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Myles Murchison

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July 2011

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Liars, when they're not good at it, drop visual clues. Downcast eyes, lack of animation. Even their breathing changes. Then again, some people can lie in your eye and smile while they're at it. Sometimes they don't even know they're lying: they just want to believe they wouldn't hurt a fly or that it's always snowing in Canada.

Truth is a vibration, I'm told. It sends out it's own signal as surely Read more of this blog post »

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Published on July 22, 2011 15:18

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Myles Murchison’s books

Average rating: 3.33 · 3 ratings · 1 review · 4 distinct works

	Walking In really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2011 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Year After Custer it was ok 2.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2011 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Deathless, The 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 1989	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Perfect Breadbox by Myles Murchison (Goodreads Author), Luana Mercy (Photographs) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2012	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America

by Albert Brooks

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read in August 2011

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Myles Murchison said: " Albert Brooks has always been funny, for me at least. He was heartbreakingly funny as an actor in "Broadcast News" (Oscar nomination). "Defending Your Life" (screenplay, director, actor) was among the best and certainly funniest visionary movies ever Albert Brooks has always been funny, for me at least. He was heartbreakingly funny as an actor in "Broadcast News" (Oscar nomination). "Defending Your Life" (screenplay, director, actor) was among the best and certainly funniest visionary movies ever made. So I was looking forward to his first novel, "2030: What Really Happens to America."

The New York Times Book Review raved about Brooks' "ingenious" novel, Publisher's Weekly called it "as entertaining as it is thought provoking...a borscht belt H.G. Wells," while the Los Angeles Times described it "a caustic, unsettling and only occasionally comic portrait of a country plumb down on its luck."

Maybe that's the problem -- "only occasionally comic." Exactly. I laughed aloud a couple of times in "2030," caught off guard by his wry wit as I frequently was in his movies. But, in the book, really not so much.

Now maybe Brooks had more than entertainment in mind. Perhaps he was sounding a warning to America (I have to admit, it often sounded that way) and, if so, he did well. His political pamphleteering has probably made more money than Mein Kampf, and, of course, here at least, everyone would agree "2030" is way funnier.

For some Amazon reviewers, not being funny was okay. "It really does have something to say..." said a reviewer who gave "2030" five stars, "...it is still a good read even if you think the ideas presented are socially left leaning." Well, I'm probably considered a lefty (I'm Canadian, after all) but it wasn't the way the ideas were leaning that bothered me: They just didn't stand up and make me laugh.

Trouble is: Brooks sets it all up as comedy. Sitcom characters, lots of sarcasm, quick cuts juxtaposing a love-sick president to a homeless grump estranged from his son to the guy who cured cancer being stalked by a clueless revolutionary. But if it's not funny, what is it?

Arguably, it's prescient. Brooks was onto the debt crisis before the debt ceiling fiasco. He predicts the cure for cancer is a technology that uses one's own blood cells, currently front page news. He proposes a remedy for America's health care system, even a means by which young people gain political equality with privileged seniors living longer and longer on government entitlements.

But, too often, I heard polemic rants and, for me, not very interesting resolutions to predictions Brooks cast as unsolvable. His concept of the future of America is relentlessly bleak. Not the stuff that makes you laugh until you pee yourself.

I wouldn't go so far as the Amazon reviewer who gave it one star, calling the book "disappointing, unsophisticated (that) reads like it was written by a smart alecky high school student" but neither did I agree with the five-star reviewer who "could often hear his voice telling me the story." I seldom heard Brooks' voice at all.

But let's not discount those who disagree with me, the people who showered "2030" with five stars: "Could not put this thing down, read it in a single sitting"..."Simply could not put it down and read it in an afternoon"..."This is also the only long novel I've ever read that was so riveting I had to finish it in a day"..."This book is so amazing my eyes actually melted out of my head..."

Wouldn't we all want reviews like that?

I think, however, Albert Brooks himself summed up my three-star reaction to "2030" when he spoke to the New York Times last year, before the book was published. He said, “I don’t want to be the one to break it to you, but the future ain’t that funny."

Myles Murchison, author, "Walking In" ...more "

Aug 11, 2011 11:54AM · see review

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Jul 17, 2011 03:29PM

Myles Murchison, born in England, raised on the Canadian prairies, now resides in the sunny beach community of White Rock, British Columbia. He began his career at the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper, later worked in radio where his documentary work received the Edward R. Murrow Award, the first Canadian to receive the honor. After working in advertising and marketing, he turned his hand to magazine writing and his stories were honored by the National Magazine Awards, the Western Canadian Magazine Awards, and British Columbia's prestigious Jack Webster Foundation. His plays and musicals have been performed throughout Canada and the U.K. His first novel, an occult mystery, The Deathless, was published by Ballantine Books (Random House, New York). His new book available online is Walking In, an inspiring New Age comedy.

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Myles Murchison’s Followers (2)

Myles’s Bookshelves

Myles’s Friends

Myles Murchison

Goodreads Author

1 post
Myles Murchison's Blog

The Truth Rose

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Myles Murchison’s books

Myles is Currently Reading

Myles’s Friend Comments

Myles Murchison’s Followers (2)

Myles’s Bookshelves

Myles’s Friends

Myles Murchison

Goodreads Author

1 postMyles Murchison's Blog

The Truth Rose

Combine EditionsMyles Murchison’s books

Myles is Currently Reading

Myles’s Friend Comments

1 post
Myles Murchison's Blog

Combine Editions
Myles Murchison’s books