Recently Mentioned Books

Nonetheless you can purchase it here .  You can find a good review here .

The subtitle is Two Economists Expose the Pitfalls on the Road to Victory in Professional Sports and the authors are David Berri and Martin Schmidt.  I liked this bit (p.21) about the factors which do not explain free agents' salaries in the NBA:

You can buy the book here .

5. Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche , by Haruki Murakami.  This remains one of the classic studies of collective action, although it is hardly ever recognized as such.

4. The Cost of Living in America: A Political History of Economic Statistics, 1880-2000 , by Thomas A. Stapleford.  No, I'm not actually reading this one, but I should be.

3. Wolf Hall: A Novel , by Hilary Mantel.  Usually I'm willing to blame myself when I don't like "classics," but on this one I'll push back.  I started thinking "magisterial" (itself a mixed blessing) and then found myself slipping to "dutiful."  It's good — not great — and it doesn't beat reading non-fiction about British history.  The second Amazon review hits the mark.

2. Solar , by Ian McEwan.  Maybe this is still better than most people's stuff, but I didn't finish it.  He's lost his intellectual edge.

1. King Kong Theory , by Virginie Despentes.  An excellent short book on feminism, rape, and prostitution.  Given how much ink has been spilt on these issues, it's more vital than you would expect; "full of energy," as they say.

Albion's Seed is an excellent book but it is too long.  What have I forgotten?  Should I have more on Mormons?

8. Louis Hartz, The Liberal Tradition in America .

7. Peter Baldwin, The Narcissism of Minor Differences: How American and Europe are Alike .  I disagree with the premise of this book but nonetheless it may shake them out of their dogmatic slumbers.

6. American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword , by Seymour Martin Lipset.

5. State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America , by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey.

4. John Gunther, Inside U.S.A. ; a longstanding favorite of mine.

3. The American Religion , by Harold Bloom.

2. Class: A Guide Through the American Status System , by Paul Fussell.

1. Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America .

2. Jean Guillou, Bach Organ Works , six CDs.  I thought I would be happy with Christopher Herrick and Peter Hurford forever; I was wrong.  It's even better than Guillou's 1999 Bach recordings.

1. Haydn, The Complete String Quartets , the Buchberger Quartet.  To my ears, these are definitive and much better than Emerson, Kodaly, Lindsay, and other versions.  Some single disc excerpts are available as well.

I am a fan of Atwood's Cat's Eye and The Handmaid's Tale , both of which are well constructed and compelling on virtually every page.  Many of her other books seem meritorious to me ( The Blind Assassin , Robber's Bride ), but I don't enjoy finishing them and my attention ends up wandering.  The failing may be mine.  I don't think I would find her non-fiction book on debt very interesting but I haven't tried it.

I am a fan of Atwood's Cat's Eye and The Handmaid's Tale , both of which are well constructed and compelling on virtually every page.  Many of her other books seem meritorious to me ( The Blind Assassin , Robber's Bride ), but I don't enjoy finishing them and my attention ends up wandering.  The failing may be mine.  I don't think I would find her non-fiction book on debt very interesting but I haven't tried it.

I am a fan of Atwood's Cat's Eye and The Handmaid's Tale , both of which are well constructed and compelling on virtually every page.  Many of her other books seem meritorious to me ( The Blind Assassin , Robber's Bride ), but I don't enjoy finishing them and my attention ends up wandering.  The failing may be mine.  I don't think I would find her non-fiction book on debt very interesting but I haven't tried it.

6. Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades , by Jonathan Phillips.

5. 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown , by Simon Johnson; a public choice analysis of the unholy alliance between finance and politics.

4. The Great Reset: How New Ways of Working and Living Drive Post-Crash Prosperity , by Richard Florida.