Book Survey

[H2O Man]

One of the most important things for maintaining our Constitutional democracy is "freedom of the press." The implications of a "free press" are worth our considering: Is it wise to assume that the corporations which produce cable network programming any more concerned with a "free press" than McDonald's is in promoting healthy diets for children, or the tobacco industry is in teenagers' health?

What does a "free press" mean? Is it accurate to say that with "rights" come responsibilities? Are the people, for example, who post a variety of thoughtful information on the various internet discussion forums -- no matter if we label it progressive, liberal, moderate, or conservative -- participating in an important Amendment #1 activity? I think so.

What responsibility do we "owe" ourselves? I think we should try to become better informed by exposing ourselves to a variety of different opinions. I also think that we should take full advantage of learning about history -- world history, US history, local history, and our family history -- because as Malcolm X said, the tree of knowledge is firmly rooted in history.

One of my favorite group of people are the librarians that I know in several of the towns and villages in my area. They have a wonderful grasp of Amendment #1 issues. They know that it is as dangerous to have "big brother" watching what books you take out of the library as it is to have some "focus group" trying to determine what books bad and dangerous for people to read.

I try to read a wide variety of books. A few days ago, my younger son send me Chris Matthews' new book, "Life Is a Campaign." It was an interesting book, but I was disappointed that Mr. Matthews avoided the topic of the Plame scandal and the attempts by VP Cheney to "control" the show Hardball. But I suppose the fact that the back cover had a review by the chairman and CEO of General Electric was a warning of what boundries the book would adhere to.

Yesterday my older son brought me five new books: (1) America's Constitution, by Akhir Reed Amar; (2)Reading Judas, by Elaine Pagels & Karen King; (3) Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years, by David Talbot; (4) Nixon and Kissinger, by Robert Dallek; and (5)The Desk Encyclopedia of World History, published by Oxford University Press. These will make fine additions to my library, and I'm enjoying reading them.

Books are an important part of a "free press." They are the rewards that we reap when we recognize that General Electric, McDonald's, and the tobaccos industry aren't going to bring democracy into our living rooms because they feel a corporate duty to our Constitution. We play a role, and have to be engaged in a search for the truth about the great issues of our day. The corporate state would prefer that we sit and consume the "rancid bacon or rotten green ham ... from (which) comes all the moral scurvy which is eating itself into the life of people around us." (Ouspensky) For they know that minds which find little to compare find little to think about, and the corporate entities are able to capitalize on that form of ignorance.

What books are you reading now? What are the best books that you have read this year? What books are you hoping to read in the next few months?

[Annces]

1. My reading often

revolves around a project I am doing, wild animals, hunting, etc. Other times I have been reading some religious books, often way over my head. I try reading history, but it is not my arena at all. I would not mind reading your friend's book, Hurricane, when it comes out.

[H2O Man]

2. The book "Hurricane:

the Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter" has been out for some time. The book Rubin wrote that was going to be published last year met with some types of the difficulties that "In the Spirit of Crazy Horse" was burdened with. I'm not sure when it will be available. But I think you's enjoy James Hirsch's book "Hurricane."

[OzarkDem]

3. Reading "Brothers" right now

Holy shite, is all I can say. I'm making the OzarkDemboys read it next.

[H2O Man]

4. It's good.

Of course, I've just started it. But it has the information on Dave Powers and Kenny O'Donnell in it that I think is one of the keys for everyone to consider, no matter what their opinion is.

[OzarkDem]

8. Its hard to argue w/ evidence presented

I also recently read a Howard Hughes biography in which they claim someone in RFK/JFK's inner circle was on Hughe's payroll for a number of years allowing him to keep tabs on what the brothers were doing.

I can't recall if it was O'Donnell or Powers or someone else, but I found it shocking and disturbing.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. I'm reading "The Letters of the Younger Pliny" and "Long Road to Freedom".

Most people would be surprised how entertaining, humorous, and informative those old Romans can be. I just finished reading "The War of the Jews" and "Antiquities" by Flavius Josephus. Rough going on that one. Very long and Josephus could have used an editor. But, extremely detailed.

I've just cracked "Long Road to Freedom" by Ira Berlin about the slaves that fled to the British during our revolution and what happened to them.

I've been reading aloud to my wife every evening for 26 years. We're about 2/3 through "Half of a Yellow Sun" a nove by by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie about the Biafra/Nigeria civil war in the '60s. It's beautifully written and a pleasure to read just because of her ability to write.

I've read dozens of books over the year. Mostly history but some a little of everything thrown in for the hell of it.

[H2O Man]

10. Interesting.

I'm not familiar with "Long Road to Freedom." But in years past, I did some work on an archaeological site from the Revolutionary War era, when Mohawk leader Joseph Brant had a significant camp. Part of it was where Colonel Jacob Klock reported to Governor Clinton that Brant's troops included "rascally Tories, and runaway Negroes." (Clinton Papers, III 402-4) There was a route between Milford, PA, and Canada. It's an interesting part of that period, that is largely lost to people today.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

15. Ira Berlin has written extensivley on slavery.

Always excellently researched, interesting, and readable.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/104-8828274-8501561?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=ira+berlin&x=12&y=17

[jcla]

6. Books are fun to think!

I enjoy Virginia Hamilton and have reread the "Dreer House" books.
The last of Gates I read was "Finding Oprah's Roots"
Reread Mosley and waiting for "Blonde Fiction".
Am waiting to get my hands on the new bio. of Ralph Ellison, Valerie Plame Wilson's book, John Dean's book but have to wait until my patrons' finish them first... Yes, libraries don't keep track of what books each person reads... Nor do we ban books... we get in treasures and trash case in point we received "if I did it" in the same shipment as the Ellison Bio and the Plame book.
Carter's book about Palestine impressed me.
Read "The Senator and the Lady" and "Inkheart" among many others.
I like Cesar Millan. I have the most laid back gentle yellow lab... so books about dogs rank up there...Loved "Marley and Me" and am waiting for the book about "Dewey the Library Cat" to be published.

[H2O Man]

11. I had been

given Valerie Plame Wilson's book recently. It's a fun read.

Years ago, I had labs. I can remember them resting near my feet when I'd read. Great dogs.

[Yael]

22. That one is next on my list

[Time for change]

7. How true

Books have so much more information in them than our corporate news media gives us, and they certainly have a different slant on things. I certainly hope that the wealthy don't gain censorship rights over books similar to the control they currently have over televsion, radio and newspapers. If they do, then our democracy is completely gone.

Some of the best books I'm reading now are:

The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein
The End of America by Naomi Wolf
Takeover -- The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy by Charlie Savage
Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army by Jeremy Scahill

[H2O Man]

14. Those sound like

four books that I should read. I had read some things by Naomi Wolf before that I thought were interesting, though I did not agree with her on a few important topics. I've seen her discussing her new book, and think she is right on target. I might get that one soon.

[H2O Man]

9. I see two options ....

...of course, there could be more. But two come to mind:

(1) That as I mentioned libraries, DUers assume they must be quiet on this thread. A stretch, of course, but possible.

(2) That I have picked one of the dullest and least interesting topics, which resulted in but a trickle of a response that quickly ended. Okay, okay -- I can deal with that. My feelings aren't hurt. Those aren't tears .... it's my allergies. Just because my children laugh and say, "Most people have friends -- but Dad talks to books," I take pride in the fact that I don't pace the hallways talking to paintings late at night.

So ..... do you tend to read progressive/liberal books? Or moderate/conservative ones?

[Annces]

16. Why don't you

write a free-form poem. I would like to see how the whacky mind of yours works. Maybe a boxing poem?

:evilgrin:

[H2O Man]

28. Ha!

I think that even the Bush White House would agree that reading my formless attempts at poetry rates and crude and unusual punishment. It's been a long, long time since I used to do much of that. Somewhere, I have a couple of notebooks with unfinished poems (or worse: finished!) which I used to loan a neighbor who played in a rock-n-roll band.

[rosesaylavee]

29. Here is my list...

I just viewed the video on Friday What A Way To Go
Life At The End Of Empire (http://www.whatawaytogomovie.com/) Very very tough movie to watch - but one that I can't recommend enough...


... and have a few books to start based on books referenced in that:

Overshoot
by William Robert Catton

and I need to reread Ishmael by Daniel Quinn.

And I hope to get both at my library. Love the library system here. The librarians have been actively supporting my 1st amendment rights. Don't know what I would do without them!

[H2O Man]

51. My older son

worked in a public library for years. He really enjoyed it. My family spend a lot of time there.

[KoKo]

72. ...

[hootinholler]

35. The third...

You posted when football is on!

See it's picking up now the game is over.

-Hoot

[wildeyed]

42. Some of my best friends are books.

Seriously. :)

As for my bent, I read anything that doesn't run away from me or bore me to tears.

[H2O Man]

50. My friend Rubin

says that when you open a book, you can commune with the great minds in human history.

[Laurab]

83. I read a lot - I read the Kennedy book not too long ago.

I read progressive/liberal books mostly, and I honestly can't remember all the books I've read in the past few years. Because, up until around 2003, I was ignorant and blissful, had no interest in politics at all, but I happened to sell books on Ebay, and one day picked up a copy of a book by Molly Ivins called "Bushwhacked" that I was selling at the time. It changed my life.

As in most things I do in my life, I went overboard after reading that book. I bought and read every book I could find on this administration. I remember the one that terrified me back then - I don't remember the exact title but it was by Mark Crispin Miller, and the second part of the title was: Bush and Cheney's New World Order.

I've read so many books that I'd have to go to Amazon.com and look at my buying history to remember them all. I've read tons of books about the war, many written by soldiers or Marines, I've read Bush's Brain, books about Cheney, books about Bush - one thing this administration has given me aside from an interest in politics, is a never-ending reading list. Since I still sell books, I sell most of them after I read them - in the end, they usually cost me next to nothing. I read John Dean's first one, Ron Suskind's (sp?), Blackwater, Joe Wilson's, and so many others, as soon as they came out.

On my list for right now are Valerie Plame's book and the Nixon-Kissinger one, but it seems everytime I go to Amazon, there are new recommendations for me, and sometimes they look better than the ones I go there to buy. I read only non-fiction these days - I think the truth is stranger than fiction.

I do like a little levity now and then, I bought Stephen Colbert's book, but haven't gotten around to it yet, because I've had so much other stuff to read.

I also read Vanity Fair and Rolling Stone, both of which almost always have some type of story about the administration, or the war, or the issues of the day.

I don't know what I would do without books, although sometimes I think life was easier before I started realizing what the criminals in this administration were doing to our country. It's not a dull topic to me at all - it's nice to know there are other readers out there!

[Gabi Hayes]

12. thanks for this....too depressed to read political books anymore. can't sleep when

I read them

here:

http://www.poetsonthepeaks.com/index800.html

''Leap'' by Terry Tempest Williams, about Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights (one of the best things I've ever read...still haven't finished it, though, after several years of picking up/putting down)

http://www.mormonstoday.com/000528/A2Williams01.shtml


A Walk in the Woods

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/billbryson/bb_title/display.pperl?isbn=9780767902526

[truedelphi]

23. Thank you for those. Bryson alone is worth a thank you. I love his humor!

No writer has made me laugh as much as Bryson and his stories about being in Britain.

Didn't know he had a new one about the Appalachian trail.

[XemaSab]

128. A Walk in the Woods

has been around for a few years, and it's a hoot. :)

[TahitiNut]

13. "The Arraignment" by Steve Martini

:dunce: :dunce:

http://www.amazon.com/Arraignment-Steve-Martini/dp/0515135259/ref=ed_oe_p/104-7624980-2074335

[H2O Man]

52. It looks like

the author writes a lot about police etc. Is that the type of thing you are interested in? If so, let me know.

[TahitiNut]

74. It's "bubble gum" ... legal/detective/crime novels for recreational reading.

NOT "thrillers" ... but novels by lawyers-turned-authors that I prefer these days. I've read everything John Grisham has written. I've read all of James Patterson's stuff, too. In between, I've been re-readng Eric Fromm ("tuning" my psyche) and some of the recent political stuff (e.g. "Assault on Reason") - but since I mostly read at night before sleeping, I prefer 'escapist' stuff. Between the net (DU et. al.) and The Nation, I get enough about the political septic tank we're in that I don't want to dream about it, too.

[cgrindley]

17. Strike a blow against censorship... read THE ROAD

cormac mccarthy is a god. I am not worthy to lick his boots, although I suppose that come January, I'll be accused of ripping him off, I absolutely did not read The Road prior to last week.

[H2O Man]

53. Interesting.

Is it the type of writing that you do, as well?

[cgrindley]

62. ICON

I'm a magic realist but I write in an American minimal voice. I have three novels coming out in January in a massive triple decker... I'll be sure to tell everyone here about it when it's out. From a press in San Francisco called No Record. We're just finishing up with the proofreading now and are about to go to galley proofs. The work is being illustrated by a pop artist.

The work is called ICON. It's introduced by my memories of my year as a visiting professor at Yale's Divinity School.

The first novel is Still Life. It's a post-apocalyptic fable of a group of people living on the shoreline of CT after the world has ended. It's not really about the same sort of content that McCarthy writes about. I'm writing about the diaspora. I liken living in a new country, cut off from your past, to living in a dead land.

The second novel is called The Memoirs of a Supervillain. It's basically an Antiques Roadshow style presenter appraising the vast palatial compound of a newly-incarcerated supervillain.

The third novel is called The Fear of Contagion. It's the story of a man whose punishment in Hell is to live through every single suicide on earth as it happens. Sort of like Quantum Leap, but wretched.

The book, all 750 or so pages of it, basically looks at the collection, evaluation and place of memory in our lives. Like I said, it's magic realism... if you like Murakami or Borges or Marquez or Auster or Pavic, you'll like this. It's got a touch of Vollmann. The writing is American minimal, but not as clipped as McCarthy or Palahniuk or Hemingway.

I'll post when it comes out. The publisher wants people to order from them and not Amazon. Apparently Amazon charges amazing fees to publishers.

[Nevernose]

80. If it was as "clipped as ... Hemingway"

It'd be nothing but a string of punctuation :). And I don't find Palahniuk to be clipped, at least as not as much as the other two. When Chuck starts ranting, Chuck starts RANTING.

Also, as I'll post on the earlier post you made, I started reading "The Road" just this afternoon. How can I put into words what "melancholy" means? All I can say is read "The Road."

[cgrindley]

108. Second to fourth Palahniuk

Fight Club, Survivor and Choke are written in a pretty similar voice that eventually loosens up into what becomes a much more mature style in Lullaby, Diary and Haunted. I haven't read the latest one, but I'll hold to "clipped" for those second, third and fourth novels. Also, similar in size to the rest of the American minimal camp... 40-50 k words (fight club is 46k I think). A good size for a book if you ask me.

[Nevernose]

178. Mostly I was making a Hemingway joke, and I refuse to read "Diary"

Alaso, it was use of the word "clipped." I could try quantifying that, but the truth is, I can't. It's a gut feeling. "Choppy" might be better, at least in places.

Or, on second thought, you may be right. Choppy except in important places sounds suspiciously like Hemingway...

I teach an excerpt from "Fight Club" to my twelfth grade honors class, three or four pages -- the part where he explains about the rules? From The Outlaw Bible of American Literature? They go crazy for it.

As much as I'm addicted to my escapist literature (if the cover has a buxom bikini-clad woman, riding a dragon and shooting something monstrous with a laser sword, then I'm there :)), I wish there were more people out there pushing the envelope, and that I had more time to read them.

[Nevernose]

81. Just bought "The Road" this morning

As I wrote in your reply to another post, '"How can I put into words what "melancholy" means? All I can say is read "The Road."' I started it, and I'll have time to finish it tomorrow or Tuesday. I would have bought it sooner, but they had to take Oprah's name off and replace it with "Winner of the Pulitzer Prize" before I could buy it with a straight face (nothing against Oprah, by the way, except pure insecurity).

Cormac is a freaking genius.

[cgrindley]

107. The Road

The thing that I like about it is all the stuff it doesn't tell you. For example... it never says why the world is the way it is. It never specifically tells us where it's taking place and so on. It's so rich in a type of detail that it functions remarkably well. I also love the precision of his vocabulary. Short little sentences but with the occasional hyperprecise uncommon lexical item thrown in. Wonderful all around.

For the life of me, I can't actually figure out what objection people are making to this book. I have no idea why it's constantly threatened with banning.

[Nevernose]

179. Finished at 4:01 this afternoon

Came home from work, told my kid I was tired and was going to take a nap, and instead finished The Road.

When people use "hyperprecise uncommon lexical" terms, I often find that authors are trying to impress people or at least gussy up what otherwise would be barely passable writing (see Dean Koontz's first 429 novels, for example). McCarthy used them for a reason -- because they were right -- and it worked. It frustrates me when writers play to the lowest common denominator. "Commercial" doesn't mean "stupid."

The only objections I can see are about the suicide motif and the horrific violence towards children, plus the religious right probably doesn't like the discussion of religion, especially when some characters are clearly religious and yet not raptured, or when an argument for atheism seems so rational.

I'm still letting it sink in. It's fresh enough to be a mystery. A bildungsroman, except on a road (there's a word for that, but I forget what it is, so I'll use "riverstory" instead). Also, this particular bildungsroman takes place in hell.

God forbid, a metaphor for life? Could Cormac be that incredibly cynical?

Also, it seemed like more of a short story that had been expanded by publishers to fit the requirements of a fifteen dollar book. Not that I'm complaining, since it was well worth any money.

[stranger81]

100. Cormac McCarthy is amazing . . . . have you read Blood Meridian?

Sometimes hard to read -- very very dark -- but well worth it at the end. I love his sparse writing style.

[cgrindley]

109. Sparse is an awesome way to describe it, except

every so often he'll use an ultra-precise and fairly uncommon word. It might be a singular technical term, it might be a plant name, it might be the scientific way of describing a particular element of the landscape. It's astonishingly efficent and very evocative. Not only that, but it really adds to the suspension of disbelief. With a wonderful precision of minute description and with an expansive lexicon (used only sparingly), he comes across as supremely confident.

[Me.]

18. Just Started 'Legacy of Ashes'

Have asked for a book called Good Cop/Bad Cop (a paperback) for Christmas

[H2O Man]

54. Police mysteries.

They seem to be popular with DUers. I have periods where I read "true crime" types of books. I'm half-way tempted to ask my uncle if he'd want to do a book on some of the cases he worked on.

[Me.]

79. You Should

Just imagine the stories he could tell

[fenriswolf]

19. reading snow crash again

one of my favorite books, just cant get over the main charecters name "hiro protagonist"

[H2O Man]

55. Very good. n/t

[catmandu57]

20. I've got great news, I'll have new glasses later this week

I've been limping along with an ancient worn out pair. The only way i can read is to take my glasses off which then gives me a headache, now, though with my first pair of bifocals I'll be able to indulge in my first passion once again.
I plan on reading Chalmers Johnson's empire trilogy first, then catching up on everything I've missed for the past few years.

[H2O Man]

59. That's good.

I'm glad you are getting the glasses. One of my daughters has an appointment for getting another pair tomorrow.

Does Johnson write about intelligence matters? I think I remember correctly.

[Yael]

21. Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine is probably the most important book of 2007

I have Jeremy Scahill's Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army at the ready.

Will be starting on it tonight.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

49. Hers will likely be the last political book I read. I suffer saturation and,...

,...I really feel no need to read what I all ready know.

Al Gore's, "Assault on Reason" was very good. I don't want him to get back in politics because he is so damn effective as an outside force.

[H2O Man]

61. I'll be curious

what you think od Scahil's book on Blackwater.

[DemoTex]

24. Five books about the world press in Viet Nam ..

Reporting Vietnam Part One

Reporting Vietnam Part Two

These are collections of works from the likes of Halberstam, Fall, Sheehan, FitzGerald, Mailer, Oberdorfer, Cronkite, Herr, McCarthy, Arnett, Salisbury, Hersh, Emerson, Grant, Saar, Caputo, and many others.

Big Story by Peter Braestrup, who was Saigon bureau chief for WaPo during Tet 68.

The Cat from Hue, the memoirs of CBS Viet Nam correspondent John Laurence.

Dispatches by Michael Herr.

[H2O Man]

64. Very good.

Reading your post reminded me that the next time I go to one of the bigger bookstores in the region, I want to get another copy of a book titled "Vietnam: A History in Documents." The ones that you listed also sound like good reads. One of the things I like the most about DU is finding out what other people are reading, and getting those books myself.

[cilla4progress]

25. Great thread!

Fun seeing what folks are reading! I'm doing my own Sherman Alexie book festival. I work on his "home" reservation, so the familiars are really a kick for me. I love his writing, topics, as well. I'd seen Smoke Signals, but hadn't read the stories, so enjoyed that. His other books, too. Thanks for the thread.

[goodgd_yall]

37. I like Alexie's work

Haven't read any lately, but I like his style---sort of a lyrical prose.

[H2O Man]

71. I've picked up

dozens of books that DUers have recommended over the years. Lots of smart people here, who read a lot of books that I wouldn't be likely to have discovered on my own.

[hootinholler]

26. Right now? Kafka's "The Trial"

I bought it to complement "Fair Game" in the same shopping trip. I figure it might send a subtle message to Agent Mike.

Next up are both the Naomi books.

The best I've read this year are Gene Wolf's Long Sun series, but I tend to read for escape.

-Hoot

[H2O Man]

88. Good choices.

"Reading to escape" is an interesting concept .... I think it is about the same as reading to travel to different places and times.

Valerie Plame Wilson's book is interesting. I think it reinforces how good the old DU Plame Threads were.

[malaise]

27. Currently reading

Eric Williams and the Making of the Modern Caribbean by Colin Palmer - great insight on the Chaguaramus Naval Station and the fight between Williams, the US and Britain over the US base.

Will start John Dean's Broken Government in the first week of December.
-
Great thread H2O Man. :hi:

[H2O Man]

89. Broken Government

will be one of the next books that I buy for myself.

[bleever]

30. Still making my way through LBJ bio "The Path to Power".

Fascinating how LBJ's ability to bring electricity to poor west Texas farmers and promote other public works that benefited the poor was based on his alliance with Herman Brown (founder of Brown and Root, later KBR, later part of Halliburton).

Brown hated FDR and his "socialist" New Deal programs, but needed LBJ's skills in Washington to facilitate his huge construction contracts.

[H2O Man]

90. Caro's series

on LBJ are some of the best books I've read. I wish that he would finish the next one. Every so often, I e-mail his agent and express my impatience, but he makes clear that it will be done when he's finished writing it, and not a day before!

[LWolf]

31. To be honest,

I have to read so much professional non-fiction, plus non-fiction related to farming and livestock issues, that I generally stick to fiction outside of those subjects.

Non-fiction reading in the last couple of weeks:

"In The Middle: New Understandings About Writing, Reading, and Learning."

The October 2007 issue of "Educational Leadership:" "Early Intervention At Every Age."

"Storey's Guide to Raising Sheep"

"Blessed Are the Broodmares"

[H2O Man]

96. Reading

for pleasure is a type of vacation from our daily routine.

I used to read a bit about homesteading. Though it might sound odd, Reader's Digest actually published a high quality book on the topic. When I was young, I helped my father raise beef cattle; as a young adult, worked on a few dairy farms, including my (ex-) father-in-law's. I've raised pigs (for pets, as I do not eat any pork products), rabbits (my daughters still have a few), and lots of chickens, ducks, geese and turkey. After my accident, I am no longer able to raise the birds.

[Swamp Rat]

32. Too many to list

My grad school diet consists of 200-300 pages per day, covering: social science theory and case studies, research methodologies and strategies, market economics, mapping/remote sensing/photogrammetry/civil engineering/planning, and whatever art/history/politics/sleep I can fit into this schedule.

I need a nap after finishing a weekend software certification course and 9 hours of sleep for the last 3 days... :boring:

[0007]

87. What do you do in your spare time?

[Swamp Rat]

92. This:

[0007]

115. You do good work. Do somthing with the 'Ship of Fools'

You know who the main players are, Swamp Rat.

[XemaSab]

130. Marry me, Swamp Rat.

:loveya:

[oldlady]

33. vast difference in awareness

between those who read books and those who don't-- always has been, always will be. The books I've been most enlightened by in the past couple of years were: "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" by John Perkins and "Gangs of America: The Rise of Corporate Power and the Disabling of Democracy" by Ted Nace. Beyond those....Book TV often sends me running to Amazon. Good thread, I've jotted down some titles-- I've a new friend who lived through the Biafra war and want to learn more. Peace:

[H2O Man]

97. Biafra

One of the great warriors from the 1960s was Dick Tiger, true name Richard Ihetu. He won the middleweight and lightheavyweight titles. I remember when he left the comforts of the United States, to go back to his native land and serve in the military. Dick was one of the best examples of a gentle man outside the ring, who served in the military because he wanted the hoorors of the war to stop. He died in Nigeria on December 14, 1971, of cancer, at the age of 42.

[warren pease]

34. Some of the best I've read in the past couple of months...

"Collapse" and "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond
"Nickel and Dimed" and "Bait and Switch" by Barbara Ehrenreich
A few Howard Zinn books, including the seminal "Peoples History of the United States," "Three Strikes" and "Passionate Declarations"
Naomi Wolf's "The End of America" and "The Shock Doctrine"
Chomsky's "Manufacturing Consent" for the third time
Orwell's "Road to Wigan Pier"
Don Delillo's "Falling Man" and "Underworld" (again)
"Indian Killer" by Sherman Alexie
Walter Mosley's "Fortunate Son" and "The Man in My Basement"
A couple of 9/11 books, one by Webster Tarpley and the other by David Ray Griffin
T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland and other poems"
Greg Palast's "Armed Madmen"

And, for pure pleasure and escapism, Val McDermid's "The Wire in the Blood" and Michael Connelly's "Echo Park."

Looking forward to Skahill's book on Blackwater and the new Walter Mosley book "Blonde Faith."

Great thread, btw. I'm going to read several of the books mentioned upthread, a couple of which I'd never even heard of before.


wp

[H2O Man]

99. Great choices!

Very good!

[warren pease]

105. Thank you...

As a freelance writer, I have plenty of time (often too much time) to indulge my reading jones.

Diamond's "Collapse" was the real eye-opener. His 12 key stressors are examined in great detail -- causes, symptoms and effects, both immediate and long-term. He makes recommendations that could fix or at least reduce the effects of those stressors. But the thing that's going to doom us all to an increasingly unlivable world is lack of public pressure, and the resulting political will, to take any actions that might disrupt or diminish first-world lifestyles.

So I'm very much afraid that chronic apathy and fear of minor change is going to nail us to the wall when the big changes occur, and that we're going to nail up a bunch of innocents along with us -- like my cats, the entire polar bear species, the tribes, animals and birds of the former Amazon rain forest, the koala bear, and my 16-month-old granddaughter, who really deserves a fine life and probably won't get one.

Well... that's enough of that. It's astounding that Diamond and his peers, who know exactly what's going on down to the tiniest detail, manage to remain cheerful and functional. As a non-scientist, I only know what they write or speak of and still I can barely get out of bed some mornings.

Anyway, thanks again for the note. I only wish I could write half as well as these great authors and thinkers.


wp

[goodgd_yall]

36. I'm reading "Uprooting Racism"

A friend took a class in which this was the assigned book; she was very enthusiastic about. So far it isn't telling me much new, but it is a good reminder of how much denial white people have about their own racism.

I think I'd have to say that The Kite Runner was my favorite book of the few I read this year. I found it very moving. I've always enjoyed books in which the writing is from the eyes of children.

I've been wanting to start one of my biographies that I own---maybe the one on Kurt Weill will be next.

[H2O Man]

101. That sounds good.

I looked at it on an internet site; it looks interesting.

[troubleinwinter]

38. Oh, great. Ya just HAD to go and guilt-trip me as I look at my pile of books to read.

I read non-fiction western American history.

I am reading a couple simultaneously, others are on-the-coffee-table-waiting-list-guilt-trip.

DISASTER AT THE COLORADO - Beale's Wagon Road and the First Emmigrant Party - Baley

OFF THE MAP - Tales of Endurance and Exploration - by Fleming

(rereading) THE NAVAHO - by Kluckhorn/Leighton

WYATT EARP - The Life Behind the Legend - by Tefertiller

BUFFALO BILL'S AMERICA - by Warren

CALAMITY JANE - The Woman and the Legend - by McLaird

(rereading) LEFT HANDED, SON OF OLD MAN HAT - A Navajo Autobiography - by Left Handed as told to Dyk

BLOOD AND THUNDER - An Epic of the American West - by Sides

And this one (It's just out by Texas Tech University Press. I happen to know one of the the authors):

FROM TEXAS TO SAN DIEGO IN 1851: THE OVERLAND JOURNAL OF DR. S WOODHOUSE, SURGEON-NATURALIST OF THE SITGREAVES EXPEDITION - Wallace/Hevley

[H2O Man]

102. Interesting choices!

I usually have different books in different rooms of the house. That way I can read several books at a time. Once in a while there is one book that I read one right through, like "Fair Game."

[troubleinwinter]

167. What drives me nuts is that they are all very good books.

Most are published by university presses, new accurate looks at old western history (dispelling the old sensational lore). Real people are so interesting. I love the books so much, but can't read them all at once. Frustrating. I read quite slowly. These would last me a good long time, but when I see a new good history book, I NEED to have it. I adore history books.

Some years ago, I thought I'd pretty much read all the books on western history & Native American western history. But in recent years, many new excellent books have been published.

I'm rich.

[dmr]

39. Thomas Cahill

Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter

I was thrilled to find him on Bill Moyers last night.

I could listen to him speak for hours.

This link will take you to the show to hear him with Bill, or even just read the transcript:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11092007/profile.html

- Transcript snip -

BILL MOYERS: -- suppose Thomas Cahill is incarnated 1,000 years from now and decides to pick up writing The Hinges of History. What would be the, as of now, the defining characteristic of the American society you would write about in the 20th and 21st century?

THOMAS CAHILL: That all societies have a dream and a nightmare. And our nightmare has been, I think, our racism. We practically committed genocide on the people who were here, the Native Americans. We enslaved another race of people, the Africans. And then we dropped the atom bomb on Asians. We would have never dropped that bomb in Europe in my view. And I think that's what proves the racism of it. That's the nightmare of America.

The dream of America is enunciated by the great speech by Martin Luther King I Have a Dream. The dream is that there is no country on earth that has tried to actually embrace all the people that we have tried to embrace. All you have to do is walk through New York City to see that or any of our cities and not a few of our country sides at this point. We could be called the most racist. Or we could be called the least. We are both. And it always remains a tension and a question as to which side of us, the good side or the bad side, will win out in the end. And I think that's true for every society.

More at link ...

[rosesaylavee]

47. Wasn't he great!

Saw that too... read his book on the Irish monks. Looking forward to reading his next. AND, the book by Desmond Tutu that so inspired all those men on death row.

[H2O Man]

103. Cahill

is outstanding. I really enjoy his books.

[dmr]

111. I discovered him about a year ago

at the library. I truly did enjoy him on Moyers the other night. I'm hoping others here will go to the link provided up-thread and listen to or read the interview.

For a few years now, I've gotten many reading ideas from you, and others here at DU.

I jot down reading ideas in a little notebook I keep in my purse exclusively for the library. I've already jotted down ideas in it from this thread.

I like to also sit with my laptop in the recliner and read from the online libraries, too; though right now my lap top power source needs replacing < sigh >

I'm in the middle of reading It Can't Happen Here (1935) by Sinclair Lewis. It can be found at Guttenberg - which is a treasure chest of good reading.

http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks03/0301001h.html

[wildeyed]

40. I just finished the Autobiography of Malcolm X, funny you should mention him.

I *finally* finished the Taylor Branch trilogy about the history of the King years. That was beyond helpful for me. I was either a baby or not even born when most of that went down. But it is critical to understand the politics and history of that time to understand what is going on now. I finally have a grip and it makes current events so much more comprehensible.

I am reading a lot about education. My kids are finally of school age so I have an even bigger stake in that, and a grounds eye view of what actually goes on in public schools. But it always has to be global with me, so I have been reading, reading to get up to speed on what might actually help my kids and benefit public education in general.

Some poetry, mostly T.S. Elliot.

I read a good thriller, the most recent Walter Mosley book. Excellent, but very dark.

Next few months.... The Varieties of Religious Experience. I like novels, almost too much. I can spend an inordinate amount of time immersed in that alternative universe.... Thinking about actually finishing The Sound and the Fury.

My mind is free. I rarely even watch TV or listen to radio anymore. I don't want to be marketed to constantly or told what to think. It is so much easier to avoid that by getting information from reading and the internet.

[H2O Man]

104. The Autobiography

of Malcolm X was Carl Sagan's choice for the most important American book.

[DemReadingDU]

41. Connie Schultz: and His Lovely Wife

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown's wife's book

Some revelations about the campaign trail during 2006 as she and Sherrod Brown criss-crossed the state of Ohio in his successful quest to outseat Mike DeWine.

http://www.amazon.com/His-Lovely-Wife-Memoir-Beside/dp/1400065739


Great thread, many good books to keep me reading for the rest of my life!

[H2O Man]

112. One of the reasons

that I like library sales in the summer months is that it allows me to stock up on "new" books. You can never have too many books.

[DemReadingDU]

114. Our house runneth over with books

:)

I learn a lot from reading DU too.

[H2O Man]

117. Right.

We are looking where we can fit a couple more book shelves. They can add up pretty quickly!

[Hamlette]

43. Not so much non fiction lately

too depressing I think

I just finished Infidel (excellent) read about half of Blackwater (excellent but too depressing all in one gulp)

I'm in total escape mode, have read 20 mysteries in the last 2 months as I've stopped watching the news or even listening to NPR.

[H2O Man]

113. Fiction ....

I have read very little fiction since getting out of school many, many years ago .... with the exception of things like TIME and Newsweek.

[personman]

44. "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn

Half-way through it, excellent read so far. Probably the most important book I've ever read, and just a very important book in general in my opinion.

From the back of the book:

"Known for it's lively, clear prose as well as it's scholarly research, 'A People's History of the United States' is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of-and in the words of-America's women, factory workers, African Americans, Native Americans, working poor, and immigrant laborers."

From the Author:

My viewpoint, in telling the history of the United States, is different: that we must not accept the memory of states as our own. Nations are not communities and never have been, The history of any country, presented as the history of a family, conceals fierce conflicts of interest (sometimes exploding, most often repressed) between conquerors and conquered, masters and slaves, capitalists and workers, dominators and dominated in race and sex. And in such a world of conflict, a world of victims and executioners, it is the job of thinking people, as Albert Camus suggested, not to be on the side of the executioners.

Thus, in that inevitable taking of sides which comes from selection and emphasis in history, I prefer to try to tell the story of the discovery of America from the viewpoint of the Arawaks, of the Constitution from the standpoint of the slaves, of Andrew Jackson as seen by the Cherokees, of the Civil War as seen by the New York Irish, of the Mexican war as seen by the deserting soldiers of Scott's army, of the rise of industrialism as seen by the young women in the Lowell textile mills, of the Spanish-American war as seen by the Cubans, the conquest of the Philippines as seen by black soldiers on Luzon, the Gilded Age as seen by southern farmers, the First World War as seen by socialists, the Second World War as seen by pacifists, the New Deal as seen by blacks in Harlem, the postwar American empire as seen by peons in Latin America. And so on, to the limited extent that any one person, however he or she strains, can "see" history from the standpoint of others.

My point is not to grieve for the victims and denounce the executioners. Those tears, that anger, cast into the past, deplete our moral energy for the present. And the lines are not always clear. In the long run, the oppressor is also a victim. In the short run (and so far, human history has consisted only of short runs), the victims, themselves desperate and tainted with the culture that oppresses them, turn on other victims.

Still, understanding the complexities, this book will be skeptical of governments and their attempts, through politics and culture, to ensnare ordinary people in a giant web of nationhood pretending to a common interest. I will try not to overlook the cruelties that victims inflict on one another as they are jammed together in the boxcars of the system. I don't want to romanticize them. But I do remember (in rough paraphrase) a statement I once read: "The cry of the poor is not always just, but if you don't listen to it, you will never know what justice is."

-Howard Zinn

http://astore.amazon.com/anarctoday-20/detail/0060838655">"A People's History of the United States"
by Howard Zinn http://historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/zinncol1.html">Read On-line

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/07/05/1542202&mode=thread&tid=25">Video: Democracy Now!: Reading from a People's History...

Next up:

http://astore.amazon.com/anarctoday-20/detail/0805076883/002-9990879-2384034">"Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance"

and

http://astore.amazon.com/anarctoday-20/detail/0805082840/002-9990879-2384034">"Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy"

by Noam Chomsky

http://astore.amazon.com/anarctoday-20/detail/1904859259/002-9990879-2384034">"No Gods No Masters: An Anthology of Anarchism" by Daniel Guerin

While I agree that it's important to be exposed to different ideas, I also view a lot of the accepted prevailing doctrines (and therefore, a lot of mainstream political discourse) as profoundly anti-human, and frankly, not really worth much consideration.

"I believe in the brotherhood of man, all men, but I don't believe in brotherhood with anybody who doesn't want brotherhood with me. I believe in treating people right, but I'm not going to waste my time trying to treat somebody right who doesn't know how to return the treatment." - Malcolm X

See: "American Exceptionalism", "laissez-faire" "free-market" and other extremist capitalist/corporatist ideologies, and too damn many other aspects of the status quo. Anti-immigrant sentiment, White supremacy, fascism, etc.

-personman

[KoKo]

58. Zinn's books are an incredibile "Eye Opener" for so many ...and he

cares SO MUCH about America....but it ain't the HISTORY we are used to...... But a MUST for a great awakening of Consciousness to "the alternative view...to what CNN blasts out when you are in the airport with nothing to watch and waiting....

And...sadly the "truth" of what is behind...what we view ourselves as............AMERICANS.

[cilla4progress]

67. Same-same

BOTH Zinn (A People's History) and Chomsky's Hegemony are on my night-stand, part-read. Argh! So many books, so little time!!!

[personman]

93. I had a similar problem, but worse I think.

Horrible time concentrating on the material. I'd have to read sentences over and over again to understand them. Often I'd stop reading and realize that I'd been day dreaming while reading the last 3 or 4 paragraphs, so I'd go back and read them again. I had a large stack of books to get through, and I hadn't made a substantial dent in any of them, although I'd tried 3 or 4 times over a year or so to start one of them.

And then I remembered that I had been diagnosed with a fairly bad case of Attention Deficit Disorder as a child and hadn't treated it since high school (when I last had book-wormish tendencies)

About a month ago I went to the doctor and started on stimulant medication, Concerta, seems to go much better now. :)

Eventually I might write a bit about it, just to help make people aware and share a story and some experiences.

[David Zephyr]

176. I'd really like to hear your thoughts when you finish APHOTUSA

I give this book out during the holidays and have for years.

I always love to hear reactions after one has finished this most "important" (as you say) book.

Zinn is a national treasure.

Ping my inbox when you finish and I'd be most attentive to your thoughts.

DZ

[blogslut]

45. Right now?

"The Gnostic Gospels" by Elaine Pagels. Before that, it was ""A Tale of Two Cities". Before that it was "I Am America and so can You!" Before that it was "Assault on Reason". After I finish the Gnostic book, it will be 'Beowulf", followed by Maciavelli's "The Prince"

[H2O Man]

116. Pagels

I would strongly recommend her 2003 book "Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas." It's an outstanding book.

[David Zephyr]

46. Here were my September & October books:

The Kite Runner, The Assault on Reason, The Hotel de Dreams, A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Alchemist, The God Theory, and god Is Not Great.

[H2O Man]

118. Good choices!

My normal brother is trying to get me to read the last two on your list; I try to get him to read Vine Deloria's "God Is Red."

[cali]

48. I'm currently reading "Historians at work: Herodotus to Frossart"

edited by Peter Gay and Gerald Cavanaugh. I'm also reading the speeches of FDR. The best books I've read in the past year? "Two Cheers for Democracy" by EM Forester and "Diary of a Man in Despair". I'm also reading "The Shock Doctrine".

[H2O Man]

120. They sound like great choices!

It's funny -- I really do not have that much on FDR. Some speeches. B.W. Cook's works on Eleanor. But I've had my eye on a couple books on FDR ..... I think you have provided me with inspiration for two of my next choices. Thank you.

[KoKo]

56. For those who are "Media Checkers"...here's what I've read or reading..

ANYTHING by Eric Alterman! But... a Primer is:

Eric Alterman's

http://www.whatliberalmedia.com/


Kevin Phillips: "American Dynasty" (Tells you all about how "It" started and there's a Media Angle in there, too.

http://www.overstock.com/Books-Movies-Music-Games/American-Dynasty/925592/product.html?cid=80486&fp=F

Eric Boehlert's Book: "Lap Dog Press" (A Compliation of many of his columns and reporting for Salon that exposes MORE MEDIA LIES)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-boehlert/

and...there are other great books (Howard Zinn and Current Iraq War Expose's) ...but the MEDIA is what I post about most on DU so...I gave that my emphasis for books that have helped me understand what is going on out there.

There are SO MANY BOOKS...and SO LITTLE TIME!

Thank you for this Post!

[H2O Man]

121. Very good!

I enjoy Kevin Phillips' recent works. Sometimes when I read his books, or those of John Dean, and think of how they once worked for Nixon, I am encouraged by the fact that people can change.

[asdjrocky]

57. Ok, here we go...

On the Road - Jack Kerouac (Finally got around to it)
Getting Stoned with Savages - J. Marten Troost (Strange travel book.)
Stranger Than Fiction - Cuck Palahniuk (Non-fic from writer of Fight Club)
Being Red - Howard Fast (Reading for probably 3rd or 4th time. Must read for anyone.)
Peoples History of the US - Howard Zinn (Always, I mean always reading this book.)

This is a great question H20 Man. If we don't have a room for it we should have one just for discussing books.

[H2O Man]

122. Great books!

I like this thread, not only because I like books, but because the responses show the common ground we tend to share, and it highlights some of the reasons we have such a wide variety of thought and opinion on the DU forum.

[Cha]

60. I just got "Assualt On Reason" from

our Library..haven't started it yet, but, a volunteer at our co-op was talking about how much he liked it and I decided to get it from the Library rather than wait any longer.

To me..this is free press.

"The Federal Communications Commission got an earful Friday at a packed media ownership hearing in Seattle. Although the public was given just five business days' notice, more than one thousand concerned citizens crowded into Seattle's Town Hall to oppose...
November 10, 2007"

More..
http://freepress.net/

[YvonneCa]

76. Great choice...

...it's my choice, too. Enjoy.

[H2O Man]

123. It's really good.

One of the most important books I've read in a long time.

[eleny]

63. The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Toobin

It's great and almost gossipy in parts. I even laughed out loud over a joke that Souter once made.

I have Valerie Plamme's book on my nightstand. And also am reading a cozy mystery novel - one of the Aunt Dimity series. :)

[H2O Man]

127. The Nine

I've wondered if that was worth reading. It sounds like you think it is -- and that's good enough for me! Thanks!

[eleny]

136. I should expand

I made the book almost sound like a fun, light read. It isn't. The chapter on the 2000 election was serious. His knowledge of the background information is important to read for gaining insight. After I posted yesterday I read the chapter on the whole Terry Schiavo issue. That time of Schiavo was frightening for the Justices. I don't want to say more as that could spoil it. But yes, this book is a good one and one you might want as a reference for your shelf. I got it at the library but may purchase it later to have handy.

Maybe we'll see your thoughts on it in the Non-fiction forum here at DU. I hope so.

[H2O Man]

139. Okay.

I didn't think it would be easy reading. But it sounds like it's worth reading -- plus it made you laugh out loud, so it has to have a mix of information in it. The USSC is a curious group, which seems too far removed from society lately. There was an article in TIME (I think last month) that indicated that this distance may be part of Robert's agenda. And the truth is that I haven't read any books on the court since Bugliosi's, which was several years back now.

[eleny]

144. I'll have to pick up the Bugliosi book

And I want to read O'Connor's biography. I'm disappointed by her but she still fascinates me.

[H2O Man]

147. I found her

to be dishonest in the Bush v Gore business, although I know that she was decent in other cases. I think that since retiring, she's expressed concern about "politics" posing a threat to the federal court system. I would be interested in hearing what she really thinks about the most important case she was involved in now, though I think it's unlikely she would ever speak openly about it.

[eleny]

145. Here's another about the Court form this year

Supreme Conflict: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Control of the United States Supreme Court by Jan Crawford Greenburg. According to Amazon she covered the Court for ABC. Now that I'm on a Supreme jag...

[H2O Man]

148. Sounds interesting!

I'm not familiar with that one.

[RainDog]

65. Blackwater, by jeremy scahill

...have put that one down and read Letter to a Young Patriot by Naomi Wolf. also reading Bookbinding, a Dover book and Text in the Book Format. Also information about intaglio and lithography and xhmtl w/ css, which I seem to read over and over and over... Dangerous Dossiers by Herbert Mitgang (it's an old book that talks about past FBI surveillance of American writers. Found it at a used store.

Go back into the re-release of Sylvia Plath's Ariel in its original format, as edited by her daughter. Coming back to those poems after so many years was a pleasant shock.

Just recently read DeLillo's Libra for the first time. I really like his writing. I have The Little Friend, from Donna Tartt, sitting beside my bed, but haven't read it yet. I liked her earlier book quite a bit.

nothing new, beyond the political books.

today, tho, I seem to have spent too much time fussing with other people online and building an ignore list. :shrug:

[KoKo]

69. That's a #1 on my Xmas List for relatives looking to give me something!

Have read articles about his book and seen him on C-Span...and think his book is a "must read catalog" along with many others...but his is the newest.

thanks!

[eleny]

155. Blackwater is a must read, easy since it's a page turner

I'm glad I read it before Prince testified before the congressional committee.

I also ordered Wolf's book. It's on the shelf now. A scary one from all her recent interviews. Thom Hartmann said it was one of the most important books in years and years.

[madmom]

66. reading right now.. the last Harry Potter books (had to take a break from politics) on my list...

Broken Government...John Dean
The Assault on Reason...Al Gore
Shock Doctrine...Naomi Klein
Conscience of a Liberal...Paul Krugman
Fair Game...Valeri Plame

Because their all setting here staring at me right now, my SO has already read them.

[Me.]

75. I'm Saving That One For

Thanksgiving

[RebelSansCause]

68. i am in the midst of "Godel, Escher, Bach"

and Paradise Lost for pleasure while for school i am reading Plato's "Republic", Friedrich Nietzsche's "On the Genealogy of Morality", and Kierkegaard's "Fear and Trembling"

[KoKo]

70. Good Stuff!

your list...that are a background and compliment to what's gone on since that are more to read for "today's time!"

Thanks!

[tekisui]

73. End of America by Naomi Wolf

and
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki

Of course, I am always reading one of Suzuki's. His simple words are deep and bounce around my head until nothing is left.

[H2O Man]

129. Naomi Wolf's book

seems to be pretty popular among a lot of the DUers that I have great respect for.

[Bozita]

77. Next on my list: Thom Hartmann's "Cracking the Code" -- Finally, a Dem answer to Frank Luntz

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1576754588/ref=nosim/thomhartmann/

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
If Persuasion is Power, This Book Can Enable You To Achieve Your Maximum, October 25, 2007
By Robert Kall "Rob Kall of Opednews.com" (Newtown, PA) - See all my reviews

Thom Hartmann, one of the top progressive talk radio "stars,", who replaced Al Franken on Air America Radio, has delivered a gift to anyone who wants to persuade others. It will be required reading for anyone trying convince people to act, take a stand or vote in some way.

This book is ALL about how to communicate, how to reach, how to persuade. There are books that talk about this based on moral/cultural values, books that talk about neuropsychological considerations, that talk about the use of narrative and story, books about hypnotic elements, like trance and pacing, on framing, on motivation... lots of books. This book ties all those different ideas and approaches together, in an easily understandable, coherent package.

As founder publisher of opednews dot com, publishing 1200 to 1500 articles a month, reaching close to half a million unique visitors a month, it's my job to have a pretty good idea about what makes for good writing and persuasion. We've published 45 articles, at the time of the writing of this review, by Hartmann, and he's one of the best at at effectively getting across a message and reaching people.

As a conference organizer for 15 years, running conferences on the brain, peak performance, the art, science and application of story, on positive psychology and optimal functioning... I've worked with many hundreds of speakers. Thom Hartmann is one of the best. That's why I'd have him speak on how to persuade, how to get people to change their minds. At the conferences, he trained trainers-- educators, writers, storytellers, psychologists and psychotherapists, screenwriters, salesmen. And he always got the highest reviews for the meeting.

There's a reason Thom Hartmann can pull all the different arts and sciences of communicating-- persuading, changing minds, changing the way people think and understand together-- and that's because he's integrated all these skills into his life, into the way he functions in the world.

When you look at the many people who have written most books on persuasion, communication, framing, etc. you tend to find people who are academics. George Lakoff, framing expert, and author of Don't Think of an Elephant, is a great example He's lived his life as a professor and researcher. His ideas on framing are great. I started reading Lakoff back in the 1980s. But Hartmann's book covers so much more territory, so many other considerations involved in persuasion, in winning hearts and minds.

Hartmann is not an academic. He's a chronic entrepreneur, and in all the different incarnations of his career, communication has played a central role-- developing a major advertising agency in Atlanta, running dozens of forums on compuserve, when compurserve was bigger than AOL, and most recently doing talk radio-- and rising to be one of the top progressive talk show hosts in America. This is walking the talk. He's used the tools he's discovered, developed and integrated in a way that has brought him to the peak of success.

The wonderful thing is that Hartmann is brilliant at sharing the secrets to cracking the code to truly connect with, reach and get people to change their minds. It is very rare. Most great authors are terrible at creating books on how to write, for example. Hartmann delivers pure gold. If you just read one chapter in this book, any chapter, you'll find you have powerful new knowledge you'll be able to use to make yourself more effective. Read the whole book and you will be on the path to dramatically increasing your power to most effectively touch and move people.

The sub-title of the book, How to Win Hearts, Change Minds, and Restore America's Original Vision, hints at Thom's progressive viewpoint. If you're a liberal, progressive or lefty, you'll really like his writing on the history and evolution of the liberal and conservative mindsets. If you're a conservative you'll really like it too. This book goes way beyond Frank Luntz's book, WORDS THAT WORK, in providing practical ideas and strategies you can use. It is clear that the publishers are targeting people on the left, primarily, with this book. But it will be VERY valuable to anyone who wants to better understand how to persuade and change minds, including people in sales and education.

The book also covers one more key consideration--- the integrity-- he calls it the "ecology" of communication. Is the communication good for the world, for people? Is it honest? It's nice to have a master, at his full power, sharing his greatest tools and secrets, insisting that for the full power to be achieved, integrity and consideration of the greater good is essential.

If the Democrats don't tap Hartmann to plan their political strategies for 2008, they're crazy. Meanwhile, don't be surprised if there are a lot of right wingers reading the book without the dust jacket, hiding who they are reading... the smart ones, anyway.



15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
The missing piece of the puzzle, October 29, 2007
By Kenneth Brosky (Milwaukee, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Consider this the penultimate conclusion to the Thom Hartmann trilogy. In "We The People," Hartmann taught us about civics and our constitution. In "Screwed," Hartmann explained how our basic rights were be usurped by coporations in favor a free-market system that benefits only the rich. Now, Thom is teaching us how to fight back. By breaking down and decoding the language that has been used to deceive a massive number of American people, we can learn how to use that very language to educate others who fall for things like "Islamofascism" and live in fear and fight back with our own tools for restoring democracy.

All of Thom's books are easy to read, and this one is no exception. After having spent a couple years now as one of the top hosts at Air America Radio, it shows in Thom's writing. "Cracking the Code" feels like Thom is in the room talking, explaining, and backing up his information just like he does every day on his talk show. If you're interested in learning about the marketing of language in our current political system, this is a must-have.

[H2O Man]

131. Outstanding!

I'd like to hear more .... though I'm already adding this to the list I'm making for my winter supply of books.

[otherlander]

78. "What books are you reading now?"

- Zorro, by Isabel Allende
- Sons from Afar, by Cynthia Voigt

"What are the best books that you have read this year?"
- The Golden Notebook, by Doris Lessing
- Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman

"What books are you hoping to read in the next few months?"
- Fair Game, by Valerie Wilson
- The Cleft, and The Grass is Singing, by Doris Lessing
- The Republic of Poetry, by Martin Espada

[litlady]

95. Reading dozens of books for school (grad student in literature!)

Otherwise, best I've read this year:

Terry Tempest Williams - "Red" and "The Open Space of Democracy" were especially great!
"The End of Nature" Bill McKibben

Want to read soon:

"The Everglades: River of Grass" Marjory Douglas
"Earth in the Balance" Al Gore

[Book Lover]

82. I made this past summer the "Summer of Ancient Literature"

I read Mitchell's Gilgamesh, Falges' Iliad and Odyssey, Budge's Book of the Dead (that was tough going...), De Selincourt's Herodotus' Histories, and King's Letters and Inscriptions of Hammurabi.

I cannot recommend reading and thus perpetuating our ancient literature strongly enough. Indeed, I feel it to be a duty of modern literate people. Rise above the modern day and give yourself the long-term view.

[H2O Man]

132. I was introduced

to "Gilgamesh" (and Enkidu) by way of C. G. Jung's lectures. Fantastic reading.

[upi402]

84. "How to Bury Nuts for Winter,

and Cover Them If You Fail To."

by O. Shit

[joanski0]

85. I'm currently reading Dennis Kucinich's book,

"The Courage to Survive". It's amazing!

[H2O Man]

133. Sounds good!

A timely read, at that!

[ellisonz]

86. I'm too drowned in history books to have a list.

Best:

http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Way-Life-Predicament-Alternative/dp/0977197239/ref=pd_bbs_2/105-7338071-3700402?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194873087&sr=8-2

Empire as a Way of Life - William Appleman Williams

http://www.amazon.com/Conspiracy-Good-Community-1875-2000-Schooling/dp/0820457795/ref=sr_1_1/105-7338071-3700402?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194873173&sr=1-1

Conspiracy of the Good: Civil Rights and the Struggle for Community in Two American Cities, 1875-2000 - Michael E. James

http://www.amazon.com/Pau-Hana-Plantation-Hawaii-1835-1920/dp/0824809564/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-7338071-3700402?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1194873765&sr=1-1

Pau Hana: Plantation Life and Labor in Hawaii, 1835-1920 - Ronald Takaki

[H2O Man]

137. They look good.

In Michael James' book, Pasadena is one city -- what is the other one?

[ellisonz]

138. Charlottesville, VA

[H2O Man]

140. Thanks.

It sounds interesting.

[spanone]

91. a kick for for freedom of the press & reading

[Lilith Velkor]

94. Now reading "The Great War for Civilisation"

It's Robert Fisk, so it's totally hugh and I read it on the train when I'm carrying my overnight bag, my pocket train-reading book is now "The Camel Club," a fun lil potboiler by David Baldacci, several of the characters of which are based on people I know who stay in tents in Lafayette Park.

This year I finally got around to reading Slaughterhouse Five, and I was like: :wow:

On edit: I want to read so many books there isn't possibly time for them all, but the next two on my stack are Deadeye Dick (another Vonnegut), and Lenin's Tomb, by David Remnick.

[H2O Man]

142. Good choices.

One of the things that I like about being retired is that I have more time to read. But I still agree that there are so many good books that it isn't possible to read more than a fraction of them!

[stranger81]

98. now reading "Our Town" by Cynthia Carr about the 1930 lynching in Marion, IN,

the only survivor of that incident and the town's troubled race relations ever since. I'm alternating that with chapters from James Loewen's "Sundown Towns" -- both fascinating and highly recommended.

[H2O Man]

149. Good choices.

Have you ever read "Color Lines," by Mike Kelly? (Morrow;1995) It's a true story about troubled race relations in Teaneck, NJ. (I've been half-tempted to write a book about a related topic in rural upstate NY, involving a racist hate group that took part in some savage attacks on non-white victims, including one of my nephews. You learn a lot about an area when these types of events happen to your family.)

[mmonk]

106. Books currently reading:

The End of America, Letter of Warning To A Young Patriot by Naomi Wolf

The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein

Letters From Nuremberg, My Father's Narrative of a Quest For Justice by Senator Chris Dodd

The Bush Agenda, Invading the World One Economy at a Time by Antonia Juhasz

[H2O Man]

150. Great choices!

I'm not surprised, of course, that you would be reading some of the books that I want to get to! I'm particularly interested in the Dodd book, including what you think of it.

[mmonk]

175. Senator Dodd's book is an enjoyable read.

His father's letters were very enlightening into the personalities and minds of those he was prosecuting. He was very descriptive to the point you think you could know them. I've found it fascinating. I've also found that's it's fascinating in the sense whereby Tom Dodd shows the power of the rule of law and its formation over executions without trial.

[reprehensor]

110. "The Road to 9/11" - book of the year, IMO.

My review here;
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=125x182809

[H2O Man]

151. Very good!

The last time that I was at the biggest book store in this region, I saw a lot of books on 9/11. From reading their back covers, it appeared that there was a range of opinions expressed in the books. After reading the review that you linked here, I think that this would be among the first ones that I might get later this fall. Thank you!

[LSK]

119. I am curently reading Fair Game, Screwed, and Fiasco

My problem is that I go and buy so many books and cant wait to start another one before I finish what I was just reading.

Best books of the year so far have been Al Gore's Assault on Reason and Jimmy Carter's Palestine : Peace not Apartheid.

See this link for my reading of the past few years:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/lknol1

I was in a used bookstore this weekend and picked up a book on the War of 1812, a book on the 1st Congress, a book on the Gilded Age (1860s to 1900s) and a book on witch trials of the 1600s.

[H2O Man]

153. Good books!

I also thought Jimmy Carter's book on the Middle East was one of the best things I've read in a long time. I strongly recommend it for a fair and balanced look at possible solutions to the violence in that important part of the global community.

Years ago, there was a great used book store in Oneonta, NY that I got lots of great books from. It closed in the early '80s. There was another one there that went out of business two years ago; and there's one still there, but the prices are outrageous. I wish there was a good one that was a relatively short distance from me. We end up traveling around central NY every year for the library book sales, which offer a lot of great deals.

[XemaSab]

124. The World Without Us

:)

[LSK]

126. I read Chapter 1

but then got distracted.

[XemaSab]

134. You haven't gotten to the good part yet.

:popcorn:

[LSK]

135. the fight scene or the love scene?

:popcorn:

[XemaSab]

143. The part in the underground tunnels

:)

[sss1977]

125. I actually have you to thank

for the wonderfully informative book of history I just finished, House of War, so thank you H2O. You mentioned it in one of your posts months ago. It took about a month to get to and another month to get through, but was certainly well worth it! For those of you that haven't heard of it, it's an eye-opening look into the ever-growing power and influence of the Pentagon and I suggest it to anyone interested in our recent military and global political history.

I am now currently reading The End of America by Naomi Wolf, scary stuff to be sure.

And next I will read The Coming of the Third Reich by Richard Evans to get a much firmer grounding in the history of the rise of fascism within democracies.

[H2O Man]

154. House of War

is so good! I'm glad that you read it. James Carroll does such a good job telling his life story combined with the history of the Pentagon.

The other two you mention are books that I need to read.

[sss1977]

159. agreed

James Carroll did a superb job, and not only that, it felt like it was written in my own voice.

I too am the son of an Air Force officer, and his relationship with his father and to the military was strikingly similar to my own in many ways. I never set foot in the Pentagon or anything, but at one point my father did work inside of Cheyenne Mountain which I did set foot in, and the prospect of global thermonuclear war was certainly very real to me more than ever during that time.

I intend to give the book as a gift to my father next month for xmas in hopes he may connect to it as I did, but through the eyes of the father. And maybe just maybe, he may become a little bit less unquestioningly Republican in finishing it. Now that would be quite a gift indeed.

Cheers H20 ;)

[H2O Man]

160. That had to

make reading the book quite an experience.

One of the things that I kept thinking while I read it is how the system, by being so huge, has taken on what Carroll describes as a consciousness of its own, and overwhelms even those individuals who have the best of intentions. It swallows democrats and republicans alike. He lists a variety of people, including everyone from JFK to Rumsfeld, who thought they could harness the system. It hasn't happened, of course. I think Carroll's jesuit background gives him an insight into what the system actually is, although he never has to come right out and say it.

I'd be curious what your father thinks of it.

[sss1977]

162. The continued recasting of Ahab

As he liked to use throughout the book, the role of Ahab has indeed been cast and recast in the last half a century, while the Great White Whale remains the same ever growing beast. I especially enjoyed gaining a better historical context for McNamara. He really did try like no other to push the entire Department of Defense under civilian control, and to bring real statistics and information gathering to its intelligence gathering and foreign policies.

Reading about Carter worries me about electing a President that finally actually has a moral compass, for fear of them completely lacking diplomatic understanding. The Carter Doctrine alone is just insane.

It was also great to finally understand the importance of the whole "gays in the military" debacle in the Clinton Administration and the relation it had to Powell's colorblind hypocrasy.

The whole book was great, I could talk about it for hours on end. Like you said in your original post, history is fascinating, especially when written well.

[Lucinda]

141. I normally read a lot of bios and non-fiction but

a friend is bringing me a few of the Harry Dresden books to read over the winter. Looking forward to them. :)

My last purchase included Living History (still reading), Kate (just finished), Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook, and Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. Do I win for the most eclectic batch? It's going to smell REALLY good at my house this winter. :)

I do a lot of metaphysical and theological reading, so I have a comparison of the world religions, and an energy healing book that I have yet to start. (Can't remember the exact titles of each at the moment)

I'd love to have your new stack of books! I'm working my way through all the Dem candidates this winter and want to work Plames book in there too.

[jcla]

146. wlucinda, hey

Several of the candidates books are out in cd format. So you can "can" or bake and listen.. "Audacity of Hope" is abridged and read by author, for example, browse in the library catalogues (ours is on line) and find goodies like that available. Also try e-books.. some can be down loaded to an ipod.
So many good books... I love the idea that people still read tho...
Thanks, H2Oman great thread

[Lucinda]

166. Thanks for the suggestion! I never think of books on CD. I'm determined

to master bread baking this winter :) and that would be a great way to do both at once!

[H2O Man]

156. You win

the Most Eclectic Batch of Books Award! Very interesting choices!

I keep three books which were gifts from one of my best friends on a shelf near me, which might be similar to some you mention on metaphysical/theological topics. They remind me of one of the gentlest souls I have met, the mother of a friend who dies in a tragic accident. The three are: (1) How to Know God: the Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali; (2) The Upanishads: Breath of the Eternal; and (3) The Voice of the Master, by Kahlil Gibran. They help me to find a quiet place in a society that is spinning out of control.

[Lucinda]

169. I'm sorry for you loss...but it's wonderful that you have a literary "reminder"

of her. I think thats really terrific.

I don't know the first book you mentioned at all. I have a small clutch of books that I have carried around for years: The Upanishads, The I Ching, a Metaphysical Bible Dictionary, and a teeny little book called What Jesus Said. I still have a pretty good collection from a variety of areas, but I find I am simplifying as time goes by.

I'm really glad you mentioned How to Know God: the Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali. I'm going to check it out. :)

[H2O Man]

170. It was published

by Mentor Books, with editions from "New American Library," in New York and Toronto, in 1953. I do not know how often it was issued after that. But I think that you will find a copy of it, or it will find you, books being what they are.

[Lucinda]

174. This sums up my feeling exactly, about a LOT of things:

"But I think that you will find a copy of it, or it will find you, books being what they are."

And in this case, I did a search and found it at Amazon and Target online. Its a 1996 version from Vedanta Press. I love the internet(s)!

[pdxmom]

152. I'm reading "Broken Government" by John Dean right now, and

have a generic mystery/thriller/cop book going on at the same time (can't remember which one). I always keep 2 books going...one fiction and one non-fiction. One I read when I need something to occupy my mind, but don't need or want it to be intense (in the doctor's office, riding the train) and the other is for when I can really concentrate on what I'm reading. I like to read at least 1/2 hour every night before bed.

My secret to consuming mass quantities of books...yard sales. Each spring/summer, I hit yard/garage sales, for the sole intent of buying books. Generally, I can get them for 10-50 cents each, in great condition. I usually end up with enough at the end of the summer to keep me busy all winter. And I've found a lot of interesting stuff that I might never have known about.

[H2O Man]

157. "Broken Government"

is on my "must read -- soon!" list. John Dean is one of the most important voices of this era.

I have quite a few true crime/police investigation books. There was an interesting series by a fellow named John Douglas that I thought were really good.

[pdxmom]

163. His books are pretty good. I've also had the opportunity to meet

him. A bit arrogant, but he knows his stuff.

If you like true crime, I'd recommend Jack Olsen, if you haven't read any of his books. I had an email friendship with Jack for several years before he passed away. He was a great man.

[robertpaulsen]

158. I just finished The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.

You remember, the one by William Turner and Jonn Christian where Vincent Bugliosi said the conspiracy in the murder of RFK could "make Watergate look like a one-roach marijuana case"? Excellent and very convincing book.

Best non-fiction book I've read this year? I don't know why I put off reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X for so long. I will definitely read this again.

Best fiction? Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.

What am I hoping to read? My wife has promised me a Christmas present of Valerie Plame's book. Until then, I will be reading two recent purchases at a used book store, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Dr. Hunter S. Thompson and Big Sur by Jack Kerouac.

[H2O Man]

161. Turner & Christian's book

is an interesting read. I like that it includes some of the documents that Vince Bugliosi had prepared for the civil trial that is central to the book.

You will enjoy Valerie Plame's book. A lot.

[Me.]

164. Have You Said

What you're reading today?

[H2O Man]

165. The books listed

in the OP.

[EFerrari]

168. Brothers (yeah, still!) going over all of Didion's essays.

Murder in Amsterdam, The Race Beat, and a history (a good one!) of Central America in Spanish. And no, there is no pattern here that I can see, anyway. Am dying to read Schahill but am fully at my five bent spine limit. :)

[IDemo]

171. Two from Glenn Greenwald, and beginning one from Naomi Wolf

How Would a Patriot Act? (Defending American Values from a President Run Amok) , and A Tragic Legacy: How a Good vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency . I would strongly recommend the first for all who are concerned about the willful destruction of our Constitution under this administration. The second, I'm not so sold on: the basic premise being that GW has wreaked all of his havoc under the belief that he is acting on behalf of the "Good" in a war of Good-vs-Evil (Manicheanism). I think the Chimp is perfectly aware of the less than angelic aspects of more than a few of his actions.

I have just begun to read Naomi Wolf's The End of America: Letter of Warning To A Young Patriot , which looks to cover much of the same ground as Greenwald's How Would a Patriot Act?

Real cheerful reading material! :-(

[MzNov]

172. I just read "Fair Game" by Valerie Plame Wilson

And it's ironic about the free speech issue. The CIA has redacted pages of material that refer to her service before 2002, even tho it's public information or has been published elsewhere. She did sue to have the text remain, but she lost, as she has lost any legal action against the BCFamily.

It reinforces without a doubt what a lying bunch of thugs are in Washington, and how they have just about destroyed everything the Founding Fathers had in mind for a free society.

She and Joe are true patriots, who almost decided to get a divorce as they went thru the last few years. I'm so glad they didn't.

[illinoisprogressive]

173. I am reading:

Grand Expectations, News of Paris, and Kings and Queens.
Grand Expec. is about america from 1945 thru watergate.
news of paris is about american journalists stationed in paris in the 1930s
Kings and queens is history of them in england. I've been watching this pbs series on sunday and got interested in it.

[BurtWorm]

177. In the Blink of an Eye, by Andrew Parker

Concerning a theory of why the Cambrian explosion (about 500 million years ago) of animal life forms occurred. In the space of perhaps as little as 5 million years, the number of phyla (second largest grouping on the organizational chart of life below kingdom--cordates (vertebrates) is one phylum) went from 4 to 38. This book tries to explain the engine that drove that phenomenal growth.

Also reading: Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne and La Peste by Camus (in French).

[lectrobyte]

180. Just finished American Theocracy. Wow. Want to read some Derrick Jensen when I can track them down.