FD was talking to a friend yesterday, who said, “you really should read The Men Who Stare at Goats. It’s hilarious, and also scary/horrible.” Well, maybe I’ll see the movie (after all, it does feature George Clooney) , said FD, but it doesn’t sound like my kind of non-fiction.
True. FD does not want to become more unhappy about the weirdness of real life. FD doesn’t want to read more about the imperfections and craziness of the US military mind. Similarly, FD doesn’t want to read Elizabeth Kolbert on climate change. FD doesn’t understand how it that most US citizens don’t seem willing to do anything to reduce climate change. FD doesn’t have children (or much affection for the young, really), and thus has less reason than most to worry about the world turning into something out of The Road (that’s fiction, but also something FD isn’t going to read). But FD still manages to turn out lights, eat almost no meat, and keep the furnace below 70 degrees…
Anyway, in terms of non-fiction, FD is more likely to read Potato: A History of the Propitious Esculent (by the felicitously named John Reader), and did, while enjoying “Buy Nothing Day” (having purchased the book weeks earlier!)