Monday, February 25, 2008

The Book Meme

Romulus Crowe, tagged me for the book meme. I've seen it around and have actively avoided it because even after selling over $1500 worth on Amazon.com and giving a bunch more away, there are still books in every room of my house. Naturally, the bulk of them are psychology and neuropsychology related, but I have a couple of shelves' worth of cookbooks and another shelf of just sheet music. Romulus would be pleased to know that I also have a couple of tomes on ghosts, although none on UFOs, even though I'm quite fascinated by them.

So without further ado, here are the rules:
1. Grab the nearest book (that is at least 123 pages long).
2. Open to p. 123.
3. Go down to the 5th sentence.
4. Type in the following 3 sentences.
5. Tag five people.

Since so many of my books hold tightly guarded trade secrets about psychological and neuropsychological assessment, I'll skip those in the name of ethical considerations.

I thought I sold the book that caught my eye, Madness in America: Cultural and Medical Perceptions of Mental Illness before 1914. It was penned by Lynn Gamwell and Nancy Tomes. Page 123 is in Part III: American Nervousness. The paragraph is about a journalist, Nelly Bly, who was sent by a New York newspaper, the World, to infiltrate Blackwell's Island asylum in 1887.

"After Bly was confined for ten days, the attorney for the World, Peter A. Hendricks, went to Blackwell's Island, accompanied by cartoonist Walt McDougall, to arrange for her release. The following Sunday, the editors of the World featured Bly's expose, along with gleeful reprints of the articles written by their hoodwinked colleagues on newspaper row."

Since there are only about 3 people who comment regularly and all 3 of them have done it already, if you're lurking, consider yourself tagged. Have fun.

3 comments:

Fantasy Writer Guy said...

I probably only have one book that concerns, primarily, the human brain and very oddly it is the closest at hand... It is The Society of Mind by Marvin Minsky.

"A chair is something you can sit upon." But, that too, seems inadequate. It makes it seem as if the chair were as insubstantial as a wish.

DId I just break copyright laws? Oh dear. I think I hear them coming for me...

Brunhilda said...

Huh. I think that would be an interesting read, there. Hmmmmm.

I can't play. I don't have any acutal books here with me. Perhaps I'll pick one when I get home.

Brunhilda said...

I picked the first book that caught my eye in the bedroom bookcase. Vladmir Nabokov's "Lolita" Nice, eh? Here goes: "Gentlewoman of the jury! Bear with me! Allow me to take a tiny bit of your precious time!"