New Minglewood Blues: Books

In every writing class I have taken, the number one rule has always been “do not plagiarize or fabricate material.” It seems as if even professional journalists sometimes neglect the most basic of ethics.

The New Yorker staff writer and best selling author Jonah Lehrer resigned yesterday after being rightfully accused of misconstruing quotes by Bob Dylan in his latest novel Imagine: How Creativity Works, which details how neuroscience explains creative genius.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Lehrer’s publisher, will pull the book from bookshelves worldwide, as well as on the e-book market.

“It’s a hard thing to describe. It’s just this sense that you have something to say,” was a concocted quote from the book, where Dylan was supposed to be explaining the writing process on hit song “Like a Rolling Stone.”

The misquoted information was brought to the attention of Michael Moynihan, editor of Tablet, an online magazine. After he publically questioned Lehrer, the plagiarizer was un-wittedly found in the limelight.

“The quotes in question either did not exist, were unintentional misquotes or represented improper combinations of previously existing quotes,” explained Lehrer. “But I told Mr. Moynihan that they were from archival interview footage provided to me by Dylan’s representatives.”

He claimed to have had publicly inaccessible archives from Martin Scorsese’s 2005 documentary No Direction Home, among other sources. This is not the first time Lehrer has been accused of writing fabrications.

Well, sucks to suck, Jonah Lehrer. My journalism teacher would be very disappointed in you. Until then, here are some Dylan songs to enjoy.

"Don't Think Twice, It's Alright"

"Tangled Up in Blue"

"The Times They Are A-Changing"

"Mr. Tambourine Man"

"Ballad of a Thin Man" with the Grateful Dead. Great lesser known hit.

"And in that moment, I swear we were infinite." -Charlie, from Perks

A reason why I love the summer time so much is because it is one of the few extended occasions where I can just sit out side, soak up some harmful ultra-violet rays from the sun and read a good book.

I just finished Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky last week, and although I thought of it as a slightly more amateur version of Catcher in the Rye, I still felt compelled to share it; especially when I heard a movie was in the works (with Hermonie Granger).

The book follows Charlie, a nerdy freshman boy, who finds himself lost in the world of high school. And that's no piece of cake. He soon befriends a group of seniors and finds himself in a world of drugs, sexuality and literature: a place where he finally belongs. With some bumps in the way, Charlie learns to deal with the past and mature for the future he is destined to lead.

Cheesy summary, I know, but I did learn a lot from Charlie-- even besides some kickass songs from The Smiths. I compiled a list while reading, and am pleased to present my Lessons Learned from a Wallflower: Five Ways to Feel Infinite.

Remember you are not alone in the world, even if you feel like it. “All the books you’ve read have been read by other people. And all the songs you’ve loved have been heard by other people. And that girl that’s pretty to you is pretty to other people. And you know that if you looked at these facts when you were happy, you would feel great because you are describing ‘unity.’”
The more you see, the less you know. Charlie “used to be able to do it very easily, but that was before I knew what having a friend was like. It’s much easier not to know things sometimes. And to have French fries with your mom be enough.”
Never stop asking why. “I almost didn’t get an A in math, but then Mr. Carlo told me to stop asking ‘why?’ all the time and just follow the formulas. So, I did. Now, I get perfect scores on all my tests. I just wish I knew what the formulas did. I honestly have no idea.”
Always remember what’s important in life. “And I made Aunt Helen a promise to only cry about important things because I would hate to think that crying as much as I do would make crying for Aunt Helen less important.”
And lastly, you will always meet people like this. “She also keeps talking about the Billie Holiday record she bought for me. And she says she wants to expose me to all these great things. And to tell you the truth, I don’t really want to be exposed to all these great things if it means that I’ll have to hear Mary Elizabeth talk about all the great things she exposed me to all the time.”