02-27-14
Three Memoirs
A book review
Without realizing I was doing it, the last three books I’ve read have all been memoirs. I suppose I’ve just been interested in getting some other perspectives on modern life. If I had to point to anything that might have spurred this recent interest, it’s probably reading books about writing, trying to gain insight from other writers about their work. Perspective on creating from The Writing Life by Annie Dillard; humorous reflections on the pitfalls of writing in Bird by Bird Anne Lamott; and Stephen King’s excellent and thorough On Writing (which is perhaps the most memoir-esque of the bunch). And then there’s The Memoir Project by Marion Roach Smith which is not only a memoir, but contains a wealth of practical tips about writing memoirs… so meta.
I felt there might be something to be gained from comparing the recent memoirs I’ve read, books that come from three very different men. One immediate takeaway is that none of these books are about dispensing wisdom from a long and instructive life. Hopefully they still have very full lives ahead of them, but that doesn’t make their stories less interesting.
Col. Chris Hadfield – An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth
Yes, that is an astronaut riding a skateboard on the cover. Like being an astronaut has to be made somehow cooler than it already is? I don’t recall any skateboard stories from Colonel Hadfield, but it would be weird if I did, because isn’t Canadian skateboarding just snowboarding anyway?
This is a great book, though. At a young age, Chris Hadfield decided he wanted to be an astronaut – despite the fact that there was no such thing as a Canadian astronaut at the time. As an example of true preparedness, the decision-making process for basically the rest of his life went something like this: “Well, just in case I ever have the opportunity to be an astronaut, I’ll …” (fill in ellipses with such pursuits as ‘learn Russian’ or ‘become a test pilot for prototype aircraft’)”
And he did this knowing he may never have the chance to go to space. You can totally become an astronaut, and still not be selected for a mission. The chances are even lower now that the shuttle is out of commission and the three-person Soyuz capsule is the primary means of delivering crew and supplies to the International Space Station.
I have a great admiration for Colonel Hadfield’s humility. One of the best insights I got from his book is the concept of ‘aiming to be a zero.’ Just about everyone wants to be a ‘plus one’, to actively have a positive influence, but in doing so you often sabotage yourself into appearing to others as a ‘minus one’ – someone making a negative impact. Instead, aim to be zero: evaluate the conditions around you, learn and listen, be open-minded and humble. That helps you recognize where you can make a difference when it really matters instead of regularly falling prey to overconfidence, or pressure to make snap decisions.
Perhaps because of this philosophy, even an astronaut’s proudest accomplishments are about the little things. Hadfield acknowledges the amazing and life-changing aspects of living and working in space, but points to a summer spent designing and building a lake house dock with a friend as one of his proudest achievements. I can relate – I find that I take great pride in the things I accomplish outside of my actual career, because it’s like conquering unfamiliar territory, and I get great satisfaction from knowing I’m capable of lots of things.
I came away from the book with a sense of inspiration. I’m never going to be an astronaut, but I’m okay with that. Colonel Hadfield does a great job explaining that really, being an astronaut is more about being a human being than it is about the training.
Nick Offerman – Paddle Your Own Canoe
Given the growing Ron Swanson fanbase, this is sort of Nick Offerman’s version of I Am Not Spock, though it’s clear there is a lot of Offerman in the Swanson character.
That’s more a function of the role finding him, though. One of Offerman’s bits of advice is that you need to embrace what makes you unique, instead of cramming the essence of yourself down into whatever package you think somebody wants. He’s talking about acting and auditioning, but I think it’s one of the more resonant ‘fundamentals’ in his book whether you act or not.
In addition to acting, Offerman’s other great passion is woodworking and he talks a bit about the importance of finding work in which you can take pride. The process keeps you alive and productive, just like Colonel Hadfield’s dock.
The rest of his book is more of a straight-up retelling of the experiences that led him to acting, woodworking, and his marriage. It’s a nice read, but lacks a strong theme other than dispensing practical advice. Each chapter is interspersed by a section in which he takes an idea and sounds off on it. Some of these read like rants, railing against politics or rampant consumerism; some of them are more like humorous guides. They sometimes felt like an interruption to me, but hey, if you’ve got a platform and an opportunity, you might as well say what you think. And I did enjoy his section on the various ‘co-pilots’ in his life, who were at turns his partners-in-crime and mentors.
Rob Delaney – Mother. Wife. Sister. Human. Warrior. Falcon. Yardstick. Turban. Cabbage.
I was pleasantly surprised at how good this book is. Rob Delaney unabashedly talks about his life as an alcoholic. At first, I didn’t really understand why he kept coming back to his drinking habit. Then I realized, holy crap! – drinking was his life. It defined how he lived for a long time. While Colonel Hadfield’s mantra was to always be prepared for what could kill him next, Delaney shares a collection of experiences that did almost kill him.
I don’t know anyone like that, so I gained a lot of perspective on how a person can be compelled to engage in addictive behaviors, and how they deal with that. You come to learn that he cares a great deal about helping other people avoid what he went through, which may be another reason why the book focuses heavily on that subject matter.
There are other stories in here too, about growing up, depression, college. Delaney is a good storyteller, relating his experiences with a conversational tone, the right amount of self-deprecation, and a sense of humor. In a way, his humor and candor is the ideal vehicle for communicating the heavy material.