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Non-Fiction Book Suggestions Wanted: June & July 2009

Collaborate in choosing our next NON-FICTION book for group discussion within this forum. A minimum of 5 posts is necessary to participate here!
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Chris OConnor

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Non-Fiction Book Suggestions Wanted: June & July 2009

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Non-Fiction Book Suggestions Wanted: June & July 2009

Use this thread to suggest books for our next non-fiction book discussion period, which will be June & July of 2009. It is very helpful if you include a link to where other members can read more about your book suggestions on Amazon.com. And maybe copy and paste a short review or book description. You're trying to sell us on your book idea so please provide more than just the book title and author.

NOTE:

We've not had enough feedback on the suggestions in this thread to run the next poll as of 4/6/2009. So the discussion for "God is Not Great" will be extended to include May. (March, April & May 2009)

Please understand that feedback on the suggestions in this thread is just as important as actual suggestions. If you're the only one indicating an interest in reading a particular book we aren't going to have much of an actual discussion. We need a large group of people reading and discussing each book.
Last edited by Chris OConnor on Sat Apr 18, 2009 12:05 pm, edited 7 times in total.
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Chris,

Thanks for your prompt and frank reply. Believe it or not, you're reply about my inability to vote actually comes as a relief. I have been desperately browsing the internet for real engaging book groups and I think I have found the right one. I am 22 years old and I have absolutely no friends that like to read or that are really curious about the world. It seems that younger Americans only value short-sighted pleasure. This makes me feel extremely lonely as I love to read everyday and have no one that I can relate these books to. So, I am actually quite happy that you're discussion groups are taken very seriously. I will definitely post on other discussion threads and thanks for the answer. To keep with the subject of the thread, some other great non-fiction books are:

- "The Power Elite" by C.W. Mills is an outstanding analysis of social science, especially that of the upper echelons of society, the ruling elite, made up of the political, economic, and military elites that cooperate with each other to further their goals. A truly outstanding book!

- "Hegemony or Survival" by Noam Chomsky is a must-read for ANYONE wanting to know the real America. In this timely and insightful book, Chomsky points to the cynical power politics that America has practiced since its global superpower status after WW2. He argues that this quest for sole superpower status and global "hegemony" is bringing the world to ruin and how this quest has been hidden by the veil of secrecy protected by the media. A stomach-twisting book that lays the truth out as it is (a warning to anyone that's truly patriotic).

- "The History of the Pelopenessian War" by Thucydides. This compelling book by a mysterious and even more compelling author explains the problem of classical Greece. Much could still be learned from classics as the same mistakes are being repeated now.

- "The Story of American Freedom" by Eric Foner. This leftist-leaning book explains the different stages and meaning of freedom throughout American history and explains how varying difficulties in America changed the meaning of freedom in varying situations. Foner truly sheds light on the roots and causes of Reaganite Conservatism (Neoliberalism) and warns the reader of the threat that this laissez-faire order has upon American society. A must read for anyone interested in how things REALLY are.

I hope my post helped people in filtering great non-fiction books. I also hope more people post on this thread because I am a non-fiction buff and am always looking for a great read.
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Zizek's Ontology: A Transcendental Materialist Theory of Subjectivity by Adrian Johnston

Review

"It is always difficult to read books about oneself; with Johnston's book, my anxiety was even stronger than usual. While reading it, I often had the uncanny feeling of being confronted by a line of argumentation which fits better than my own texts what I am struggling to formulate--as if he is the original and I am a copy. He certainly knows how to read me. The majority of my critics concentrate on popular culture, politics, and ideology in my work--Johnston goes directly to its transcendental-ontological nucleus. This is not a book on me, but a book, critical of me, on what both Johnston and I consider the core of our philosophical predicament. I thus advise the reader to forget about me and to enjoy the hard work of penetrating the obscure dimension of the philosophical foundations of psychoanalysis." --Slavoj Zizek


Description

Slavoj Žižek is one of the most interesting and important philosophers working today, known chiefly for his theoretical explorations of popular culture and contemporary politics. This book focuses on the generally neglected and often overshadowed philosophical core of Žižek’s work—an essential component in any true appreciation of this unique thinker’s accomplishment.

His central concern, Žižek has proclaimed, is to use psychoanalysis (especially the teachings of Jacques Lacan) to redeploy the insights of late-modern German philosophy, in particular, the thought of Kant, Schelling, and Hegel. By taking this avowal seriously, Adrian Johnston finally clarifies the philosophical project underlying Žižek’s efforts. His book charts the interlinked ontology and theory of subjectivity constructed by Žižek at the intersection of German idealism and Lacanian theory. Johnston also uses Žižek’s combination of philosophy and psychoanalysis to address two perennial philosophical problems: the relationship of mind and body, and the nature of human freedom. By bringing together the past two centuries of European philosophy, psychoanalytic metapsychology, and cutting-edge work in the natural sciences, Johnston develops a transcendental materialist theory of subjectivity—in short, an account of how more-than-material forms of subjectivity can emerge from a corporeal being. His work shows how an engagement with Žižek’s philosophy can produce compelling answers to today’s most vexing and urgent questions as inherited from the history of ideas.

Review and description directly from Amazon.com

:book:
Last edited by Grim on Thu Feb 26, 2009 11:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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I'm gonna push for this one more time because I strongly believe we have a great discussion here. I would like to at least try to go an alternative non-fic discussion if enough people are interested.

The Pivot of Civilization (published 1922)
by Margaret Sanger
(Also available online for free at Project Gutenberg)

Maybe I should mention first off this book is very short: about 100 pages. Nonetheless, it's probably up there on the list of most controversial books. I did a quick Google search on Margaret Sanger and you would either think she was either a hero and iconoclast or the most vile Jezebel that ever was. The Pivot of Civilization is about the need to recognize over population as a source of human misery that relates to war, hunger, injustice, disease, worker abuse, dependence on welfare, devaluation of childhood and parenthood, and subordination of women that will sabotage the future of a society. Since we have so many here on Booktalk that enjoy talking in depth on economics, I thought this might be a slightly different approach to the subject and we should get some excellent input. Sanger is arguing that contraception be treated as a human right and necessity for peace, prosperity, and the liberation of women and children. Unfortunately, we are still dealing with the many of these same issues in 2009 and there are many places in the world where birth control methods are still taboo. It's apparent in the US that our leaders only speak of birth control in terms of left vs. right, pro-life vs pro-choice, sexual permissiveness (or liberation) vs "family values." While likely many on Booktalk would probably agree with Sanger on these issues, she was also known to have been a supporter of eugenics (not unlike many progressives of her day) and did speak of the prevention (not killing) of the "unfit" and "feebleminded" that would burden society. She was also known to make negative commentary about the fecundity of immigrants and African Americans. However, as the founder of Planned Parenthood, she was actually very anti-abortion which she called "a disgrace to civilization" (you would not know this if you looked some of the African American and Christian websites that revile her). Despite allegations of racism, she opened a clinic in Harlem to address the reproductive needs of African Americans that were denied to them by city social services and earned the respect of W.E.B. Du Bois, founder of the NAACP. What makes this book stand out to me (and I've already read it and would read it again) is it's not really about radical feminism, it's about the benefits of healthy families and how nations can benefit from it economically. Or... it could be about how overpopulation benefits industry with cheap, disposable labor.

Interestingly enough and very recently, birth control funding was stricken from the original economic stimulus package, about $300 million in pregnancy and disease prevention. It was opposed by many Republicans and Democrats, including the president. I am no fan of Speaker Pelosi, but she was in support of the funding saying it would prevent further burdening of state budgets for social services. All I could think at that moment was what would Margaret Sanger say here? This is why I think this book is still very important nearly 90 years after it was written.
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Nietzsche: A Philosophical Biography by Reudiger Safranski

From Publishers Weekly
This book is not a traditional philosopher's biography offering an even balance of life and thought, but rather a rich interpretation of Nietzsche's philosophy as it evolved during his life, with a coda tracing his influence after his death. Biographical details are sparing: neither Nietzsche's birth nor death is described, and there are few juicy bits about his passion for Lou Salomé. Most of the book is a reading of Nietzsche's developing ideas, beginning with his autobiographical sketches in high school and continuing chronologically from his early attachment to Schopenhauer through his hopes for and disappointment in Wagner's music drama, such great achievements as Daybreak and Thus Spoke Zarathustra, and his last works before his descent into madness. To close, there is a chapter on the different ways Nietzsche influenced 20th-century artists, the Nazis, Heidegger, Foucault, Rorty and others. Throughout, certain themes recur, elucidated sympathetically but with "ironic reserve," including the death of God, the divided self, the will to power, eternal recurrence, philosophy as art and truth as power play. Safranski (Heidegger: Between Good and Evil), in clear English from Rutgers University Germanist Frisch, brings out contradictions and tensions in Nietzsche's thought without dismissing him; on the contrary, Safranski sees Nietzsche as a thinker "who organized his gardens of theory in such a way that anyone on the lookout for their central arguments would almost inevitably fall flat on his face," but who leads one to return profitably to "[o]ne's own thinking." The author offers no summary conclusions, preferring to leave Nietzsche's philosophical biography open, as "a story without an end." Safranski has made a worthwhile contribution to that story, though it will be of interest mainly to those with an interest in engaging the work directly.


From Library Journal


With brilliant insights and impressive scholarship, Safranski, who has previously written about Heidegger and Schopenhaurer, here makes a major contribution to understanding and appreciating the lasting significance of Friedrich Nietzsche (l844-l900). From his passion for Greek antiquity to his disappointment with the Bayreuth premiere of the Ring tetralogy, Nietzsche is presented as a tragic hero who advocated overcoming cultural mediocrity and simplistic materialism while rigorously pursuing intellectual enlightenment and new values. Safranski emphasizes the philosopher's Heraclitean-Dionysian worldview of ongoing flux and pervasive change. This comprehensive study analyzes the influences of music, mythology, Schopenhauer, Wagner, and Darwin on the development of Nietzsche's iconoclastic ideas and challenging perspectives. Safranski devotes sections to a critical discussion of the future overman and the cosmic will to power. Particularly important is Chapter 10, which focuses on Nietzsche's central idea of the eternal recurrence of the same universe. Nietzsche himself incorporated his bold vision into an affirmation of life in terms of human creativity within creative nature. Safranski's outstanding, level-headed, and unique philosophical biography of Nietzsche is strongly recommended for all academic and public libraries. H. James Birx, Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA
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[size=24]Brothers Kept Apart by Walter Phillips[/size]

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Hello:

Allow me to recommend Brothers Kept Apart, a new comprehensive study of the Bible and the Qur’an, and Islam and Christianity. The study has revealed that there is harmony between the principal teachings of the Bible and the Qur’an, but that current Christian and Islamic religious traditions are incompatible.

Most Muslim teachers have never read the Bible, yet they continue to criticize their understanding of Christian tradition. Similarly, most Christian teachers have never read the Qur’an, yet they continue to criticize their understanding of Islamic tradition. Thus both leaders continue to mislead more than half of the world’s population, who are either Christian or Muslim, about what the other believes. They have been doing this for the past 1,300 years.

The Qur’an appears to teach that Muslims must believe that Jesus:
• was born of the virgin Mary;
• taught the Gospel;
• performed many miracles, including raising the dead;
• was crucified;
• was raised by God; and
• is the Messiah.

The Qur’an also appears to teach that Muslims must:
• believe in one God who is identified as the only Creator, and the God of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Job, Elisha, David, and the Old Testament Prophets;
• repent and believe in order to receive God’s forgiveness by grace;
• develop and cultivate a personal relationship with the God of Abraham;
• believe the Bible, and copy and distribute it to all nations of the earth without compensation;
• receive guidance from the Holy Spirit;
• resist the temptations from Satan; and
• avoid the condemnation of hell.

Walter Phillips has studied the Bible and early civilizations for the past thirty years, and the Qur’an for the past seven. He has spent the past twenty years investigating evidence and designing solutions to problems. With four university degrees, several professional affiliations, and 30 years of research, Walter Phillips presents his findings in a remarkably conversational style. Part of the book can be read on-line at Amazon.com. Much of it can be read on Google Book Search:
http://books.google.com/books?id=z03P9V ... rt#PPP1,M1

“In my opinion, the most important lesson from studying history is: never be afraid to re-examine the evidence in order to learn or verify the truth. We should never be afraid to critically examine claims of truth, for truth should be able to withstand rigorous scrutiny.” Walter Phillips
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May & June 2009


I edited the title to this thread so that it shows the next non-fiction reading period as "May & June 2009" and not "April & May 2009." We started going a bit too fast with our book discussions recently so I'm slowing it down a bit. We've got several great books on the current menu that deserve their time in the spotlight. :smile:
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Rather than posting in this thread I put some in the main Non-fiction forum. Should I relocate them to this thread?
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Chris OConnor

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Yes, please. If you want them considered for group discussion in May and June they should be placed in this thread. :bananadance:
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Bertrand Russell

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Interbane and I would like to recommend ."The Problems of Philosophy," by Bertrand Russell

Chapter 1. Appearance and Reality

Is there any knowledge in the world which is so certain that no reasonable man could doubt it? This question, which at first sight might not seem difficult, is really one of the most difficult that can be asked. When we have realized the obstacles in the way of a straightforward and confident answer, we shall be well launched on the study of philosophy-for philosophy is merely the attempt to answer such ultimate questions, not carelessly and dogmatically, as we do in ordinary life and even in the sciences, but critically, after exploring all that makes such questions puzzling, and after realizing all the vagueness and confusion that underlie our ordinary ideas.

Lawrence,

Please add a link on all suggestions.

Chris
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