Sippi Lovin'

I know, I know...two entries in two days. Lucky you, this was just too good to pass up.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Minnesota Twins Batting Stances: Past & Present.

I've been mulling over Per's comments (shown below) regarding my reading habits for nearly three months and just now feel ready to respond.

Many different studies of reading habits have revealed a strong, positive correlation between age and the reading of non-fiction. In other words, as people get older, they tend to read more non-fiction (and, thus, less fiction). But seriously, Jude, you're only 27! While a couple of the titles you mentioned sound intriguing (i.e. Manson and Wellstone... interesting bedfellows, I suppose), surely you should be diversifying your reading diet! Anyway, glad to hear you now have some free time and you've found your way back to "pleasure reading."

What spurred his comments was a list of six books (all non-fiction) that I had read in the months leading up to the entry. Since that time, I have read "X out of Wonderland" by David Allan Cates, "Can I Keep My Jersey?: 11 Teams, 5 Countries, and 4 Years in My Life as a Basketball Vagabond" by Paul Shirley, "Bar Flower: My Decadently Destructive Days and Nights as a Tokyo Nightclub Hostess" by Lea Jacobson, and parts of "The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart" by Bill Bishop, "In Search of Tiger: A Journey Through Golf with Tiger Woods" by Tom Callahan, and "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" by Michael Pollan.

I plan on finishing the books by Bill Bishop and Tom Callahan, but doubt I'll get back to Pollan's history of "nutritionism" in America, as it has already made its way back to the library. I should mention though that I was enjoying the book and am a fan of his most fundamental maxim—"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Anyway, the point of all that is that I haven't changed my reading habits. Since Per's comment, I have only read one work of fiction and that one book was recommended to me by a good friend. I enjoyed it, which didn't surprise me, but I would have never picked that book on my own and probably won't select a similar book the next time Michelle and I go to the library.

So why is this? When I first read Per's comment I felt guilty for having neglected fiction and its writers (Per among them), but clearly this guilt is not enough to deter me from reading loads of non-fiction. Why is it that my brother so enjoys fiction and that I would much rather read a book about Tokyo nightclub hostesses? When we were younger, our parents encouraged us to read many of the classics (i.e., The Grapes of Wrath, Sons and Lovers, Lord of the Flies, etc.) and read we did. However, I very clearly remember the first time I discovered a work of non-fiction that was not an autobiography. What a revelation I thought to myself! I can also remember being completely blown away the first time I read a book that was written after 1960 and saw that it didn't suck.

I suppose there are two basic reasons I prefer non-fiction to fiction. I guess the first has something to do with my suspicion that fiction has less to teach us than non-fiction. An inflammatory statement, perhaps, but one that I think holds up. Let me add that I'm not saying that fiction has nothing to offer. There are certainly lessons to be learned from fiction, but I've always believed that I could learn those same lessons through non-fiction. In fact, because the real world is a far more complex and interesting place than the inside of someone's head, I'd argue that non-fiction supports its lessons with more compelling evidence than fiction. For example, although "1984" can teach us a great deal about the nature of tyranny, I’d argue that Night by Elie Wiesel is a better and more easily understood way in which to get the point across. In my opinion, if you're looking to read fiction, do it to be entertained. When I read fiction it's for the same reasons I watch a television sitcom: I want to entertained.

There is, however, one (final?) positive I have neglected to mention. Fiction is great if you want to cultivate creativity. This is no small selling point, I very much value creativity. However, reading fiction is hardly an act of creativity and if you're looking to gather ideas for your next work of fiction, well, I suggest you go outside and live life.

So, let's get back to the second reason I prefer non-fiction to fiction...I really enjoy studying people. I can't exactly say what I'm looking for, but I do know that I love trying to decipher why someone behaves, says, and feels the way he or she does. As you might have guessed, it's also the reason I study what I study.

Michelle and I just finished installing last year's Christmas gift...pretty sweet huh?