Recently Mentioned Books

5. William Gibson, Neuromancer .  Wow, this is now twenty-four years old.  I’m teaching it next week in Law and Literature class.  Upon rereading what strikes me most is how little science fiction it offers and how much it follows in the stylistic footsteps of Hammett and Chandler.

4. Americanos: Latin America’s Struggle for Independence , by John Chasteen.  Every now and then a history book sweeps you up into its world; this one did it for me, most of all the treatment of Alexander von Humboldt but from beginning to end as well.  The best and most readable book on its topic.

3. Castles, Battles, and Bombs: How Economics Explains Military History , by Jurgen Brauer and Hubert van Tuyll.  The table of contents looks amazing, but my browsing indicated this book to be boring.  Still, some of you should read it.  It is full of factual substance, slotted into an economic framework.

2. Dante, Paradiso , translated by Robert and Jean Hollander.  There still is not a gripping English-language Paradiso on the market, as the Mandelbaum translation is flawed as well and don’t ever trust Penguin translations with anything.  This one doesn’t elevate me as the text should.  But it has the best notes of any edition, is laid out most nicely, and is the best for trying to follow the Italian and cross-reference the translation.  If you buy only one English-language Paradiso maybe it is...

1. Uncouth Nation: Why Europe Dislikes America , by Andrei S. Markovits.  Not the usual swill on this topic; sadly the main prediction of this book is that the passing of Bush will not make America much more popular in Europe.  Read this short article on the same.

For commentary on chapter four from Tim Harford’s The Logic of Life , Megan McArdle steps up .  The post is over at her blog, go over there to leave your opinions and show the Atlantic Monthly who’s got the better commentators!

There is more on the way in behavioral economics.  There is Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior , by Ori and Rom Brafman and Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness , the defense of voluntary paternalism from Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, due out later this June and April respectively.

There is more on the way in behavioral economics.  There is Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior , by Ori and Rom Brafman and Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness , the defense of voluntary paternalism from Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, due out later this June and April respectively.

That is from Dan Ariely’s new and excellent Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions .  Here is Dan’s book-related blog .  All of a sudden my head is spinning, wondering what a relative price ratio really means (we can’t divide by zero).  Or is this just the Alchian and Allen theorem on steroids, namely the claim that fixed charges encourage the consumption of the higher quality good?  Or I think: "Zero, is there something special about that number?"

I learned from this new book .  Most of all it shows how the earth likely will change as temperatures rise.

The book is by David Dranove and the subtitle is An Economist Explains How to Revive the Healthcare System Without Destroying It .  Here is the Amazon listing .  Here is the book’s home page .

5. Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (And Stick You With the Bill) , by David Cay Johnston.  This is quite a good compendium of different ways that government screws us over, written from a mixed populist/libertarian point of view.  Recommended.  I expected not so much but the substance here held my attention.  I’d now like to know the total welfare cost of all these bad policies.

4. Due Considerations: Essays and Criticism , by John Updike.  Scattered essays on just about everything.  Completely apart from his fiction, Updike is simply one of the smartest and most impressive people out there.  It is amazing how many topics he knows so much about and how well he writes about them.

3. Architecture of Authority , by Richard Ross.  This book is nothing more than photos of jail cells, parole hearing rooms, Mary Boone Gallery, and the like.  Thought-provoking.

2. Where Have All the Soldiers Gone?: The Transformation of Modern Europe , by James J. Sheehan.  Blah, blah, blah, blah, Europe has fewer soldiers than it used to, blah.  Blah.  Sheehan is a first-rate historian, but there’s not much to this book.

1. Forgotten Continent: The Battle for Latin America’s Soul , by Michael Reid.  A good treatment of the region’s recent history; it is best for its balanced assessment of what market-oriented reforms have managed or not.

Or try this excellent book , or for that matter John T. Flynn’s As We Go Marching .  I divide the arguments of Liberal Fascism into three categories:

Or try this excellent book , or for that matter John T. Flynn’s As We Go Marching .  I divide the arguments of Liberal Fascism into three categories:

Here is Henry Farrell on the book .  Here is Matt Yglesias .  Here is Fred Siegel .  Here is Arnold Kling .  Here is another review .  Here is Megan McArdle on the BloggingHeads version .  Here is the Amazon link .  I am closest to the CrookedTimber commentator who wrote :

I’ve grown tired of single topic foodstuff books, as they are now an overmined and overrated genre.  But Dan Koeppel’s Banana: The Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World is one of the best of its kind.  It is a seamless integration of politics, economics, history, biology, and foodie wisdom.  Here is one review of the book .  Here is Dan’s one-post banana blog .

He is also author of the excellent and much underrated The Joy of Freedom .  Russ Roberts and I were on the editorial board and we are also contributors.  The publisher is Liberty Fund.  I haven’t seen a copy yet of the final edition, but I believe this will be a very useful way for many people to learn economics.  The Amazon link is here .

He is also author of the excellent and much underrated The Joy of Freedom .  Russ Roberts and I were on the editorial board and we are also contributors.  The publisher is Liberty Fund.  I haven’t seen a copy yet of the final edition, but I believe this will be a very useful way for many people to learn economics.  The Amazon link is here .

Michael did not request anything in return, but I am sending him a copy of my book Creative Destruction: How Globalization is Changing the World’s Cultures .

That’s right, all of Beethoven, 87 discs.  Buy it here .  I’m not tempted, mostly because I already have multiple favorite versions and I am ultimately a big fusspot who can’t stand to hear lesser accounts of the master.  I was happy with the Bach box for $99 but he stands up to second-rate interpretations more readily and I never before owned the complete cantatas.  Still, some of you may find this a quick and cost-effective way to feel a sense of "Beethoven completeness."  But you’ll value the...

That’s right, all of Beethoven, 87 discs.  Buy it here .  I’m not tempted, mostly because I already have multiple favorite versions and I am ultimately a big fusspot who can’t stand to hear lesser accounts of the master.  I was happy with the Bach box for $99 but he stands up to second-rate interpretations more readily and I never before owned the complete cantatas.  Still, some of you may find this a quick and cost-effective way to feel a sense of "Beethoven completeness."  But you’ll value the...