I Survived Capitalism and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt by Madeline Pendleton
I forget exactly how I heard about this book, but I knew as soon as I saw the title, I wanted to read this book. It seemed like a great combination of wit and anti-capitalism, both a success story and a manifesto. I will say, however, that if there is a bad idea, it’s probably for a socialist to read a book written from an anti-capitalist perspective prior to going to work at a retail establishment. There were a lot of days I went into work fired up and crabby.
I was shocked by the preface, in which Pendleton’s boyfriend, overwhelmed by the stress of his financially floundering business, which had run successfully for a couple decades, dies by suicide. It was a stark reminder right from the get go that there are real and tragic consequences and that this isn’t just an intellectual exercise.
After this in media res, the narrative of the book takes us back to Pendleton growing up in Fresno, California. Each chapter is mostly about her life and experiences, but also veers into statistics and data without being dry or boring. Each chapter ends with a Capitalism Survival Skill, which I thought was a great touch. Needless to say that I’ve been talking about it pretty positively and the list of people who want to borrow it now that I’m done with it is pretty long.
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Novelist as a Vocation by Haruki Murakami
I’m back on my bullshit, as the kids are saying these days (I think). I read most of the second half of Capitalism in my living room while enjoying coffee or tea or just the winter sunshine through the window. After I finished it, I decided to pick this book back up to enjoy it in the same way.
I can’t remember much of what I had read or how I felt about this book previous to taking a break from it, but I picked back up with a chapter about Murakami’s relationship and feelings about formal education. They mirror my own in a lot of ways. But I kind of want to save that for a longer post.
That is to say, I forgot why I stopped reading this book. Probably had just been reading a more interesting novel at the time.
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Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
I literally just started this the other night, so I don’t have much to say about it yet, other than to restate that it was recommended to me by my younger twin and that the cover blurb (“Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space!”) is what really drew me in. Stoked to be reading this finally.
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The Doomsday Key by James Rollins
This book was also a recommendation, this one from my older brother, but one that I solicited. He didn’t know what to get me for last Christmas (’23), so I asked for a copy of his favorite book. He kind of misinterpreted and is just loaning me his copy, but still. I think that a great way to get to know people better is to join them in their hobbies and interests. I know my brother pretty well, but I’m stoked to be doing something that can bring us closer.
From the back of the book, the story seems to have the kind of plot that made Dan Brown a household name. I’m down with that, though it’s not my genre of choice. But variety is the spice of life, so I’m stoked about it.
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Moby Dick by Herman Melville (not pictured)
It’s not pictured because I took it back to the library because I stopped reading it. I’d made it roughly halfway through and I was just not getting out of it what I expected or wanted. Of course the style was exhaustingly loquacious, but it also read like Melville’s research about the whaling industry presented as narrative. Anyway, life is too short to read books that you’re not excited to read.
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What are you reading right now? Any recommendations?
The Chimerical Dark 