A couple of other suggestions came out of the blue after the last thread that might lead to other reviews or articles on TK, but I love the book club idea and thought a good place to start might be with some of the titles suggested in the last thread. Sadly, this is not a comprehensive list, but I was trying to weigh for recency as well as group interest. Once the poll closes, I’ll have a review up within a week. Happy New Year!
Matt, since I don't use Twitter and probably others don't, maybe you can allow people here to vote too. Make four comments yourself, one for each title, and subscribers use the hearts to vote.
I don't know if there's an irony here, but I clicked my like button to see who gave me the previous like and it seems I inadvertently "liked" my remarks. That and the fact I chose "The Culture of Narcissism", seems rather appropriate.
The Limousine Liberal, Steve Fraser. Shows how the Democrats' new coalition between educated suburban professionals and inner city minorities recapitulates the old liberal Republican coalitions of the 1960s, e.g. John Lindsay in NYC, Lowell Weiker, Ella Grasso in CT, etc. The common theme in both: hatred for the working class and, more substantively, unions. And, of course, the hatred was/is mutual. Archie Bunker, we should remember, was a Democrat from Queens. And we can be certain he would vote Trump. Meathead, of course, is a Warrenite. (Maybe Edith would go for Bernie, though she'd would dare tell Archie).
Anything by David Graeber, but if I had to pick one it would be "Debt: The First 5000 Years." The 2nd of his would be "Bullshit Jobs". Free online stuff of his is "Revolutions in Reverse." 2nd: Sheldon Wolin's "Democracy Inc" Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism". (Dense, but important). "Solidarity for Sale" by Fitch. Christopher Lasch's "The Revolt of the Elite"; Ray Oldenberg's "The Great Good Place".
I'm not going to make a book suggestion, but a discussion suggestion - Instead of feeding the disgusting monstrosity that is Twitter (so many comments state that they do not have an account there), why not utilize a forum specifically designed for book discussions like GoodReads or LibraryThing?
And to all of you with reading-deficit disorder, the time for proposing new titles has passed and Matt is asking you to vote on the four books he has selected.
"On December 17, 2006, The New York Times began a series of front-page stories about documents obtained from Alaska lawyer Jim Gottstein, showing Eli Lilly had concealed that its top-selling drug caused diabetes and other life-shortening metabolic problems. The "Zyprexa Papers," as they came to be known, also showed Eli Lilly was illegally promoting the use of Zyprexa on children and the elderly, with particularly lethal effects. Although Mr. Gottstein believes he obtained the Zyprexa Papers legally, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn decided he had conspired to steal the documents, and Eli Lilly threatened Mr. Gottstein with criminal contempt charges. In The Zyprexa Papers, Mr. Gottstein gives a riveting first-hand account of what really happened, including new details about how a small group of psychiatric survivors spread the Zyprexa Papers on the Internet untraceably. All of this within a gripping, plain-language explanation of complex legal maneuvering and his battles on behalf of Bill Bigley, the psychiatric patient whose ordeal made possible the exposure of the Zyprexa Papers."
There is some relevance to today as it is a cautionary tale about believing drug company statements about their drugs or relying on the FDA's determination of safety and efficacy of drugs.
The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better; Will Storr; ISBN: 9781683358183
My take on this is that persistent notion that until we understand how narratives work, the control they exert both on us and those we interact with, we will forever be screaming at the sky wondering why things keep getting worse.
Synopsis:
The compelling, groundbreaking guide to creative writing that reveals how the brain responds to storytelling
Stories shape who we are. They drive us to act out our dreams and ambitions and mold our beliefs. Storytelling is an essential part of what makes us human. So, how do master storytellers compel us? In The Science of Storytelling, award-winning writer and acclaimed teacher of creative writing Will Storr applies dazzling psychological research and cutting-edge neuroscience to our myths and archetypes to show how we can write better stories, revealing, among other things, how storytellers—and also our brains—create worlds by being attuned to moments of unexpected change.
Is there a way to see this without social media (twitter)? Will never in a million years join Twitter, but I would read a book and discuss it with a group online.
I cannot stress enough how Christopher Lasch is a timely read for our times, despite the fact that he died 25 years ago. Also, Matthew Crawford's' Why We Drive, Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road, Fabian Scheidler, The End of the Megamachine, A Brief History of a Failing Civilization (a great re-actualization on Lewis Mumford's The Myth of the Machine ) and Thomas Frank's The Road to Oblivion.
WTF?? All four of those books cover the same general material (huge social problems traceable to the elite classes). That stuff has been covered to death. Why not pick one title that covers that issue, and three others that are on completely separate subjects?
"Through a Glass Darkly: The U.S. Holocaust in Central America" - written by Thomas R. Melville, As recounted by Ronald William Hennessy of events from the 1960s.
On the back cover, (FR) Daniel Berrigan, S.J. -
"'Through a Glass Darkly' is a meticulous, passionate, at times humorous, at all times insightful chronicle of mass murder in Guatemala and El Salvador. At long last, the truth is out. And this extraordinary document is completed, even as the imperial bones of Ronald Reagan are provided with insufferably banal splendor, through Washington avenues, on to the National Cathedral (sic). There, ironies collide as G.W. Bush mounts the same pulpit whence more than a year ago, he initiated the criminal war against Afghanistan and Iraq. Now the mad logic continues, a criminal president eulogizes the architect of mass murder in Central America. Still, in this book, something else, something infinitely precious and rare: the truth."
... and from Stephen Kinzer -
"Too few Americans know about the tragedy that has enveloped Guatemala for decades and about America's role in that tragedy. 'Through a Glass Darkly' tells the story in a way that is passionate and deeply moving but also detailed, factual, and informative. Readers will never again think of Guatemala --or the United States--in the same way".
None of the above ! We need books that light up the "little grey cells." These are intellectually extremely weak choices, based on one-trick-pony solutions to complex processes that developed malignancies over time. Lasch is the only one of the four authors who attempts some more comprehensive understanding. These choices advocate emotional lunges to replace common sense. Narcissism is at least a factor in evolution, a core malignancy. Without merit, we get Tammany tyranny or Athenian-style mob rule. Inequality is always present in every system of education or government. And deficits occur when a very few can extract excess social wealth and fob the cost onto everybody else -- everybody else owes the interest payments, which can become huge as a % of national production. We don't need a "book club" for these thoughts. Aristotle addressed most of them pretty adequately in his "Politics." The closest this list comes to a serious thought process is trying to answer the question: "How can we have a good society for all citizens and also have Picasso, Mozart, and Pasteur ? "
Agreed: Culture of Narcissism by Christopher Lasch. It’s foundational and sets up many of the other suggestions. A great ‘same page’ from which to begin this project — not to mention, dare I say? — this year?
Is the winning selection going to have future editions published with a "Matt Taibbi Book Club Selection!" medallion on the cover? No reason for Oprah to have all the fun.
I get a lot of value out of your read on things Matt, and this sounds like a great way to further the scope of TK. One suggestion - instead of just criticism of the parts of the eventual book that you disagree with, can you use the problems it brings up as a jumping off point for your own musings? I’ve noticed how a few of the authors seem to point toward a socialist panacea for the big and real problems they bring up, and your experience in what collectivism can turn into seems helpful here for expanding that conversation in pragmatic terms.
I vote for 1) Culture of Narcissism and 2) Tyranny of Merit. Not in the same vein as the suggested for, but on your own, highly recommend Last Stands: Why Men Fight When All is Lost by Michael Walsh. I'm reading it now and it is fascinating.
Maybe for future reviews, something a little more contrarian could be fun. Rather than approaching a collection of reviews as "books someone loves or was told to love," more of a "books someone despises or was told to despise." Something like a, "Why Burn This Book?" review. Take a look at books which have triggered a "burn that!" response. Books landing on a list for cultural/political reasons and billed as bad for you. Candide, Frankenstein, The Color Purple, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Clockwork Orange, Of Mice and Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest, The Jungle, and on and on.
Matt, since I don't use Twitter and probably others don't, maybe you can allow people here to vote too. Make four comments yourself, one for each title, and subscribers use the hearts to vote.
I am not on twitter so I will vote here: The Culture of Narcissism
Maddness of Crowds
By Douglas Murray
The deficit myth
I don't know if there's an irony here, but I clicked my like button to see who gave me the previous like and it seems I inadvertently "liked" my remarks. That and the fact I chose "The Culture of Narcissism", seems rather appropriate.
Amusing Ourselves to Death. Neil Postman
The People, No: A Brief History of Anti-populism, by Thomas Frank. Or his earlier book, 'Listen, Liberal'.
The Limousine Liberal, Steve Fraser. Shows how the Democrats' new coalition between educated suburban professionals and inner city minorities recapitulates the old liberal Republican coalitions of the 1960s, e.g. John Lindsay in NYC, Lowell Weiker, Ella Grasso in CT, etc. The common theme in both: hatred for the working class and, more substantively, unions. And, of course, the hatred was/is mutual. Archie Bunker, we should remember, was a Democrat from Queens. And we can be certain he would vote Trump. Meathead, of course, is a Warrenite. (Maybe Edith would go for Bernie, though she'd would dare tell Archie).
Anything by David Graeber, but if I had to pick one it would be "Debt: The First 5000 Years." The 2nd of his would be "Bullshit Jobs". Free online stuff of his is "Revolutions in Reverse." 2nd: Sheldon Wolin's "Democracy Inc" Managed Democracy and the Specter of Inverted Totalitarianism". (Dense, but important). "Solidarity for Sale" by Fitch. Christopher Lasch's "The Revolt of the Elite"; Ray Oldenberg's "The Great Good Place".
Toure Reed, “Toward Freedom: The Case Against Race Reductionism”
Boo and mega boo on using Twitter! Down with tyranny!
I'm not going to make a book suggestion, but a discussion suggestion - Instead of feeding the disgusting monstrosity that is Twitter (so many comments state that they do not have an account there), why not utilize a forum specifically designed for book discussions like GoodReads or LibraryThing?
How about about "War With Russisa"? Stephen F. Cohen
The Deficit Myth
I second The Revolt of the Elites by Lasch.
What are the four suggestions? I am not on Twitter. Thanks.
And to all of you with reading-deficit disorder, the time for proposing new titles has passed and Matt is asking you to vote on the four books he has selected.
The Zyprexa Papers, by me. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0578627264/lawprojectfor-20
The description is:
"On December 17, 2006, The New York Times began a series of front-page stories about documents obtained from Alaska lawyer Jim Gottstein, showing Eli Lilly had concealed that its top-selling drug caused diabetes and other life-shortening metabolic problems. The "Zyprexa Papers," as they came to be known, also showed Eli Lilly was illegally promoting the use of Zyprexa on children and the elderly, with particularly lethal effects. Although Mr. Gottstein believes he obtained the Zyprexa Papers legally, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn decided he had conspired to steal the documents, and Eli Lilly threatened Mr. Gottstein with criminal contempt charges. In The Zyprexa Papers, Mr. Gottstein gives a riveting first-hand account of what really happened, including new details about how a small group of psychiatric survivors spread the Zyprexa Papers on the Internet untraceably. All of this within a gripping, plain-language explanation of complex legal maneuvering and his battles on behalf of Bill Bigley, the psychiatric patient whose ordeal made possible the exposure of the Zyprexa Papers."
There is some relevance to today as it is a cautionary tale about believing drug company statements about their drugs or relying on the FDA's determination of safety and efficacy of drugs.
The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better; Will Storr; ISBN: 9781683358183
My take on this is that persistent notion that until we understand how narratives work, the control they exert both on us and those we interact with, we will forever be screaming at the sky wondering why things keep getting worse.
Synopsis:
The compelling, groundbreaking guide to creative writing that reveals how the brain responds to storytelling
Stories shape who we are. They drive us to act out our dreams and ambitions and mold our beliefs. Storytelling is an essential part of what makes us human. So, how do master storytellers compel us? In The Science of Storytelling, award-winning writer and acclaimed teacher of creative writing Will Storr applies dazzling psychological research and cutting-edge neuroscience to our myths and archetypes to show how we can write better stories, revealing, among other things, how storytellers—and also our brains—create worlds by being attuned to moments of unexpected change.
Something about crypto currencies. That's the biggest story in finance in terms of what retail investors might be drawn to or shy away from.
Is there a way to see this without social media (twitter)? Will never in a million years join Twitter, but I would read a book and discuss it with a group online.
I cannot stress enough how Christopher Lasch is a timely read for our times, despite the fact that he died 25 years ago. Also, Matthew Crawford's' Why We Drive, Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road, Fabian Scheidler, The End of the Megamachine, A Brief History of a Failing Civilization (a great re-actualization on Lewis Mumford's The Myth of the Machine ) and Thomas Frank's The Road to Oblivion.
Hate the last part of the title because it derails people but Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010 by Charles Murry
A Gentleman In Moscow.
Debt the first 5000 years
WTF?? All four of those books cover the same general material (huge social problems traceable to the elite classes). That stuff has been covered to death. Why not pick one title that covers that issue, and three others that are on completely separate subjects?
I'm not on Twitter as well, my vote goes to The Culture of Narcissism.
Twitter? Why....
Can't do Twitter
"Through a Glass Darkly: The U.S. Holocaust in Central America" - written by Thomas R. Melville, As recounted by Ronald William Hennessy of events from the 1960s.
On the back cover, (FR) Daniel Berrigan, S.J. -
"'Through a Glass Darkly' is a meticulous, passionate, at times humorous, at all times insightful chronicle of mass murder in Guatemala and El Salvador. At long last, the truth is out. And this extraordinary document is completed, even as the imperial bones of Ronald Reagan are provided with insufferably banal splendor, through Washington avenues, on to the National Cathedral (sic). There, ironies collide as G.W. Bush mounts the same pulpit whence more than a year ago, he initiated the criminal war against Afghanistan and Iraq. Now the mad logic continues, a criminal president eulogizes the architect of mass murder in Central America. Still, in this book, something else, something infinitely precious and rare: the truth."
... and from Stephen Kinzer -
"Too few Americans know about the tragedy that has enveloped Guatemala for decades and about America's role in that tragedy. 'Through a Glass Darkly' tells the story in a way that is passionate and deeply moving but also detailed, factual, and informative. Readers will never again think of Guatemala --or the United States--in the same way".
None of the above ! We need books that light up the "little grey cells." These are intellectually extremely weak choices, based on one-trick-pony solutions to complex processes that developed malignancies over time. Lasch is the only one of the four authors who attempts some more comprehensive understanding. These choices advocate emotional lunges to replace common sense. Narcissism is at least a factor in evolution, a core malignancy. Without merit, we get Tammany tyranny or Athenian-style mob rule. Inequality is always present in every system of education or government. And deficits occur when a very few can extract excess social wealth and fob the cost onto everybody else -- everybody else owes the interest payments, which can become huge as a % of national production. We don't need a "book club" for these thoughts. Aristotle addressed most of them pretty adequately in his "Politics." The closest this list comes to a serious thought process is trying to answer the question: "How can we have a good society for all citizens and also have Picasso, Mozart, and Pasteur ? "
Not on Twitter, now or ever, so I guess I am not registered to vote.
The four poll choices are racist against books whose titles do not start with the word 'The.' Disgusting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9WWz95ripA&ab_channel=NapalmRecords
I don’t see the four books
The Revolt of the Elites by Christopher Lasch.
"CIA as Organized Crime" by Valentine
Agreed: Culture of Narcissism by Christopher Lasch. It’s foundational and sets up many of the other suggestions. A great ‘same page’ from which to begin this project — not to mention, dare I say? — this year?
What would be nice is if, whatever it is, it wasn't written by someone with an a agenda.
“America’s War for the Greater Middle East”, Andrew Bacevich
I recommend a book called "Take Back The Power! : Sustainable Energy and Freedom are Within Your Grasp" at Amazon.com
I choose "The Deficit Myth". thank you mary margaret flynn
Review Ibram X Kendi =]
Cool. I suggested only two books, and both made the final 4. “The Deficit Myth” and “The Tyranny of Merit.” Somehow I feel validated.
Is the winning selection going to have future editions published with a "Matt Taibbi Book Club Selection!" medallion on the cover? No reason for Oprah to have all the fun.
I get a lot of value out of your read on things Matt, and this sounds like a great way to further the scope of TK. One suggestion - instead of just criticism of the parts of the eventual book that you disagree with, can you use the problems it brings up as a jumping off point for your own musings? I’ve noticed how a few of the authors seem to point toward a socialist panacea for the big and real problems they bring up, and your experience in what collectivism can turn into seems helpful here for expanding that conversation in pragmatic terms.
I don't use twitter either
Bullshit Jobs or Debt by David Graeber. We need to rethink and reimagine the purpose of work, who does it and how it gets done.
I vote for 1) Culture of Narcissism and 2) Tyranny of Merit. Not in the same vein as the suggested for, but on your own, highly recommend Last Stands: Why Men Fight When All is Lost by Michael Walsh. I'm reading it now and it is fascinating.
Maybe for future reviews, something a little more contrarian could be fun. Rather than approaching a collection of reviews as "books someone loves or was told to love," more of a "books someone despises or was told to despise." Something like a, "Why Burn This Book?" review. Take a look at books which have triggered a "burn that!" response. Books landing on a list for cultural/political reasons and billed as bad for you. Candide, Frankenstein, The Color Purple, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Clockwork Orange, Of Mice and Men, One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest, The Jungle, and on and on.
Where to vote on these books? And what are the four book to choose from?