reading

i like to read. i don't always read worthy books - in fact most of the time i am just read various genre books, such as SF, crime/thriller and horror. in amongst the genres are the serious books about the world we live in - books on politics, history and sociology (i will be the first to admit i like buying these books but i don't always read them, but i try!)
currently i am reading 4 books (different books for different places - there is the bed book, the bag book and the toilet book). the bed book is a SF one called "space" by stephen baxter - he is seen as being the hard science fiction writer of his generation - the heir to the legacy of arthur c clarke (but perhaps without the young boys (allegedly) that arthur is supposed to favour). have to say it started off really good - but has sorted of come to a point where although the end is in sight i am having trouble finishing it off, i have just lost interest. have managed to start and finish a thriller by robert crais.
am about to start a second bed book - the second volume of the dark tower from stephen king. i am pretty sure i am going to enjoy reading it, i just know that when i get to end of it i will be asking myself what was that all about. king has a great easy to read style and there are moments of sheer poetry and wonder in the books. yet like a chinese meal a few moments after it is finished you wonder what it was you read.
the bag book is nick cohen's "pretty straight guys" which is a pretty scathing account about how new labour has turned it's back on the traditional roots of the labour party and the working class. the worst part of it is that as you read it and sigh, it seems current news stories just reinforce what he is saying (take a bow david blunkett). i recommend the book to anyone - it's well written, occasionally funny (i was lucky enough see nick cohen give a talk at the SWP conference several years ago and he was very funny, entertaining and educational).
the bog book is al franken's "lies and the lying liars who tell them." in some ways it's a book in the same sort of area as the cohen one - the main difference is the style of writing. cohen demonstrates his journalistic background so the book is peppered with references and contexts to much of what he is talking about.
the franken book is pretty much an attack on the right wing in america - taking no prisoners as he goes, as he attacks anne coulter, hannity, o'reilly, karl rove and others. it's the same sort of territory that michael moore covers, the tone and style differ but the passion is pretty much the same.
the real problem with the books of people like franken is that these are not trying to be balanced (no reason why they should be), there is very little attempt to contextualise the material and there is little in terms of analysis. these are books of the moment, they are books that appeal in the here and now. there is no really enough in them for you to want to come back to them later as a reference book. (again nothing wrong with them being polemical).
perhaps i am being harsh on franken and this might be because of the fact he has had a pop a coulter for using endnotes, but provides little in the way of notes, bibliography, sources etc.
perhaps i am just being a snobby ex (read failed) academic.
but hats of the al for the book - i am pretty sure i shan't be reading any more of his books.
i am now a fan of air america radio - so a big thank you to al franken for that.

if you want to check it out go to www.airamericaradio.com its fun to listen to.

ok it's late here and the laptop i am using is crap and i need to sleep.

darn this thing won't load.........