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"We have Councils of Vocations, Councils of Eugenics, every possible kind of Council - and if these do not as yet hold total power over us, is it from lack on intention?"

One of the many things I dislike about being a grown-up is the compulsion to have a purpose in life. People are forever asking why you are doing whatever you happen to be doing and before long you succumbed the need to supply an answer. ... Once you've established yourself as a more or less properly functioning adult, it is nearly impossible to just fl somewhere and screw off.

"Memory loss is the key to human reproduction. If you remembered what new parenthood was actually like you wouldn't go around lying to people about how wonderful it is, and you certainly wouldn't ever do it twice."

"Make no mistake: America is in a media war. It is an extension of the Cold War that never ended but shifted too an electronic front... Instead of misses the new weapon was language and education, and the international left had successfully constructed a global infrastructure to get its message out."

These authors assert that "In trying to build a society that celebrates high self-esteem, self-expression, and 'loving yourself,' Americans have inadvertently created more narcissists - and a culture that brings out the narcissistic behavior in all of us. This book chronicles American culture's journey from self-admiration, which seemed so good, to the corrosive narcissism that threatens to infect us all."

I love Spencer's lyrical descriptions. And while I wish the pace was faster, the pace is does have creates the feeling that it's JUST ABOUT to take off. That subtle anticipation encourages me to keep reading page after page.

This is my 2nd Scott Spencer novel (Man in the Woods being the highly enjoyable 1st). I wanted to check out more from Spencer & this title is greatly celebrated. THANKFULLY it is thus far not sappy like I expected when I judged this book by the title. It opens with a lovesick 17 year old boy describing burning down the house of his ex-gf after being banished for 17 days from her house by her father. So far, so good!

"I would've expected at the very least a sense of terror, an atavistic revulsion, a realization that what I was doing was unequivolcally wrong, not simply because the society of which I was a member called it such but because it was murder, a primal crime. There was nothing like that, though. And perhaps this shouldn't be surprising-perhaps it's romantic to expect that epiphanic realization..."

This is such a great book! McCourt writes with the wit & comedic timing akin to Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Burt Monro in The World's Fastest Indian, which are both examples of the old man I'd be proud to become.

"Enemy, thy name is suburb."

Roughly 100 pages left..

"...with the confidence of the man with the most expensive suit in the room."

"...when you hit a nerve in the reader, or better yet yourself, write harder."

As entertaining as this book is, it's HARD to sit still long enough during the summer to finish a book.

"...fiction is left with a paradoxical task, one that religion, psychology, and the daily news all fail to achieve: to make reality believable."

It is promising.. hopefully I'll know tomorrow if it is a promise keeper..

eh, it's alright. Some interesting info (mainly statistics), but haven't found any intriguing or interesting insights yet.

I REALLY want to like Crews, but after reading his The Mulching of America & 150 pages of Celebration I might be done trying.

I admire Too Much's ability to improve situations through incognito actions & fear those stealth actions can be used unabatedly destructive.

I can't help but read this in the voice of Sheldon Cooper. "BAZINGA!"

I love that the tree Kozmarski prizes also provided the shadows that sheltered his kidnappers on page 88.

This book is great! I would have read it straight through, but I had to go buy a car battery & cook dinner. ;)