So, in continued nonfiction reading, the biography stretch kept going with the story of George Burns and Gracie Allen that I mentioned in the last post, which was good, but would've been more interesting if I was more familiar with who they were. From the clips from show scripts that were included in the book, though, The Burns and Allen Show was probably a major influence on the Parks and Rec writers. I couldn't decide if I would have liked their show or not.
Also read Looking for Calvin and Hobbes, a biography of Bill Watterson, writer/illustrator of Calvin and Hobbes, which was unusual. For one thing, it's a biography of a man who wants to remain as anonymous as possible, and provided absolutely no help. For that reason, the author had to almost write it as if Watterson were dead; which is weird when you think about it, considering that he's still very much alive. For another, the author inserts himself as a fairly-main character as he goes on this journey to find out more about Watterson. (Kind of like Bob Greene's Once Upon a Town that way.)
Raced through Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park Monday night, which I enjoyed. (I know, I know....I'd never read the book before, but I'd always meant to....you know how that is.) On page 80, Dr. Ian Malcolm has a great quote: "Isn't it amazing? In the information society, we expected to banish paper, but what were actually banished was thought." There's also a couple of very good, but very long, passages between Mr. Hammond and Dr. Wu on the failure of the university system, and between Malcolm and Hammond on the collapse of science.
Also read Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. It was difficult to read at times, because of the war and everything, but I enjoyed it. I think my favorite character was Melanie, but I'm not sure. Took me five days to finish, though - 1,039 pages is quite a bit to chew off, though. 418, 053 words' worth, actually.
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