Did you see they lowered the price of the Kindle 2 to $299?

You should buy one now.  Get in on the ground floor as opposed to waiting until everybody else tells you how great it is, how it’s changed their life. It’s kind of like the iPod, suddenly everybody looked at each other and said they had to buy one and hours were spent home at night ripping CDs into iTunes for transfer to their new device.  Why wait?  Enjoy the magic now!

Will the price come down?

Absolutely!

Will the device get better?

You bet!

Will Amazon control the future?

Who knows!

You’ve got to understand, it’s not like reading on your computer screen.  It’s totally different technology, much more readable.  Although there’s no backlight.  And there’s a learning curve.  But then you discover treats that are unfindable in physical books.

Like search!  Rather than flip back to see who this character truly is, just search on his name!  Yes, it’s harder to read backwards on the Kindle, but this search feature is better than reading backwards (you know what I mean, reading with your right hand turning the pages forward, but keeping your fingers of your left hand in the left side of the book, marking places where what you’re reading now was first explained).

And then there’s the clipping feature.

I don’t believe in underlining, but when I read something magical on my Kindle, I just push the joystick to highlight it and I have it at my fingertips forever (well, at least until the technology is superseded!)

And reading a book today I discovered a great insight, one I know but was so great to read, and I decided to share some of my clippings with you. You don’t have to read the book to understand them, they’re universal!

Now I’m not saying physical books need to die.  I’m just saying that the Kindle has advantages.  Wireless download anywhere Sprint works (and wired around the world).  You check out a sample passage, you decide whether to buy, and the books are sold cheaper than anywhere you can find, usually below wholesale.  I’m reading all day, on the computer screen, newspapers and magazines…but fiction, my preferred Kindle reading, is different.  Fiction, when done right, tells you about life.  These are the clippings I’m going to share with you.

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"The dreams of the rich, and the dreams of the poor-they never overlap, do they?  See, the poor dream all their lives of getting enough to eat and looking like the rich.  And what do the rich dream of?  Losing weight and looking like the poor."

From "The White Tiger: A Novel", by Aravind Adiga

(Second Kindle book I bought.  The first, "Sag Harbor", was overrated, all style and very little substance.  I was even going to write a review on Amazon, but someone beat me to it…they said the book had no plot!  "White Tiger" was a recommendation from a friend.  Amy Ephron told him it was his kind of book.  Not exactly my kind of book, but if you want to read what it’s really like in India, check it out.)

"No, sir.  It won’t happen.  People in this country are still waiting for the war of their freedom to come from somewhere else-from the jungles, from the mountains, from China, from Pakistan. That will never happen.  Every man must make his own Benaras."

"The White Tiger"

(Benaras is a holy city, but you don’t need to know that to get this.)

"The book of your revolution sits in the pit of your belly, young Indian.  Crap it out, and read."

"The White Tiger"

(You’re in charge of your own destiny.  But are you willing to take responsibility?)

"’Master, do you consider yourself a man or a god?’  The Buddha smiled and said, ‘Neither.  I am just one who has woken up while the rest of you are still sleeping.’"

"The White Tiger"

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"But never mind, Olive thinks now.  You move aside and make way for the new".

From: "Olive Kitteridge", by Elizabeth Strout

(So simple, yet so true! "Olive Kitteridge" is the best book I’ve read on my Kindle.  I recommend it to everyone!)

"There is no telling anyone anything when they have been infected this way."

"Olive Kitteridge"

(That’s the power of love!)

"She didn’t like to be alone.  Even more, she didn’t like being with people."

"Olive Kitteridge"

(A woman after my own heart!)

"’Don’t be scared of your hunger.  If you’re scared of your hunger, you’ll just be one more ninny like everyone else.’"

"Olive Kitteridge"

(Don’t buy that humble act stars don at awards shows and in interviews.  You can’t make it unless you’re incredibly hungry.  Having big desires is cool, and necessary if you want to fulfill your dreams!)

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"I attract men through sheer hard work, which is required because I’m not conventionally attractive."

"The Pursuit Of Alice Thrift", by Elinor Lipman

(I do not recommend this book.  I was looking for the new Lipman book when I stumbled upon "Olive Kitteridge".  Ultimately remembering the author I was truly looking for I downloaded this.  I ended up reading for plot, there was very little insight, which was frustrating.  But wow, we hear all about the beautiful, it’s fascinating to hear about the average.)

"’That’s the human condition, sweetie-pie: people you love marrying people you hate.’"

"The Pursuit Of Alice Thrift"

(Ain’t that the truth!)

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"All they knew of each other, really, were the sharp edges.  The middle parts and blurry lines were yet to be filled in."

From "Commencement", by J. Courtney Sullivan

(A book about four girls at Smith.  Yes, an honest take.  Includes the lesbianism and everything.  Good read, but still not as much insight into the human condition as "Olive Kitteridge".  This passage is from the first day of college…remember?!)

"’Kids are amazing.  The first few months, they’re just like these loaves of bread that shit.  You’re wondering what the hell you got yourself into.  But then, they turn into people.  It’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen.’"

"Commencement"

"Bree had chastised her for making amends with April and Sally, but Celia knew that eventually they would all come back to one another in their own ways.  And in the meantime, she got to hear each of them trash the others."

"Commencement"

(Possibly my favorite clipping.  Don’t you love talking shit about your friends?  It’s the American way, maybe the universal way.  And you all end up making up and being friends anyway!)

"’He’s just worried about you, sweetie,’ Bree said.  ‘You have to let the people who love you take care of you.’"

"Commencement"

(Whew, is everybody busy being a man or am I the only one who feels I’ve got to take care of myself?)

"’Women leave their marriages when they can’t take any more,’ she had told Sally. ‘Men leave when they find someone new.’"

"Commencement"

(Whew, how true is that?)

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"’Promise me you’ll call this woman,’ Cat said.  Something in her voice made Kyle sit up.  ‘I promise.  What’s up with you?’  ‘I just need to know you’re really going to do it.  Men often don’t follow through on things.’"

"The Year That Follows", by Scott Lasser

(Great reviews, worst book I’ve read on my Kindle.  Too obvious, too slight.  But I never formulated the above concept in my brain, I think it’s true!)

"’Sales,’ Sherri says.  ‘It’s seduction, you know.  You gotta show desire and indifference at the same time.  You want it, but you don’t need it.’"

"The Year That Follows"

(Whew!  And there’s great follow-up, which says if you’re trying to make a sale, after you lay out the pitch be silent, the customer will be so uncomfortable he’ll say something to fill in the gap, try and make you feel comfortable, and will probably buy.)

"Law can be so dry you want to shoot yourself.  I’ve deal with some lawyers in my day."

"The Year That Follows"

(How true that is.  Very few lawyers actually love practicing.  They got into it because they wanted to please their parents, they wanted a safe vocation.  It’s a boring occupation.  Which ultimately breeds boring people…if they weren’t boring before!)

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"I get the creeps whenever anyone says ‘make love’ instead of ‘have sex,’ or ‘fuck’.  Hailey never said ‘make love’.  It’s just goofy."

"How To Talk To A Widower", by Jonathan Tropper

(After the disappointment of "The Year That Follows" I was looking at my bookcase and I saw "Little Children" and "Joe College", by Tom Perrotta.  I was reminded that he had written a book I hadn’t read.  I turned on the Kindle wireless and started searching.  That new book got bad reviews.  But I followed the links to what people who read Perrotta books were also reading and found this.  I actually downloaded two of Tropper’s books.  Each of which is slight, but so far this one is rewarding.  As for the quote…I’ve never seen this in print, but it’s exactly how I feel!)

"Somewhere along the way, though, she discarded her sense of humor, probably because there would never be a test on it, and now her laughs are rare and her smiles often rushed and vaguely pained, which is a shame because she was a beautiful girl and smiling had always suited her when she was younger.  She’s still beautiful, but now it’s the kind of beauty that comes with a barbed wire fence around it."

"How To Talk To A Widower"

(The protagonist speaking about his younger sister, who grade-grubbed, graduated from Harvard Law and turned into…the people I went to Middlebury with!  People who believe life is about jumping through hoops, who don’t want to do too much thinking, for fear of ultimately finding out their whole life has been a mistake.  This guy nailed it.  And inspired me to send these clippings to you.)