Chris Kiley > Recent Status Updates

Witty! Mischievous! Makes me want to read each play along with each interview

Again I’m pulled back to the thought that a sexual ethic so centered on monogamy instead of pleasure leaves much to be desired. The emphasis on consent, desire (and different ways to communicate it), education, and acknowledgment of the risk (and level of risk) of all sexual activity, and lack there of, found outside of normative sex fosters individual autonomy alongside community.

Like any good American novel, the American dream has been the enemy all along.

The core thesis of the book; that cultural evolution and acquisition of certain skills/habits is not only impacted by our physiology/genetic expression but impacts our physiology/genetic expression. The authors back this up very well, along with the assertion that by studying primarily WEIRD populations, psychology and neuro-biology are not explaining universal human behavior but culturally specific behaviors.

Audio book

This book is making me wish I had a book club

Gripping. Same narrative voice as the first wizard of earthsea book, very different plot and pacing.

I think this will be one of my favorites in the new year.

A slow read. Pained and painful. There is recurring imagery and metaphors of surgery and medical experimentation that bring up feelings of distrust and powerlessness. Fundamentally the poetry feels raw and lonely, much more so than The Colossus and Winter Trees.

This book really is a moment in time. Reading some of the anecdotes I have to remind myself it was written before 2005. I am reminded often of the habits of adults I grew up around, while this sometimes brings up nostalgia more often I find myself instinctively irked and then softening as the earnestness and general kindness of her intentions set it. Still a fun read.

Possibly my favorite book I’ve read all year. Playful, earnest, interesting. I’m going to finish it tomorrow.

One of the most delightful and playful books I’ve ever read. I’m already loving the structure, the writing, and the peak back and ‘90s and ‘00s life.

I like the positioning of money as something that must be investigated as a theology and find the arguments for why to be fairly simple and uncontroversial in describing what money does and how it’s treated. I think this book’s strengths will be in its central argument and the tools it provides for understanding money theologically. The details and sub-theses provide many questions and paths to study further.

I have been listening on Audio book and this has made it easier to grasp the broader concepts and keep going but, I definitely want a second read through with a paper book and ideally a book club to delve into the denser bits. Since finishing Foucault’s History of Sexuality Part 1 it’s been easier to grasp the bits I found slippery.

It requires careful reading and some looking-up of concepts and definitions as one would expect of a philosophical book. The text is much more conversational and approachable than I anticipated, almost like an engaging lecture. It’s very much a book that invites dialogue with the reader in the margins and benefits from a critical read.

Written in a very similar way to a lot of classical religious and mythic texts. I enjoy the style and gravitas but understand how it might read as dry to people with a strong preference for character perspectives and single narratives. Beautiful prose.