Read Any Good Political Books Lately???

[displacedyankeedem]

I just ordered Karla Drenner's book, and am looking forward to it. I also have Tom Daschle's book laying around here, but haven't found the time to read it. However, my fav. political book was Wellstone's Conscience of a Liberal(fantastic!!!!).

As for non-political books, I heartily reccomend Mitch Albom's "The Five People You Meet In Heaven".

[Killarney]

1. I just finished Daschle's book

and enjoyed it very much!

[AP]

2. Lisa Duggan's The Twilight of Equality is a good (short) book...

...which is probably important to read to prepare for the gay marriage issue. It's not so much about politics as it as about a roadmap for the left to get their shit together so they can frame issues more sensibly.

[Renew Deal]

3. I am working on Carville's

Had Enough. It's a great issues book.

Wellstones Conscience of a Liberal is next. I am also going to try to find time for Lieberman's book about Public Service. It was recommended by DUers.

[LincolnMcGrath]

4. Finished both these last weekend

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0312315600.01._PE30_PIdp-schmooS,TopRight,7,-26_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg



Passing them around work now.

[AngryYoungMan]

5. Yeah, "Political Fictions" by Joan Didion.

Best political book I've read in years.

[enough]

6. American Dynasty, Kevin Phillips

Reading it now.

Everyone should read the whole thing. Not just the excerpts and reviews. The force of the argument is much more powerful and devastating than what you get from just hearing about the juicy parts.

Even if you think you already know the story, you should read this. It's real history. I think the fact that this book is out there and slowly being read by people is one of the reasons there is a slight change in the political atmosphere.

[nostamj]

7. working my way through AMERICAN DYNASTY

not a 'breezy' read but worth the effort.

utterly damning.

last one was PRICE OF LOYALTY which is a must-read, imho

[wryter2000]

10. I'm slogging through

I'm slogging through Wealth and Democracy in preparation to fit Phillips' book on the Bushes (Dynasty) in a larger perspective. Phillips isn't an easy read, that's for sure.

Also on my pile is David Cay Johnston's Perfectly Legal about how the tax code is written for the rich. Also, Eric Alterman's book about how Bush distorts the truth. I probably have others but can't think of them right now.

I still think the most important political book I've read recently was Krugman's.

[drthais]

8. yes as a matter of fact...

just finishing The Sorrows of Empire
...interesting stuff
most of it regards the military buildup of the US around the world
(you wouldn't believe the spiderweb we have)
and then moves on to economic issues
before outling the four sorrows of empire
none of which are good for our immediate future

sometimes, you read this stuff and you think
man, its just too late

[bicentennial_baby]

9. I'm on a Chomsky kick

Year 501, The Washington Connection & Third World Facism. Also reading Orientalism by Edward Said.

[Buns_of_Fire]

11. I've got three to start on this weekend...

American Dynasty, Perfectly Legal, and The Price of Loyalty. The guy who runs the local library branch sets them aside for me to critique for him (he knows I'm one of dem dere librul pinko commies). I think I have my work cut out for me.

Odd thing is, the entire library in My Little Town (home of the Dead and Dying, like Paul Simon said) would probably fit in your living room -- yet they seem to always get the latest books. And this is no bastion of liberalism, believe me. But I'm not complaining.

[librechik]

13. I just got Perfectly Legal too

also Sorrows of Empire and Ghost Wars--they all look really good!

[LincolnMcGrath]

12. Tonights new additions

Order Date: Mar 11, 2004
Order #:
Items: 1 of Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right...

Order Date: Mar 11, 2004
Order #:
Items: 1 of What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News by Alterman

Order Date: Mar 11, 2004
Order #:
Items: 1 of Thieves in High Places: They've Stolen Our Country--And Its Time to Take It...

[historian]

14. Richard Condon

Not a new author but two books he wrote are priceless in showing the corruption and greed which runs the country since time immemorial. They are the Manchurian Candidate and Winter Kills. Both show the contempt the politicians hold for the people. Besides, he write beautifully with a wonderful sense of humor.

[RichM]

15. Chomsky, Kevin Phillips, Chalmers Johnson. Also Kim Philby's memoirs.

Also some of Upton Sinclair's media analysis, written in 1919 - kind of a forerunner of "Manufacturing Consent."

[LincolnMcGrath]

16. How many Chomsky books are there?

[RichM]

19. About 100, but that's misleading. Many of them are simply varying

repackaged selections of his talks. Others are "anthologies" - ie, collections of essays, where the individual essays come from other books. So there's a lot of overlap & duplication. // OTOH, it's certainly a large body of work, no matter how you slice it.

[LincolnMcGrath]

20. Where should I start?

Saw him on FSTV 3-4 years ago.

[RichM]

21. The best way to start is with a pamphlet you can read in one day, called

"What Uncle Sam Really Wants." It's online, in a great Chomsky archive, at

http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/

Click the 'Books' link to see the online stuff.

Some Chomsky books can be read quickly, like the 'Uncle Sam' one. Others can be fairly dense & demanding, but most are well worth it.

Tops on my list are:

- Manufacturing Consent - After reading this, you'll never see the world the same way again.
- Deterring Democracy
- Necessary Illusions

[LincolnMcGrath]

23. Thank You!

"What Uncle Sam Really Wants" I will start there. Thank You so much.

[truthbetold]

17. Just came in...

My father ordered this book about the conspiracy theories surrounding J.F.K.'s assassination. I can't remember the title at the moment.

[otohara]

18. Just Started - Price of Loyalty

You'd think that Paul O'Neil was the nicest guy in the world by the first chapter. Was he?

[neverborn]

22. Yes!

The Price of Loyalty
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them
Big Lies
9-11 (Chomsky)

Trying to get through Hegemony or Survival (Chomsky) -- for some reason it's just really hard to read. :(

Going to start Take Them At Their Words by Bruce Miller -- looks to be excellent.

[duhneece]

24. Jim Hightower's Thieves in High Places

nt

[Vickers]

25. For a funny political novel, read Orange Crush

by Tim Dorsey. Especially funny if you are from Florida.

Hey, you have to have some light political reading once in a while, right?

[IrateCitizen]

26. "Social Power and Political Freedom" by Gene Sharp

One of the most important books I ever read. It deals with concepts like diffusion of political and economic power throughout a society, along with possible programs for nonviolent resistance and noncooperation to help decentralize power and diffuse it throughout society.

Much of his work is drawn from the likes of Mohandas Gandhi and Hannah Arendt -- but the way in which he puts it all together is quite illuminating.

[dryan]

27. Political Books

I really like "The Clinton Wars" by Sidney Blumenthal. Be forwarned it's pretty slow at times. I am re-reading "Too Close to Call" by Jeffrey Toobin about the 2000 Florida re-count. Having been witness to some of the events it's pretty interesting.

[kodi]

28. back to basics, i read aristole's "politics" 3 weeks ago

read it every year along with plato's republic just to get some perspective.

if one wishes to understand where we got our form of government try reding them, the founding fathers certainly did, espeically james madison.