Recently Mentioned Books

2. Star Maker , by Olaf Stapledon.  Read Stapleton if you fervently believe that British Hegelianism is the missing element in most science fiction.  Yet this is probably my favorite science fiction novel of all time, who else can credibly skip over 20,000 years in a single breath?  "Civilizations rose and fell, yet now we must move on," or something like that.  Honorable mentions go to Stapledon’s Odd John and especially Sirius .

1. Sphere , from Michael Crichton.  Forget the last few books.  He is the best science fiction writer in contemporary times, though his publisher works very hard to make sure that label does not stick.

Science fiction has been treading water since the 1960s.  Since that time its most glorious achievements have been on the screen, not on the printed page.  There are some excellent individual books, such as Eon or Hyperion , but the genre is mostly retreads.  Nor do I think much of attempts to cross science fiction with "serious fiction," whether it is coming from Philip K. Dick or Doris Lessing.  Yes the idea is cool but the execution is usually quite flawed.

Science fiction has been treading water since the 1960s.  Since that time its most glorious achievements have been on the screen, not on the printed page.  There are some excellent individual books, such as Eon or Hyperion , but the genre is mostly retreads.  Nor do I think much of attempts to cross science fiction with "serious fiction," whether it is coming from Philip K. Dick or Doris Lessing.  Yes the idea is cool but the execution is usually quite flawed.

John Nye’s new War, Wine, and Taxes: The Political Economy of Anglo-French Trade, 1689-1900 argues that 19th century Britain was not nearly as free trade as is commonly supposed.  Here is one summary of that argument .

… is great fun .  I still can’t decide if it is a "good bad book," like Shantaram , or a "good good book," but it’s a good book of some kind or another.

For mystery, I’ll nominate the works of Henning Mankel , although arguably he is not underrated any more by critics.  Verissimo’s Borges and the Eternal Orangutans is my other pick.  Or how about Charles Palliser’s The Quincunx ?

For mystery, I’ll nominate the works of Henning Mankel , although arguably he is not underrated any more by critics.  Verissimo’s Borges and the Eternal Orangutans is my other pick.  Or how about Charles Palliser’s The Quincunx ?

The subtitle is Behind the Scenes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art , and the content is a series of varied, first person, quasi-biographical reports of how the Met works:

That is from the July 2007 Scientific American , drawing upon Alan Weisman’s The World Without Us ; I have pre-ordered my copy and I am waiting for his secret blog .

That is from Frank Tipler’s The Physics of Christianity .

Why not ask me ?

Oh, Pareto optimality is a such an overrated idea.  In any case the offer still stands.  You can pre-order the book (as so many others have done…thanks everyone!), write me at [email protected] , and get access to the new secret blog .

That is from the really quite interesting Grave Matters: A Journey Through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial , by Mark Harris.  As you may have guessed, the book is a plea for eco-friendly burials.  As for me, I would like my body to be disposed of at a profit, though I doubt if we will have seen enough sectoral deregulation by then…

Buy it here .  Here is the first chapter .

That is from Peter L. Bernstein’s new and noteworthy Capital Ideas Evolving .  This book is a sequel to his earlier Capital Ideas: The Improbably Origins of Modern Wall Street , an account of how financial theory shaped the practice of Wall Street.  My main complaint is that ithis book ought to have much more than it does.  Although it is not short, it reads like 2/5ths of an excellent book; still I will take what I can get.

That is from Peter L. Bernstein’s new and noteworthy Capital Ideas Evolving .  This book is a sequel to his earlier Capital Ideas: The Improbably Origins of Modern Wall Street , an account of how financial theory shaped the practice of Wall Street.  My main complaint is that ithis book ought to have much more than it does.  Although it is not short, it reads like 2/5ths of an excellent book; still I will take what I can get.

That is from Stephen Dubner’s Choosing My Religion , which Natasha wants to seize from me for her own reading.  Here is Dubner’s earlier post on the book .

I wish to thank the many loyal MR readers (buyers!) who pre-ordered my Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist .  On Amazon.com it went from non-existent in the rankings to a peak of #220, hovering most of the day in the mid-200s.

Here is the Amazon link , which also offers a book synopsis.  Here is Barnes&Noble .  Then, just send an email to [email protected] and tell me you bought the book.  I’ll send you the site address right away.

Actress :  Genevieve Bujold, most of all in Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers .

Pianist : Oscar Peterson.  His best albums are The Trio and the set with Joe Pass at Salle Pleyel .  For all his talent, many of his CDs are quite boring.  On another front, I usually don’t like Marc-Andre Hamelin.  Despite the critical raves, I find him icy cold, enjoying only his rendition of the Scriabin sonatas .

Pianist : Oscar Peterson.  His best albums are The Trio and the set with Joe Pass at Salle Pleyel .  For all his talent, many of his CDs are quite boring.  On another front, I usually don’t like Marc-Andre Hamelin.  Despite the critical raves, I find him icy cold, enjoying only his rendition of the Scriabin sonatas .

Pianist : Oscar Peterson.  His best albums are The Trio and the set with Joe Pass at Salle Pleyel .  For all his talent, many of his CDs are quite boring.  On another front, I usually don’t like Marc-Andre Hamelin.  Despite the critical raves, I find him icy cold, enjoying only his rendition of the Scriabin sonatas .

3. Amity Shlaes, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression