Books B-Bz

	B is for Beer by Tom Robbins A Children's Book About Beer? Yes, believe it or not—but B Is for Beer is also a book for adults, and bear in mind that it's the work of maverick bestselling novelist Tom Robbins, inter-nationally known for his ability to both seriously illuminate and comically entertain. Once upon a time (right about now) there was a planet (how about this one?) whose inhabitants consumed thirty-six billion gallons of beer each year (it's a fact, you can Google it). Among those affected, each in his or her own way, by all the bubbles, burps, and foam, was a smart, wide-eyed, adventurous kindergartner named Gracie; her distracted mommy; her insensitive dad; her non-conformist uncle; and a magical, butt-kicking intruder from a world within our world.
	*Banco: the Further Adventures of Papillon* by Henri Charriere. Offered as a true story, but I am very doubtful. That said, it is still a very fun book to read.
	*Bible* There are many versions. I suggest reading the Reader's Digest condensed version first. Then the history of how the Bible was developed. Then the King James Version for the beauty of the words. If you are a serious student, then you will need to learn Greek and Hebrew. Once you have a good background, you should begin reading The Apocrypha to see what was NOT included. The Koran and other Holy books are a good read too. The Bible is the most misquoted book in the world.
	Bite Me: A Love Story by Christopher Moore The novel opens pretty much in the immediate wake of You Suck. The opening chapter is the first of many that are narrated by the unforgettable Abby Normal, self-proclaimed "emergency back-up mistress of the greater Bay Area night." Abby begins by providing a dizzying (and helpful) recap of the first two novels, but I'd strongly suggest you read Bloodsucking Fiends: A Love Story and You Suck: A Love Story before tackling this one. She and Foo Dog still inhabit the "love lair." Jody and Tommy are still encased in bronze. Chet, the huge shaved vampire cat is on the prowl. And all of our favorite San Franciscans are back: the Emperor, Bummer, and Lazarus; the Animals; cops Rivera and Cavuto; the folks from Asher's Secondhand Store; and others. And Moore fans, a beloved past character who's never shown up in San Francisco before makes an unexpected appearance in a supporting role. Be careful what you read about this novel. It would be a shame to ruin the surprise!
	Black Beauty by Anna Sewell. Published in 1877, it was composed in the last years of her life, during which she remained in her house as an invalid. The novel became an immediate bestseller, with Sewell dying just five months after its publication, long enough to see her first and only novel become a success. With fifty million copies sold, Black Beauty is one of the best-selling books of all time. While forthrightly teaching animal welfare, it also teaches how to treat people with kindness, sympathy, and respect. Black Beauty became a forerunner to the pony book genre of children's literature.
	*Blue Highways: A Journey into America* by William Least Heat-Moon . William's wife wants a separation. His college no longer needs him to teach. He hops in his old truck and drives, not on the Interstate or main roads but the backroads of America. On the old maps the main roads were red and the backroads blue. The people he meets and the lessons he learns have application for us all.
	The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury (P.S.) by Sam Weller. Accomplished journalist Sam Weller met the Ray Bradbury while writing a cover story for the Chicago Tribune Magazine and spent hundreds of hours interviewing Bradbury, his editors, family members, and longtime friends. With unprecedented access to private archives, he uncovered never–before–published letters, documents, and photographs that help tell the story of this literary genius and his remarkable creative journey. The result is a richly textured, detailed biography that illuminates the origins and accomplishments of Bradbury's fascinating mind.
	*Brave New World* by Aldous Huxley. Written in 1931 this fantasy of a not so far off future sheds a harsh critical light on the present. This is a book that will make you worry and then work to make the world a better place.
	*Breakfast of Champions* by Kurt Vonnegut. After Slaughterhouse Five came out in 1969, Kurt Vonnegut entered a long period of depression and swore he would never write another novel. Fortunately he was lying, and in 1973, out came Breakfast of Champions; or, Goodbye Blue Monday (the subtitle alluding to his fog lifting). Four years of pent-up Vonnegut humor spilled out onto the page. Breakfast of Champions is Vonnegut's scathing satire and brilliant doodling at their peak. (If you've ever wondered what an asshole looks like up close, this is the book for you.) It is, as the author notes, in no way intended to disparage General Mills or its fine products. Illustrated by Kurt Vonnegut. I believe that Kilgore Trout is Vonnegut's alter ego (I almost typed Altar Ego, which might also be true.) Kurt and Kilgore have discussions about life. Vonnegut did not like this novel but I did. Kilgore Trout is a widely published, but unknown writer who is invited to deliver a keynote address at a local arts festival in distant Midland City. Dwayne Hoover is a wealthy businessman who owns much of Midland City. Unfortunately Dwayne is mentally unstable and is undergoing a gradual mental collapse. Kilgore arrives in Midland City and, by happenstance, piques the interest of Dwayne. A confused Dwayne demands a message from Kilgore, who hands over a copy of his novel. Dwayne reads the novel, which purports to be a message from the Creator of the Universe explaining that the reader - in this case Dwayne - is the only individual in the universe with free will. Everyone else is a robot. Dwayne believes the novel to be factual and immediately goes on a violent rampage, severely beating his son, his lover, and nine other people before being taken into custody. Made in to a dreadful movie.
	*The Bridge of San Luis Rey* by Thornton Wilder. The first few pages of the first chapter of The Bridge of San Luis Rey explain the book's basic premise: this story centers on a (fictional) event that happened in Lima, Peru, at noon of Friday, July 20, 1714. A bridge woven by the Incas a century earlier collapsed at that particular moment, while five people were crossing it. The collapse was witnessed by Brother Juniper, a Franciscan monk who was on his way to cross it. Wanting to show the world of God's Divine Providence, he sets out to interview everyone he can find who knew the five victims. Over the course of six years, he compiles a huge book of all of the evidence he gathers to show that the beginning and end of a person is all part of God's plan for that person. Part One foretells the burning of the book that occurs at the end of the novel, but it also says that one copy of Brother Juniper's book survives and is at the library of the University of San Marco, where it sits neglected.
	*The Bridges at Toko-Ri* by James A. Mitchner. Tells the sad story of yet another clash between East and West, to add to the dozens in his Tales of the South Pacific. Published immediately after the Korean conflict, it was an exciting book about the heroes of the war, with a suitably dour tone that was the only possible way to approach the recent police action. U.S. Naval Reserve Lieutenant Harry Brubaker is a lawyer who finds himself 'voluntarily drafted' into flying missions over Korea, which creates major morale problems with his wife Nancy. She doesn't see why he should be the one to put his life on the line: he already served his country flying in the World War, after all. Having an equally rough time trying to keep Harry on the beam is his tough flight commander Wayne Lee , and paternalistic Rear Admiral George Tennant. After a close call, when helicopter rescue pilots Mike Forney and Nestor Gamidge pull Harry out of the Sea of Japan, Tennant gives him some R&R in Tokyo, and arranges for Nancy and his girls to meet him there. But marital tensions just grow stronger: Nancy wants him to quit, yet Harry feels obligated to carry through on the hazardous mission coming up. I read this book in 1954 and didn't like it. I was 13 years old, and like too many Americans, Korea was far, far away and unimportant. Later I reread it and loved it. I still do. It was made into a decent movie. Great special effects for the time (1954).
	*A Brief History of Time* by Stephen Hawkings. A landmark volume in science writing by one of the great minds of our time, Stephen Hawking’s book explores such profound questions as: How did the universe begin—and what made its start possible? Does time always flow forward? Is the universe unending—or are there boundaries? Are there other dimensions in space? What will happen when it all ends? Told in language we all can understand, A Brief History of Time plunges into the exotic realms of black holes and quarks, of antimatter and “arrows of time,” of the big bang and a bigger God—where the possibilities are wondrous and unexpected. With exciting images and profound imagination, Stephen Hawking brings us closer to the ultimate secrets at the very heart of creation.
	*Built To Last* by Jim Collins. This is the companion of Good To Great. This book looks at quality companies that have survived for a long time and what makes them great. BTW it is not high paid executives that make them great. Lots of good management ideas here.
	*Bully for Brontosaurus* by Stephen Jay Gould. This is the fifth volume of collected essays by the Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould. The essays were culled from his monthly column "This View of Life" in Natural History magazine, to which Gould contributed for 27 years. The book deals, in typically discursive fashion, with themes familiar to Gould's writing: evolution and its teaching, science biography, and probabilities. Brontosaurus restoration by Charles R. Knight which was used for the cover. The title essay, "Bully for Brontosaurus", discusses the theory and history of taxonomy by examining the debate over whether Brontosaurus should be labelled Apatosaurus. In "Justice Scalia's Misunderstanding", Gould dissects and decisively rejects Antonin Scalia's dissent in the United States Supreme Court case Edwards v. Aguillard that overturned the last creationist statute in the country. Gould claimed his favourite essay to be "In a Jumbled Drawer" which discusses the debate between Nathaniel Shaler and William James over whether the improbability of our having evolved necessitates divine intervention (Gould, like James, argues no); the essay includes a letter from former President Jimmy Carter as a postscript, which discusses the issue. The essay "Male Nipples and Clitoral Ripples" dealt with the issue of adaptive arguments. It derives from some work by Elisabeth Lloyd, whose subsequent 2005 book was dedicated to Gould (and her parents), and uses the case of the female orgasm to expand on the subject of adaptiveness in both depth and breadth.
	The Business of Fancy Dancing by Sherman Alexie. The book explores the tension between two Spokane men who grew up together on the Spokane Reservation in eastern Washington state: Seymour Polatkin and Aristotle. Seymour's internal conflict between his Indian heritage and his life as an urban gay man with a white boyfriend plays out in multiple cultures and relationships over his college and early adult years. His literary success as a famed American Indian poet, resulting in accolades from non-Indians, contrasts with a lack of approval from those he grew up with back on the reservation. The protagonist struggles with discomfort and alienation in both worlds.