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Pit Book/Discussion Thread

DownEastDeac said:
Cheap Land Colorado: Off-gridders Living at America's Edge

From Pulitzer Prize finalist and National Book Critics Circle Award–winning author of Newjack, a passage through an America lived wild and off the grid, where along with independence and stunning views come fierce winds, neighbors with criminal pasts, and minimal government and medical services.
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This is my favorite area to weird around in Colorado. The book is a really excellent run down of what life is like in that epically weird valley. If you want another wonderfully odd but a more sonically and visually lope of the same spot checkout Crestone (Animal Collective soundtrack for the win):
 
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I am surprised any work can be done while everyone waits for #1.

As for the San Luis Valley, a few years ago I read Enter the Valley: UFOs, Religious Miracles, Cattle Mutilations, and Other Unexplained Phenomena. It was as ridiculous as it sounds, but fun to read parts to the kids just before camping there.
 
KennyRogersRoast said:
I am surprised any work can be done while everyone waits for #1.

As for the San Luis Valley, a few years ago I read Enter the Valley: UFOs, Religious Miracles, Cattle Mutilations, and Other Unexplained Phenomena. It was as ridiculous as it sounds, but fun to read parts to the kids just before camping there.
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Well to be fair that is the vibe of the valley. It is the vibe you are rolling into.
 
1. American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer. By Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin.

I developed an interest in Los Alamos and the Manhattan Project after reading Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman in high school. That is one of the few books I have read more than once. It is probably the only book I have read more than twice, not counting children’s books. I handed my old copy to my daughter a few year ago and she has read it twice. So I came into this book knowing something of the triumph of Oppenheimer, but nothing of the tragedy.

Even the Los Alamos portions were revelatory. The book was so comprehensive, so insightful, that by the time Oppenheimer is at Los Alamos I felt I was there in his shoes. If there is any criticism it would be that the book was too thorough. It was the longest book I read this year, but I was sad when it was over. Every evening I would look forward to when I could make some free time to continue reading. I could go on and on. The moral debate over the atomic bomb and its use, how Oppenheimer was treated post-Los Alamos, etc. Most of my family probably got tired of hearing me talk about Oppenheimer. A great life in an interesting time. Not a saint though, to be sure, which only made the book all the more interesting.

Coincidentally I visited Oppenheimer Beach and his house on St. John last summer. Not entirely coincidentally I made my first visit to Los Alamos just after Thanksgiving with the added bonus that my daughter was excited to go as well. I recommend the Hoppenheimer IPA at Bathtub Row Brewing if you go. About a week after I finished the book I learned a major motion picture based on this book is coming out in July. I am not used to being excited about a movie coming out. This must be what the comic book movie people feel all the time.
 
Yeah just started doing reviews on good reads to process my thoughts on what I’ve read.

@KennyRogersRoast (and anyone else), DM me your goodreads name if you want to be pretend internet friends in another medium.
 
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@KennyRogersRoast

The passage that has struck me the most so far in American Prometheus is how the intelligence state nearly succeeded in getting Oppenheimer fired for his “communist sympathies.” It seems clear the Manhattan Project would have utterly failed and collapsed without him.
 
TownieDeac said:
@KennyRogersRoast

The passage that has struck me the most so far in American Prometheus is how the intelligence state nearly succeeded in getting Oppenheimer fired for his “communist sympathies.” It seems clear the Manhattan Project would have utterly failed and collapsed without him.
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Fucking Edward Teller, Dr. Strangelove psycho.
 
KennyRogersRoast said:
As long as Townie keeps liking I’ll keep writing.

7. King Leopold’s Ghost. By Adam Hochschild.

I knew the Belgian Congo was a bad place. I may have read Heart of Darkness in high school. I did read it when I finished this book. I also remember Bourdain’s DRC episode. Still, I was ignorant of most of the details and could not have told you King Leopold II was behind the horrific cruelty. Now I can confidently say that he should be remembered as one of the worst people of the 19th century.

An estimated 10 million people died due to his exploitation. He made an untold fortune off of it. Of course it was not enough as he also stole from Belgium by taking loans he never intended to repay. He disowned his daughter. He marriage was a sham.

He was able to fool a lot of people for a while about his true character. He certainly had great public relations skills. There were some brave individuals who fought to expose the truth, often to their great peril. Having characters in the book worthy of admiration was nice balance of sorts. Of course I am sure there were many other acts of bravery and defiance lost to history.
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Surprised that this isn’t available at the library. I have about a ten week wait for he Audiobook on Libby. 6th in line for 1 copy.
 
There’s one every now and then that the Austin library does not have. I can usually find a digital copy in Austin or Houston, where I still have access. I am just not great at reading ebooks.
 
discdude said:
This is my favorite area to weird around in Colorado. The book is a really excellent run down of what life is like in that epically weird valley. If you want another wonderfully odd but a more sonically and visually lope of the same spot checkout Crestone (Animal Collective soundtrack for the win):
Click to expand...

These are awesome recs - going to have to look into them more. Crestone is so weird....if you really wanted to drop off and get lost, that would be one of the few places in the states where I think you could do it, provided you were hardy enough to survive out there.
 
This year is starting off a bit slow for me; wrapped up Brandi Carlile's "Broken Horses" memoir. Filled with great stories of hustling through the business and finding her way to stardom; if you're a fan then I think you'd enjoy.

Currently working on "Crying in H Mart" - so far so good. Hoping to pick up my reading pace shortly.
 
Crying in H Mart was fucking heavy. I knew her moms death was part of the story - missed the part that it IS the story.

Really great read though; went out for KBBQ tonight because of the book.
 
KennyRogersRoast said:
3. Deep Down Dark. By Hector Tobar.

It seems the more people are stripped to their essentials, or less, the more broadly I think about people, society, life, etc. This book is about Chilean miners who were trapped underground, alive, for a record amount of time. Way underground. Like 2,000 feet. For weeks it was unknown if they even survived the initial collapse. A lot of the books I read seem to center around people having complete disregard, or worse, for other humans. Here you have groups from all over the world coming together to try to rescue the miners.

The crisis is reconstructed using the memories of the miners, which naturally are not always consistent. The book also goes into details about life for the miners both before and after being trapped. It tells some stories of the families who spend the time camped around the collapsed mine during the rescue period. In other words, it is a lot more than recounting an accident. I could not put this book down.

Hey, another one I see that was made into a movie.
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Just finished this one - thanks for the rec KRR!
 
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