Thank You for Arguing- An Arguably Good Book

Thank you for Arguing by Jay Heinrichs aims to dissect the way in which people argue from classical to modern times.
      Like a field guide, it identifies hundreds of methods that are used every day in all circumstances. The drawback is that, except for a chapter on Cicero, it doesn't show how to assemble them. What works well together, what doesn't, what are real-life examples of it working (not just being used)? The book's information would be more potent if assembled a la The One Minute Manager, or Leadership Secrets of Attilla the hun, which present a concept, reinforce it with examples, and them summarize it,
     Thank You For Arguing provides great identification that encourages further reading but falls short on showing the reader how to use the knowledge it gives.

The Street of Eternal Happiness

In The Street of Eternal Happiness, following the tradition of books like Dominique Lapierre' City of Joy,  Rob Schmitz describes the tapestry of life in Shanghai by embedding with its inhabitants. The book follows a cast of people who live on a street known as the Street of Eternal Joy, the rough equivalent of Fifth Avenue or Bourbon Street except fraught with China's uncertain economic state and political legacies of former days. Schmitz avoids psychoanalysis and socio-political commentary, and instead leaves the reader to paint his own picture of life from the lives of the people themselves. The vivid descriptions bring the scene to life as if it is his own life Schmitz is writing about. Workers, entrepreneurs, schemers, family men- they take on their surroundings with an attitude that is hopeful and enterprising, leaving the reader with encouraging hopes for both the people of China and people everywhere.

Road Food- America Through its Restaurants

Road Food is an engaging look at America through the eyes of its restaurants.

In the latest edition of the book, Jane and Michael Stern give a character portrait of restaurants, diners, cafes, eateries across America, and the food they serve, based on their uniquely local flair. On the surface it is a basic guide; the address, phone number, prices, and website are provided for over a thousand restaraunts (diners, pubs etc ). But going deeper, in describing that flair the authors take us on a trip through American culture and culinary traditions.

   The descriptions are engaging and border on literary quality prose. Good descriptions are important considering there are no photographs, but the imagery truly brings the food to life on paper. Like this description of the banana cream pie at the Coffee Cup Cafe in Iowa:
"It quivers precariously as the waiter sets it down on the table, the custard jiggling like not-quite-set Jell-O below foamy white meringue. The crust doesn't break when touched with a fork, it flakes. The whole experience...is what we imagine it would be like to eat pastries on the moon....for the work 'light' barely does justice to the refinement of this piece of pie."

 Or characterizing atmosphere, like Joco's Steak House in California, a place where "country folk whose ides of fun is to come to this tavern, quaff beers under taxidermized animal heads, and eat red meat...truly a kind of beef frowners' hell, where smells of roasting meat permeate the air."

 

  If you live in a major city you do have a higher chance of using this as an actual "guide." Nevermind if you can make it to a restaurant, the criteria, or if your favorite place didn't make the list: it is a pleasant read about culinary traditions around america. If Peter Jenkinks "A Walk Across America" described the country through interacting with its people, "Road Food" does so by interacting with its culinary culture. It not only made me want to cook, but encouraged me to seek out the ordinary local places in my own rural area.

 

     Jane and Michael Stern are experts in this field with well over a dozen books on roadside eateries, written over 40 years. You can read more at their website https://roadfood.com