Recently Mentioned Books

I very much liked Peter’s new book, Zero to One: Notes on Start-Ups, or How to Build the Future .

6. Jeff Riggenbach, Persuaded by Reason: Joan Kennedy Taylor and the Rebirth of American Individualism .  I knew her a bit and was always fond of her.  This book is a good look at 1970s libertarianism, and the rebirth of libertarian feminism in the United States.  Both Alex and I make cameos in the text, he as an editor, gatekeeper, and theorist of self-ownership and abortion, I as a purchaser of the CD collection from the estate of Roy Childs (Joan was executor of the estate and also Roy’s dear...

5. Henry R. Nau, Conservative Internationalism: Armed Diplomacy under Jefferson, Polk, Truman, and Reagan .  We could use more of this, and I am referring to each of those words “conservative” and “internationalism,” as well as the combination of the two.  This book was published about a year ago, and I don’t think the author could have realized how relevant it was going to become.  An important book for 2014, it sets out a manifesto for a classical liberal but non-isolationist approach to forei...

4. Samuel Fromartz, In Search of the Perfect Loaf: A Home Baker’s Odyssey .  A fun cross-sectional look at the bread universe, combined with some recipes and reminiscences.

3. Pascal Bonafoux, Rodin & Eros .  Beware of visiting too many Rodin museums, you might end up thinking he just repeated the same themes over and over again.  This book, including the color plates, will jolt you into seeing his work fresh once again.

2. Henry Kissinger, World Order .  I liked parts of his China book, but there’s nothing really to this one.  Leave it alone.

1. Kai Bird, The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames .  Kai Bird is very highly rated, but in my view he remains underrated.  I very much like each and every one of his books, and this sympathetic treatment brings to life the Middle East conflicts through the 1980s, and also the life of a CIA officer, as well as a bygone era in U.S. foreign policy.

That is from Edward Hirsch, A Poet’s Glossary , which I am quite enjoying.  There is interesting material on every page and it is written with passion.   A hendiatris is a “figure of speech in which three words are employed to express an idea, as in Thomas Jefferson’s tripartite motto for the Declaration of Independence: “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.””  When there are only two words so employed, it is of course a hendiadys .

2. Ha-Joon Chang, Economics: The User’s Guide .  A genuinely humble and pluralistic introduction to the economic way of thinking, from a “developmentalist,” linkages are important for economic growth, anti-free trade point of view.

1. Michael Ignatieff, Fire and Ashes: Success and Failure in Politics .  A genuinely interesting book about why someone with tenure at Harvard might be crazy enough to run for high public office, and then what it is like to lose somewhat ignominiously.

That is from the newly translated book by Peter Schneider, Berlin Now: The City After the Wall .  Much of that passage makes sense, but one part confuses me:  does “rely on his potential talent as a lover” support or contradict “cultivate a “soft” masculine image”?

6. Martin Wolf has a forthcoming book on the financial crisis .

For the pointer I thank Mary Ray.  (p.s.: the paperback edition of Average is Over is out today).

On this note, the paperback of Average is Over is coming out August 26th, you can order your copy here .

Due to hydrocarbons, the country is growing at over six percent a year.  My favorite movie set in Bolivia is Even the Rain , a Spanish production I believe.

You can order the book here .

That is the new book by Jean-Pierre Filiu , Oxford University Press.  It would not have come right now unless I were supposed to read it on the plane, so I will.

I loved the Michael Hofmann review of Stephen Parker’s Bertolt Brecht: A Literary Life in the 15 August 2014 Times Literary Supplement .  Every paragraph of that review is a gem and Hofmann calls the book perhaps the greatest literary biography he has read.  I’ve ordered my copy .

There is more here , you can pre-order the book here .  My previous posts about this work are here .

Justin McGuirk, Radical Cities: Across Latin America In Search of a New Architecture is broader than the title implies and recommended to anyone who follows that part of the world.

Fear: A Novel of World War I , by Gabriel Chevalier, is being touted as the “latter day All Quiet on the Western Front.”  At first I thought that was just exaggerated promo, but it is quite good.

That is the new Haruki Murakami book , which Amazon sent me a day early.  It is (dark) fun, but not deep and not top drawer Murakami.  Most of his fans will like it enough to be glad they bought it.

7. Dick Hyman’s Century of Jazz Piano , five CDs, quite familiar music, some of it corny even, nonetheless these remain remarkable pieces and they are impeccably played.  A joy of rediscovery.

6. Deafheaven, Sunbather .  “Black metal for people who don’t like black metal.”  Alternatively, “Serving as an artistic lucid dream of warmth despite the stinging pain of life’s cruel idealism.”

5. Mala, Mala in Cuba .  Think Buena Vista Social Club for dubstep fans.