What book are you reading?

[Multicore]

Graeber, may the gods keep his memory, is an absolute titan of anthropology.

My students get the suggestion of this work, Debt and Bullshit Jobs as part of the anthropological economy coursework.

I started reading Graeber when he started getting published in The Baffler. Been a fan since.

Dawn finally answered for me questions that had been troubling me for decades since adolescence. I'm by nature inclined to anarchist politics but I couldn't see how to scale it up or a theory of change. Another lesson I got from Dawn (and also, oddly enough, Latour) was, and this is a slogan for me now: philosophy is too important to leave it to academics.

The theory of change is dialog and I was pleased when John Summers appeared to have gleaned the same lesson from rereading a lot of Graeber.

Magic Words

On David Graeber's bottled lightning conversation

www.linguafranca.com

 

[Old_School_Brad]

Admit it, you only read it on public transport to impress women.

Ha! –Actually, no. I really am that boring. My wife couldn’t care less about what I do for a living -though she does a stellar job pretending, bless her soul.

There's more than one?

That’s still a hot topic in the ammonia screw compressor community -or NH3SCC for short.
I think not.

 

[Multicore]

I'm currently re-reading for my book at bedtime

The Divine Invasion by Philip K. Dick​

He had been writing his Exegesis since 1974, years before this novel came out in 1981. It's another amazing view into the mind of this person who was so uninhibited in committing to text his imagination and intellectual work.

 

[oozlum]

Already finished this one & recommendation for you to try:

 

[JeffS7444]

A recent arrival, still in it's shrinkwrap:

https://www.tokyojazzjoints.com/book

 

[Multicore]

Already finished this one & recommendation for you to try:

I bought that when it was new and hated it. I knew Alex prior from his work at WHRB, which I admired, so it was a bit of a disappointment.

 

[Vacceo]

I started reading Graeber when he started getting published in The Baffler. Been a fan since.

Dawn finally answered for me questions that had been troubling me for decades since adolescence. I'm by nature inclined to anarchist politics but I couldn't see how to scale it up or a theory of change. Another lesson I got from Dawn (and also, oddly enough, Latour) was, and this is a slogan for me now: philosophy is too important to leave it to academics.

The theory of change is dialog and I was pleased when John Summers appeared to have gleaned the same lesson from rereading a lot of Graeber.

Magic Words

On David Graeber's bottled lightning conversation

www.linguafranca.com

Down to Earth is among the best philosophy works of the last decades, fully agreed

 

[Snarfie]

Not a book but an essay from Edward Luttwak "From Geopolitics to Geo-Economics" written in the 1990 post fall Berlin Wall/iron curtain, cold war ( 1989) His insight ( at the time) is astouding where we are now Globally.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/42894676

 

[Titurel]

A History of the English Speaking People by Winston S. Churchill

I'm spacing out it's 4 volumes with novels by D. E. Stevenson, a second cousin of Robert Louis Stevenson. My favorite D. E. Stevenson novel is "Miss Buncle's Book," which came to me in book swap with a lovely old South African gentlemen I met in a Viennese pension.

 

[GD Fan]

Just put this one to rest.

Highly recommended. Had me in stitches more than once.

 

[Somafunk]

Think it’ll start with this, I figure the title is self explanatory…….if not?………..

then move on to the examination of Tyranny by Timothy Snyder,

Timothy Snyder

The official website for Timothy Snyder, author of On Tyranny, Our Malady, The Road to Unfreedom, Black Earth, and Bloodlands.

timothysnyder.org

then end up with the excellent graphic journalist Joe Sacco discussing his craft and the importance of an independent and rigorously defended free press

Joe Sacco - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[gwing]

Oh my, what a lot of serious books here. Rather than my usual Science Fiction I'm currently reading "Policy On the Edge" by Rory Stewart. This is a really well written and readable book that I can thoroughly recommend whatever your own political views, or even if you aren't really interested in politics at all. My summary is that it is the biography and deep insight of a humane and understanding man struggling to find meaning in a depressingly broken political system where it is his own government and the system that are his major problems not the opponent parties as you might expect.

 

[oozlum]

Oh my, what a lot of serious books here. Rather than my usual Science Fiction I'm currently reading "Policy On the Edge" by Rory Stewart. This is a really well written and readable book that I can thoroughly recommend whatever your own political views, or even if you aren't really interested in politics at all. My summary is that it is the biography and deep insight of a humane and understanding man struggling to find meaning in a depressingly broken political system where it is his own government and the system that are his major problems not the opponent parties as you might expect.View attachment 444449

“A searing insider's account of ten extraordinary years in Parliament from Rory Stewart, former Cabinet minister and co-presenter of breakout hit podcast The Rest Is Politics
Over the course of a decade from 2010, Rory Stewart went from being a political outsider to standing for prime minister - before being sacked from a Conservative Party that he had come to barely recognise.
Tackling ministerial briefs on flood response and prison violence, engaging with conflict and poverty abroad as a foreign minister, and Brexit as a Cabinet minister, Stewart learned first-hand how profoundly hollow our democracy and government had become.
Cronyism, ignorance and sheer incompetence ran rampant. Around him, individual politicians laid the foundations for the political and economic chaos of today. Stewart emerged battered but with a profound affection for his constituency of Penrith and the Border, and a deep direct insight into the era of populism and global conflict.A searing insider's account of ten extraordinary years in Parliament from Rory Stewart, former Cabinet minister and co-presenter of breakout hit podcast The Rest Is Politics
Uncompromising, candid and darkly humorous, Politics On the Edge is his story of the challenges, absurdities and realities of political life and a remarkable portrait of our age...M.F“

 

[napfkuchen]

Normally, I have no problem helping outside of my area of responsibility, as long as my workload allows. Used this book to finally prove to myself that one of my co-workers is an asshole (to be specific: a parasite). The book is written in a relaxed style and, in addition to tips for all kinds of asshole-situations, also features numerous experiences told to the author.
I recently told my collegue I'd gained a lot of insight in March that helped me focus more on important tasks (he was sick for three weeks and, upon returning, had four emails in his inbox and two follow-ups due...). You could clearly see the WTF in his expression, but he didn't seem to want to ask me what I meant by that.

BTW in German "team" stands for: "toll, ein anderer macht's" (great, s.b. else does it)

 

[Fahzz]

I just finished Adrian Mckinty's most recent Sean Duffy novel call "Hang on St. Christopher". The whole series is great if you like your Bosch type cop working in Belfast in the 80's and early 90's.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

Berlin, The downfall. Anthony Beevor. Just making my way into it. Very readable, although desperately harrowing.
As a species, we appear to be unable to learn from our last mistakes.
On a lighter note. Just about anything by William Boyd. Most recently Armadillo. Who'd a thought. a gripping story about Lose adjusters?!!!

 

[GD Fan]

Leaves as many questions as it offers answers, and quite a sordid tale.

 

[GK.]

Current re-reading Levi's The Periodic Table.

When I first explored his stuff years ago I put this one at the bottom of the pile to read last. I had read the synopsis and thought that the semi-fictional concept sounded corny.
Contrary to my expectations the read was a pleasant surprise and I think this one was the only one of his books that I read through in just a couple of sittings. There is a lot more levity dispersed throughout this one and it's not quite as depressing as his other works. Some of the best bits entail his bonkers chemistry exploits carried out in his flat and in the country side.

 

[MatrixS2000]

On the second of the trilogy:

 

[Brian Hall]