Book reviews - Philip K. Dick and Trivial Knowledge

I'm a little behind on the books.  Lots of travelling gives me lots of time to rip through my reading list.

Confession of a Crap Artist - Philip K. Dick (originally published in 1975 but written in 1959)  This is a strange but fascinating story of  Jack, a man who views the world from a peculiar and unique point of view and his narcissistic sister Fay and her husband Charley.  Jack suffers from some kind of mental disorder and isn't really prepared to deal with the real world head on.  He ends up living with his sister and brother-in-law and realizes that there are worse conditions in the world than his.  It is Charley who dubs Jack a "crap artist" which would translate as "bullshitter" today. Eventually the mutually destructive nature of Fay and Charley's relationship will drive them to destroy everything they love.  Along the way they will take others right along with them.  It is a delightful and idiosyncratic look at life in California in the '50s.  At least among a certain set.

Dick is really working his writing genius in this one even as he largely strays from the mysticism and science fiction that most of us associate with him.  The point of view of the story moves from character to character with very little indication that it's about to happen.  Yet within a few chapters I didn't find it at all difficult to follow along.  You figure out pretty quickly that Jack may be the only sane person in the book.  He is consistent in pursuing his vision of how he should live his life.  Everyone else is deeply caught up in their own illusions which end up destroying all of them.

This isn't his best known novel but it's well worth your time.

Rating - **** Recommended Read

I'm going to lump these next books together.  They are of a category that I have always loved.  Call them "Volumes of Trivial Knowledge".  I was the kid who would lie on the floor on a rainy weekend and read the encyclopedia.  Just pick a volume at random and open it at random and start reading.  When things like "The Book of Lists" and "The People's Almanac" came along I was in seventh heaven.  These books belong in that same category.

A Little Bit of Everything for Dummies (2011), The Trivia Lover's Guide to the World (2012), and A Short History of the World (2012) are all great additions to the tradition.  Each one has it's own slant.  The Dummies book is just what it says, a little bit of everything tapped from the vast ocean of material that the series has covered in the last 20+ years.  This includes fun stuff, lifestyle stuff, social stuff and even some around the world stuff.  Which led quite nicely into the Guide to the World which is geography based.  I pride myself on being above average in geographical literacy but it got me going several times.  Two of my favorites - What is the first foreign country you come to going south from Detroit MI and what South American country do you hit first if you drove south from Chicago IL?  Answers?  Canada and none.  As a wise man once said "You could look it up".  The Short History attempts to give you a quick but thorough overview of the history of the globe.  Taking what the author believes are the most important events he weaves a connected narrative rather than just a recitation of facts.  They're all fun reads.

Rating ***/****  Worth a Look (for the average reader)/Recommended Read (for the Trivial Knowledge Junkie)