HUMOR
ETC. - BOOKS
eRiposte Recommended Books
by Topic
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
|
Beating the Business Cycle
by Lakshman Achutan and Anirvan Banerji |
Excellent book that
focuses on how business and growth rate cycles can be accurately
predicted. A must-read for anyone interested in predicting
turning points in the economy and increasing their likelihood of
profiting from that. |
The Mystery of Capital: Why
Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else
by Hernando de Soto |
Superb treatise
focusing in particular on the right to property and how that has
been a critical element in the success of capitalism. |
The Roaring Nineties
by Joseph Stiglitz
|
A compelling book
that provides a surprisingly candid (Clinton administration)
insider's account of policy and politics relating to the
economics of the 1990s, especially in the U.S. We expect to
feature key snippets from this book sometime in the future. |
|
World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic
Hatred and Global Instability
by Amy Chua
|
A remarkable book by
a globalization/free-market advocate on the reasons why
so-called free market policies in many parts of the world have
led to or exacerbated ethnic tensions between market-dominant
ethnic minorities and poorer ethnic majorities leading to
undesirable outcomes. We expect to feature a discussion of key
portions of this book sometime in the future. |
Thriving on Chaos: Handbook for a
Management Revolution
Tom Peters
|
A compelling read,
even for these times, given the inordinately high focus we see
these days on lowering costs with a lack of sufficient focus on
quality and innovation (in our opinion). |
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the
Leap...and Others Don't
Jim Collins |
Very interesting
book based on oodles of research. Findings are not the least bit
surprising. |
The Great Unraveling: Losing our way in the
New Century
Paul Krugman |
We have not yet read
this book, but have read almost all of Paul Krugman's New York
Times columns, many of which are the basis for this book.
Needless to say, a must-read. |
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not)
Getting By in America
Barbara Ehrenreich |
We haven't read this
book fully yet, but from what we have read it is superb and a
must-read for anyone who wants to understand some of the
negative effects of the McDonalization and Walmartization
of the American and world economy |
SOCIAL/HEALTH/PUBLIC
POLICY
Whitewashing Race : The Myth
of a Color-Blind Society
Michael K. Brown, Martin Carnoy, Elliott
Currie, Troy Duster, David B. Oppenheimer |
An ABSOLUTE
MUST-READ Book! Everything you wanted to know about the
realities of racism in America but could never find out from the
many books written by right-wing frauds. The book is a fairly comprehensive overview
of race-related research and tries to draw inferences that are
supported by real and substantial data. |
Fast Food Nation: The Dark
Side of the All-American Meal
Eric Schlosser |
Superb, superb book
that every American must read to understand not just the
negative effects of the McDonalization of America but also the unpleasant
truths buried behind obesity, health, workers injuries, etc. |
SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
The Selfish Gene
Richard Dawkins |
For aficionados of
evolutionary biology, this is one of the best books out there.
We hope to someday hope to post
extensive comments on it. |
Manwatching
Desmond Morris |
Superb
work of anthropology tracing back the origins of all kinds of
human behavior. |
Path to the Double Helix: The Discovery of
DNA
Robert Olby |
Fascinating
history of the discovery of DNA and its implications. We would
be remiss if we did not mention that Rosalind
Franklin's role is not covered as well as it should
be. |
Molecules of Emotion: The Science Behind
Mind-Body Medicine
Candace Pert |
Remarkable
book chronicling the attempts to understand the interactions
between the mind and body at the biological/chemical level.
Proposes a fairly novel approach to medicine and drug
discovery/design that will minimize unwanted side effects
of drugs and improve the effectiveness of the drugs.
The book is also a good read to understand the
politics of science, especially high profile research and the
egos that go with it. |
The Character of Physical Law
Richard Feynman |
My
favorite book on physics by my favorite physicist. |
Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery,
Manufacturing and Computation
K. Eric Drexler |
Interesting
read for those who want to take a peek into the field of
nanotechnology. |
SOCIETY,
CULTURE, CIVILIZATIONS, HISTORY
The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad
by Fareed Zakaria |
An
extremely compelling book which tries to forge a deeper
understanding of freedom vs. democracy and highlights a path to
achieve both. The book has significant implications for
globalization and the spread of free markets as well, and we
plan to cover key portions on our website at a later time. |
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking
or World Order
Samuel P. Huntington |
A
definite must-read, especially considering the times we are in.
I've provided some extracts or comments on this book here
and here.
We don't necessarily agree with everything in this book but it
is debate worthy. |
A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of
Genocide
Samantha Power |
Have only
read a small part of it so far and needless to say it is a book
anyone who is interested in history should read. |
Nine Parts of Desire : The
Hidden World of Islamic Women
Geraldine Brooks |
A
powerful book depicting the lives and plight of Islamic women. |
PHILOSOPHY
AND INTROSPECTION
| The Bhagavad-Gita |
A
masterpiece that I consider to be the most thoughtful, brilliant
and incisive piece of philosophical writing in the world. This
is basically Hinduism's chief manuscript if you will but the
Gita itself has nothing particularly to do with any specific
religion - in some sense it points to Hinduism's secular values.
There are different versions - although I prefer the one from
the Chinmaya Mission. |
The
Euthyphro
Plato |
This is
my all-time favorite single philosophical piece. In my opinion,
this single piece is an epitome of the brilliance of
Socratic/Platonic thinking. It's usually part of collections
of Plato's writing. |
Walden and Other Writings
Henry David Thoreau |
My
favorite essay is Life Without Principle |
The Fountainhead
Ayn Rand |
We don't
always agree with Ayn Rand but she sometimes makes
thought-provoking points. |
Notes on Love and Courage
Hugh Prather |
Must-read
- especially for all sentimental weepy types :-). |
Marriage and Morals
Bertrand Russell |
The cover
says it all. |
POLITICAL
AND MEDIA CORRUPTION
The Hunting of the President :
The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton
Joe Conason, Gene Lyons |
No book
depicts the downright mental derangement and corruption, serial
lying, and anti-Americanism of the media and conservative
establishment during the Clinton years - more than this
one. |
Blinded by the Right : The
Conscience of an Ex-Conservative
David Brock |
Without
exception - all the books in this section are a must-read. |
Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine
and How it Distorts the Truth
Joe Conason |
Without
exception - all the books in this section are a must-read.
(We haven't read this book fully yet). |
What Liberal Media? The Truth
About Bias and the News
Eric Alterman |
Without
exception - all the books in this section are a must-read.
(We haven't read this book fully yet). |
The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the
White House and the Education of Paul O'Neill
by Ron Suskind |
A
worthwhile book that reveals in many ways the unsurprising, yet
widely hidden fact, that the Bush White House has no real policy
apparatus to speak of and is dominated by politics - thanks to
Karl Rove and Dick Cheney in particular, not to mention George
W. himself. |
Lies and the Lying Liars Who
Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right
Al Franken |
Without
exception - all the books in this section are a must-read.
(We haven't read this book fully yet). |
The Lies of George W. Bush:
Mastering the Politics of Deception
David Corn |
Without
exception - all the books in this section are a must-read.
(We haven't read this book fully yet). |
MISCELLANEOUS
Man-Eaters of Kumaon
Jim Corbett |
Corbett
has a national park named after him in India. This is one of his
thrilling books (non-fiction) - describing the search for
man-eating carnivores in Indian forests. |
The Temple Tiger and More Man
Eaters of Kumaon
Jim Corbett |
Corbett
has a national park named after him in India. This is one of his
thrilling books (non-fiction) - describing the search for
man-eating carnivores in Indian forests. |
The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag
Jim Corbett |
Corbett
has a national park named after him in India. This is one of his
thrilling books (non-fiction) - describing the search for
man-eating carnivores in Indian forests. |
The Complete Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle |
Must we
say more? |
The Complete Yes Prime
Minister
Jonathan Lynn, Anthony Jay |
Superb
British comedy - also watch the recording of the TV series if
you can. |
All About Words: An Adult
Approach to Vocabulary Building
Maxwell Nurnberg, Morris Rosenblum |
Superb
book for aficionados of the English language. |
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