Book 'em

A column recommending books for the holidays might seem like a lazy columnist's trick (and I know 'em all). But as we collapse into a society of limited attention spans, where even smart people rarely venture outside their bunkers of expertise, where fewer and fewer American men are reading(!), let us brace ourselves to read and give books. Here are some that touch on issues we regularly address on Rogue:

The shelves groan under the number of books written about the financial crisis, its aftermath, causes and needed fixes. My favorites are Freefall: America, Free Markets and the Sinking of the World Economy, by nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz; 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown, by Simon Johnson and James Kwak; Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of Finance, by Nouriel Roubini and Stephen Mihm, and Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, by Robert Reich. It's a soup-to-nuts telling of the bought-off politics, bad policy, deregulation and greed that brought on the crash, to the steps we must take in order to save ourselves. Not that we will.

The latest cooked-up "conservative" distraction is about American "exceptionalism." If you want to see us at out best, and worse, and exceptional, read Taylor Branch's magisterial trilogy on America in the King years: Parting the Waters, Pillar of Fire and At Canaan's Edge. Every literate citizen should know these books and this history.

David M. Kennedy's fine new interpretation of the 1930s and 1940s, Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945, avoids the hagiography of some other FDR historians yet shows what America can do at its best. It also shows many parallels with choices we are making, for the worse, today. Similarly, David Hackett Fischer's Washington's Crossing is one of the most inspiring, moving and well-written histories I've read in years. And the two volumes we have so far of Rick Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy, An Army At Dawn and The Day of Battle, are models of the historian and writer's craft. Better, they are thrilling reads.

We are not, of course, the only exceptional people, or the only ones who think of themselves so. I re-read Harrison Salisbury's The 900 Days about the siege of Leningrad, and it still holds up as essential reading. That led me to Catherine Merridale's Ivan's War: Life and Death in the Red Army: 1939-1945. Even informed Americans have little idea of the suffering of Russia and the Soviet Union in World War II, or the brutal Stalinist regime that made it worse, or the heroic efforts of the Russian and Soviet people. (Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate, one of the great novels of the 20th century, is another for your list). Closer to our own time, every American should read Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower: Al Queda and the Road to 9/11.

For your urbanist and sustainability jones, I continue to urge James Howard Kunstler's The Geography of Nowhere, the definitive critique of the loss of America's inspiring man-made landscape and the face-plant into sprawl. Kunstler has some other fine follow-ups on cities and suburbia, plus The Long Emergency, a 2006 book that has proven prophetic. If you've gone this far, take the plunge and read Jane Jacobs' iconic The Death and Life of Great American Cities. It's worth it. Also, Robert Caro's The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, 35 years after its publication, it is still a masterful study of the man most responsibly for our destructive and dehumanizing post-war cityscapes.

Contemporary politics is dangerous terrain. For example, what value does Jonathan Alter's The Promise, about President Obama's first year in office, have after the sellouts of the past two weeks? The book to read is Jeff Sharlet's sobering The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power. This carefully reported book will make you realize that Kevin Phillips wasn't nuts in American Theocracy.

The truly great history of Phoenix or Arizona has yet to be written. In the meantime, there's the classic Cadillac Desert, by Marc Reisner and A River No More, by Philip Fradkin. Jack August has written our best look so far at Arizona water politics with Vision in the Desert, about Carl Hayden, and Dividing Western Waters, on Mark Wilmer, the landmark Arizona v. California lawsuit and the winning of the CAP. The best history I know of Phoenix is William Collins' The Emerging Metropolis: Phoenix, 1944-1973. (You can buy it here).

I know readers have their own recommendations. Fire away. One last thought: Consider patronizing your local, independent bookstore. Without them, we lose one more prop of a civilized city.

 

 

Comments

[Rate Crimes]

"Cadillac Desert" was my favorite book a decade ago because it opened my eyes; and because it was so masterfully written. It should be required reading for every Arizonian.

Hey! Where in your list is "The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart."?

For an overview of the big picture, I would suggest including Bertrand Russell's timeless, "A History of Western Philosophy and Its Connection with Political and Social Circumstances from the Earliest Times to the Present Day."

[Rate Crimes]

What happens when an empire picks up its tent and moves to greener pastures? John Julius Norwich's "Byzantium" trilogy is a fun read covering the millenium of that empire's history. It is a history that is taught to few Americans.

To me, the central lesson of this history is to not surrender the freeholding, economic center of an empire to a weakening concentration of wealth into the hands of ever fewer.

[Rate Crimes]

Regarding Russian history: My girlfriend is Russian, so I have recently been studying their history and language. After scanning a few short histories of Russia, I discovered Orlando Figes, "Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia". Mr. Figes will connect you to this history in fascinating ways.

[Rate Crimes]

BTW, I 'read' "A History of Western Philosophy" via the audiobook read by Geoffrey Sherman. Audiobooks combined with an iPod make an excellent gift; especially for those of us who are wearing out their eyes. :)

[Rate Crimes]

"The truly great history of Phoenix or Arizona has yet to be written." - Rogue

¿Y en qué lengua originario está que usted piensa la historia de Arizona será escrita?

[Jim Hamblin]

I'm thinking of re reading Ed Abbey's "The Monkeywrench Gang" and narrating a few vignettes to my grandchildren. Were I more talented, I'd write a large print financial sequel to "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". Even though it would be a childrens' story it might impart a great deal more knowledge than John Q. Public currently retains. The other books listed would appeal to my Mensa-type brother but I'd rather target kids and low-wattage adults!

[Rate Crimes]

Hi Jim,

"A History of Western Philosophy", "Natasha's Dance", and Norwich's Byzantine Trilogy are all very approachable.

Also, please don't associate me with Mensa. 'IQ' is a very poor measure of any quality of real value.

[azrebel]

Rate's Russian girlfriend, "Rate, Darling, what are you doing on the internet at four in the morning?"

Rate: "First of all, Dear, call me RC, not Rate."

Rate's Russian girlfriend, "Don't change the subject, what are you doing on the internet at 4 am?? "

Rate, " I'm posting a bunch of comments on Jon's blog."

Rate's Russian girlfriend, "Alright, if you don't want to answer, that's fine, but you don't have to lie."

Rate, " OK, you caught me, I was reading news updates about Lindsay Lohan and all the Kardashians."

Rate's Russian girlfriend, "See, now was that so hard? Good night, or should I say morning? Don't forget to take the dog out for a walk. Call me when breakfast is ready."

Rate, "Yes, dear"

[eclecticdog]

Molodetz!

[Rate Crimes]

Wow, azrebel, are there really guys like that?

Though, I'll admit that you're right about one thing: I walk her big, ugly hound a lot! That dog loves me!

Also, I'm currently on EST.

[CDT]

Andrew Bacevich's "Washington Rules" and "The Limits to Power" are stunning and sobering discussions of our failing empire.

[azrebel]

don't mind telling you, I'm missing Emil. ( : - (

[Rate Crimes]

Thanks a metric ton, azrebel. Until today, apparently I had escaped all knowledge of "the Kardashians". Your dialogue above took me to Wikipedia where I was reminded of why I avoid American television; except for a few shows on the Comedy Channel.

[Jim Hamblin]

Folks have been standing in line to buy Palin and Bush's books. Is there a better bellwether of the dumbing down of our country?

[azrebel]

I agree with you Jim. Plus, I would like to formally nominate the residents of Glendale, AZ as the biggest schmucks in the state. They continue to allow their city to hand out untold millions to sports franchises, which in 5 to 10 years, will leave them holding the bag along with two empty arenas. The sheep are asleep and they don't even know they're being sheared.

[Some old guy]

Blood And Thunder, by Hampton Sides. I couldn't put it down, and since I'm not a literary critic I'm certain that it's good.

[Rogue Columnist]

I miss Emil, too.

[AWinter]

"Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War" by Karl Marlantes. Intense quasi-autobiographical account of being a marine in the jungle.

[Rate Crimes]

A "novel" that is "quasi-autobiographical" about a Marine. Hmmmmm. Perhaps, the true autobiography was not interesting enough to be published? How could a Marine in Vietnam not have an experience interesting enough so that an accurate account would be sufficient for publication?

[azrebel]

I know a Marine who was in charge of a base swimming pool in Vietnam. His greatest danger was telling a General that the pool was closed and he could not go swimming. His story would need to be "quasi-autobiographical".

[Jean Emery]

The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. A stunning, mouth dropping examination of the destructive economic empirebuilding and "manifest destiny" of Milton Friedman's free market economics.

[Rogue Columnist]

Speaking of 'Nam, I meant to add Philip Caputo's masterful memoir,"A Rumor of War." In the prologue, he writes that he hopes the book will help America avoid another hopeless, destructive adventure. He adds, "But I doubt it." And of course Jim Webb's classic, "Fields of Fire."

[Jim Hamblin]

Speaking of books, the Rep just did a nice piece on Jon the mystery writer . . photo and all! They referred to him as a "contrarian" while at the Rep. Better they should have called him a soothsayer because (long ago) he predicted how and why Phoenix and environs would crater.

[phxSUNSfan]

John Boehner should try reading some of these books; however, I fear they might make him cry...

[phxSUNSfan]

BTW AZRebel, Glendale only has one arena. It is usually empty only during a Coyotes game ;-) LOL! How ironic but that is what a losing team does to a franchise.

The stadium, on the other hand, has a pretty good track recording going for it even during this losing season. Nonetheless, I agree these handouts from Glendale for the Coyotes is beyond ridiculous; almost as ridiculous as Hockey in the desert.

[Rate Crimes]

LOL, I almost forgot . . . "The Book of Laughter and Forgetting" by Milan Kundera.

[Buford]

"The truly great history of Phoenix or Arizona has yet to be written."

Good News! David Mapstone has written a grant proposal to write a new history of Phoenix and Arizona.

Now he just has to live through the end of 'South Phoenix Rules'.