Options for Non-Fiction Reading, Part Four of Four

Here is my sum-up of great non-fiction reads!

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

"Crazy isn't being broken or swallowing a deep secret. It's you or me amplified. If you ever told a lie and enjoyed it. If you ever wished you could be a child forever."

Here's an instance where the movie is absolutely better than the book. The movie had heart. The book is a little bit cold. Susanna Kaysen is too honest about identifying the insanity we all share. But as a quintessential looney bin cautionary tale, it's simply the bravest. 

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

 "I would sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion."

In high school, I had a thing for Thoreau, Emerson, and Shelley. I wanted to make a Transcendentalists sandwich out of the four of us, where we'd hole up in a cabin and talk art, nature, economics, literature... And have sex. Walden was Thoreau's experiment in living well, where he famously lived alone on Walden Lake with only a few visitors. His insights on things are oft-quoted, and for a reason. It's not a swift read--Thoreau was a talented writer who used long phrases and odd metaphors. But, as Robert Frost said, "in one book, he surpasses everything we have had in America."

Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Rarely will you find a woman as elegant, intelligent, and beautiful as Ms. Ali, and her personal story is heartbreaking and inspiring. Infidel is the memoir of her life, of how she fled her oppressive Muslim family in Africa and gained political asylum in the Netherlands. She was elected to Parliament, worked with Theo Van Gogh on his short film Submission, and is one of the harshest critics of Islam and the Qur'an. She is a modern Joan of Arc, a proponent of women's rights, but still manages to be graceful, never too edgy.

The Selfish Gene, The God Delusion, and The Greatest Show On Earth by Richard Dawkins

How often can I refer to this man on my blog? He did for my own set of beliefs what Confucius did for the Chinese: changed it. He is a strong advocate for Charles Darwin--an evolutionist, humanist, and atheist. He was a professor for Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University for years, and is never raucous about his ideas. He is, after all, a proper British gentleman. If you are a faithful member of a religion, I would consider reading this--not to convince you of anything else, but to know what the arguments are. If you are wavering on what to think about God, the universe, or religion, I would consider reading this--not to push you onto either side of the fence, but to make you think. And if you are a fellow staunch atheist, you'll just be thrilled to have someone so well-spoken on your side.

Running With Scissors, Magical Thinking, and Positive Side Effects by Augusten Burroughs

Not for the conservative reader, okay? Not for anyone who opposes homosexual relations, crass topics, foul language, or glamorizing materialistic desires. But you are missing out on one of the funniest people to roam New York City. Running With Scissors is, of course, his famous memoir based on his childhood, where his psychotic mother began seeing a strange psychiatrist for help with her poetry writing. Augusten spent countless hours with the doctor's weird family, and eventually his mother let the doctor adopt him. Magical Thinking and Positive Side Effects are collections of essays written about funny incidents in his life. My favorite? The tale of his experience with a housekeeper. 

There's plenty more non-fiction where those came from. What are your favorites? 

And would you like to meet me back here tomorrow for selections from my fiction shelf? Okay, it's a date!