The Vine

Dave Eggers has done it again.

His latest book, Zeitoun, is another riveting work of narrative nonfiction—this time exploring post-Katrina New Orleans (and post-9/11 America) through the experience of Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a Syrian-born contractor who endured the hurricane to protect his properties and assist in the recovery effort.

Just as he did in What Is the What, Eggers captures—with great restraint, letting the events speak for themselves—a true life story of tragic conditions, unimaginable trial, and yet ultimately, triumphantly, human perseverance and hope.

The New York Times Book Review says it best: “Imagine Charles Dickens, his sentimentality in check but his journalistic eyes wide open, roaming New Orleans after it was buried by Hurricane Katrina… Fifty years from now, when people want to know what happened to this once-great city during a shameful episode of our history, they will still be talking about a family named Zeitoun.”

And while we’re touting Dave Eggers, I’ll also mention that you can pre-order a copy of The Wild Things, a novel based on the movie screenplay co-written with Spike Jonze. Standard edition here. Fur-covered edition here.

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Here are a few more books that have captured my imagination lately…all enthusiastically recommended.

Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh MacLeod
Cartoonist-author-blogger MacLeod serves up opinions on everything from marketing to the meaning of life, but one of his main subjects is creativity. How do new ideas emerge in a cynical, risk-averse world? Where does inspiration come from? What does it take to make a living as a creative person?

Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy by Dev Patnaik
Patnaik, an advisor to some of the world’s most admired companies, tells the story of how organizations prosper when they tap into a power each of us already has: empathy, the ability to reach outside of ourselves and connect with other people. Empathic people (and companies) see new opportunities faster than their competitors. They have the courage to take a risk on something new. And they have the gut-level certitude to stick with an idea that doesn’t take off right away.

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli
Mazzucchelli’s graphic novel is beautiful, funny, human and brilliant. It’s the story of Asterios Polyp, an arrogant, prickly, award-winning architect who’s never built an actual building. When the structure of his own life falls apart, he runs away to try to rebuild it into something new. It’s aptly described as “340 pages of humanity, soul-searching, graphic design, philosophy and humor,” and “a perfect marriage of words and pictures.”

Drop City by T.C. Boyle
Think Summer of Love meets Into the Wild. It’s 1970, and a California commune has decided to relocate to the last frontier—the unforgiving landscape of interior Alaska. Armed with the spirit of adventure and naïve optimism, the inhabitants of “Drop City” arrive in the wilderness of Alaska only to find their utopia already populated by other young homesteaders. When the two communities collide, unexpected friendships and dangerous enmities are born as everyone struggles with the bare essentials of life: love, nourishment, and a roof over one’s head.

Allison Arieff writes an interesting article on WeCommune, an online platform that helps micro-communities—neighborhoods, apartment complexes, college dorms, churches, nonprofit organizations, etc.—aggregate and share resources.

And, in the process, builds “deeper, smarter forms of community.”

The site bills itself as social networking with soul. These are virtual communities with a tangible, functional, real world purpose. Sharing doesn’t mean “25 things about me” or “Which US President I’m most like,” but rather “I have a table saw that you can borrow.”

This is more than just an online swap shop, however. The social connections created (and, by extension, the inherent trust) are key.

“You don’t share resources with people you’re not in close community with,” says Stephanie Smith, WeCommune’s founder and CEO. “You can’t have one without the other.”

It is, in essence, the very definition of communing—a community that shares stuff.

As I write this, I’m sitting in a coffee shop, Coldplay’s “Speed of Sound” is playing on the satellite radio, and it gets me thinking:

1) It’s trendy to hate Coldplay. If you want to establish cred as a musicophile, dismiss them as a ripoff of U2. (Or Radiohead. Or Creed.)

2) Sasha Frere-Jones and other critics be damned, I like their music. And if you’re being honest, you probably do too.

3) The reason they sell so many CDs is they’ve found a sweet spot on what Seth Godin calls the passion/pop curve.

The curve on the right is bigger and more lucrative, but more crowded. The curve on the left is smaller and more devoted, but more discerning. You can’t appeal to both (unless maybe you’re Apple…but you’re not Apple).

The danger is not knowing which market you’re serving, falling in the middle, and satisfying neither.

Know who you are and what you can do. Choose one. Be willing to forego the other.

Kelly Borgen and the creative folks at Roxburgh point us to this amusing commentary on Facebook etiquette. (Read to make sure you’re not one of “those people.”)

And the wits of McSweeney’s serve up a modern rendering of Hamlet, Facebook news feed-style.