PassionSimple Passion by Annie Ernaux
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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I’ll admit, I picked up this book because Ernaux won the 2022 Nobel Prize for Literature and I’m uncomfortable being ignorant of the work of a Literature Nobel Laureate. Her work is atypical of Nobel Prize winners. She is primarily known as a memoirist rather than a novelist, poet, or even essayist, and while she has a large body of works, many are quite short for prose work — i.e. under 100 pages.

This is a straightforward story of obsession, the author’s obsession with a married man, a diplomat from Eastern Europe during the late days of the Cold War. (The book doesn’t get into any Cold War intrigues, so don’t expect any. It’s a completely personal story.) The autobiographical narrative describes the lifecycle of obsession and is loaded with psychological insight. One sees the degree to which Ernaux’s yearning to be with this man intrudes on all aspects of her life, in as much as she can be said to have a life, so much of it being laid aside for their periodic dalliances. It is the kind of compulsion known mostly to young first lovers and those of addictive personalities.

A couple of the most compelling insights come as fourth wall breaks when Ernaux offers insight into her thoughts on writing. (One is that writing should have an effect like pornography [not necessarily be pornographic,] and another is that she writes to learn if anyone else does the things she does.)

I enjoyed read this. It’s an extremely fast read as it’s only around sixty pages and puts the reader in that compulsive mindset. I’d highly recommend it. I can’t speak to how typical it is of her work because it’s the first I’ve read from her, but it was mentioned prominently in the “best of” lists that came out around the time of her Nobel win.

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BOOKS: How to Talk Dirty and Influence People by Lenny Bruce

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How to Talk Dirty and influence peopleHow to Talk Dirty and influence people by Lenny Bruce
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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This is the autobiography of the comedic legend, Lenny Bruce. The first half (or so) of the book discusses Bruce’s life before standup comedy. This includes time as a sailor (US Navy) during the Second World War, as a sailor in the merchant marine, as a farmhand, and brief stint as a grifter. The second half takes place while Bruce is a working comedian but focuses heavily on his legal troubles including multiple Obscenity trials and one for Narcotics.

Being the work of a comedian, it’s no surprise that this book is funny — frequently of the laugh-out-loud variety. However, it may come as more of a surprise how interesting it is as the account of a man’s life. Besides some interesting stories, such as: how Bruce got discharged from the Navy, how he acquired priest’s uniforms to conduct a con, his experiences getting high with a Turkish sailor as a merchant marine, and the ins and outs of his marriage to a stripper, one gains some insight into Bruce’s philosophy and why he insisted on being maximally edgy, even at the cost of blackballed by clubs. The book holds up surprisingly well, considering it was first published in the early / mid-1960’s.

If you’re interested in outlandish people, standup comedy, or free speech, this book is well worth reading, and will not disappoint. (If you liked “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” it’ll definitely be up your alley.)

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BOOKS: Kingdom of Fear by Hunter S. Thompson

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Kingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-crossed Child in the Final Days of the American CenturyKingdom of Fear: Loathsome Secrets of a Star-crossed Child in the Final Days of the American Century by Hunter S Thompson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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Kingdom of Fear is part memoir and part commentary on the state of America at the turn of the millennium. As a memoir, it explores Thompson’s bid for Sheriff, his arrest and judicial proceedings for drug and explosives charges that resulted from a “he said / she said” accusation that did not warrant charges in and of itself, a wild and wooly road-trip through Nevada, and Thompson’s position at the center of an investigation of a “threat” on the life of actor, Jack Nicholson.

As a commentary on the decline of America it discusses the battle for Grenada, a trip to Cuba, 9-11 and its aftermath, and the book revisits the ’68 Democratic Convention. It’s all written in Thompson’s drug-fueled Gonzo style, making it incredibly entertaining to read even as the hard walls between fact and fiction seem to dissolve. While the factualness might be at times in question, there is always a kind of truth that can only be received from those who’ve tossed off the shackles of societal convention and are willing to tell it as it is — even the embarrassing bits (especially the embarrassing bits.)

It’s not for those who take life and authority figures too seriously, but otherwise it’s a tremendously compelling and sometimes hilarious in its depiction of pre- and post-Y2K America.

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BOOK REVIEW: Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

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Born a Crime: Stories From a South African ChildhoodBorn a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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As a rule, I don’t read books by celebrities. This is the first one I can remember reading. My reasoning is rooted in publishers’ beliefs that such books will sell no matter what, and anything that doesn’t have to be good is unlikely to be.

And yet, I’m glad I made an exception for this book. Perhaps, because it’s not a book about Noah’s rise to fame, there are only a few off-hand references to his early career successes in South Africa. This book is about his youth in South Africa as a mixed-race child under Apartheid (hence the title, as such interracial progeny were illegal.) The book focuses heavily on race and the bizarre logic of South African governance during those days, as well as how rulers set groups against each other to make their own misbehavior less conspicuous. However, it’s also a very personal story, telling of his close relationship with his mother, the abuse he and his mother suffered from his drunkard stepfather, and the challenges that compelled him to adapt to survive loneliness and the awkwardness of youth.

Given Noah’s comedic merits, it will come as no surprise that the book is humorous, despite the tonal burden of its subject matter – i.e. racism, poverty, and abuse. Often, the subject matter makes the humor dark and bitter, but it’s nevertheless amusing.

If you’re curious about life under apartheid, or in an abusive household, you’ll likely find yourself in the grips of this tense and hilarious memoir.


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BOOK REVIEW: Breathe by Rickson Gracie

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Breathe: A Life in FlowBreathe: A Life in Flow by Rickson Gracie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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Out: August 10, 2021

This autobiography of the phenomenal Brazilian Ju Jutsu practitioner, Rickson Gracie, begins with ancestral origins that include a Gracie who fought in the US Civil War through Rickson’s boyhood in Rio and his professional fights in Japan, and onward to how he reinvented himself after family tragedy and the end of his fight career. Along the way, he conveys lessons learned not only through personal experience and from his father and uncle, the founders of Gracie Ju Jutsu, but also through his studies with Olando Cani — a yogi and developer of bioginastica. While the book is overwhelmingly about a life in Ju Jutsu, Cani’s influence plays a crucial role as the yogi taught Rickson about breath control, and, among a huge pack of skilled Gracie fighters, that ability was pivotal in Rickson’s rise to the top. (The book’s title, “Breathe,” hints at the role breathwork played in Rickson Gracie’s legendary capacities for enduring, flowing, and keeping his head in seemingly unfavorable situations.)

The memoir is candid, offering insights into not only Rickson’s path to success, but also his failings (which, not unexpectedly given his single-minded obsession with Ju Jutsu and fitness, more often involved life as an impetuous youth, as a father, and as a person – generally – than it did his life on the mat.) The book also explores some of the fissures in the Gracie clan and how they grew under the pressure of the family’s mammoth success. With autobiographies, it’s always a challenge to know how true a picture one is getting, but Gracie’s willingness to self-critique makes this book feel truthful.

This book is fascinating and highly engaging. If you’re interested in martial arts, it’s a no-brainer for one’s reading list, but any reader who enjoys a memoir of a life intensely lived will find the book highly readable.

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