Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

“A hidden tribe, superathletes, and the greatest race the world has never seen.”

As a summary, the subtitle does a pretty good job.  The hidden tribe is the Tarahumara of the remote Copper Canyon region of Mexico. The superathletes are the Tarahumara runners and a handful of world-class American ultra-marathon fanatics.  The greatest race is one that comes in the final chapters of the book, run on the Tarahumara home turf and witnessed only by the runners themselves, one or two Americans and the residents of a remote Mexican village, hidden deep in the canyons, removed from anything resembling civilization – even a telephone. 

The idea of running barefoot, or in anything that wasn’t a serious, Bill Roger’s endorsed, swish logo’d running shoe, for over a 100 miles, never occurred to me before I started reading this engaging book.  Locked in winter in New Hampshire and writing on a day when the temperature is not expected to climb into the double digits, it’s unlikely that I’ll be shedding my togs any time soon.  But I admit; I might try to do some barefoot training, come spring.  Mud season.  I can feel icy mud oozing between my toes already!

Massive aside.  [This is the first book I’ve read entirely on my iPhone using the Kindle for iPhone reader.  Last year, I read The White Tiger on the Amazon Kindle, so I guess you can consider this, for me, an experiment.  My verdict is this: I prefer the old fashion book form, but not for the reasons you might expect.  First, the reasons I liked the eBook version.  Reasons 1, 2 and 3 - Convenience.  When stuck waiting for my car to be serviced or at the airport, or any other time I have some unanticipated downtime, I appreciated being able to pick up my iPhone and start reading.  Of the two devices, Kindle and iPhone, I preferred the iPhone.  The backlit display makes it readable in all lighting conditions and paging is fluid and fast, whereas with the Kindle you need good lighting and there was always a paging delay.  I’m sure you would grow to anticipate the delay, but I never did.  (However, I understand the latest Kindle is faster.)  I miss page number.  Who can remember that you were at 4302/5980, whatever that means.  However, since both versions always remembered where I left off (even if it took time for me to remember what I read last), that didn’t turn out to be much of a problem.  Mostly, the transition from book to ibook just takes getting use to.  But I do miss being able to thumb through the book.  While there are search and bookmark functions on the Kindle, and bookmarks but no search function on Kindle for iPhone, I tended not to use them (except for writing this review – see complaint below).  I think the larger format of Apple’s new iPad will be a dramatic improvement, since it will display something closer to a traditional page format on the 10-inch screen.  Can’t say I’m not tempted.  But, my loyalty to a local bookstore called The Toadstool gives me pause.  I would hate to lose a local business that is a vital part of the community.  Together with its resident coffee shop called Aesop’s Tables, The Toadstool is an important meeting place in our town.  My wife and I are there almost every day.  We meet friends and colleagues there and have made new friends over the years.  And the bookstore sponsors regular author readings, hosting a range of authors from Dan Brown to lesser know local writers and poets.  Shopping at the Amazon or Apple stores will never be as satisfying or contribute to the life of our community, or any other community.  If we all end up downloading books at $9.98 each, how will independent bookstores survive?  (At that price, how will publishers survive?)  I suppose it’s only a matter of time until The Toadstool feels the effect.  The winds of change are bound to blow through the dusty pages of pulp-based publishing, but I feel morally bound to resist as best I can.  I’ve only bought a few books on-line.  I tell myself, “I wouldn’t have bought these particular books on paper, so no harm done” or, “I’ve already bought the paper version and gave my copy away” or, “that book’s too heavy to hold at night, just before I go to sleep.”  See how easily we rationalize our corrupt behavior?  How will this trend accelerate once the iPad hits the streets?]

OK, back to Born to Run.   The first thing to mention is that this is a very entertaining book filled with lots of colorful characters and astounding, blister popping facts.  The story centers on ultra-marathon runners that regularly run in events like the Leadville 100 Colorado mountain race and incredible desert races of 100 plus miles in 100 plus heat.  But it turns out that the ultimate-ultra runners are the Tarahumara tribe of the incredibly rugged Copper Canyons of Mexico.  These people have a long and astonishing tradition of running in nothing more substantial than sandals carefully strapped to their tough feet – a people who truly live to run.

Taciturn, elusive Caballo Blanco, wild and crazy Jenn and Billy, motor-mouthed Barefoot Ted, McDougall himself, are just a few of the characters that inhabit this book.  [Complaint: Kindle for iPhone doesn’t have a search function like the Amazon Kindle does, so I couldn’t look up names and places I would liked to have mentioned… an obvious future enhancement.]

What happens to the feet when they are wrapped in a Nike running shoe (hint: it’s not good.)  Why do injuries increase the more expensive the running shoes?  (It’s true.)  Why do the Stamford track and cross-country teams train barefoot and rack up an impressive win record?  How is it that Kenyan runners don’t wear shoes until they are at least 17 years old?  Does this give them an advantage?  How did it come about that humans evolved to become distance runners who could outrun horses!?  (It’s true)  For endurance running, there is no other animal that comes close to humans.  (I know, you’re sitting at Mickey D’s observing the evidence of an obesity epidemic saying, you got to be kidding!  Well, evolution is not necessarily linear.)  What quirk of evolution propelled humans to climb out of trees, stand up on two feet, and run?  What anatomical features make this even possible?  Slow when compared to all of the fierce carnivores around, how did we survive without being eaten by beasts many times faster than we are?  Humans can run for great distances, but how was that an advantage? Are there any people today for whom running is still an important hunting or survival skill?  If running was an important hunting skill, what other strategies did hunters employ?  And finally – a classic chicken and egg question – which came first, the brain or endurance running?  OK, now try out this enigma:  if humans hadn’t learned to run, we wouldn’t have developed science!  Or the Kindle either!  Read it to find out.

Throughout this book, in an attempt to answer some of these questions, McDougall takes the reader on many side trails from his pursuit of the Tarahumara, and interviews running coaches, marathoners, orthopedic surgeons, geneticists, biologists, anthropologists, and the Tarahumara themselves; all of whom, together, present a strong case  in support of the conclusion that, yes, humans are Born to Run.

But foremost, this is a story about the Tarahumara people and their incredible running culture that evolved in the rugged, remote Mexican terrain of the Copper Canyon (Google it – there’s not much there!); of how McDougall finds them, earns their trust (with the guidance of Caballo Blanco, an American who has lived among the Tarahumara for ten years) learns what makes them run and grows to admire this incredible tribe of ultra-runners; people who inspire a generation of ultra-marathoners throughout the world.  Whether or not ultra-running was well established before this book was written, Born to Run is bound to inspire many more to break-a-leg, so to speak.

For more insight into just how popular ultra-running has become, check out this website: http://www.ultramarathonrunning.com/races/index.html

Invisible by Paul Auster

To read a review of Paul Auster's book, Invisible, click on the link below.  Warning: since I reveal much of the plot in the review, I suggest that you read this only if you have read the book or have no intention of reading it!   And, if the latter, consider this:  Auster is one of the most original and interesting authors writing today and I highly recommend this book, or any other of the dozen or so books he has written.

Paul Auster's books are compact gems, rich in detail, with prose that is transparent -- instantly immersing the reader inside a fascinating, deceptively complex universe only Paul Auster could create.  Each well-crafted sentence contains something essential that, if left out, would subtly change the meaning of the whole.  Not unlike another of his books, The Book of Illusions, Invisible is rich in details that could be true or fictional; details that unfold and then suddenly fold back on themselves, resulting in a tale that invites endless analysis and speculation.  You want to know; why did he say it that way?  How did his protagonist feel when that happened?  What was the protagonist thinking when he wrote that?  If you accept the story as true or partly true, its one story; if you believe it to be fiction, it's another; or maybe there are elements of truth and fiction, mirroring life's many contradictions.

Invisible is one of those rare books that invite endless discussion.  In the end, it left me with questions I thought only Auster could answer.  With that in mind -- as well as a desire to take a slightly different approach to writing this review -- I wrote the review as a letter to Auster.  At first, I had no intention of sending it; I just thought that a review written as a letter would be more interesting.  However, after I finished it (or nearly finishing it), I thought, why not send it?  So I did.  It wasn't hard to find Auster's address online.  I already knew he had two apartments in Brooklyn; one for writing and the other where he and his wife live.  But I couldn't bring myself to send it without a lot of self-conscious editing -- it's amazing how writing to an accomplished author heightens one's anxiety.  In the end, I realized I could never match Auster's fluid style without ending up with a stilted imitation of his prose.  So, into the envelope and off it went!



That's how this review came about.  If I get a reply from Paul Auster, I'll revise this posting and let you know what he said.

>Review of Invisible by Paul Auster

A few other books by the author:
The New York Trilogy
In the Country of Last Things
The Music of Cance
The Book of Illusions
Oracle Night
plus books of non-fiction, screenplays, poetry and illustrated books.

Money equals Free Speech; Corporations are people

Last Thursday (Jan 21st), the Supreme Court decided that money equals free speech and corporations are people. Those who believe this is a free speech victory are living in fantasyland. Quoting from Justice Steven’s dissent, “While American democracy is imperfect,” he wrote, “few outside the majority of this court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics.”  Now we’ll have government of the corporations, by the corporations, for the corporations…

This has sent me in search of a silver lining. Look on the bright side…

• No more campaign fundraising calls at dinnertime… politicians will be able to get all the money they need from corporations. Cool!
• For judicial elections, corporations can spend all they want to buy, I mean, elect judges who will vote in their favor, freeing us from having to worry about that niggling issue of impartiality.
• The need of actually going to the trouble of voting will be unnecessary, since the outcome will be a foregone conclusion.
• Since corporate America will have unfettered funds to defeat Wall Street reforms, Congress can remove this time-consuming issue from its agenda – and most every other issue as well.
• And look! Government will be more efficient, since power now has shifted entirely from Capital Hill to K Street. Saves on heat!
• And, the Court has put to rest once and for all that slanderous myth that corporate money buys political favors. Nonsense!
• Best of all, corporate advertising will be so much more diverse and entertaining – no longer will they be limited to flogging their products; now they can flog politicians too! Can’t wait for the Super Bowl!

This is a victory for the “Strict Constructionists” on the Court.   Finally, the Court has affirmed the Free Speech rights of corporations … wait, wait, give me a minute, I’ll find the word “corporation” somewhere in the constitution… hold on… just give me a minute… hmmm.
Constitutional amendment anyone?

Bees & Ants (a poem)

For many, life has no discernable meaning.
Who’s to say they’re wrong?

For many more, questions of meaning are given over to others who prescribe dogmas –
comforting systems rooted in a belief in a higher power.
Who’s to say they’re wrong?

For others, meaning lies no further than the plate of potatoes, ribeye, cream sauce, pumpkin pie—satisfying enough to suggest a meaning all their own.
Who’s to say they’re wrong?

But is it heresy to ask if meaning exists only in collective action?
Does a single bee or ant have a meaning outside the hive or colony?

Yet to beings as self-absorbed as we, such an interpretation conflicts
with our collective faith in rugged individualism, in the illusion of independence,
to what we attribute to personal ambition – that which propels
each of us towards collective action.

I suppose the bee, if she could talk, would credit only
self-reliance, perseverance and ambition when pointing with pride
to the creation of the hive,
even as she swarms together with other bees, instinctively,
to protect it from the bear.
Who’s to say she’s wrong?

Chasing the Flame: One Man's Fight to Save the World by Samantha Powers

      Throughout his entire life, Sergio Vieira de Mello led a peripatetic existence, first as the son of a Brazilian diplomat and then during his 35-year long career at the UN, during which time he was posted to almost every conflict zone in the world.  In the summer of 2003, as the senior-most UN official in Iraq, Sergio died in the notorious bombing of the UN offices at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad carried out by al-Qaeda.

In many ways, Sergio Vieira de Mello’s story is the story of the UN and a history inside most of the major conflict of the past 35 years – a story of tough choices made in a politically charged, often dysfunctional organization called upon to mend irreparable divisions in a splintered world.  Samantha Powers pulls no punches, rendering both the man and the organization in a direct, straightforward style that elicits equal measures of frustration borne of perfect hindsight, anger, sympathy and some profound insights into the inner workings of this under-appreciated organization.  Powers delivers not a hero or a myth but a conscientious, flawed man struggling to reconcile his education as a philosopher with rapidly unfolding events as he experiences them.  You cannot complete this book without feeling loss – loss for Sergio, for the UN and for the many thousands of people touched by this imperfect, thoughtful leader.  Called upon to make spur-of-the-moment decisions of tremendous human import under extreme pressure, most men would be lost in the sea of recriminations that inevitably followed.  Sergio cared only about how what he had learned could be applied to the next crisis that would inevitably follow. In human affairs, chaos is the status quo.  Nobody gets credit for making things “less bad”.

During his 35-year career as a UN official, Sergio emerged to become the UN’s most valuable, pragmatic leader; respected inside and outside the UN as a nation-builder, mediator and problem solver.  Thought by many to be a likely future UN Secretary-General, one can’t help but wonder how his 35-plus years of field experience on the frontlines might have influenced decisions he would have made later on, and to what degree they might have resulted in fundamental restructuring of the UN itself.  Painfully aware of the disconnect between policies propagated in NYC and the artificial constraints they placed on those in the field, Sergio’s experience was unlike any of the S-G that have led the UN so far.  Sadly, for the UN and perhaps the world, we’ll never know.  But, as a loyal “company man”, Sergio, the pragmatist, would be quick to remind us that, with all its failings, who can say how much worse off the world if the UN didn’t exist?

A son of a Brazilian diplomat and sometime-historian, Sergio Vieira de Mello was educated in Rio de Janeiro, Genoa, Milan, and Rome (in French schools,) Beirut, Lebanon, the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) and the Sorbonne in Paris.  Introduced to leftist writers during a period of protest against the Vietnam war, it was in Paris that he became radicalized and participated in the tumultuous street protests of 1968, in which he was badly beaten by police. 

After graduating from the Sorbonne, Sergio joined the UN High commission for Refugees with headquarters in Geneva and, while there earned a doctorate in Philosophy at the Sorbonne.  His first posting was to Bangladesh, followed by postings in the Sudan, Cyprus, Mozambique, Peru, Lebanon, Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Congo, Kosovo, East Timor, and, tragically, his last, intended to be for just 4 months, Iraq.  As the years passed, Vieira de Mello matured and shed his leftist views in favor of a more pragmatic humanistic worldview.  When faced with human suffering, ideology was a luxury he came to distain.

The best vantage point from which to understand international conflict is from the inside, in the teeth of conflict, as was the case in Bosnia and Iraq, or cleaning up after its devastation, as in Cambodia, Rwanda, Kosovo and East Timor.  By virtue of his willingness to go anywhere, anytime – his family life took a backseat – Sergio was the rare UN official that the S-G could rely on to assemble a team and be on his way to a conflict zone within hours.  Ironically, his final posting to Iraq came over his own objections at a point in his life in which he was planning to retreat from the field.  In all likelihood, with just a month and a half to go, Iraq would have been Sergio’s last field assignment.

More than any other organization, the UN staff – as opposed to the Security Council – has to face many of the most challenging moral questions of war and peace.  As peacekeepers, their decisions often have life and death consequences, and it was impossible to know beforehand, absolutely, which direction would yield less suffering and death.  We, the public, can make a pretense of taking the high road and glibly hide behind ideology and second-guessing; officials caught in the fog of war or its aftermath don’t have that choice.

What should the role of the UN be?  Are there limits to the UN’s neutrality?  What limits should be placed on the “blue helmets” – international UN peacekeepers?  At what point should peacekeepers use deadly force?   At what point does the population view an occupying force or UN peacekeepers as legitimate?   What is the best response to “spoilers, rogue states and non-state militants?” 

Six months before the Iraq war, Vieira de Mello became High Commissioner for Human Rights.  He quickly concluded that “Dignity is the cornerstone of order,” and without security, human rights were unachievable.  “Outsiders” – meaning the UN itself – “must bring humility and patience to its dealings in foreign lands.” 

In its involvement in the most intractable international struggles, even when the UN fails – and success is allusive and virtually impossible to define – the UN and its permanent staff deserve immeasurable respect.  This important book educates and inspires that respect – for Vieira de Mello and the UN.

 

Merry Christmas 2009

As Fridays tick by like the beat of a metronome – click, it’s Friday! Click, it’s Friday again? – you know you’re getting older.  How do you slow down the click of the metronome?  Sometimes I’m not even sure what day it is… “Fat paper, hum, must be Sunday” hardly works any more.  Any suggestions?

Quote of the year:

Rolling Stone’s Matt Taibbi, labeled Goldman Sachs “a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money."  That sums up 2009 quite nicely, don’t you think?

Now, news closer to home… like Bangkok

Jenn, on temporary assignment to Bangkok last year, got a promotion that requires that she remain for 2-3 years.  So, in February, Roy and Jenn gave up their apartment in Arlington along with Roy’s job at Search for Common Ground and moved to Bangkok.  After helping Roy pack and move stuff to storage, he and I rented a car and drove across country with their dog, Suki.  Then Roy and Suki flew to Bangkok, via Tokyo.  (I worried more about the Dog’s hydration during the flight than I did Roy.)  Living in Bangkok and traveling in Thailand, with side trips to Manila, have been an adventure – they are fast becoming citizens of the world, even Suki.

In April, Joan and I went to Italy for a too-short, two-weeks vacation.  After visiting friends Sheila and Alan in London, we spent a few days in Rome and the rest of our time in Perugia, Umbria, 100-miles north of Rome.  Like many ancient Etruscan cities, Perugia sits atop a hill with spectacular 360-degree views.  We could take 5 escalators up through centuries of history, literally, from our hotel to the piazza, on the central plateau.  Of course, we walked… Much less touristy then Rome or Tuscany to the west, Umbria struck us as much friendlier – patient with our imperfect, halting Italian.  One waiter joked good-naturedly, “Lei parla un poco, poco l’italiano, si?”  (… a little, little Italian)  We laughed, “Si, parlo l’italiano molto male!”  (Yes … very badly!)  This was the linguistic high point of the trip; unlike our experiences in Rome and Florence, where natives switch to English as soon as they get sight of you.  (Must be our Land’s End wardrobe…)

Roy returned to NH at the end of June for a planned family vacation at Silver Bay.  Unfortunately, Jenn couldn’t make it – Suki got [extremely] ill and Jenn didn’t want to leave her.  (The good news is, Suki recovered and both Jenn and Roy will be here for Christmas.)

In mid-October, Joan and I spent a few days in the White Mountains hiking in early snow – what were we thinking! – and then ... Wow!  Roy made another 10-day trip home – to surprise Joan on her NNth birthday (I’ve lost count, but I never thought I’d be married to a 66 year old woman… ops!)  And, yes, she was surprised!  Jess and her highly-significant one, Brendan, came up from Boston for the celebration.

And, yes, our favorite daughter Jess is doing very well; three-fifths of the way through a 5-year program at Boston Architectural College and, in June, promoted to an interior design position at her company, Architectural Resources Cambridge (fortunately, they’ve been hiring while other firms are firing.)  Brendan headed out on his own this year as “Brendan Haley Design/Build” and, even in this difficult economy, he’s doing great, a testimony to his skill and business acumen. Anyway, we’re proud of both of them. 

Roy spent most of the year in Bangkok freelancing and doing volunteer work while searching for a job, which he landed this month at the Freeland Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to the prevention of wildlife trafficking.  He’ll be doing communications and grants writing.  (He says that Freeland will be featured in the next issue of National Geographic.)

My father, Ernie, is going strong in NJ at 94½, enjoying working in the yard and keeping up with world events – he loves CSPAN; “history in the making”, he says.  My response is, “So is grass growing…” Anyway, I’m helping him edit his energy book, which he drafted a few years ago and is now revising.  That will occupy most of his time during the winter months.  I fly down to visit once every few months.

OK, wrapping up… This year has been the best (Obama) and worst of times (the Party of “No”), calling for patience and active participation, in equal measure.  I won’t list the issues that occupy my thoughts, they’re probably the same that occupy yours, and I’m already out of room, because …

This was a lot more than I intended to write – and more than I can expect anyone to read. 

Or, maybe, sensibly, you just skipped ahead to these words…

Merry Christmas.  Happy New Year.  Stay well.

Love and Best Wishes,

Joan and Paul

Worst Christmas

Here is a link to story I wrote for the Holidays. Best if read aloud. Enjoy! And Have a Merry Christmas!
>>Worst Christmas