Osler's Razor

Up at Osler Island last week, I read four great books. Well, actually, three great books and one stinker:

1) Just Kids, by Patti Smith

A winner of the National Book Award, this memoir is a revelation. Reflecting her young life with artist Robert Mapplethorpe, it works as autobiography, history, and discourse on the nature of art.

2) Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man, by Bill Clegg

Bill Clegg was a literary agent who spiraled into an incredible period of addiction to crack, which he chronicles in stunning detail.

3) Workin' Hard for the Money: The Social and Economic Lives of Women Crack Sellers, by Ira Sommers, Deborah Baskin, and Jeffrey Fagan

A fascinating, if somewhat repetitive, sociological discourse on the lives of women in the crack trade. Surprise! Many of them run their own crack business! Not a surprise! They are also hookers!

4) My Little Phony, By Lisi Harrison

Every summer I seem to end up reading at least one of the horrible books by Lisi Harrison, which revolve around the utterly revolting spoiled girls who attend Westchester's Octavian Country Day school (OCD). In my little phony, Massie Block has turned against her best friend, Ku-laire, and a variety of soul-sucking events and product placements unfold simultaneously. I still feel dirty for reading it.

What have you been reading? I don't care if it is a book, magazine, or the back of your pack of Virginia Slims, let's haiku about that this week.

Here is mine:

Three books about crack
The worst character of all?
Massie Block! Eeee-yuck!

Now it is your turn! There will be the usual prize this week-- the winner's bio on Monday. Just make it about 5 syllables for the first line, seven for the second, and five for the third. Now, go!