February was rough for us all, I suspect. Cold coming in at the corners for many, a comedown from the holidays that always leads to a sense of disappointment, a bad month for living.
Personally I was in a pretty bad hole and hence didn’t read much. I’ve coming roaring back - I’ll describe how in the next edition - but suffice it to say it was a bad time.
Anyway, on the “stuff that’s kept me busy” front, I’d like to share my Instagram profile where I’ve started posting more video from my podcast, Keep Going. I realized, far too late, that all of these amazing conversations were ending up in a black hole and if I can surface them a bit on the ‘gram - which I’ve roundly hated since day one - maybe they can be helpful. Anyway, join me! If you’re on TikTok, you can see the videos here. I refuse to touch Pinterest.
. Now, on to the books.
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory
Caitlin Doughty
This book seems like it comes from a different era. The story of a Doughty’s experiences in an LA crematory it is written in the matter-of-fact style of a 1990s hipster memoir more akin to The Glass Castle (2006) or even Notes from a Small Island (1995) than anything extremely modern. And, might I add, that’s great. The story is a bit thin but hearing about the death industry and Doughty’s efforts to fix it is fascinating.
The Angel of Darkness
Caleb Carr
After reading the Alienist a few months ago I wanted to pick up another Carr novel. I really enjoyed this one - it’s about a missing baby in 1890s New York - but it suffered from Carr’s tendency to write way too much about too much. The story itself ends with a lovely deus ex machina and, if I were being mean, I’d think Carr fell asleep during the last third of the book but it’s a romp and it’s lots of fun.
Z Generation: Into the Heart of Russia's Fascist Youth
Ian Garner
This book is an amazing and unflinching look into modern day Russia. There’s a lot of hyperbole in here - lots of breathless mentions of social media and the like - but good god if even a quarter of this is true then Russia is in for some big trouble in the next decade. Garner talks to young people in Russia who, until the invasion of Ukraine, were Instagramming and TikTokking just like Western kids. Now they’re cheering on murders, posturing like fascist youths, and building a Russia that is completely disconnected from the flow of the future. It’s really bad. It’s a quick read and worth it if you want to understand today’s Russia.