For an Architecture of Reality13 reviews Michael Benedikt Lumen Books, 1992 Very important + Nice + A perfect little book + Thoughts on realness - Lost and found             Shah of Shahs32 reviews Ryszard Kapuscinski Vintage, 1992 Middle East Understanding + Perceptive look at the Shah & the Iranian revolution. + Why the Shah deserved his fate Everyone interested in understanding what is going on in Iraq, Iran and the rest of the middle east should read this book. It provides a succinct, informed history of rulers, dynasties, cultures, etc. that affect today's life in this area. A super read! The author literally immersed himself in ...             The Character of Physical Law (Modern Library)28 reviews Richard Feynman Modern Library, 1994 A great book by a great scientist. + Best coverage of Newtonian Gravity and Feynman is always readable + A Curate's Egg + Everybody's physicist + Review of "The Character of Physical Law" by Baldassarrini             Waiting for the Barbarians: A Novel75 reviews J.M. Coetzee Penguin (Non-Classics), 1982 A Fine Allegory on Cruelty and Colonialism + Miracles of Creation Too This exquisitely written book may also be the most important thing Coetzee has written. Like many of his other books, it explores the meaning of what it means for people to cause each other pain--this time, in the context of a remote colonial outpost of a "generic" empire. Coetzee is not only a ...             Invisible Cities86 reviews Italo Calvino Harvest Books, 1978 Reads like poetry + Wonderfully Borgesian, with a regrettable dash of Gibran + Unique and thought provoking + Great texture for a paperback.             The Sickness Unto Death: A Christian Psychological Exposition For Upbuilding And Awakening (Kierkegaard's ...16 reviews Soren Kierkegaard Princeton University Press, 1983 The Best + Kierkegaard was not a confused "self" but an agonized, overly aware self + Priceless + Hong translation excels + life saver             Zen in the Art of Archery61 reviews Eugen Herrigel Vintage, 1999 Zen in practice + A Book for all Artists + wonderful insight... + A classic             Salvador11 reviews Joan Didion Vintage, 1994 "The Exact Mechanism of Terror" + A depressive read + A still life of death It would be false to say that I was ever truly familiar with the situation in El Salvador at any time, not truly, and what makes Didion's Salvador such an extraordinary essay is that it so thoroughly and eloquently elucidates a time and place, but does so with specifics that feel as endemic to any ...             The Land of Little Rain (Classic, Nature, Penguin)10 reviews Mary Austin Penguin (Non-Classics), 1997 Overlooked Masterpiece of Nature Writing + Land of Little Rain + Makes me want to go to Death Valley Mary Austin's work is roughly contemporary with John Muir's, although "The Land of Little Rain" comes after the publication of Muir's best work. It's been said that Mary Austin's work is the finest nature writing between John Muir's and Aldo Leopold's. I dearly love John Muir's writing, but Mary ...             The Shortest Shadow: Nietzsche's Philosophy of the Two (Short Circuits)4 reviews Alenka Zupancic The MIT Press, 2003 Get into Nietzsche again for the first time + Shadows are the holes in light + Zupancic Strikes Back + Untimely Meditation             Time and the Other1 review Emmanuel Levinas Duquesne University Press, 1990 An early but central exposition of L.'s ethical metaphysics. TIME AND THE OTHER was first presented as a series of lectures in 1946/47 at the College Philosophique, in the intellectually charged atmosphere of post-war Paris. Along with EXISTENCE AND EXISTENTS it represents the first book length formulation of Levinas's own philosophy of ethical metaphysics. ...             On the Natural History of Destruction (Modern Library Paperbacks)14 reviews W.G. Sebald Modern Library, 2004 Flies of the Lord + w. g. sebald + Memory Will Speak + ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF DESTRUCTION             The Rule of Saint Benedict12 reviews St. Benedict Vintage, 1998 Listening for the spirit... + Benedict's Rule: Food for Reflection + Classic Resource for Christian Faith + Lots of great lessons here. + Fascinating             Rise of Universities3 reviews Charles Homer Haskins Cornell University Press, 1957 Life at a 13th Century University + Excellent, but Brief, Introduction to the Medieval University + Flash, Dash, and Panache Not much has changed since the 13th century. In some ways students were freer in that they had more leeway to choose their professors. On the other hand, especially in Theology and Philosophy departments, the inquisition was a fear near at hand. Haskins seemed to argue that students' freedoms was ...             The Concept of the Political12 reviews Carl Schmitt University Of Chicago Press, 1996 The Political as Friend-Enemy Distinction. + great quality + One of the best books on political theory ever written + Great book             Kaddish for a Child Not Born11 reviews Imre Kertesz Hydra Books, 1999 Attention: Only read the new translation by Tim Wilkinson + Mesmerizing. + Good if You Don't Mind the Free Verse + New Camus + Powerful, dense, best read after "Fateless"             The Political Theology of Paul (Cultural Memory in the Present) Jacob Taubes Stanford University Press, 2003 This highly original interpretation of Paul by the Jewish philosopher of religion Jacob Taubes was presented in a number of lectures held in Heidelberg toward the end of his life, and was regarded by him as his “spiritual testament.” Taubes engages with classic Paul commentators, including Karl Barth, but also situates the Pauline text in the context of Freud, Nietzsche, Benjamin, ...             Radical Democracy5 reviews C. Douglas Lummis Cornell University Press, 1997 Real Democracy + A concise, effective summary of democracy without the institutional bull---- + An edifying discourse + Radical meaning "straight from the source" + The best political book I've read in years             Hua Hu Ching: Unknown Teachings of Lao Tzu, The18 reviews Brian Walker HarperOne, 1995 Fantastic book, fantastic service + Hua Hu Ching + The Unknown Teachings of Lao Tzu I had seen Brian Walker's "Hua Hu Ching" in a local book store and picked up a copy. I loved it so much that I went to Amazon and ordered a copy for my wife. The book is fantastic, and essential for anyone who has read any translation of Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching". And as always Amazon ...             Meditations (Penguin Classics)110 reviews Marcus Aurelius Penguin Classics, 1964 Emperor of Rome and himself + Profound! + The Hays translation: interesting and readable. + Wisdom from the Emperor-Philosopher