Recently Mentioned Books

To count, the book must have some aspirations to be a general survey of what the country is or to cover much of the history of the country.   So your favorite book on the French Revolution is not eligible, for instance, nor is Allan Janik’s and Stephen Toulmin’s splendid Wittgenstein’s Vienna .  I thought I would start with a list of some nominees, solicit your suggestions in the comments, and later produce a longer post with all the correct answers.

I believe it was Dan Wang who loved the Robert Tombs book The English and Their History and asked for more books of that nature.  Another reader wrote in and wanted to know what was the best book about each country.

The author is Sam Rosenfeld and the subtitle is Postwar Architects of Our Partisan Era .  Here is the bottom line:

The author is Charles C. Mann, and the subtitle is Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow’s World .  What a splendid book, this is, all rolled into one the reader receives two distinct biographies, a history of mid-20th century environmental science, a book on technological progress in agriculture, and one of the best overall frameworks for thinking about environmentalism.

My column draws heavily on Varun Sivaram’s forthcoming Taming the Sun: Innovations to Harness Solar Energy and Power the Planet , Amazon link here .  This book is full of useful information, a pleasure to read, and more generally a model for how to write about science, technology, and policy.  It will definitely make my 2018 “best books of the year” list.

On press coverage, back in July Publishers Weekly had a paragraph on it, the Boston Globe did an interview of me back then that they just released , Vice interviewed me recently so I expect that out soon, and I’m told that a Wall Street Journal review is forthcoming. Amazon now has 5 reviews, Goodreads has 7, and 2 reviews have appeared on blogs.

I don’t mean to neglect all the other people who write for Bloomberg View, as this list is determined by whom I knew before there was any Bloomberg connection.  As for some of the others, Leonid Bershidsky is an amazing polymath, the “every column is full of information” Noah Feldman has a new and wonderful book on James Madison , there is Joe Nocera and Justin Fox and Barry Ritholz , and I am trying to schedule a Conversation with the great Matt Levine , who always knows more than you think he ...

5. William Shakespeare, The Tempest .  Given that I basically never regret a Shakespeare reread, I suppose I should do them more often.  Folger edition of course.

4. Margaret Atwood, Hag-Seed: A Retelling of the Tempest .  Given the author is so famous, it’s strange this book hasn’t received more attention.  Perhaps that is because it requires a reasonable degree of familiarity with Shakespeare’s The Tempest , worth the reread if you must or are so inclined.  This is one of Atwood’s best novels, and it focuses on an over the hill director’s attempt to stage Shakespeare at the local prison.

3. John Wyndham, Chocky .  How would/should parents react if one of their children appeared to be possessed?  What weights should you assign to “possession by spirits,” as opposed to “possession by aliens”?  Both conceptually intriguing and well-written.  Also read his The Midwich Cuckoos on similar themes.

2. Fred Hoyle, The Black Cloud .  The legacy of Wells and Stapledon surfaces yet again, if you are looking for an early but compelling science fiction novel you haven’t read, try this.  The ecological features of the story are striking too.

1. Pierre LeMaitre, Three Days and a Life .  French crime fiction, conceptual, very good for those who like to read in this direction.  I am glad I finished it.  The first half is pretty good, the second half excellent.

My favorite books on Indian textiles are cited in my discussion of that topic in Creative Destruction: How Globalization is Changing the World’s Cultures .  But it’s more a question of reading a bunch of them, rather than picking out a select few.  Simple, direct searches will get you to where you need to go.

9. Studying textiles also will bring to your attention India’s tribes and indigenous peoples.  And it ties in readily to India’s broader cultural influence throughout Southeast Asia .

Homer, The Odyssey , translated by Emily Wilson.  I haven’t read this yet, but it is getting consistently rave reviews.

Robin Hanson and Kevin Simler, The Elephant in the Brain: Hidden Motives in Everyday Life .  At first this was slated for my 2018 list, but it turns out the Kindle edition is out now, so it gets to make both lists.

Samanta Schweblin, Fever Dream: A Novel, [Distancia de Rescate].

The Valmiki Ramayana , translated by Bibek Debroy.  I have only browsed this so far, but it is definitely worthy of mention.

Mulatu of Ethiopia , the title says it all.

Django Bates, Saluting Sgt. Pepper .  A German (!) big band redoes the whole album, with a semi-comic music hall feel, intricate horn arrangements, works surprisingly well.

Alexandre Tharaud, Hommage a’ Barbara , classical pianist goes the route of French song, wonderful acoustics to these arrangements.

Cecile McLorin Salvant, Dreams and Daggers .  The new Ella Fitzgerald.

Charles Lloyd New Quartet, Passin’ Thru .  If their last few albums were released during the golden age of jazz, they would be revered to this day.

If you insist on something Brazilian, we can go back a year and pull out Sociedade Recreativa .

Minore Manes : Rebetika Songs , from Smyrna.