Book in Progress

For some reason I normally don't comment on the books I am reading, nor do I generally post reviews. Perhaps a small "go read this book" sort of thing, but I don't like writing longer reviews unless money is involved. I like writing anything if money is involved.

For one thing, if you are writing about a book, you should be thoughtful about it in two ways: the first is the way one ought to be thoughtful about reading in general. No problem there. The second one, however, requires much more time and energy, and that is the way of being thoughtful in writing about writing. You have to be much more organized in how you present things, and, if you are good, you then get a conversation going. These things, of course, take time, and I don't have a lot of time. Or, the time I have free, I would much rather spend reading than in writing about writing. Unless you were to pay me.

But, setting aside my usual policy (really more habit than policy), I am currently reading and enjoying Adam Gopnik's Paris to the Moon. If you are looking for an interesting book that touches on several topics, and is focused on one of the greatest, most beautiful cities in the world, then pick this one up. I am a little over half way through, and when I finish I will report on it. There are a couple of things that are really thought-provoking, not so much about Paris as about America, since Gopnik uses his Parisian time to reflect on things back home as much as on Paris (for instance, he comes to the realization that Bill Clinton is Barney for grownup liberals).