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Tony Miksak

WORDS ON BOOKS by Tony Miksak for KZYX&Z-FM, 90.7 Philo CA
Airs Sunday, July 16, 2006 at 10:55 am, repeated Wednesday, July 19 at 1 pm

(copyright 2006 Tony Miksak)

Title: Fear

(MUSIC UP) This is Tony Miksak with a few Words on Books.

Survival. Survival of the fittest. Survival gear. We live in parlous times. Not to scare you, but you already know innocent people get blown up on trains and subways, bears attack, things fall off high buildings. There's a whole bunch of anger and fear in the Zeitgeist.

Books reflect the times. On the one hand we have escapist books on angels and faeries fairly flying out the doors of bookstores. On the other hand, the hand with the scars and missing a finger, on that hand, we have "Preparedness NOW!" exclamation point.

We also have "Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why." This book (and others like it) is an under-the-radar best seller.

"Surviving the Extremes: What Happens to the Body & Mind at the Limits of Human Endurance" was written by a microsurgeon specializing in –  the hand. Yes, THAT hand. The index runs to "noble feelings" "nostrils" "pulmonary edema" and "femoral artery." You know what you're in for.

For those not only anxious, but anxious to lighten up, "The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbooks" will help you get sand out of your swimsuit, birds out of your house, dog poop off your shoes, and barbecue sauce out of your eyes. THIS kind of fear we can deal with.

Some persons have failed spectacularly at learning life's hard lessons. They have been immortalized in "The Darwin Awards" series. The Darwin Awards "commemorate those individuals who ensure the long-term survival of our species by removing themselves from the gene pool in a sublimely idiotic fashion."

I long since figured out that people who read books are the opposite of passive. Readers are less likely to become victims. Delving into the well of good information in these days of mis- or missing information is an act of courage and defiance. Inquisitive readers made an instant best seller of Jared Diamond's "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed."

There's a big run on books about lost battles and wars in general. I haven't figured out if these readers hope to escape from fear or wallow in it.

The other side of fear is anger. "Anger Management: 6 Critical Steps to a Calmer Life" is one of a slew of books on dealing with these emotions.

Also popular are books that touch on fear of the wild. In times gone by, tales such as "Little Red Riding Hood" tamed monstrous wolves and primeval forests. These days urban readers search out "Cougar Attacks: Encounters of the Worst Kind" or "Mark of the Grizzly: True Stories of Recent Bear Attacks and the Hard Lessons Learned."

Staying alive is the definition of simple survival; finding ways to get younger might be termed extreme survival. "You: The Owner's Manual" is "an insider's guide to the body that will make you healthier & younger." It's one of a clutch of books that will remove wrinkles, fix your liver or raise up your arches if they happen to be fallen.

Great knowledge as well as exquisite mental torture can be generated by books such as "Voices of Terror," a survey of "manifestos, writings and manuals of Al Qaeda, Hamas, and other terrorists from around the world and throughout the ages."

After those bad dreams you'll be ready for "Resiliency in the Face of Disaster and Terrorism: 10 Things to Do to Survive."

We fear the future and we can't help it no matter how much we enjoy the sunshine, love our children, and cultivate our gardens.

The fear isn't going away soon. If there are reasons for hope, Jared Diamond suggests, a happier future depends on "the courage to practice long-term thinking and make bold, courageous, anticipatory decisions."

Diamond urges courage "at a time when problems have become perceptible but before they have reached crisis proportions... We have the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of distant peoples and past peoples. That's an opportunity that no past society enjoyed to such a degree. My hope," he writes, "(is) that enough people will choose to profit from that opportunity to make a difference."

(MUSIC UP) You can subscribe to the email version of Words on Books by writing to amiksak@mcn.org. You always can reach me directly at (707) 937-2215.

Notes:

Books in order mentioned:

"Preparedness NOW!" by Aton Edwards. Process Media paperback $14.95. ISBN 097608225X. This book has rounded edges so you shouldn't get a paper cut, heaven forbid.

"Deep Survival" by Laurence Gonzales. W.W. Norton paperback $14.95. ISBN 0393326152.
"Surviving the Extremes" by Kenneth Kamler, M.D. Penguin paperback $15. ISBN 0143034510.

"The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Life" by Joshua Piven and David Borgenicht. Chronicle Books paperback 15.95. ISBN 0811853136.

"The Darwin Awards: Evolution in Action" by Wendy Northcutt. Penguin paperback $12. ISBN 0452283442.

"Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" by Jared Diamond. Penguin paperback $17. ISBN 0143036556.

"Anger Management: 6 Critical Steps to a Calmer Life" by Peter Favaro. Career Press paperback $15.99. ISBN 1564148343.

"Cougar Attacks: Encounters of the Worst Kind" by Kathy Etling. Lyons Press paperback $14.95. ISBN 1592282962.

"Mark of the Grizzly" by Scott McMillion. Globe Pequot Press paperback $14.95. ISBN 1560446366.

"You: The Owner's Manual" by Michael F. Roizen M.D. and Mehmet C. Oz, M.D. HarperCollins hardcover $24.95. ISBN 0060765313.

"Voices of Terror" edited by Walter Laqueur. Reed Press paperback $19.95. ISBN 1594290350. A far-ranging survey of writings from Aristotle and Plutarch through Bakunin, Kropotkin, the Weather Underground, Marx, Lenin, Che Guevara, to Chechins, Islamists and Kashmiris.

"Resiliency in the Face of Disaster & Terrorism" by V. Alex Kehayan and Joseph C. Napoli, M.D. Personhood Press paperback $14.95. ISBN 1932181180.

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