Buzz: A Year of Paying Attention

Buzz: A Year of Paying Attention

By Katherine Ellison

2010

Voice

282 pages

In Buzz: A Year of Paying Attention, investigative reporter Katherine Ellison commits a year of her life to learning more about ADHD and to figuring out how to best help her son, who suffers from the disorder and whom she has given the pseudonym "Buzz" for the purposes of the book.

Now I have to say here that I am completely over the gimmick "a year of _______" as a device for getting oneself a book deal. It was creative, perhaps, at one point in the past, but now it is done. (Unless I can come up with something to do for a year and get a nice book deal. Other Years: A Year of Reading "A Year of" Books by Maggie Reid Schneider.)

That being said, Ellison's project here is somewhat less gimmicky than the rest. She's not plowing through a cookbook or randomly adopting ancient customs. Instead, she appears to be making a commitment to do something that is completely NECESSARY for the life of her family. And good for her for being able to recognize that and put some other things aside to be able to do it. Of course, I do believe that when one makes a decision to become a parent, one make a commitment to spending a lifetime paying attention to what your child needs from you, or at least a couple of decades. In part, what distinguishes Ellison from some other parents taking on this mighty struggle is a more flexible career path and a well padded checkbook. Still, her work here might be a particularly good resource for other parents struggling with some of these issues.

I think that this book might be particularly helpful, because Buzz seems a good example of a child that is severely affected by ADD. He is not an ambiguous case. Buzz is suffering; Buzz's whole family is suffering. In creating an honest portrayal of her challenges with her son, Ellison paints a picture that I think will be both convincing to some that question the validity of ADD as a real diagnosis, and helpful to some parents that are unsure if their child really fits the bill. ADD is, unfortunately, both under and over treated. There are some children that get slapped with the label that probably just need more recess time and a smaller classroom but instead get stimulants, and there are others that are clearly mightily struggling, and though they need help desperately, they get only detentions. In this book we see a clear picture of a child with a real and crippling problem, and thankfully, learn about some of the ways to help him.

Ellison also does well to turn her eye as an investigative reporter on the treatments, tests and organizations that she encounters on her journey. Her writing about their decisions about which tests and treatments to try and which to forgo is particularly compelling because is able to come at these encounters from both ways: as a parent desperate for answers and as a reporter looking to paint a balanced and accurate picture. In doing so, she skips some thing that have been suggested as miracle treatments, and chooses to do some that are not entirely proven. Her honest reflection on the challenges facing a parent in a world where few of the tests and treatments are validated and almost all are very expensive is an interesting read.

I did struggle with Ellison's waffling about her own diagnosis. She has also been diagnosed with ADD, and while perhaps that is part of her problem, I agree with the later assessments that anxiety seems to be her central issue. She is a worrier, and while her concerns about the fate of her children are central to the theme of the book, her concerns about global warming and plastic pollution and the end of the world are reiterated a little too often for my taste.

Overall, Buzz is an interesting read, if not for everyone. It's certainly worthwhile for parents that are struggling with attention issues in their own children, and probably for adults that have been lead to wonder if they might have "adult ADD" themselves. It's probably also worthwhile for educators and those of us, myself included, with an academic interest in attention. It would likely be useful for some people who are unsure if they "believe in ADD," although I suppose those that need it for that purpose are unlikely to pick it up. Overall though, I'm not sure that this is a story that would be compelling to the general reader, so unless you have a specific interest, you could likely give it a pass.

Full Disclosure: I received my copy of this book for free through the Early Reviewers program at LibraryThing.

Catching Fire

Catching Fire
by Suzanne Collins
2009
Scholastic Press, New York
391 pages
ISBN: 978-0-439-02349

So last Friday, I was feeling a little bit tired and not overly motivated when I got home at the end of the day. Andrew and I talked about going to a movie, but really, I just wasn't in the mood. We decided to save the money and go get a DVD from the library, but I couldn't find anything on the massive wall of library movies that seemed appealing either.

I was standing there, in a funk, when I realized that I had gotten an email to tell me that my requested copy of Her Fearful Symmetry had arrived. I went to grab it off the reserve shelf, and found next to it on the shelf, also with my name on the slip, Chasing Fire. And then I knew what I was in the mood for.

I checked it out and brought it home. I climbed in bed, my wonderful husband made me tea, and I read the whole thing, cover to cover, with breaks only to refill beverages and such. After that, I was decidedly no longer in a funk.

I do have to say that there are few pleasures in life as wonderous as a long stretch of time in bed with tea and a good book. Others include: a long stretch of time in a hammock with iced tea and a good book and cozy snow days when you can spend a long stretch of time curled up inside with hot chocolate and a good book. There are other non-beverage-and-good-book related great pleasures in life, but this is a book blog. Let's summarize by saying that I agree wholeheartedly with Carlos Ruiz Zafon, who said, "reading is up there with sex and chocolate in the list of the Top 10 ways to enjoy your time on this planet."

But about this book specifically. The wise and wonderful Jack O'Brien sent me after The Hunger Games Trilogy a few weeks ago, around when the third book came out. I read the first one, and headed to Barnes and Noble to buy the others. But both Chasing Fire and the third installment, Mockingjay, are currently only available in hardcover, and I have made a deal with myself that severely limits hardcover buying. So it's the library waiting list for me. I wish that I could say that I have been waiting patiently, for patience is a virtue. Alas, I am not blessed with it.

This is a wonderful, exciting, suspenseful book that won't disappoint anyone that loved The Hunger Games. It's thrilling. It's engrossing. The characters are powerful and dynamic. The plot is simply unputdownable. And while the language is not anything to call your literature professor over, especially when coming on the heels of The Book Thief, this is more than just a story. It's challenging. It forces you, while you are gripped in the tale, to ask yourself hard questions, like when rebellion against evil is noble and when it is foolhardy. Of course, you don't ask yourself for too long, because you are too anxious to know if there is a rebellion. But that question, and some others (what it means to be in love and what and who is worth dying for, for example) will stick with you. The deeply disturbing situations involved will likely stick with you as well. The Hunger Games is a decidedly dystopian series. I can say that I have deeply enjoyed these books... I can not say that they have left me with pleasant dreams.

If you like fiction and could use a good page turner, read this. Well, read The Hunger Games first, and then read this. And then you'll probably read Mockingjay... and if you buy it, once you're finished you should send it to me, because the library hasn't delivered yet, and I'm dying here.

I can promise that I'll return it quickly.

NOTE: I have not made a deliberate choice to read a ton of "Young Adult" fiction in the last couple of weeks. Really what's happened is that I've been told certain books are good, and been surprised to find that the little sticker on the side tells me that the library shelves them as "Teen." I'm still organizing my thoughts on what that category means.

The Book Thief

The Book Thief
by Marcus Zusak
2005
Alfred A. Knopf, New York
550 pages
ISBN: 978-0-375-84220-7

I can't remember who told me that I should read The Book Thief. I wish that I did, so that I could thank them. It was a nameless, "Oh, I've been meaning to read that." That made me request it from the CPL.

Seriously, this book is beautiful. It is a powerful, poetic novel, written from the perspective of Death. Yes, that's "capital D" Death. He informs us that he doesn't carry a scythe, and only wears a long black cloak when it's cold. He is, in a myriad of other ways, not what you might expect. Gentle, careful, exhausted.

I've started this next paragraph four times. I can't seem to do it justice. What is this book about? I haven't been able to find words that don't seem oversimplistic and dull compared to what you'll find on these pages, and so I've decided not to try, I'm going to let the narrator tell you.

"It's the story of one of those perpetual survivors - an expert at being left behind.
It's just a small story really, about, among other things:
*A girl
*Some words
*An accordionist
*Some fanatical Germans
*A Jewish fist fighter
*And quite a lot of thievery" (page 5)

Zusak does a wonderful job of giving Death a voice: a language and grammar all his own. The language is delightful, musical; it swings effortlessly from subtle to cutting. Death is untethered to time, but attached to colors. While the story has a beginning, middle and end, you will not find pure linear narration here. We know parts of end from the very beginning. It's not subtle. Characters you love will die. This is Nazi Germany after all, and Death is your narrator. He knows this story because he was around a lot.

Yes, characters you love will die, and though you have been warned, by Death himself, you will be surprised. You might find yourself, as I did, trying to cry quietly so as not to wake your sleeping bed mate. It's crushingly sad, no matter how you are warned.

Really though, you should read this. There are hundreds of reviews, if you need more convincing. I am not alone in my praise. You can find the plot summary on the back of the book, or Amazon, or whatever book-summarizing and reviewing website you choose, but it won't tell you much. The book thief steals because she loves books, and gradually, because she comes to understand their power. And in the end, this book, both in form and in tale, is about the power of words over us silly humans.


NOTE: This book has been labeled/marketed/shelved in your local library and bookstore as "Young Adult/Teen/Children" I have thoughts on that. They're going to come up in a later blog entry. I will only say here that if you let that dissuade you, you are doing yourself a disservice.

On Writing

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
by Stephen King
2000
291 pages
ISBN: 978-1-4391-5681-0

I had read most of this book before, at an earlier time when I was thinking about writing in kind of an abstract and distant sort of way, but coming back from last weekend's trip to the AMSA Writer's Institute, I decided that perhaps I should pick it up again. I remembered it containing some good stuff, so it seemed like not a terrible place to revisit.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I like Stephen King. I am not saying that everything that the man has ever written is brilliant (and what's clear in this book is that neither is he), but he can tell a darn good story. Perhaps interesting, (and perhaps not) is that I like him best at the extremes: his short fiction and The Dark Tower. Either way, if you feel the need to quarrel about the idea that the man has talent, I suppose we can, but that's not the point here. The point is that I think that he has enough talent to be willing to get some tips, and I find him charming enough to have actually enjoyed reading them.

This is a good book. Not for everyone to be sure, but good. He makes excellent points about the process of writing that I'm sure have helped more than a few other writers get their work off the ground, but he is also honest about the limitations of what you can get from a book. He can't make you good if you are bad (and neither can anything else), he can't give you the ideas or really tell you where they come from, and it's going to be a lot of work.

But I am fine with all of that. At a moment like this, in my life, On Writing carries with it some reminders that I needed. About the work part, and the time part, and the drafting freely first and then editing part, and the admitting that I am writing, at least in part, to Andrew, so I should let him read things some of the time.

A lot of what's here is only going to be valuable to writer's of fiction (and readers as well.) King is interesting in his approach to character development and plot. He says he doesn't plan the plot beforehand, and is sometimes surprised by what his characters do. I suppose there's nothing to do but believe him, since I am almost always surprised by what his characters do. Still, some of the ideas, especially about drafting and editing ("2nd Draft = 1st Draft -10%") will likely work across genres, and I think that his analogy of the toolbox is universal.

And his notes on commitment, on the process, on the worthwhile effort, and the joy it brings, it's enough to remind you all over again why you might want to.

Two observations, neither really about writing that I especially liked:
On purgatory, I couldn't agree more:
"If I have to spend time in purgatory before going on to one place or another, I guess I'll be all right as long as they have a lending library (if there is, it's probably stocked with nothing by novels by Danielle Steel and Chicken Soup books...)" p. 104

On really smart people, I see it all the damn time:
"No one can be as intellectually slothful as a really smart person." p. 143

But really, it is the writing about writing that shines here. The notes on the process, on the parts of his life that contributed to becoming a writer, on taking rejection with your head held high, and on really really working at it make this a worthwhile read for those of us that want to write.

"you can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will. Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up." p. 270

And so should you fellow writers. So should you.

World Without End

World Without End
by Ken Follett
2007
1014 pages
ISBN: 978-0-451-22499-6
Purchased at Bookman/Bookwoman

The sequel to Follett's excellent The Pillars of the Earth lived up to expectations. This is an excellent historical epic that reads much quicker than its thousand pages would suggest. Follett again sets his tale primarily in Kingsbridge, England, but this time we see it in the 14th century. He succeeds in painting a vivid picture of the challenges of life in this distant past with well placed details. The novel follows the lives of multiple characters, but Follett is very successful in interweaving their stories and passing from one to another quickly enough to allow the reader to keep track of all of them but not so quickly that the story seems fragmented. Overall the book is a delightful read. Highly recommended.

July 2010 Reads

So now I'm technically a graduate student. Which means way less class/study time than was required by medical school. Obviously, that time should be spent reading, reading, reading away. Here's the list for July:

July 1-4, 2010



World Without End
by Ken Follett
2007
1014 pages
ISBN: 978-0-451-22499-6
Purchased at Bookman/Bookwoman

Purge: Rehab Diaries

Purge: Rehab Diaries
by Nicole Johns
2009
274 pages
ISBN: 978-1-58005-274-0
Cincinnati Public Library

I got this book out of the Cincinnati Public Library when I saw it on the "New Books" shelf. That particular library visit was during Brain and Behavior II (which included pretty much all of the psychiatry that we're going to see). I thought that this might be a useful read because while I think that I know a decent amount about most types of psychiatric treatment, I didn't feel like I really knew much of anything about the treatment of eating disorders.

For the purpose of learning more about inpatient eating disorder treatment, this book was certainly useful for me. I think that it was also useful for me in that it is forcing me to face the reality that I actually have somewhat limited sympathy for eating disordered patients. I find them frustrating. I feel this way even though I believe that their disease is a real one. There were points in this book, when Johns sneaks off to purge after a meal, and I literally wanted to reach into the book and slap her upside the head. This is a woman who has serious heart arrhythmia at the age of 22 due to her eating disorder. She really needs to stop vomiting. Really. Now.

Now as someone that is very seriously considering a career in child and adolescent psychiatry, this is obviously an issue that I am going to have to work on, so I have to admit that it is useful to be able to acknowledge it at this point in my life. I'm not sure really what I'm going to do about it, but I guess admitting that you have a problem is the first step, and I admit that I really have a problem here, and that deep down inside, I not-so-secretly want to feed those girls a cheeseburger. I think they'll feel better.

To be fair, I think that part of my struggle is that Johns expresses some of the stereotypes that so often go with eating disorders that I personally think undermine my ability to take them seriously as medical disease. She describes herself as a perfectionist and an overachiever that is looking for control in her life, over and over again. I know that perfectionism is linked to eating disorders and on and on, but I am an upper middle class, over-achieving, perfectionist, white woman from the east coast, notorious for putting unreal expectations on herself. And seriously, I love a good cookie. Too much really. I need to stop with the cookies.

There is a part of me that realizes that because I fit the demographic of this disease but find it so foreign, so unimaginable, that should make the idea that it is genetic/medical/biochemical all the more legit. Because it's not just being a perfectionist. Really. And it's not just always wanting more from yourself. There is something else going on there. But the patients and doctors and general public so often attribute this disease to women taking control of the an area of their life that they can control when they feel that other parts of their life have gotten out of hand. I think that's a VERY bad way to think about it. Because, really, that description includes the words "something they CAN control" with regards to the eating/exercising/purging habits of these women. And I have to believe, if I want to have sympathy for them, if I want to ever be able to develop into someone that hopes to be able to deal these patients in any sort of therapeutic way, that it is not something that they can truly control. I have to believe that they have lost control and that the goal of treatment is to help them find it. Because if starving themselves or throwing up after all their meals IS a choice, then I want to feed them a cheeseburger. With Bacon.

Johns does a good job of capturing that out of control feeling, and she does a decent job painting a picture of eating disorder treatment in a way that I think was useful for me to encounter. This is an adequate memoir for what she says in the prologue she is trying to accomplish, but as one of the recent crop of memoirs from people too young to be seriously writing memoirs, it's really middling.

That's not to say that reading this is not going to affect my thinking, because it has. It challenged me, but that is more because it made me realize something a little bit ugly in myself than because it is an outstanding piece of writing. Still, for what I got, I am grateful. The thought process that pops into my head listening to people describe their eating disordered behavior is different and downright mean when compared to that which is in my head during accounts of other psychiatric disorders. That's something that I am going to have to deal with, something that I am glad I can admit to myself now, while I have a long time to wrestle with it. Because if nothing else was clear in this book, these women need some help.

To Hellholes and Back

To Hellholes and Back:
Bribes, Lies and the Art of Extreme Tourism
by Chuck Thompson
2009
321 pages
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8788-8

Chuck Thompson wants desperately to be the Chuck Klosterman of travel writing. He wants it so badly it hurts... to read.

Actually, that's maybe a bit harsh of an opening. Most of this book is readable in the "travel books are great for afternoons off when I don't want to make my brain tired" sort of way. Thompson travels to three places that are notorious for making travelers nervous: Democratic Republic of Congo, India and Mexico City. Those three sections are mostly a reasonably entertaining accounting of his adventures, with some heavy handed attempts at political and social commentary thrown in. Even when I agree with Thompson, and he makes some points here that I have been making for years, I wish that he would get back to the travel and stay away from the race relations. Such is life.

In the final section, Thompson takes it all to the last place he's afraid of, Disney World. Here he totally lost me, because at that point it's certainly not about travel anymore, and he doesn't have the skills to be a true culture writer. If you want to read this, you would likely do yourself a favor and skip that last section.

In the end, I suppose that I am not the world's greatest fan of travel writing. I tend to find it self-indulgent drivel in 99.9% of the cases. That's not to say that I don't enjoy it when I want to turn off my brain and think about being in exotic places, but it requires a specific mood and a specific time, and even then, I recognize that what I'm reading is just for funsies. This is a book that I would suggest you read if you feel an urgent need to be a tourist in the Congo (why?!), but otherwise, I'm sure there are better uses for your time.

Note: I received this book as an ARC for free from the publisher via the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. Apparently there's a law now that says I have to say that... You know, to prevent you from not realizing that my review is made all the more positive by the fact I didn't pay for the book. Imagine what it would say if I had ;-)

100 Books While I'm 27: January 2010

Books Before this Point: (Doing Some Checking, Will be determined soon)

January 2010:

The Secret of Lost Things
by Sheridan Hay
2007
349 pages
ISBN: 978-0-385-51848-2

Match Day:
One Day and One Dramatic Year in the Lives of Three New Doctors
by Brian Eule
2009
272 pages
ISBN: 978-0-312-37784-7
Cincinnati Public Library

The Devil in the White City:
Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
by Erik Larson
2003
390 pages
ISBN: 978-0-375-72560-9

To Hellholes and Back:
Bribes, Lies and the Art of Extreme Tourism
by Chuck Thompson
2009
321 pages
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8788-8
ARC from LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Eternal on the Water
by Joseph Monninger
2010
344 pages
ISBN: 978-1-4391-6833-2
ARC from Barnes & Noble FirstLook
Anticipated Release: February 2010

Purge: Rehab Diaries
by Nicole Johns
2009
274 pages
ISBN: 978-1-58005-274-0
Cincinnati Public Library

The Pillars of the Earth
by Ken Follett
1989
973 pages
ISBN: 978-0-451-22524-5

Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story
by Chuck Klosterman
2005
237 pages
ISBN: 978-0-7432-6645-7