Informal Book Review: Kurt Andersen's True Believers

Photo: Ben Goldstein/Studio D

"Ours was a cult based on our narcissistic love 

of our beautiful young American selves 

and hatred of the horrible American pod people 

callously killing millions. As with the Muslim cult of hate 

embodied for a while by Osama bin Laden, 

and as with the worst and nuttiest of the new American haters, 

ours was a nihilism that fancied itself utopian. 

On the spectrum of self-righteous madness, 

we were somewhere between lunatic Islamists 

and the lunatic American right-wingers."

Kurt Andersen, True Believers

This book is too good, too smart, to explain in an ordinary book review.

Maybe that's why I've put off writing this review for so long.

True Believers, published by Random House, was released on July 7, 2012. 

I received this book through LibaryThing's Early Readers program, well in advance of this book's publication date. I finished reading it well before that date, and since then my notes have languished on my desk while I avoided revisiting this book. Maybe I was savoring what I had read. Maybe I was intimidated by the breadth and cultural significance of this book. Or... maybe I was lazy. 

Kurt Andersen's latest novel escapes a simple definition. This fictional memoir, chronicling the dramatic secret life of the "trustworthy" (she assures us) Karen Hollaender, is a trip. It's a piece of social commentary; it's a mystery; it's an assortment of coming-of-age stories; it's one hell of a drama; it's a piece of 21st century activist writing; it's a collage of American popular culture that envelops the reader as Karen Hollaender as she leaps off the page and guides you through her many worlds.

Andersen's sharp social commentary is disguised as an easy stroll through the 1960s and early 1970s. His sharp, masterfully-developed female lead grabs hold of the spotlight as her secrets begin to unfurl. Writing her memoir in the near future of the spring of 2013, Karen Hollaender recounts her teenage years in greater Chicago. Andersen references popular culture icons like Ian Fleming's James Bond novels and the Weather Underground to paint a vibrant picture for the reader. A seemingly ordinary childhood leads to an increasingly radical adolescence, culminating in some truly shocking behaviors in college, when Hollaender and her idealistic peers slide further and further into their own dangerous secrets. 

Do any of these following topics interest you? 

If so, read this book.

The American experience.

The radical sub-culture of college-aged activists in the early 1970s.

Assassination conspiracies.

Living life consciously.

Cults.

Life.

The corporate machine.

The Mass Media machine.

Kennedy and LBJ.

Occupy Wallstreet, the Arab Spring and the near future of American politics.

Memory, Hate, Love and Neuroscience.

Living in this Information Age and its repercussions.

Reading True Believers made me paranoid about distinguishing between what is the truth, and what is merely presented as the truth. This, I am sure, would please the author. Andersen's novel deals with false appearances and the real world which lies beneath what has been constructed for society's consumption. 

While reading this novel, the differences between post-Kennedy American and post-9/11 America became far more clear. There's a huge difference between Vietnam-era America and the America in which I came of age.  We have more information than ever, and it's constantly shoved in our faces, but it's not REAL. We are provided with a mind-numbing assortment of statistics, diagrams, maps and opinions. Very rarely do we see actual footage of what's happening by our hand, around the world. Instead, we are fed the news by a rotating cast of clean, caffeinated talking heads who tell us what to think, giving us BOTH, not ALL sides of the story. Virtual reality is far more comfortable, so it has become the norm.

I cannot successfully explain the greatness this book is in one measly blog post. I can, however, tell you that I recommend this book to you, reader, if you are a  person who hungers for something more cognitively occupying than the latest reality TV show. This book will remind you that we a shape our own realities with the choices we make and the things we consume and the lenses we peer through.

"Don't assume you're powerless. 

That's what they count on."

Kurt Andersen, True Believers

  

Mini Review: The Celestine Prophecy

Yesterday, I did the Hawk Island Loop, a bike ride that measures just over 8 miles. It was exhausting, exhilarating and breath-taking. It was gorgeous, and I pushed myself to the point of gasping for breath at the end of the ride. The River Trail path takes you right through a mature forest, in the middle of Lansing! A great way to celebrate America's independence.

I was going to go for another ride this morning, but I decided to take a day off and let my muscles recuperate a bit. I'm headed out for a walk to our little downtown area. I think I'll start calling it the "East End," even though no one will know what I mean. Yoga, later, too.


This book had been hovering around in my peripheral to-be-read cloud for months.

Mike Thomas, an interesting YouTuber and proprietor of YouAreThePath.com, gave it a glowing recommendation not too long ago, so I finally acquired a copy and gave it a try...

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The Celestine Prophecy is not a literary masterpiece by any measure, but it does offer a number of interesting (and sometimes common-sense) insights into how people think. Redfield's New Age bestseller was an entertaining, easy read peppered with observations that caused me to pause and think about my actions toward others, and myself. As Redfield states, it's meant to be more of a parable, a thought-jogger for readers of all ilks to take in and use in their own lives. It's not supposed to be, as I said, a literary masterpiece.

The plot's structure is made up of a number of "insights," or philosophical ideals about how people should treat one another and themselves. Woven into this adventure story are archeological and scientific ideas, facts and fallacies. If you take this book for what it's meant to be, an easy and effective look at Redfield's life philosophy, then you'll enjoy this little book and may even seek out the sequels he has since published.

It's hard to hate on a book that's full of good messages about trying to heal the world and it's peoples. Try it out. There are copies available in just about every book shop, new and used, as well as libraries and friends bookshelves. See if it works for you, but don't bash it if it's not your style. Redfield's suggestions as to how people should treat one another could benefit some of the snarky, cynical reviewers who have tossed this book aside. It's a heck of a lot better than the Twilight-esque rubbish flying off of the presses, these days.

They made this book into a movie not so long ago, but I haven't seen it, yet. It's on Netflix (what isn't?), so I'll see it soon enough.

I'm about half-way through The Tenth Insight, Redfield's sequel to Celestine Prophecy. This book is discerningly far-fetched, even when compared to it's predecessor. Still, I admire Redfield's philosophies of how we should live and learn, so I'll finish it. Book number three, Secret of Shambhala, is already in my possession. A fourth book, The Twelfth Insight, was released in February. I've assumed that it's a great work on the current societal and world condition. If I can make it through this sequel without tossing it aside in frustration I'll finish the series.

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It's not as good as Ecotopia, though.

Book Binge, and a Cat

Today being my only day off in the foreseeable future, I spent the morning and early afternoon on a leisurely walk through my neighborhood. Four books, dropped off at the library. One tasty breakfast at Gone Wired, featuring the best-tasting bacon of my life, a little too much coffee for comfort and a quiet hour in which I savored the ending of Ernest Callenbach's Ecotopia.

This book is a treasure. I'm adding it to my Top 10 book list.

I just sauntered on home from Everybody Reads, my wonderful neighborhood book shop, on the eastern side of Lansing. It was a longer walk than usual, what with my bag-o-books weighing me down. Wanna see what I got?!

An ARC of Martha Cooley's The Archivist
Dorothy Allison's Cavedweller (Never heard of it, but am so intrigued!)
Elizabeth Gaskell's Sylvia's Lovers
Witold Rybczynski's Waiting for the Weekend (A study of leisure time and "the freedom to do nothing," from Roman times to modern day. I loved learning about this massive change in society in the 20th century, and can't wait to crack this baby open!)
Ken Kesey's Sometimes a Great Notion
Hunter S. Thompson's The Great Shark Hunt (!)
Beppe Severgnini's Ciao, America! : An Italian Discovers the U.S.
The Awakened Warrior: Living with Courage, Compassion & Discipline (ed. Rick Fields)
In the Company of Others: Making Community in the Mondern World (ed. Claude Whitmyer)

These were all gently used paperbacks, and even though I insisted upon paying double their asking price, I still managed to get out of Everybody Reads without spending more than $10 - and I got a neat bumper sticker, too!

Other books I've acquired in the last few weeks include:
Kwame Anthony Appiah's The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happen
James Redfield's The Celestine Prophecy
Dan Millman's Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior
Alice Miller's Thou Shalt Not be Aware: Society's Betrayl of the Child
J.G. Ballard's The Crystal World
Rick Steves's Travel as a Political Act
Shiva Naipaul's Beyond the Dragon's Mouth
Elinore Pruitt Stewart's Letters of a Woman Homesteader (So good, so far!)
Rebecca Ann Collins's The Pemberley Chronicles (Yeah, I know...)
John Mortimer's The Summer of a Dormouse: Another Part of Life
Krishnalal Shirdharani's My India, My America (Introduction by Louis Bromfield!)

I hope to read them all eventually, but I obviously acquire more books than I can read. I'll have to take a photo of the book shelves sometime soon, to share some of my double-stacking storage techniques. Even still, I have boxes and boxes of books stashed in a closet. Two closets, actually.

All of these books makes it difficult to get more writing done. I'm working on a novel, as always.
What makes it different this time, though, is that soon I will have an actual writing space, a place of my own without the seduction of internet, candy or a stack of books. The goal is to keep this desk clear, save for a mug of pens and a cushy spot for cats to snooze on the sunny windowsill.

It's a damn good thing that Nova, our new little adoptee from the Lansing Area Humane Society, can happily co-habitate with so many books. Footage of the little cat to come soon, as well. I'd upload some now, but she's being so darn affectionate, curled up on my lap.

Everyone is Beautiful. Really.

A few times a year, I react strongly to a book. Sometimes, I identify completely with the main character. Sometimes, I find the plot to be absolutely intoxicating. Sometimes, I find myself smitten with the secondary and peripheral characters, the setting, the humor, or the author's enticing way with words. In this particular situation, all of the above apply to Katherine Center's newest novel, Everyone is Beautiful.

When my latest Early Reviewer ARC arrived in the mail from Random House this past Friday, I was not particularly impressed. Another chick lit, I figured. Center's book was tossed onto the "To Be Read" stack, only to be picked up again a few hours later. While waiting for the coffee to percolate, I flipped to the first page and was immediately ensnared. I forewent all obligations and consumed the novel that evening.

Center's novel takes readers on a wild ride of emotions and ideas, ranging from laugh-out-loud humor and excitement, to varying shades of sobbing sadness and weeping happiness. Elena, the heroine and mother of three young boys, is far from average. Elena, as well as the novel's other characters, express a deepness of thought and opinion that elevates the story far above the stereotype-ridden chick-lit genre. Beneath the veneer of a rite-of-passage romantic comedy is Center's simmering discussion of what makes a person beautiful. In addition, the characters deal with issues including the struggles of parenting, loss of loved ones, and fears of the loss of identity.

Everyone is Beautiful has something for everyone, at every stage in life. While the heroine is a mother of three in a new city, Center's work also sheds light on multiple stages of life for both women and men. It is plump with possibility and humor, as well as a more serious look at how a person becomes who they are over the years, and how a few small changes can throw everything into or out of focus. At the risk of sounding cliche, this novel changed my life.


My advanced reader edition of the book (released 17 February 2009) already has a waiting list of three. I think it would make an excellent Mother's Day gift, but I can't bare to give it away!

((Portions of this have been x-posted on LibraryThing and submitted to Random House.))