Reading List 20 August 2006

The best part of a blog? The ability to share with like-minded people those items in this world that excite you the most. Aside from my son, books rate at the top of my “greatest human creation” list.

From time to time, I’ll share different books that I’ve either read, or am in the midst of reading. I hope you to take a look at them, add them to your reading list. Also, please do share with me, via the comment form (tho’ I am seriously considering posting my phone number), what you believe I should read. If you can tell me why the book struck a chord with you, it’s very likely I will trust your judgement and read it.In no particular order, here are some of the books that have had a deep influence upon my thinking and how I live my life.

“Plan B 2.0: Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble” - Lester Brown

The reason for this site, for my fame. A more insightful and fundamental look at the issues that now face all of us has yet to be written. Written by the founder of the Worldwatch Institute and the Earth Policy Institute, it renders comprehensible exactly where we stand and exactly what we must do if we are to preserve this planet for future generations. If you read one thing this decade, it really should be this book. If it doesn’t change the way you look at the world, I will refund your full purchase price - I kid you not.

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“Hopscotch” - Julio Cortazar

The Argentinian genius crafted in this book what is likely my very favorite piece of fiction. This is a very challenging read, and so damned poetic, so gobbstoppingly gorgeous, that quotes from it’s pages adorn the walls of my home. They just don’t make ‘em like this anymore. I pine for the days of the great fiction writes, I really do.

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“How to Talk Dirty and Influence People” - Lenny Bruce

The greatest comedians analyze, reinterpret, then honestly voice a society’s frustrations, weaknesses, and evils. To me, Lenny Bruce, for his ability to do this with incredible insight and his willingness to say what others could barely allow their self-censoring minds to comprehend, remains the greatest comedian the United States has seen. Much of what he opined and railed against continues to plague the U.S. to this day. I have a shirt I made that reads, “Lenny Bruce Died for Your Sins.” Read this book and you’ll understand the truth of that statement.

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“The Autobiography of Malcolm X” - Malcolm X with Alex Haley

You know why this made my list. Need I say it? Since his death, we haven’t had in this country (USA) a leader with his powerful admixture of charisma, intelligence, rage, passion and integrity. No, he was slaughtered before he could complete his work. Too bad for black America, as the much of the momentum of its movement seemed to die with this man, one of the greatest to have ever lived. The story of his life and death illuminate so much. So, so, so much. . . thinking about him, about what could have been, about what should have been . . . really does bring tears of frustration and sadness to my eyes.

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“Critical Path” - R. Buckminster Fuller

As my friend Larry put it, Bucky was one of the rare “deep visionaries” of the 20th century. In “Critical Path” he pretty much lays out his ideas on what we need to do to continue to live as a species upon a shrinking globe. Way, way ahead of his time, and impossibly in love with himself, Bucky had more than his share of the DaVinci gene (no, I’m not talking about that damned book) - a rare genius whose work we should all be familiar with.

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“Dune - Frank Herbert”

I’m actually a big Heinlein fan, and could also list “Stranger in a Strange Land,” but Herbert’s early visionary tale tried to warn us about the folly of oil dependency, decades before it was hip to talk about peak oil. The real humor is in that Herebert’s parallel resource used in the story is water - the scarce water of “Dune” is an exact analog of oil scarcity. Now we live on a planet where oil scarcity is well known, but water scarcity is the real issue facing us in the short haul. Aside from Herbert’s cautionary words, the book is an intricate work of good old fashioned science-fiction that stands on its own, scarcity issues or no.

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“Eugene Debs: Citizen & Socialist”

Eugene V. Debs: A man who is among my dearest of heroes, a man who pushed, tirelessly, for decades for reform. A man who ran for President five times and who set a record for third party vote totals. Most importantly, it was his efforts that pushed the Democratic party into enacting child labor reform, minimum wage laws, Social Security, and so much more. What many of us thank the Dems for, we should be thanking Debs for. Without him, the two parties would have joined at an even earlier date.

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“Biko - Donald Woods”

I read this when I was sixteen years old, and to the best of my recollection reading this book was my first real introduction to the concept of grave social injustice. Understand that I was raised in a very sheltered, very caucasian environment - that of California’s Sacramento Valley - and while we were always rather poor, we were blessed beyond measure compared to the people I found living in Bantu Stephen Biko’s world. This was my eye opener, my introduction to the real world.

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“A Different Kind of Teacher” - John Taylor Gatto

As a hyper-progressive descendant of hyper-progressives, I’d never in my life questioned U.S. public education. This book opened my eyes quite wide to the history and reality of the U.S. public education system. Written by one of the most awarded veterans of the public school teaching ranks, it talks frankly about what we need to do to educate all of our children. If you’re a parent, a teacher, or have any interest in education, I recommend this book highly.

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“Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change” - Elizabeth Kolbert

This is a wonderfully written account of the possible looming devastation we all face as a result of our carbon-emitting (and other particulates/pollutants) machinations. Kolbert, who writes for the New Yorker is one hell of a writer, and makes her points without having to resort to off-putting (for some) hard technical data.

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And your favorites? Do tell. . .