Summer Reading

So today at work I finished the book The Mad Ones: Crazy Joe Gallo and the Revolution at the Edge of the Underworld by Tom Folsom. After seeing Folsom interviewed on The Daily Show about the book, I decided to check it out, although I don't often chose to read non-fiction.

The book follows the life of gangster Joe Gallo, his 2 brothers, and the rest of his gang. Together they turned the "Underworld" of the Mafia upside, annoying many of the big families, but also acting as a modern day Robin Hood. But you know, with guns instead of arrows.

One of the things which really struck me about Joey Gallo was how well-educated he really was. He was always getting in to philosophical discussion and debates regarding Sarte and Machiavelli's The Prince. His own writings were even incredibly insightful. As he once wrote in his journal,

"Things exist when I feel they exist, okay? Me. I am the world. The world is in me. Good, bad, ugly, beautiful- it's all there. Everything... I am alive. I feel it, therefore it exists. And if it exists, it's not good, it's not bad. It just is."

I'm really looking forward to see the casting for this future movie, and also just the movie itself. It's going to make a great story to watch!

This summer I also decided to finally read a Chuck Palahniuk novel. I've always heard amazing reviews of the famed author of Fight Club, but had never read a full novel of his. Two years ago I was at a bookstore and picked up a copy of his short stories and true-life experiences. I stopped and just stood there reading one of the stories and put it away, deciding to read another book by another author. Later on I read another one of his short stories and once again found mself incredibly disturbed. But finally I decided this summer to try again, and I really am glad that I did.

I went to the library and picked up his book Rant, which happened to be the only one of his books available that day. It's written in the style of an oral-biography, apparently much like the book Capote. It was very interesting to follow multiple people's perspective on ultimately the same story about the same person. Palahniuk gives you little bits of pieces which don't really make any sense until the very end.

I then picked up Lullaby, which Palahniuk wrote while his father's murderer was on trial. Palahniuk was asked whether or not he wanted the man to be executed, which led to him questioning his own feelings on the Death Penalty. This book deals greatly with issues of life, death, religion, and who has the right to play God, especially so now days for a modern novel. Simply said- although it was very twisted, it's definitely one I would recommend.

Anyways, with all the stuff I'll be doing leading up to leaving, I probably won't have as much time to read. So now it'll be mostly Woolf and Shakespeare. For all of you who are interested, this is what I'll be reading.

Woolf: Jacob's Room, Mrs. Dalloway, and the Waves

Shakespeare: As You Like It, Julius Caesar, Winter's Tale, and Romeo and Juliet

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