One benefit of my 35 days of sobriety (which ended Saturday night) was the ability to read every night with a clear head, even if I am now a full-time "readers glasses" guy, a new enough phenomenon to disappoint me and remind me of my own mortality. I have been happy to get back into the reading routine that I followed for the first 40 years of my life, which became more sporadic and less productive after 2-3 scotches over the last 5+ years.
Around 10 PM each night, I head upstairs, put the electronics down, put my Warby Parkers on, and dig into a book. While I'm not eating books like Dave does, I have been chugging through them in 2021. I recently finished Zucked, written by veteran venture capitalist (and former Facebook investor) Roger McNamee in 2019. It is as timely today as when it came out. It describes how Facebook amplifies negative news and disinformation, allowing it to bounce around echo chambers because negative news holds peoples' attention more than positive news. Zuck and Sheryl Sandberg surely don't like the book, but the message matters. Worth a library rental.
But I'm here to recommend Pappyland. If my scotch-impaired brain serves me correct, a few of you have already promoted Wright Thompson's book in prior comments (Mark? Rob? Both? More?). I ordered it through my town's library, it arrived and I promptly devoured it. It's a simple read. It was ironic to me to read a book about the history of Kentucky bourbon and Pappy Van Winkle while abstaining from alcohol. It made me think about the full bottle of Johnny Walker Blue sitting on my bar more than once.
The book is about the history of Pappy, but also about the dynamic of kids and their fathers - how kids deal with their father's legacy, how they communicate with their parents and how they pass on their values and legacy on to their children.
Thank you to you gents who gave the written nudge for me to dive into this fine prose. I learned a lot about bourbon and a little about myself. For you guys and gals that haven't dug into it yet, I highly recommend you do. Wright Thompson is our type of dude.
Posts
