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04/06/01 07:08 PM: Sure, put all the pressure
Sure, put all the pressure on me. . . . Just kidding. Science rocks. I wish my school had a Science Olympiad. It sounds like fun.
So much to do, so little time. I’ve been spending the majority of my free time reading lately. I bought Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States:1492-Present back around Christmas. I blew through the first few chapters while was on vacation. Then my workload increased again, and it basically sat on my floor gathering dust for a few months. We are beginning to study the Industrial Age in history class. The teacher teaches three sections of this particular course, but there are only enough textbooks for two. My class has an outdated text from 1981. It is rather interesting in that it presents each topic in the form of two chapters: the first, the in-depth story of a person, event, or something like that; the second, a broader look at the topic and an explanation of how the first chapter relates to it. Quite interesting indeed. But the format lends itself to leaving large gaps. We don’t get many assignments to read from the text, only to get the background information when we delve into a new topic. Actually, I can only recall two chapters that we were actually made to read from our text. Much of the information contained in it is simply irrelevant to what we do in class. The teacher usually photocopies chapters from the textbook that the other two classes use and gives us those to read. Well, that’s what happened again this time, except that we haven’t gotten the copies yet. So I started reading the chapter of Zinn’s book that deals with the Industrial Age. It’s good stuff. It really is. Admittedly, it’s a bit one-sided, but it is no trouble to find the other side from any number of sources. I’ve also been boning up on Mumia Abu-Jamal. His Live From Death Row is quite thought-provoking. It leaves you grappling with the issue of Justice vs. Law. I just started reading In Defense of Mumia, a collection of essays, poems, drawings from tons of different people in support of Mumia. It’s not a “book” per se, but it’s also pretty interesting.
By the way, don’t think that I’m endorsing Amazon.com. I wouldn’t suggest purchasing these items (or anything else) from them. Their prices are pretty ridiculous, not to mention other issues. But their customer reviews are probably one of the best ways to decide whether the book is worth your money (even though the majority of the reviewers post reviews either because they thought the book was the best thing they’ve ever read or the worst). Try your local bookstore or, even better, your local used bookstore. I wish I had a local used bookstore. . . . You can find some good deals on used (and sometimes new) books at powells.com and half.com.
