the last book I ever read (Al Franken, Giant of the Senate by Al Franken, excerpt one)

from Al Franken, Giant of the Senate by Al Franken:

For most of my childhood, I thought I was going to be a scientist of some sort. When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, my parents, like the rest of America, were terrified. The Soviets had nuclear weapons and now were ahead of us in space. So my parents marched me and Owen into our living room, sat us down, and said, “You boys are going to study math and science so we can beat the Soviets!”

I thought that was a lot of pressure to put on a six-year-old. But Owen and I were obedient sons, so we studied math and science. And we were good at it. Owen was the first in our family to go to college. He went to MIT, graduating with a degree in physics, and then became a photographer.

I went to Harvard, and became a comedian. My poor parents.