The Truth about the Truth (New Consciousness Reader)7 reviews Walter Truett Anderson Tarcher, 1995 Lucid and complete + The Meta-games of our Cultural Life: A Must Read for all Literate People + Usual right-wing middle-class stuff, not for morons like me + The best book about postmodernism in print! + Excellent introduction to the subject             Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky86 reviews Noam Chomsky, Peter Mitchell New Press, 2002 read it for yourself + GET ONE THING THROUGH YOUR CLOSED-MINDED - ANTI-CHOMSKY HEADS; HE HAS "NO," AGENDA & TELLS "IT LIKE IT IS," VERDAD...! + Best Chomsky book I have read + Fascinating collection of interviews + Excellent understand without actually understanding             Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq112 reviews Stephen Kinzer Tantor Media, 2006 History we should know + Great Overview of what US has done to mess up others! + Required reading + Karma Theory + "They Hate Us For Our Freedoms!"             What's the Matter with Kansas? : How Conservatives Won the Heart of America377 reviews Thomas Frank, 2005 Another native supporter + Spot on Analysis + Middle America Revealed I just want to say that this book is completely on target and right about the political mindset of Kansas citizens in addition to almost every other right-winged American. I should know -- I used to live in Kansas. Luckily, I spent most of my life growing up in NY because after realizing many of ...             Improvisation: Its Nature And Practice In Music8 reviews Derek Bailey Da Capo Press, 1993 A Seminal Work, not a Howto - Previous reviewer misguided + not for the faint hearted + thank you derek! + Seminal Text for Anyone Interested in Improvised Music + You don't need to be a musician             Freedom Evolves42 reviews Daniel C. Dennett, 2003 Well Done Dennett + The evolution of freedom + A Strong Case for Darwinian Compatibilism This book does a magnificent job of presenting the idea of freedom in a mathematical format that simply cannot be refuted. Are we determined mechanisms in a determined universe? Dennet says yes. But he argues effectively that this does NOT mean that we are fatally doomed to any particular future. ...             Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison40 reviews Michel Foucault Vintage, 1995 Excellent and thought-provoking. + Knowledge, power, and domination Other reviews have done a nice job of explaining the textual benefits of the book, so let me explain its practical benefit. I'll keep this short and sweet. This is an excellent text to trot out during a sociology or other social science class when you want to egomanically dominate the conversation ...             The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal51 reviews Desmond Morris Delta, 1999 I'll be a monkey's uncle! + "A Naked Look at Social Convention" + Evolution or revolution This is a great book that should be read. Morris is a very intelligent guy, and a very good writer, and you'll be able to polish this book off with no trouble. One caveat is that the book is over forty-one years old, and so some of the conclusions/assertions/asseverations may be obsolete (and ...             The Wretched of the Earth31 reviews Frantz Fanon Grove Press, 2005 Understand the Psychology of Violent Revolt + Revolutionary Literature with a Pulse + Revolution of thought + Understand the Psychology of Violent Revolt             Black Skin, White Masks15 reviews Frantz Fanon Grove Press, 1994 From a teacher's perspective + Race Theory + Language and Colonization + Black Skin White Masks + Peau noire masques blancs (Black Skin, White Masks)             Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective7 reviews Ha-Joon Chang Anthem Press, 2002 Now I have more doubts than before - and that's excellent + The practical effects of free trade and "comparative advantage" for the undeveloped world + 4.5 stars-Overlooks the wisdom of Adam Smith + A must read for third world economic policy makers             Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-199176 reviews Michael Azerrad Back Bay Books, 2002 Underground Punk + Great content, cheesy writing + Good for Bands you are not that familiar with. + Nice job, but where's the South? + Anybody Can             The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 (Vintage)287 reviews Lawrence Wright Vintage, 2007 This book will get under your skin + A plot cooked up by cavemen with computers + Good intro to the topic + An Excellent Primer on Al-Qaeda's Birth and Growth + The Looming Tower             Replaceable You: Engineering the Body in Postwar America3 reviews David Serlin University Of Chicago Press, 2004 a fresh take on cold war culture through the lens of science + A fascinating new look at the 1950s. + A (re)visioning of the Fifties I really enjoyed Replaceable You. Overall the book was excellent-a well-written, lively, and often surprising mix of insightful analysis of how medical advances had such a huge impact on the American psyche and, above all, body, in the decades following WWII. It's also clear from the start that ...             The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-199142 reviews Eric Hobsbawm Vintage, 1996 The Age of Historical Insight Eric Hobsbawm is one of the best historians I have read. I have read his entire series - Age of Revolution, Capital, Empire, and Extremes. Hobsbawm goes much beyond just recouting historical events. He relates them to other disciplines like Literature, Arts, Science (yes, science and technology), ...             The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap30 reviews Stephanie Coontz Basic Books, 2000 Life was never perfect in any era + What you think you know may be wrong + Suberb and important work- Gets a grip on the reality of the American Family The tendency of people to look back on their past and see only the good and not the bad is all too evident in the agendas of conservatives and so-called advocates of so-called traditional families. Those of us who lived through the perfect era when dads worked, moms vaccuumed in pearls and kids ...             Reasons and Persons (Oxford Paperbacks)9 reviews Derek Parfit Oxford University Press, USA, 1986 Big, long, and hard to summarize + Thoughtful but not very satisfying + A first-rate work about personal identity... + Do not ignore this book...             Escape from Evil8 reviews Ernest Becker Free Press, 1985 A book to haunt your bookshelf + Required Reading + Becker completes his own Immortality Project + A study with range and depth             Strong Societies and Weak States1 review Joel S. Migdal Princeton University Press, 1988 Powerful ideas Events in Afghanistan and elsewhere have shown that many states are weak and that their weakness in relation to their societies has consequences that affect us all. I found it useful in looking at Russia and other countries in the former Soviet empire. Migdal provides a framework for understanding ...             Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, New Edition29 reviews Benedict Anderson Verso, 2006 An amazing introduction + Imagine that...! If you want a scholarly introduction to nationalism and its history, this is an excellent book to start with. Anderson begins with a discussion of how the concept of the nation first came into being, with emphasis on the factors that enabled people to imagine communities beyond their immediate ...