I've been tearing through the leisurely pursuits lately. As soon as I finished Solomon Kane I started American Shaolin. I haven't polished books off like this since I got into a British crime noir kick a few years ago. American Shaolin is a page turner. It's like Matthew Polly went inside my head and took my dream. He took a year off from Princeton to go to China and learn kung fu from the legendary Shaolin monks. It sounds just like what my mind's eye envisioned it as. So far it's one of the best fish-out-of-water books I've read, funny and incisive. If I have one problem with it, it's that it's almost too perfect. I can't believe life could be that fun and I wonder if there's not a little creative license. In the end it doesn't matter though, it's still entertaining.
I also watched The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters the other night. Chances are you haven't heard of it but you should see it if you get the chance. It's a documentary about Billy Mitchell, the holder of the world record score in Donkey Kong and the contender for the crown, Steve Weibe. It's incredible and there were actual moments when my pulse raced. Like American Shaolin seems to good to be true, I wonder how much creative license (and creative editing) went in to making Billy Mitchell look like a giant tool.
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