BOOKS
The Elephant in the Room Tommy Tomlinson (Simon & Schuster)
I was casually thumbing
through Reader’s Digest a few weeks ago when an article caught my eye. The author was speaking my language, talking about his addiction to food. At
the age 50, the guy tipped the scales ay 460 pounds. I also identified with his employment as a writer for the Charlotte newspaper, a job that called for many hours driving to various locations for stories. This put him alone in the car, the most dangerous place in the world for a food addict. I always say drive- thru windows are either the greatest invention of all time or the worst. As Tomlinson says in his book, you are free to drive-thru and order a huge pile of heart-stopping food and just eat in the car. Nobody can judge you, other than the clerk at the window, and they are usually a teenager who could not give less of a shit. But I digress. The Digest article sold me on the book and within minutes I was ordering it from Amazon. The book is totally honest. I like that. And
the fact that it was penned by an award- winning writer helps. He knows how to tell the story. From his early years being raised by a family who ate con- stantly through the years of just getting bigger and bigger, I could feel his pain. He was unable to climb a flight of stairs without having to catch his breath, or travel on an airplane without buying two seats. He had been aware of the problem for years, seeing doctors and trying diets from the time he was a pre- teen, but nothing worked, and every time he tried to make a change, it never went the way he planned. But it isn’t a pity party. It’s a man searching for an answer.
The Elephant in the Roomis highly enter-
taining. I must admit ,I expected a “Wow” ending where he got down to “normal” size. He lost some weight, but nowhere near what he needed to lose. Maybe he lost more after completing the book, I don’t know. But that’s really not the point of his book. It is chronicle of the journey, of living and learning. He came out of it much more aware of his
-Michael Buffalo Smith
Diamond Dogs 33 1/3 Series by Glenn Hendler (Bloomsbury Academic)
I will begin by saying that I have thoroughly enjoyed many of the previous titles in this book se- ries, which pairs writers with a
singular album release from the past for the pur- pose of deep study and commentary. I loved the book on Neil Young’s Harvest, Jimi Hendrix Elec- tric Ladyland, James Brown’s Live at the Apollo, and most recently, a look at the double album Southern Rock Opera by Drive By Truckers. I love everything about these books, the small, digest size; the fact that there are no photographs, so it’s all about the actual reading. My only gripe is that every author has his or her own particular style, and as a long-time reader of rock journalism, I grew to love the styles of folks like Hunter Thompson and Lester Bangs. This book, which examines the brilliant David Bowie concept album Diamond Dogs, was a bit of a disappointment for me. It’s just too damned scholarly. I felt like I was out of my element. Like I should have brought along a protractor and a slide- rule. For me, the fun of the album was buried under the analysis. ¾ of the way in, I finally had to bail out. I just couldn’t deal with it any longer. Don’t get me wrong, the English professor who wrote the book has obviously done his homework, perhaps too well. It’s all subjective, but I like more less aca- demics and more fun I my rock and roll books.
-Michael Buffalo Smith
true self. Like a journey of self-discovery. This is a “must read” for anyone fighting addiction, be it al- cohol, drugs, porn, gambling or the worst of all- fast food. An excellent read.
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