Remember That Time We Were In McDonalds?

In D.C.? And we saw that guy in a trench coat? With a portable D.V.D. player? And Rossman was like "Hey look, that guy's from the future!"

When I look back over time and think about things that have influenced my perspective on life, and more specifically, my humor, that moment stands out.

On that note, I am pleased to share the following news with you:

Joseph A. O'Leary has purchased a Kindle. And he has read 3.5 books in less than 72 hours.

The present beware. The future beware. He's coming!
All jokes aside, here are some terrific book reviews by none other than Mr. Joe O:

Drug Crazy: How We Got Into This Mess, and How We Can Get Out by Mike Gray. This is a really informative look into the 80+ year drug war in America by a Chicago journalist. The ridiculous ignorance of the Bill of Rights and hideous race-baiting that constituted the start of the narcotics prohibition movement is a highlight, as is the section on marijuana's rise as a perceived threat in the 1950s and Pablo Escobar's violent emergence via cocaine trafficking in Colombia in the 1980s. If you want some solid ammunition for why drugs should be legalized, you could do a lot worse than this book. Also, the author does a good job of alternating between sobering facts and interesting vignettes (like the one at the start of the book involving a police raid on a Chicago drug gang that spills across numerous city blocks), which keeps things consistently engaging.

Traffic by Tom Vanderbilt. I'm about halfway through this book about driving and traffic and how these two common tasks reflect (and are influenced by) human psychology. I was a bit tentative about buying this book at first - I mean, traffic is bad enough when you're stuck in it, why force yourself to read about it in your spare time? - but have found it to be thoroughly enjoyable due to its broad scope into the proverbial "human condition." If nothing else, it will prompt some interesting conversations on future road trips.

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. This is a short novel by Vonnegut that was written from the perspective of someone who tracks down the inventor of the atomic bomb and interviews his children shortly after Hiroshima, although the diversion to a rustic island roughly halfway through the book provides for a number of bizarre tangents. It moves along at a nice clip and by the end provides a thought-provoking commentary on man's capacity to inflict doom on a reticent Mother Earth. Slaughterhouse Five and Breakfast of Champions come more highly recommended, but this is a good introduction to Vonnegut's work, should you require it.

Seven Seconds or Less: My Season on the Bench with the Runnin' and Gunnin' Phoenix Suns by Jack McCallum. Profiles McCallum's role as a pseudo-assistant coach on the Suns' 2005-2006 team led by Steve Nash and Shawn Marion during the year Amar'e Stoudemire was sidelined due to two knee injuries. This is only recommended for fans of basketball (and particularly of the Suns' form of ball as defined by Mike D'Antoni). It's not particularly enlightening in any way, but the behind-the-scenes interplay of coaches and players is often funny, and the narrative (written from the perspective of the Suns' playoff experience in 2006) keeps you turning the pages.

Also, even though it doesn't fall into the category of recent reads, I cannot recommend A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson highly enough. It is unequivocally my favorite non-fiction book, and distills virtually every important scientific discovery in the history of mankind into compelling, relatable, and often hilarious prose. From the Big Bang through the rise of the dinosaurs and the struggle of early man to more recent achievements like atomic theory, nuclear fission, and space travel, Bryson touches on almost every question you could have and answers it with the help of numerous experts in a book that is shockingly enjoyable to read. If you read just one book this lifetime, make it this one.

Thanks, Joe!