Book Report.

I finished two books this week. The first is Oprah's Book Club pick this month, which shouldn't scare you off if you're a literary snob.

Oprah chooses some challenging subjects. The Reader, now a major motion picture, was one of her choices. And now, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, a nearly 600 page tome, is another.

Edgar Sawtelle is a meticulously-written first novel that, it turns out, is a modern re-telling of Hamlet, with a little Greek Tragedy thrown in for good measure. The fact that it took me about a third of the novel to figure this out, is testament to how modern and captivating the re-telling is.

The novel takes place on a farm in rural Wisconsin, where the family business is raising a fictitious breed of dog. The Sawtelle dog.

Edgar Sawtelle is Gar and Trudy's only son. He was born mute, but communicates with his parents, and the dogs, with a combination of sign language and telepathy. There's also his Dad's twin brother, Claude -- the conflicted, bad seed. But you'll have to read it to get the skinny on him.

What makes the novel riveting, and what also gives it its most evocative tragic quality, is that each of the characters is profoundly flawed. Sometimes lovingly so, sometimes maddeningly so.

It makes it interesting, and sometimes challenging, to read a novel where you don't always like the main character.

But lest you thought there was no one likable in the novel, get ready for the dogs themselves.

If you love dogs, you MUST read this novel.

You'll not only learn the finer points of animal husbandry and training, you'll be introduced to one of the most generous, and furriest, heroines in all of literature. Almondine, Edgar Sawtelle's closest confidante and staunchest ally, personifies service and goodness. She will break your heart with a wag of her tail.

So, as you might have guessed, this was a deep and nuanced read. The sort of thing you need to sit with and ponder. Which is exactly why I followed it up with Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher.

The book is based on what surely must be a gut-splitting one-woman show. It details her life living with addictions of all kinds, a bi-polar disorder, and a regrettable hairstyle in Star Wars.

I couldn't put it down. I actually didn't put it down. Read it, in its entirety, in two sittings.

Inspiration, then perspiration

Much has and will be written about this Inauguration Day.

I know I'll remember it forever -- like where I was when the first man walked on the moon or when the Berlin Wall came down.

History and possibility intertwined. Hope and exhilaration. The shock of the possible.

If this truly impossible and inconceivable change can happen, what more can we do?

"Let it be told to the future world... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

It takes way, way more courage to be part of the solution than it does to criticize the process.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

An American Prayer

Dear God,

Bless Barack Obama.

He has willingly embraced the toughest job in the world. Right now he's the world's President.

Certainly in my lifetime, there's never been so much goodwill extended to a foreign leader. Help him succeed with the same dignity, humility and message of hopefulness that we've seen throughout his campaign.

Keep him safe, God.

The unspoken threat is always there. We've lost so many other truly great leaders before their time. We don't need another martyr.

It's inevitable that this new president will make some mistakes, maybe piss off some people, and move slower than some people would like. Help us be patient.

And help us realize that our common welfare should come first. Personal progress for the greatest number depends on unity.

And help those of us in countries that border America to demand leaders who are as charismatic and full of grace as Barack Obama.

They're out there. Let us find them, cultivate them, and elect them to office. Public service is a vocation. Let's elect leaders that reinforce this fact.

In closing, God, I just wanted to say "Thank You." Thanks for allowing me to live in such interesting, challenging and inspirational times. I remember being woken up to watch the first moonwalk.

And today,...today, a man with a black, Kenyan father and a white American mother will put his hand on the Bible and swear the oath of office to be the President of the United States of America.

Amen.

Revolutionary Road

My BFF and I saw Revoloutionary Road this weekend. It's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" for our generation.

Even before the movie started, the energy was so intense that a fight nearly broke out for the seat in front of us...twice!

If you've been living under a rock, you haven't heard that this film marks the first celluloid reunion of Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio since Titantic. The two movies couldn't be more different, except maybe that their marriage in Revolutionary Road is sinking big time.

Don't worry, I won't spoil it for you if you haven't already seen it.

But I'll say this: the movie is a perfect study of two people who come together because of a mutual dislike of the same thing.

We couldn't stop talking about it...probably because we couldn't shake off the gloom. Don't expect to be uplifted. Expect to be challenged.

And expect to ask yourself the question, "What am I afraid of?"

The Ingenuity Gap

In the wake of the miraculous aftermath of the US Airways crash into the Hudson River yesterday I read, with interest, the pilot's story.

It seems like everything in life had prepared Sully Sullenberger for that moment.

He was trained in the Armed Forces and had 28 years of flying with US Airways under his belt.

He is also the president of Safety Reliability Methods, a company that provides safety, performance and reliability consulting to various businesses. He co-wrote, with NASA, a report on crew decision-making errors in times of emergency.

In addition to doing the impossible -- landing his Airbus 320 intact, in the freezing waters of the Hudson -- Sullenberger reportedly was the last one off the plane.

He walked the aisles twice, ensuring that all passengers and crew were safely deplaned.

In what could only be described as the most complex set of circumstances, Sullenberger made all the right decisions. Helped, no doubt, by the gentle hand of God.

This incident reminded me of a story that launches Thomas (Tad) Homer-Dixon's book, The Ingenuity Gap.

I met Dixon about fifteen years ago.

He's a brainiac who holds the International Innovation Governance Chair of Global Systems at the School for International Studies in Waterloo. He's also distractingly good-looking.

Tad focuses his research on the threats to global security in the 21st century and on how societies adapt to complex economic, ecological, and technological change.

He measures a country's "development" based on their ability to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances.

And he launches his book with a breathless account of another incident in the sky. This time it's United Airlines Flight 232 from Denver to Chicago.

A complex set of incidents. And the impossible. Plus, a word from our sponsor: God.

You can read the chapter, in its entirety here.

The book's a page turner, too.

Everybody salsa

I've signed up for salsa lessons at a local dance studio.

It really doesn't matter what dance I learn.

The purpose of the endeavour is to have fun while burning calories and getting fit.

And maybe win the Mirrorball Trophy. Now that would be something.

Cold Shoulder

The city has issued a cold weather alert today, so I opted for the subway instead of my usual mode of transport, which is walking.

As I was making my way to the subway station, I met a guy.

"Excuse me," he said. "How cold do you think it is?"

"Well," I said, "the news is reporting -30 with the wind chill."

He looked horrified.

"You're not from around here," I ventured.

"Just arrived from South Africa two weeks ago," he said. "It's summer there."

So I did the Canadian thing and apologized...this time for the weather.

And I gave him a little primer about what to do in the cold (layer, stay inside with cups of cocoa and good books) and what not to do (polar bear swims, stick your tongue on a slide).

I also gave him the three minute Canadian Literature synopsis, that begins with Susannah Moodie's "Roughing it in the Bush" and briefly mentions Roch Carriere's "The Hockey Sweater."

Canadian identity is rooted in the weather, I explained. If you don't believe me, just read Margaret Atwood.

All in all, we managed to make it to the subway station without half noticing how cold it was.

"Do you think it's cold?" he asked as we bade farewell on the subway platform.

"Not so much," I said. "Where I come from, it's actually colder than this."

I'm pretty sure I could see him shiver.