Recently Mentioned Books

Charles Moore, Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography .  I’ve browsed some of it, it looks really quite good, noting that in general authorized biographies bore me.

Edmund Burke: The First Conservative , by Jesse Norman.

2. Stanislaw Lem’s major non-fiction work is now in English , Amazon link is here .  I have ordered it of course.

Krugman’s own words on the topic were “huge swings in the exchange rate have had only muted effects on anything real,” to cite one claim out of numerous similar passages.

Portugal is also a victim of what is called “ the gravity equation ,” namely that distance hurts the prospects for trade and in a manner which is strongly non-linear.  Think about the map or failing that read Saramago’s The Stone Raft — Portugal is close to other eurozone countries and to some (relatively poor) parts of Africa, otherwise it is pretty far from most places.

It is also odd that Hutton mentions robots and automation.  My next book considers those factors in great detail, but you won’t find either term or variants thereof in the index of The Great Stagnation .  Nor do I have the dual worry that both everything will be automated and there is nothing left to automate, as stated by Hutton.

I also argue in the book that the internet is the next transformational technology, and that it is already here, though it needs some time to mature and pay off.  I devoted an entire separate book to this theme, namely The Age of the Infovore , which suggests that for autistics and other infovores massive progress already has arrived.

Such views make for a convenient target, but that is not close to what I wrote in The Great Stagnation .  For instance on p.83 you will find me proclaiming, after several pages of details, “For these reasons, I am optimistic about getting some future low-hanging fruit.”  Those are not Straussian passages hidden like the extra Nirvana audio track at the end of Nevermind .  The very subtitle of the book announces “How America…(Eventually) Will Feel Better Again.”

Such views make for a convenient target, but that is not close to what I wrote in The Great Stagnation .  For instance on p.83 you will find me proclaiming, after several pages of details, “For these reasons, I am optimistic about getting some future low-hanging fruit.”  Those are not Straussian passages hidden like the extra Nirvana audio track at the end of Nevermind .  The very subtitle of the book announces “How America…(Eventually) Will Feel Better Again.”

TV viewing for this summer will likely include the full-length version of Fanny and Alexander , the Danish political thriller Borgen , and season two of Enlightened .

TV viewing for this summer will likely include the full-length version of Fanny and Alexander , the Danish political thriller Borgen , and season two of Enlightened .

TV viewing for this summer will likely include the full-length version of Fanny and Alexander , the Danish political thriller Borgen , and season two of Enlightened .

5. Mark Mazzetti, The Way of the Knife: The CIA, A Secret Army, and a War at the End of the Earth .  On the origins of drone warfare and also how the role of the CIA has changed.  The contents of this book, which cover secret intelligence (in a non-sensationalized fashion) are difficult to judge, but I can say it held my interest.

4. Nicholas Murray, Aldous Huxley: A Biography , and Jeffrey Meyers, D.H. Lawrence: A Biography .  These are good books to read in tandem.

4. Nicholas Murray, Aldous Huxley: A Biography , and Jeffrey Meyers, D.H. Lawrence: A Biography .  These are good books to read in tandem.

3. Julian Barnes, Levels of Life .  A subtle and moving short tale which cannot be described without introducing spoilers.  Avoids the problems which plagues some of Barnes’s less-deep works.  Right now out in the UK only , U.S. release coming later in the year .

2. C.P. Snow, Variety of Men .  Have I mentioned that most older books — beyond the immediate classics — are, well…crud?  But this series of portraits, covering such diverse figures as Ernest Rutherford and Robert Frost, is both entertaining and useful.

1. T. J. Clark, Picasso and Truth: From Cubism to Guernica .  I guess I had to read this one , but it did deliver as I had promised.  Excellent color plates, and overall a very good book (the best?) on what makes Picasso special.

The subtitle is How Economic Growth Has Made us Smarter — and More Unequal , you can buy a copy here .

How about this biography of Bhumibol Adulyadej ? Falcon of Siam is historical fiction of note. Thailand — Culture Smart! is good for browsing.  You can read a variety of books on Jim Thompson , and speaking of Thompson this cookbook by David Thompson is a must. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is one of the best movies ever made; watch these too , noting that Syndromes and a Century offers insight into the Thai health care system.  I am not recommending use of such services, but perha...

How about this biography of Bhumibol Adulyadej ? Falcon of Siam is historical fiction of note. Thailand — Culture Smart! is good for browsing.  You can read a variety of books on Jim Thompson , and speaking of Thompson this cookbook by David Thompson is a must. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is one of the best movies ever made; watch these too , noting that Syndromes and a Century offers insight into the Thai health care system.  I am not recommending use of such services, but perha...

How about this biography of Bhumibol Adulyadej ? Falcon of Siam is historical fiction of note. Thailand — Culture Smart! is good for browsing.  You can read a variety of books on Jim Thompson , and speaking of Thompson this cookbook by David Thompson is a must. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is one of the best movies ever made; watch these too , noting that Syndromes and a Century offers insight into the Thai health care system.  I am not recommending use of such services, but perha...

How about this biography of Bhumibol Adulyadej ? Falcon of Siam is historical fiction of note. Thailand — Culture Smart! is good for browsing.  You can read a variety of books on Jim Thompson , and speaking of Thompson this cookbook by David Thompson is a must. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is one of the best movies ever made; watch these too , noting that Syndromes and a Century offers insight into the Thai health care system.  I am not recommending use of such services, but perha...

How about this biography of Bhumibol Adulyadej ? Falcon of Siam is historical fiction of note. Thailand — Culture Smart! is good for browsing.  You can read a variety of books on Jim Thompson , and speaking of Thompson this cookbook by David Thompson is a must. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is one of the best movies ever made; watch these too , noting that Syndromes and a Century offers insight into the Thai health care system.  I am not recommending use of such services, but perha...

The subtitle is The Future of Higher Education and What It Means for Students , and I read it straight through in one sitting.  It is the best book on its topic, and anyone interested in this area should buy and read it immediately.