I ran across this postcard on CardCow last week. It’s one of the preprinted cards sent to people who submitted questions to the popular Quiz Kids radio program. As an old time radio buff, I knew that the program featured bright kids answering questions to win Savings Bonds, and that the regulars became junior celebrities who occasionally made appearances on other programs. I had recently heard them on an episode of the Jack Benny program. I also knew that the Quiz Kids program was the inspiration for It’s a Wise Child, the fictional radio program in J. D. Salinger’s stories about the Glass family.

But I really didn’t know much about the show itself. I tried listening to the show online at the Internet Archive, but it’s too dated and hokey even for me.

I had better luck with the 1982 book Whatever Happened to the Quiz Kids: Perils and Profits of Growing Up Gifted by Ruth Duskin Feldman, one of the most popular Quiz Kid girls. The first part of the book is the author’s story of her family, her experiences as a Quiz Kid, and her life after she graduated from the program at age 16. Her parents were loving and supportive, her memories of her Quiz Kids experiences are mostly positive, and her adult life seems to have been successful. The stories of the other Quiz Kids are actually more interesting, some did well for themselves, sometimes in unexpected ways, and others ran into difficulties and disappointments. Although their experiences were unique because of the attention and fame they won as Quiz Kids, but they are also case studies in growing up gifted.

This is a slim volume of color photographs of classic diners, mostly in New York and New England, taken by German photographer Gerd Kittel. It’s a lovely book, in its way, and there are some interesting photographs here, including many interior shots, some including customers, waitstaff and cooks. Each photograph is only identified by name and place, and the book would have been much more useful to the diner-lover if it also included three other pieces of information: the diner’s manufacturer and and year of manufacture, and the year the photograph was taken. The book was originally published in 1990, and I bought the updated second edition from 1998, so all the photographs were taken at least nine years ago, but it would be helpful to know when.

I also really disliked the arrangement of the photographs. There may be some logic to it, but I can’t make out what it is. A book like this could be arranged geographically, chronologically by the age of the diner or the date of the photograph, or thematically to group exterior shots, interior shots, etc. This book just seems random. There are multiple pictures of some of the diners, including my local Salem Diner, but they are just scattered through the book, and there’s no index of any kind, when there really need to be at least two: one by diner name, and one by state.

I still really enjoyed looking through the photographs despite all of that, and Richard F. Snow’s introductory essay is interesting. I can’t help but think how much more exciting and valuable this book would have seemed to me ten or fifteen years ago. Today, however, while I enjoy looking through Kittel’s photographs, I’m aware of how many great diner photographs there on Flickr, free and searchable and mostly with more identifying photographs than are found in this book.

Overall, I’d have to say this is a nice little book and those interested in roadside culture will enjoy looking through it, but it’s not an essential purchase, or even a particularly valuable one.

This is a hefty book that’s over fifteen inches wide, and that weighs nearly six pounds, an inconvenient size for putting on a bookshelf, carrying around or reading in bed. But it’s a beauty, and the size is necessary to properly display the fascinating panoramic photographs taken by the Cirkut camera.

Although panoramic photographs existed before the Cirkut was introduced in 1905, this revolving camera with its “swinging lens and stationery film” was a great hit for Eastman Kodak, and caused what has been described as a “mania” in the 1910′s and 20′s for recording places, events and groups in panoramic format prints, often called yard-longs. The cameras were in commercial use through the mid-century, recording everything Presidential inaugurations, the aftermaths of natural disasters, parades, sporting events, workplace outings, conventions and other scenes of American life.

This book presents hundreds of these fascinating photographs. Here’s a list of some of my favorites:

• 1920 Bathing Girl Parade, Venice, California
• Arrival on Special Train, “Gypsy Love” Company, Denver, January 19, 1913 — glamorously-dressed thespians arriving to perform Franz Lehar’s operetta
• Camp Powwow, Boy Scouts, Amesbury, Mass., July 28, 1926 — The Boy Scouts are lined up behind several canoes placed end-to-end
• Entire Force of the Readville, Mass., Locomotive Shop, NY, NH & HRR, May 15, 1924 — Hundreds of works literally covering a train
• Japanese Language School, Tacoma, Washington, August 30, 1931 — It’s impossible to look at this and not think about the hardship that would come to these West Coast Japanese-American communities during World War II
• Knights of the Ku Klux Klan Drill Team and Band, July 4, 1924, at Jackson, Michigan — A shocking photograph, hundreds of proud men and women in their robes and hoods
• 12th Annual International Twins Convention, Grand Rapids, Michigan, August 31 – Sept. 1 & 2, 1946 — Twins of every age and size, nearly every pair dressed in matching outfits

I borrowed this book from the library, using it as a “tray” to carry out the pile of books I took the same day, and I have spent many hours with the book open flat on the table, just leafing through the pages. I probably need to return it soon, so I ordered myself a copy from Amazon

Links

• Panoramic Photographs : Taking the Long View, 1851-1991 — The Library of Congress has a great collection of panoramic photographs as part of the American Memory project. They also have three interesting articles : A Brief History of Panoramic Photography, Selected Photographers & Examples of Their Work and Shooting a Panoramic Photograph.

Mark and Arden are living alone with Mark’s lover Wally, who is dying of AIDS, when Mark decides to get another dog. It’s really the last thing they needed, at that point.

In Doty’s words:

My friends think I’ve lost my mind. You’re taking care of a man who can’t get out of bed, and you’re adopting a golden retriever? They do have a point, but there’s a certain dimension of experience at which the addition of any other potential stress simply doesn’t matter anymore. Oh, say the already crazed, why not?

Beau comes into a home filled with sorrow, and makes his own place in it. Together, Beau and Arden provide comfort and companionship to the dying Wally, and consolation and distraction to the bereaved Doty.

A year after Wally dies, Paul becomes a part of the family, and the two dogs and two men share some adventures in Provincetown and on the road. But dog’s years pass more quickly than our own, and both dogs develop health problems, and eventually die, first Beau, and after a long, slow, heartbreaking decline, finally Arden. Loss is everywhere in this book, not just in the lives of the author and his dogs, but in the world around them. They are living in Manhattan on September 11, and Doty provides a powerful portrait of the city during those dark days.

But ultimately, this is a book about hope and courage, friendship and love, and the special bond between dogs and their people.

I especially love the cover of this book — a soft, hazy photograph of the two dogs, Arden and Beau, walking together up a snowy Provincetown street, walking away from the camera, off into the distance, like a dream, like a memory.

Links :

• Mark Doty — The author’s website
• Howl — New York Times book review by Danielle Chapman
• ‘Dog Years’: Best friends, joy and heartbreak — Review from USA Today

I see numbers as shapes, colors, textures and motions. The number 1, for example, is a brilliant and bright white, like someone shining a flashlight into my eyes. Five is a clap of thunder or the sound of waves crashing against rocks. Thirty-seven is lumpy like porridge, while 89 reminds me of falling snow.

Daniel is the firstborn child in what will become a very large family. His parents had limited education and resources, and his father suffers from a debilitating mental illness, but as parents, they were patient and supportive of the unusual son. Daniel was different from the start, and suffered from frightening seizures as a child. As with any child on the autistic spectrum, his social skills were limited and he craves solitude and a predictable routine, things not easy to find for a boy growing up with a large family in small, crowded homes in London.

And yet, despite all his problems, Daniel works hard to learn the social skills that don’t come naturally to him, and he makes friends. After finishing secondary school, he joins a volunteer service program and spends a year teaching English in Lithuania, an experience that helps him develop into a competent and independent young man, helps him come to terms with his sexuality and discover his gift for learning other languages.

Back in the UK, his extraordinary mental abilities bring him fame as the subject of a documentary called “Brainman” and as he performs such feats as memorizing over over 22,000 digits of Pi, and learning the Icelandic language in less than a week. But although these accomplishments are astounding feats, they are not really as significant or impressive as his personal growth. He finds love with a gentle and understanding young man named Neil, and they form a loving and supportive home together, while also becoming closer to his parents, brothers and sisters.

Daniel tells his story in the rather flat, unemotional prose, and uses many examples and explanations of his fascination with mathematics and linguistics. This was interesting, but the most moving parts of the book were his loving descriptions of his relationship with Neil, and the loss of their cat, Jay.

Jake Halpern grew up in the unglamorous Rust Belt city of Buffalo, New York, where he briefly found himself fascinated by Robin Leach’s celebrity show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous until his parents gave the television away. This book is a journalistic journey to examine the role and meaning of fame in America today.

Like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous , which showed the homes and possessions of the famous, rather than the famous themselves, this is a book is not about celebrities themselves, but about those who want to be famous, used to be famous, or want desperately to be associated with the famous.

He begins his journey with a visit to a talent school in his home city of Buffalo, and follows young hopefuls to a modelling and acting showcase in New York, where some few may attract the attention of agents and actually launch a career. He also goes to a gated community in Hollywood that serves as a temporary homebase for young actors and their families as they try to make it in television or the movies, as well as a school attended by some of the working or would-be actor kids. Later, he visits a home for elderly actors, where he meets two formerly successful actors, one who walked away from it all at the height of her fame, and one who never quite achieved the fame he wanted and still finds himself wondering if there’s a chance for him.

Halpern also interviews those who don’t seek personal fame, but rather connection with the famous, including an MBA from South Carolina who gave up a corporate job to move to LA and pursue life as a celebrity personal assistant, and a devoted (even devout) Rod Stewart fan, who talks to her pastor about whether her obsession with Stewart is a form of idol worship, and wonders what she’d do if Stewart ever wanted her to run away with him.

Halpern also talks to psychologists about the desire for fame, and presents some interesting and distrurbing studies showing why and how an increasing number of young people are fascinated by celebrities, dream of becoming famous or of at least basking in their reflected glory. But Jake Halpern is at his best when he’s simply following people around and engaging them in conversation, and giving us a glimpse into their lives.

I especially liked the part where he talks about interviewing The Edge, the lead guitarist from U2, who invites him to a concert, and how he suddenly finds himself instantly transformed from objective journalist to starry-eyed fan!

• Jake Halpern — The author’s website
• Are We Addicted to Fame? — A segment on the book from 20/20
• Hollywood’s Little Helpers — “In this excerpt from his new book, ”Fame Junkies,” Jake Halpern wonders what drives the men and women who work long hours catering to the whims (and tantrums) of Hollywood celebs” (a book excerpt from the Entertainment Weekly website
• 3 Reasons You’re Addicted to Gossip — “You can’t help it. It’s evolutionary biology” (a brief review of the book by Carolyn Wilsey for Esquire
• Lifestyle: Gill Deacon Show: Star Gazing — A video interview

Charlotte Moore is the mother of three sons, George, Sam and Jake. George and Sam both seem bright and healthy as babies, but eventually their behavior raises questions and first George, and then Sam are diagnosed as autistic. Jake, born after his older brothers’ diagnosis, is neurotypical, not affected by autism.

This book is both more personal and less so than most of the personal narratives on this topic. It’s definitely a mother’s story, with far more detail on daily life for Moore’s family. She lives alone with the boys on her family farm in the English countryside, in the old house she grew up in, an idyllic life greatly disrupted by her demanding sons. Disrupted, but also enhanced by her sons, who are much-loved and appreciated for their own special qualities. Moore makes it clear that, unlike many parents of autistic children, she does not believe that there’s a normal child somehow locked inside the autism. George and Sam, she tells us, are autistic through and through. It’s who they are, and she accepts them as they are.

Moore describes the details of her family’s domestic life, including what they wear, what they eat, what they like, dislike and fear, and how they play. As a former Children’s Librarian and ESL teacher, one of the things I found most interesting was her detailed observations of their speech patterns at various stages, and their relationship to different books and videos. You seldom get this level of specific detail, and I admire her close attention and interpretation, which reminded me of Cushla and Her Books by Dorothy Butler. It reminded me of how important books can be in the life of a child, and how specific books may appeal to a particular child for any number of personal, idiosyncratic reasons.

Moore also describes the different problems her boys pose, and her efforts to find treatments and educational options for them. She’s pragmatic and honest about her efforts — she tries many options, some of which work for one boy or the other, and some of which don’t. And, as she notes several times, you never really know what actually works, because you don’t know what would have happened if you had made other choices. She doesn’t present herself as perfect, and indeed it’s easy to criticize some of her choices. For example, I understand the problems she has getting her sons to eat a healthy, balanced diet, but I was appalled and disgusted at the amount of junk food and candy she makes available.

But then again — I never had to face the problems she deals with, something I had to think about on nearly every page. I found this book more interesting than most of the others I have read, thanks to the large amount of domestic detail, and her ability to maintain a positive attitude and sense of humor in very difficult circumstances.

Links :

• George and Sam: Two Boys, One Family, and Autism — Library Journal review by Corey Seeman
• An Extreme Aloneness — A negative review by Carolyn See, Washington Post, December 8, 2006

I’ve been interested lately in books like The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down and Unstrange Minds: Remapping the World of Autism that look at different cultural perspectives on mental illness, impairment and communication disorders that Americans tend to see and treat with a medical model, and, increasingly, with medication.

Anthropologist Meredith F. Small’s book is an overview of different perspectives on mental illness, including insights from evolutionary psychology, primatology, nutrition and other cultures. I found this interesting, but pretty basic. The book is perhaps too brief to cover such a range of topics in any depth.

Falling Off the Map : Some of the Lonely Places of the World is a collection of Iyer’s experiences and impressions visiting some of these places. It was published in 1993, and of course many things have changed since that time, even in the lonely places.

The chapter of the book that I enjoyed the most was the introduction, in which Iyer talks about his definition of a lonely place.

Lonely Places are the exception that prove every rule: they are ascetics, castaways, and secessionists; prisoners, anchorites, and solipsists…every Lonely Place conforms to the Paraguay described by its native writer Augusto Roa Bastos as “an island surrounded by land.”

Pico Iyer’s writing is often described as cool and ironic, which is just what I like about it. His perspective is always that of the outsider, and he is comfortable in that role. He was born in England to Indian parents, moved to California at the age of seven, and was educated in England and the United States, and now lives (mostly) in Japan.

I am a multinational soul on a multinational globe on which more and more countries are as polyglot and restless as airports. Taking planes seems as natural to me as picking up the phone or going to school; I fold up my self and carry it around as if it were an overnight bag.

In Falling Off the Map, he carries it to some interesting, lonely places.

Pico Iyer Links :

• Pico Iyer Interview from Rolf Pott’s Vagabonding website
• Pico Iyer’s Mongrel Soul Interview by Dave Weich, Powells.com
• Postmodern Tourism An Interview with Pico Iyer by Scott London
• The Journey Home “Home is no longer simply a destination, but whatever moves you,” Iyer writes in this essay for a wonderful Time special feature called The Asian Journey Home.

According to the authors, successful ideas are Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, and [expressed in] Stories. The acronym here almost spells the word SUCCESS, and that pretty much says it all.

There’s nothing really new or unexpected here, and many of the examples, like President Kennedy’s proclamation that we’d put a man on the moon within the decade, are well-known and oft-repeated. And yet, even though it’s all common sense, the ideas in this book will be new to some and are a good reminder to all on how to express ideas in an effective manner.

Related Links:

Are You Sticky? — A review from Time.com

Why Some Ideas Stick and Some Don’t — A review by Michael S. Hopkins from the Christian Science Monitor

Sticky Ideas — “Why do some ideas survive and others die? The key, says author Chip Heath, is to tailor a message around key qualities: simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, and more.” See the video from Business Week