When I was introduced to Stuart Dybek’s work, I was seventeen years old, and I almost exclusively traveled by El or bus. I always felt this unique sense of solitude when I was getting around Chicago, and I had an ever-growing connection to and love for the grit and darkness I encountered. I observed and learned to respect the mingling of so many walks of life, and when I read Childhood and Other Neighborhoods, Dybek gave life to my daily observations; he personified the city. As a Chicagoan, I personally related to the uniquely Chicago imagery, language, and characters: the Ragmen scavenging the grimy alleys, kids running down gangways while calling each other dupa yash , and the old ladies in babushkas making czarnina. For me, Dybek provided familiarity and comfort in the hustle and noise, and he coupled it with undertone of aloneness, threaded throughout each story. I often revisit the stories of Childhood and Other Neighborhoods, and it reinforces my bond with Chicago, just as it did when I was seventeen.
Genome – The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters” is my life changing book. College was a horrible time for me and I hated everything and everyone. I did not fit in, I was not caring about any of my classes, and I could not find a major for the life of me. I felt like the biggest failure at life with no hope for the future. I was able to find a major and eventually get my head out of my ass and graduate. Medical Technologists usually pick a specific department they like and work in it and learn everything they can about that subject matter. Since I really didn’t care about what I was doing, I didn’t really have a “favorite department”. I graduated in 2002 which was around the start of people obsessing over CSI and DNA stuff. One of my co-workers in the lab told me that they were reading this crazy book about DNA and what each specific chromosome “means”. After looking at her like a deer caught in headlights, I decided to buy the book. I could not put it down. I finished it in 2 days. Something clicked after I read this book because I actually wanted to learn about what I was doing and why I was doing it. I started reading the laboratory procedures and reading all my school books again so I could become the best tech I could be in the hardest departments possible. I gained confidence and experience in my field because I wanted to understand every aspect of DNA and how we all related to one another. This book is so well written and easy to understand. It just makes this extremely complex subject matter a simple, light, novel about life. I read the book again in 2010 and I decided to change my life again. I went back to school for my master’s degrees and to focus on another aspect of my field – Molecular Biology and research. I owe all of my knowledge and experience to this book. I consider it an incredible feat for a book to actually motivate me to focus on anything for more than a minute.
The Devil All the Time - Donald Ray Pollock "The stories are as raw as life is. There's no sugar coating. Things are stated and presented for what they are in their blunt, unromantic state. Scrape your elbows and put ice on your black eye. Wait for the hangover to settle and spit out the coffee grinds from your cheap 7/11 brew. Dull your heartache and go drive your junker to the country. Try to pretend everything's okay and find yourself in all the mistakes and that $5 bill on the ground. Take your chances. Grow up. Or don't. Get away from here. Or stay. Who gives a shit? It's your problem. Fix it if you give enough of a damn. They're lessons I'm learning."
