Conclusion

I finished The Hemingses about a week ago, but have not had time to blog because of Senior Capstone presentations, final exams, Hanukkah and holiday parties occurring all at once. Today I had no appointments all day besides carpool. So, time to catch up.

I thought the Hemingses was a great story, and a very important one to tell. They were possibly the most privileged slave family in the U.S. and still their lives were tragic because of their enslavement. How could they not be, under such circumstances, in which human beings are owned by others as property. One of the saddest truths is that the book was much more about Jefferson than about Sally or the other Hemingses, despite the title. This is because no records of the Hemingses' lives were kept, as they were thought to be insignificant. So they can be known only through the study of Jefferson and their relationship to him. And even there, much is lost because Jefferson's descendents destroyed all references to Sally among his letters and papers.

Now I'm reading Possible Side Effects by Augusten Burroughs. I thoroughly enjoyed Dry, in which he chronicles his struggle with and recovery from alcoholism. It was dark and hilarious. I'm listening to this book, of course, as I finish out the semester commuting to Piedmont College. I especially enjoyed hearing about Burroughs' visits to his grandparents' house in Lawrenceville as I passed the Lawrenceville exit along my drive.

A couple of Burroughs' observations made me laugh out loud. One was his analysis of CNN International vs. CNN domestic, which was more apt than even he probably knows. This is while he was visiting London:
     "After this I watched a little CNN. CNN is very different in the United Kingdom than it is in America. For one thing, there's more global coverage. They even gave the weather forcast for New Delhi. That would never play in America because people would e-mail CNN headquarters and say, "Who the fuck cares about fucking India? Give us more missing coed stories."

His comments about Jewish women also cracked me up. He and a lesbian friend were discussing her dating prospects. She said she had always wanted to date a Jewish woman because she heard they were loyal and good shoppers.

Burroughs reads the books himself, and this is a treat. I listen to a lot of books on tape, and usually prefer the professional readers over authors. A lot of time, authors don't enunciate well, especially dropping consonants at the end of sentences, and it's hard to catch every word. But Burroughs is an excellent reader and his personality comes through, adding another dimension of hilarity to his mini-memoirs.

Why I chose to read this book:
I read Running With Scissors a long time ago, then recently read Dry. The combination of Burroughs' sense of humor with his serious subject matter is thought-provoking and very funny.

How I first learned about this book: Browsing on Paperback Swap

Where I got it: Paperback Swap

What format I'm reading it in: Audio CD (8 discs)

What my husband Gerard made for dinner tonight: Curried chicken and rice