Hillbilly Elegy

 Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

2016

Weight:8.8 oz

Method of Disposal: Lending Library Decatur, GA

This is a hard one.  I was interested in the part of this book that was more memoir, but the author would periodically include opinions that I found problematic and that would pull me out of the book real fast, like I had been slapped.  I was reading and in Appalachia, enthralled by what I was seeing and then, all the sudden, the author would say something overly generalized and even passive aggressive.  He would be frustrated and you are rooting, yes, yes....and then, no.  It was like he was putting blame in all the wrong places.

All in all, I enjoyed reading the book, and there were some good descriptions and moments, but I could have lived without the politics and the odd snippets about racism, welfare, and many class issues that really missed the mark.  A dumb thing to expect when reading the book of a politician, I suppose.

 

Weird Pennsylvania: Your Travel Guide to Pennsylvania's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets by Matt Lake
2005

Weight:2.45lbs

Method of Disposal: Leaving in a Lending Library

We recently made the trip to Pennsylvania to see a couple of shelter foster/volunteers turned friends and, in the extremely brief time we were there, we did a whirlwind tour of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.  It was an excellent taster, and there is so much more I would like to do now.  

We had Philly cheesesteaks in Philadelphia.  Mine was vegetarian, of course, and absolutely delicious.  We explored Doylestown and New Hope.  We visited Frenchtown, Lamberton, and then New York City.  It was my first time visiting any of these places.

In Doylestown, there were three bookstores, and I absolutely loved them all.  We bought a new book at Doylestown Bookshop and then bought a whole bag of used books for less than $10 at the other two used bookstores in town.  I might have kept going if I were not flying, but I had added a lot of weight to our luggage already.  I found Weird Pennsylvania in a cardboard box on the sidewalk for 98 cents.  Yes, please.  What oddities could I find in Bucks County that even our hosts did not know about?

It was more paranormal and ghost focused that others I have read in the Weird collection, so there was much less I was enthusiastic enough about visiting than usual, but it was still interesting.  I was quite intrigued by the Rosicrucians and their pyramids.  The fact that Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln a part of that group added to the appeal and the mystery.  The secrecy and symbolism is somewhat irresistible, despite myself.

Anywho, I always love a good flip through the Weird books when I am traveling and, also, searching Atlas Obscura online.  As if there was not enough to do before opening up all the weird!  The world is so big and complicated, and it is endlessly amusing when you have time to look a little harder aka are not working all day every day.

Dog Stories

 Dog Stories (Everyman's Library Pocket Classics Series)

2010

Weight: 14 oz

Method of Disposal: Recycling pieces and throwing out pieces

Another victim of Wisconsin.  I suppose he decided to move in from Middle Eastern Studies.  Or maybe, he just did not like this collection.  It was fairly sad for a dog lover, especially a modern day dog lover, but it was also well worth the read if you can stomach the sadness.  I say this because I am married to someone who will not watch a tv show or movie where the dog dies or suffers too much.  She is as huge fan of www.doesthedogdie.com.  So, I figured some readers out there may want to know.  Sometimes the dog suffers mightily, sometimes the dog dies, sometimes it is unclear if the dog has a physical form.

It is hard to decide, but two of the top stories for me were Black Dog by Penelope Lively and "The Hermit's Story" by Rick Bass.  I do not want to give anything away so I guess I better not go any further but, even if you do not read the rest of the collection, I would read those.

Oh, and winner for first line!  Mark Twain, of course.

"My father was a St Bernard, my mother was a collie, but I am a Presbyterian."

Also, Best Insult, "Her husband did not look at her.  Her face annoyed him, but he did not know why. She could be good-looking but there were times when she was not.  Her face was like a series of photographs, some of which ought to have been thrown away."

"My Lord You" James Salter

My Autistic Dog

America at War by Dan Rather and the Reporters of CBS News 2003 19 oz 

Captive in Iran: A Remarkable True Story of Hope and Triumph Amid the Horror of Tehran's Brutal Evin Prison by Maryam Rostampour 2013 18 oz

The Iraq War: As Witnessed by the Correspondents and Photographers of United Press International 2003 18 oz

Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia by Ahmed Rashid 2002 8oz

Total: 63 oz

Method of Disposal: Dog Shredding Them in Preparation of Recycling

Wisconsin was born to a high-strung, energetic, and stubborn young pit bull that we named Georgia, on August 19, 2015.  He was part of a large litter who was temporarily fostered by a shelter employee before coming back to the shelter to be adopted.  Soon, all but three puppies found homes.  The only ones left were the black and white ones, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Dakota.  They grew up at the shelter, became bow legged, fought off mange, and became extremely mouthy.  Volunteers grew scared of them.  Harriet and I took them all home when they hit about 10 months old, to run free with our young pup, Whiskey, until we could find them a family.

Dakota went into foster and was adopted first.  Then, Nevada was adopted.  Finally, Wisconsin went home.  They were great, but they were energetic and clumsy babies.  We were glad for some peace.  Almost one year later, Wisconsin was returned with dark, purple bruising all over him.  He had restraint marks on his wrists and bruising on his chest.  I called Harriet crying, and she let me bring Wisconsin back home.  He proceeded to act more and more strange and, ultimately, it was suggested he might have rabies.  We took him to the emergency room where it was discovered he had a foreign body.  I got a phone call from the doctor who saved him, and she was quite cagey with me.  It did not take long to realize it was because she was trying to determine if I abused the poor boy.

He had been gone 9 months, and he came back completely changed.  He is such a sweet and sleepy guy most of the time, but he is ultra sensitive to sounds, lights, changing environments, activity, and he cannot control himself when he is around water.  Show him a lake, and he will try to drown, biting onto roots at the very bottom and refusing to let go.  Turn on a hose or a blender, and his eyes will change, and he will bite you.  It is hard to explain, but it is not like your typical aggression.  He is just frantic and grabbing everything within reach and, if you are within reach, he cannot distinguish what is what.

After he bit me for using a hose one day, we realized we could not adopt him out.  We understood his triggers.  We knew he needed a routine.  We knew he had to bing the clips on the side of the grill every single time he went outside before he could go into the yard to go to the bathroom.  Who else would have the patience to learn him?  We adopted him.  He was seen by a veterinary behaviorist who said, we do not label dogs as autistic yet, but, if we did, he would be labeled autistic.  We had to keep his toys to a minimum, decrease his excitement, medicate him, and find the right balance of alone time and together time.  It has been a roller coaster, albeit absolutely worth it.

In the last month, we've had a family living with us that lost their home to a fire, and we have loved having them here.  It has changed the routine a bit, and he struggles with toddler bath time.  We've had quite a few casualties.  For a minute there, I was trying to decide if he was extremely interested in the Middle East or just flat out disdainful.  He pulled the above books from various shelves and destroyed them all, on different days.  Given, he took out a printer, paper shredder, garbage can, office chair, an old portrait of my great grandparents, and quite a few original paintings and prints that were hung on the wall.  So...maybe not.

He has an Impact crate, but it is too large to fit in his room.  We ordered him a smaller one--they are not cheap, by the by, at around $1500, but he loves them.  If you leave his crate door open, he will go in there and go to sleep.  He loves being by himself in his room or in his crate.  Just as long as you do not shut the door when something scary is happening--like a blender, vacuum cleaner, FEDEX driver, dogs on tv, headlights bouncing off the walls, on and on and on.  

He has black out curtains, Impact crates, Prozac, Clonidine, Selieo (as needed), Thundershirts, ear muffs.  I have never met a dog like him, and I have worked at a dog and cat shelter for 15 years.  He is a magical beast and highly unusual, but we love him.  Normally.  Right now, I am watching him eat my library book by book so it is a little hard, but I know I will always love him underneath all that frustration.  We all have our limits and our baggage.

 

Journals

 Journals by Kurt Cobain

2003

Weight: 1.7 lbs

Method of Disposal: Recycling what I can and throwing away the rest

My neurotic dog grows more unstable every time life changes in any capacity.  The joyful sounds of a toddler taking a bath wreak havoc on his pea brain.  Once he has sunk his teeth into something he cannot forget it.  He fixates for life.  We went from steel/metal/water from his shelter life to plastic (waste baskets, printers, paper shredders) to paintings to books.  In the last week, I have lost 5 books, including Kurt Cobain's journals.  Broken minds are drawn to each other, I guess.

Before recycling what I can and trashing the rest, I have been rereading each book through the tears and teeth marks.  In the case of this book, Neuro-Dog ingested Kurt's letter to his dad, which I would have really liked to look at, and the rest was just torn up and scattered.  

The journals brought me back to being a teenager and were insightful.  It was fun to see him forming songs, the band name, connections, knowing what they would become, but it was (of course) sad too.  Knowing what happens next.  I sort of think he would have appreciated Wisconsin chewing up his personal musings and shitting them out.  I really do.  So, I guess this was an appropriate way to dispatch this book, though I was very frustrated at the time.