Recently Mentioned Books

That’s the new book by Kevin Phillips .  He concludes:

The author is Bill Kauffman and the subtitle is The Long, Noble History of Antiwar Conservatism and Middle-American Anti-Imperialism .  Here is one excerpt:

That is from David W. Anthony’s The Horse The Wheel and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppe Shaped the Modern World .  In particular this book focuses on the origin of the Indo-European language group and the relationship between archeology and linguistics.  He is also skeptical of Jared Diamond’s well-known thesis that early Europe had much diffusion of innovation in the East-West direction.  Recommended.

Peter Barnes, Climate Solutions: A Citizen’s Guide is the full title.  This simple book is written in the form of punchlines and cartoons but it’s still one of the more insightful treatments of the topic.  He is skeptical of a carbon tax:

4. Hammerklavier Piano Sonata .  Schnabel’s take on the slow movement is the most profound, but his outer movements are a mess.  Gilels or Pollini are safer.  The box of late piano sonatas by Solomon covers the slow movements beautifully as well; when push comes to shove that is my pick.

1. The Emperor Concerto .  This warhorse is a much underrated piece of music, especially the slow movement.  The best recording, and indeed one of the best classical recordings of all time, is Michelangeli-Celibidache .

The Economist has a new travel blog , the new Fuchsia Dunlop book is only "good," the first issue of Reason magazine under new editor Matt Welch is out (so far I like it; it’s less cultural, less left-wing and more current affairsy than before), finally I am into Wilco, Vishnu’s Crowded Temple is an interesting account of the blend between Indian politics and religion, Arthur Brooks’s Gross National Happiness argues that the traditional conservative recipe makes people happy, Ramon Llull is a mu...

The Economist has a new travel blog , the new Fuchsia Dunlop book is only "good," the first issue of Reason magazine under new editor Matt Welch is out (so far I like it; it’s less cultural, less left-wing and more current affairsy than before), finally I am into Wilco, Vishnu’s Crowded Temple is an interesting account of the blend between Indian politics and religion, Arthur Brooks’s Gross National Happiness argues that the traditional conservative recipe makes people happy, Ramon Llull is a mu...

Wolf Totem , by Jiang Rong, is the most widely read book in China since Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book.  In the United States it’s been out since March 27 and still it has only one Amazon review and a negative one at that.  So far I find it compelling and I am enjoying its panpsychic vulgarities.  It’s also a good guide to how the Chinese think about their foreign policy.

That’s by Matt Yglesias ( son of Rafael Yglesias ) and the subtitle is How the Republicans Screw Up Foreign Policy and Foreign Policy Screws Up the Democrats .  Anyone who reads books on foreign policy should buy this book.  Most of all it is a critique of recent practice and a defense of liberal internationalism.  He calls for negotiating with Iran, not digging in deeper in Iraq, and more generally accepting multilateral frameworks for the use of American military power.  I agree with the polic...

5. Hubble: The Mirror on the Universe , revised and updated, by Robin Kerrod and Carole Stott.  Stunning.  Most smart people make the mistake of not reading enough picture books.  It’s not just that the pictures are good; the text must concentrate on what is truly essential.

4. Francisco Goldman, The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop? .  Maybe the best book on why Guatemala is such a mess but also on why there is hope.  Make sure you read the dissenting reviews on Amazon.

3. 2666: A Novel , by Roberto Bolaño, you can pre-order it here.  So far I’m only reading the Amazon site every few days or so, thinking about when the book will come.

2. Ted Hughes, Birthday Letters .  This one blew me away; you don’t even have to like poetry, it is more like reading letters.  You do need to know a little about his life with Sylvia Plath to appreciate it.  A modern masterpiece, highly recommended.

1. Steven Teles, The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement .  It covers the Federalist Society, GMU School of Law, Institute for Justice, among other institutions.  The material rang true to what I know; Orin Kerr comments .

That’s the subtitle, the title is Bound for Freedom and it is by Douglas Flamming.  This book is a good antidote to libertarians who assign too much blame to state governments, and not enough blame to voluntary norms, when it comes to Southern segregation and Jim Crow.  Early in the twentieth century, Los Angeles was devoid of the oppressive Jim Crow laws that were so common in the South.  In fact California had some (unenforced) laws prohibiting discrimination according to race.  Yet according ...

That is from Peter Moskos’s Cop in the Hood: My Year Policing Baltimore’s Eastern District ; here is my previous post on the book .

5. Novel, set in : Norman Mailer’s The Executioner’s Song .  The first half in particular is a knockout.

3. Best Robert Redford movie : Out of Africa , schmaltz yes but I love it.

1. Author : Orson Scott Card’s The Ender Trilogy (start with Ender’s Game ) is a modern landmark which will be read for years to come.  Next on my list is Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose .

1. Author : Orson Scott Card’s The Ender Trilogy (start with Ender’s Game ) is a modern landmark which will be read for years to come.  Next on my list is Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose .

4. Steve Coll, The Bin Ladens: A Saudi Family in the American Century .  So far it’s great.  I know you’re sick of reading about Bin Laden; just think of it as a (partial) history of the Saudis.

3. Starved for Science: How Biotechnology is Being Kept Out of Africa , by Robert Paarlberg.  The point is unassailable, the subtitle says it all.

2. Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations .  Yes, that’s the Clay Shirky .  This is (implicitly) a very good Hayekian, spontaneous order treatment of social software on the web.  The book poses a simple and important question: what happens when it is virtually costless to organize people into groups?

1. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness , by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein.