Let the Great World Spin by Collum McCann

My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is the first book I’ve read in 2010 that I would recommend to almost anyone who asks. Colum McCann integrates the lives of characters from all walks of life in New York in a way that captures the essence of the city and left me wanting to read more. 

The writing and style of the book often follow the same themes he attributes to the city. My instant favorite theme (liable to change with time): New York is a city that never looks back, doesn’t concern itself with statues or monuments or celebrate formerly great men. It is constantly looking forward, toward the next day, the next idea, the next million dollars to be made. The book felt the same way—always moving forward toward some future point, with no particular beginning and no end in sight.

Writing in 2009 about New York at the moment the Twin Towers were nearing completion necessarily triggers thoughts of the 9/11 attacks and the current city. I would have been content to consider the connection between the creation and destruction of the towers without the book addressing it specifically, though McCann does a nice job of specifically addressing the tension as the book comes to a close.

If I have a complaint, it’s that at times the connections between characters were a little to tidy, but I usually didn’t see them coming and was consistently taken by surprise at the ways in which he developed the interactions.

Overall, a great read and highly recommended.

A cool way of thinking about the population of the United States.  Too bad it snows in New Hampshire 5 months a year, so no one would actually want to live there.

Originally created by Shane Keaney for a good.is competition.

$4960 per square foot.  What a deal!  At least you could go to Harrod’s regularly.

This Flat in London costs More Than $300,000 - Visboo

Carnegie Mellon professor Jessie Schell recently predicted that we’d soon be earning virtual points for “achieving” things in our daily life.  To paraphrase one example, he suggests we’ll get messages from our toothbrush like: “Congratulations, you brushed your teeth for three minutes this morning, you get 50 points.”

Schell argues that these kinds of “points” will increase our status as an individual or part of a group, and potentially be redeemable at our favorite stores or some such thing. We’ve started to see versions of this in apps like Foursquare or other Facebook applications, and it strikes me as an interesting type of incentive for certain behaviors.

And it must be mainstream now that we have a major city’s municipal government getting in on the act.

The 311 service provided by the city of Washington, DC is linking with Facebook and the iPhone to allow people to report municipal problems — a fallen tree, say, or a pothole on your block — and earn status points on for doing so.  To quote the introduction: 

“And finally you will be recognized by DC residents and could appear in the Hall of Fame, where the most active and attentive residents are displayed for all to know.”

It’s a new twist to an old life lesson: Help thy neighbor so you can be in the hall of fame.  I wonder if it will get to enough critical mass to change behavior.

The Get Rich Slowly blog today has a post questioning the conventional wisdom about home ownership that’s worth a read.  As I think about some of the major urban challenges this country faces, it’s clear that the “rootedness” that home-ownership fosters has some significant downsides to weigh against the benefits.

In many major cities (Detroit comes to mind) if people were less financially tied to their homes, moving to a place where they are better suited to the economic environment becomes more feasible.  Of course, this would benefit some cities to the detriment of others, but why should “place” be the primary concern over people?

GRS looks at the pros and cons of home ownership and, at the very least, provides a much murkier picture than your local Realtor might about the decision:

The housing industry is huge, and it spends a lot of time propagating certain myths about homeownership, myths like:

• If you rent, you’re throwing your money away.
• Owning your home is a forced savings plan.
• Home ownership is a path to wealth.

My own research shows that over the long term, housing prices (and gold prices) barely outpace inflation. In fact, since 1926, home prices (and gold prices) have returned about one percent above the inflation rate. That’s hardly a good investment. (Stocks have averaged about 6.8% above inflation!)

There’s no question that buying a house makes sense for some folks, but mainly for non-financial reasons. Owning a home gives you stability (you’re not at the mercy of a landlord) and freedom (you can do what you want with the place). But financially, it’s not usually the best bet. (It’s true that you build equity, but you do so at a very high cost.)

I guess the question is whether rational economic thinking like this can overcome the emotional power of the American Dream.