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  • 1984
    by George Orwell
    ISBN 1595404325 (1-59540-432-5)
    Softcover, 1st World Library

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    Among the seminal texts of the 20th century, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a rare work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomes more real. Published in 1949, the book offers political satirist George Orwell's nightmare vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff's attempt to find individuality. The brilliance of the novel is Orwell's prescience of modern life--the ubiquity of television, the distortion of the language--and his ability to construct such a thorough version of hell. Required reading for students since it was published, it ranks among the most terrifying novels ever written. [via]

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  • The Abolition of Man
    by C. S. Lewis
    ISBN 0020867905 (0-02-086790-5)
    Softcover, Simon & Schuster

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    The Abolition of Man is a 1943 book by C. S. Lewis. It is subtitled "Reflections on education with special reference to the teaching of English in the upper forms of schools," and uses that as a starting point for a defense of objective value and natural law, and a warning of the consequences of doing away with or "debunking" those things. It defends science as something worth pursuing but criticizes using it to debunk values - the value of science itself being among them - or defining it to exclude such values. [via]

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  • Against Christianity
    by Peter J. Leithart
    ISBN 1591280060 (1-59128-006-0)
    Softcover, Canon Pr

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    How could a conservative Christianan ordained minister with a beard, no lessbe against not only Christianity, but theology, sacraments, and ethics as well? Yet that is the stance Peter Leithart takes in this provocative "theological bricolage."

    Seeking to rethink evangelical notions of culture, church, and state, Leithart offers a series of short essays, aphorisms, and parables that challenge the current dichotomies that govern both Christian and non-Christian thinking about church and state, the secular and the religious.

    But his argument isn't limited to being merely "against." Leithart reveals a much larger vision of Christian society, defined by the stories, symbols, rituals, and rules of a renewed communitythe city of God. [via]

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  • The Amazing Secrets of Sun Tzu's: The Art of War
    by Sun Tzu, Gary Gagliardi
    ISBN 1929194072 (1-929194-07-2)
    Softcover, Clearbridge Pub

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    This book explains the breath-taking discovery of the secret diagrams hidden in the 2,500 year-old classic on competitive success. Containing a complete copy of Sun Tzu's original text on the left-hand page, the right-hand page explains the meaning of the secret symbols, analogies, and metaphors used by Sun Tzu in that text. The purchase of this book gives the owner Free Access to The Warrior Class, Clearbridge's on-line training center for The Art of War. [via]

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  • America
    by Andreas Feininger
    ISBN 3927258717 (3-927258-71-7)
    Softcover, Gingko Pr Inc

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    This book is a superb collection of American scenes taken in the 1940, 1950s and 1960s by one of photography's all time greats, Andreas Feininger. Each image is a fine example of Feininger's incorruptible sense of proportion, a tribute to the inimitable aesthetic quality that became the signature of his work. Many illustrate his ceaseless quest to minimize the difference between idea and reality, his desire to allow mundane subjects to slip into Utopia. Feininger's America is a photographic tour de force, from Chicago to New Orleans, from Hollywood to Coral Gables. [via]

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  • Ancient Chinese Revealed
    by Sun-Tzu, Gary Gagliardi
    ISBN 1929194196 (1-929194-19-6)
    Hardcover, Clearbridge Publishing

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    Winner of the 2003 Independent Publishers Book Award for Best Multicultural Non-fiction. Recognized as the newest and most accurate translation of Sun Tzu's ancient classic with six significant improvements over other translation: 1) It uses the Taipei compilation of the main Chinese textual traditions instead of older fragmentary sources. 2) It individually translates each Chinese ideogram to let readers see the precise formulas in the original text. 3) It offers English sentences that clarify the central meaning of the text but chooses words to demonstrate the range of meaning in the original. 4) It preserves the original weight of ideas by creating one and only one line of English for each line of Chinese. 5) It duplicates the original format of the Chinese by grouping and numbering lines clearly to preserve the original contextual associations. 6) It assumes that Sun Tzu was rigorously consistent in his ideas. The imprecise word usage that creates contradictions in other versions are eliminated. [via]

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  • The Art of the Warrior : Leadership and Strategy from the Chinese Military Classics
    by Ralph D. Sawyer, Lee Sawyer
    ISBN 1570621632 (1-57062-163-2)
    Softcover, Shambhala Publications, Incorporated

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    From antiquity, the history of China has been marked by invading tribes, warring states, and popular uprisings. This heritage of conflict produced a body of martial literature exploring the fundamental principles of warfare and their methods of employment. Fully aware of the tragic consequences of battle, the authors of these texts emphasized that bloodshed and war should be avoided whenever possible. But, they argued, this is possible only when the principles of leadership and strategy have been mastered and the dynamics of conflict thoroughly analyzed. Over the centuries, these texts have been studied throughout Asia, not only by generals on the battlefield but by leaders of all kinds concerned with the management of human conflict in all its forms. The Art of the Warrior presents eight of these classics (written from 500 BCE to 700 CE), including Sun-tzu's Art of War and Sun Pin's Military Methods. Selections from these writings have been arranged thematically by the translator to give the reader a comprehensive introduction to the Eastern way of strategy. [via]

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  • The Art Of War
    by Sun Tzu, Derek Aylward, Lionel Giles, Jon Babcock
    ISBN 1569756147 (1-56975-614-7)
    Softcover, Ulysses Pr

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    Conflict is an inevitable part of life, according to this ancient Chinese classic of strategy, but everything necessary to deal with conflict wisely, honorably, victoriously, is already present within us. Compiled more than two thousand years ago by a mysterious warrior-philosopher, The Art of War is still perhaps the most prestigious and influential book of strategy in the world, as eagerly studied in Asia by modern politicians and executives as it has been by military leaders since ancient times. As a study of the anatomy of organizations in conflict, The Art of War applies to competition and conflict in general, on every level from the interpersonal to the international. Its aim is invincibility, victory without battle, and unassailable strength through understanding the physics, politics, and psychology of conflict. [via]

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  • Chung, Chih Tsai: Art of War
    Art of War
    by Chih Tsai Chung
    ISBN 9971985608 (9971-985-60-8)
    Softcover, China Books & Periodicals

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  • The Art of War
    by Chinese Masters, Sun Tzu, Dallas Galvin, Lionel Giles
    ISBN 1593081723 (1-59308-172-3)
    Hardcover, Fine Communications

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    Book summary:

    The Art of War, by Sun Tzu, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes & Noble Classics:
    New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events Footnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations Bibliographies for further reading Indices & Glossaries, when appropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. Barnes & Noble Classics pulls together a constellation of influencesbiographical, historical, and literaryto enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.
     
    A clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease. So wrote Sun Tzu 2,500 years ago, and kings, soldiers, and statesmen have been turning to the Chinese master for his astute observations ever since.

    Sun Tzus incisive blueprint for battlefield strategy is as relevant to todays combatants in business, politics, and everyday life as it once was to the warlords of ancient China. The Art of War is one of the most useful books ever written on leading with wisdom, an essential tool for modern corporate warriors battling to gain the advantage in the boardroom and for anyone struggling to gain the upper hand in confrontations and competitions.



    Here Lionel Giless famed 1910 translation, laced with commentary from illustrious Chinese experts, is brought up to date with relevant quotations from Western writers and thinkers. This new edition offers Sun Tzus timeless classic, both with and without annotation, making it more accessible to aspiring leaders and military strategists than ever before.



    Dallas Galvin, a writer and journalist specializing in international affairs and the arts, has reported on military affairs in Latin America and Asia and produced documentaries for the NATO Alliance.

    [via]

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  • The Art of War
    by Ralph Sawyer
    ISBN 1586635603 (1-58663-560-3)
    Hardcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc

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    Book summary:

    This book was originally intended to be a set of principals designed to maximize the chances for military victory and national survival and minimize the chances of military defeat and human loss. With this view firmly in mind, Sawyer provides the most detailed introduction and commentary yet offered to the Art of War, its author and his age. Features an extensive overview of the history of Chinese Warfare and military thought, including references to the six less well known classics of Chinese military strategy, as well as battle diagrams to help readers visualize the historic military encounters discussed in the book. [via]

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  • The Art of War: Complete Text and Commentaries
    by Sun-Tzu, Thomas F. Cleary
    ISBN 1590300548 (1-59030-054-8)
    Softcover, Shambhala Pubns

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    Book summary:

    Sun Tzu's Art of War, compiled more than two thousand years ago, is a study of the anatomy of organizations in conflict. It is perhaps the most prestigious and influential book of strategy in the world today. Now, this unique volume brings together the essential versions of Sun Tzu's text, along with illuminating commentaries and auxiliary texts written by distinguished strategists. The translations, by the renowned translator Thomas Cleary, have all been published previously in book form, except for The Silver Sparrow Art of War, which is available here for the first time. This comprehensive collection contains:



    The Art of War: This edition of Sun Tzu's text includes the classic collection of commentaries by eleven interpreters.



    Mastering the Art of War: Consisting of essays by two prominent statesmen-generals of Han dynasty China, Zhuge Liang and Liu Ji, this book develops the strategies of Sun Tzu's classic into a complete handbook of organization and leadership. It draws on episodes from Chinese history to show in concrete terms the proper use of Sun Tzu's principles.



    The Lost Art of War: Written more than one hundred years after Sun Tzu's text, by Sun Bin, a linear descendant of Sun Tzu, this classic of political and military strategy is faithful to the principles of The Art of War, while developing their practical application much further.



    The Silver Sparrow Art of War: A version of Sun Tzu's Art of War based on a manuscript of the classic text discovered at a Chinese archeological site in China's Shandong Province in 1972, which contains previously unknown fragments. [via]

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  • The Art of War: In Sun Tzu's Own Words
    by Gary Gagliardi, Sunzi
    ISBN 1929194005 (1-929194-00-5)
    Softcover, Bookworld Services

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    Book summary:

    The only translation by America's leading expert in Sun Tzu's competitive methods. Buying this version gives you access to the world's most extensive Art of War study area at the Clearbridge website.

    This book contains two complete translations: a character-by-character translation with the original Chinese characters and phrase-by-phrase translation into ordinary English. The character translation is shown on the left-hand page. The matching English sentences across from the translated characters on facing right-hand page. This work was created give the readers a better grasp of all the shades of meaning in what Sun Tzu actually said in his historical treatise on war. No simple English translation alone can capture this many insights in Sun Tzu's actual words.

    Buying this version gives you access to the world's most extensive Art of War study area at the Clearbridge website. [via]

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  • The Art of War: Sunzi Bing Fa
    by Sun-Tzu
    ISBN 1570629048 (1-57062-904-8)
    Softcover, Shambhala Pubns

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    Book summary:

    Written 2500 years ago, The Art of War is the oldest military treatise in the world, a classic study of competition and rivalry that has been utilized by soldiers ever since. Napoleon studied its strategies and tactics. It is required reading for intelligence personnel in the United States Marine Corps. "Warriors" of Wall Street and in corporation cultures rely on it for guidance. It's even been rumored to help players win at the board game Risk. This 1910 translation by the British Museum's Lionel Giles is the most popular one available, a highly readable version of this still startlingly relevant text. SUN TZU lived in China in the 6th century B.C. and was a contemporary of Confucius. LIONEL GILES also translated The Book of Mencius and Sayings of Confucius. [via]

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  • The Art of War: The Denma Translation
    by Sun Tzu
    ISBN 1570629781 (1-57062-978-1)
    Hardcover, Random House Inc

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    The Art of War was written over 2,300 years ago in what is now North China. Yet it still remains a contemporary lesson on how to attain victory without going to battle. Modern-day warriors find its ancient strategies helpful regardless of whether the conflict dwells in the boardroom or the bedroom. Despite numerous references to enemies, generals, and armies, The Art of War is about nonaggression. At its core, The Art of War offers a sophisticated lesson on "taking whole," meaning staying openhearted and relaxed in order to sidestep a fight--whether you are a field commander, a CEO, or a frustrated mother putting a resistant son to bed. This particular translation comes from the Denma Translation Group, led by scholars Kidder Smith and James Gimian (publisher of Shambhala Sun magazine). Because of the text's obscure wording (even the Chinese find the original document cumbersome), the translators have inserted helpful commentary that removes some of the linguistic barriers. --Gail Hudson [via]

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  • The Art of War: The Essential Translation of the Classic Book of Life
    by Sun-Tzu, Norman Stone
    ISBN 1853263052 (1-85326-305-2)
    Softcover, Lb May & Assoc Inc

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    This text was written in a terse and aphoristic style in China almost 2500 years ago and contains wisdom on not just war itself, but the science and skill of manoeuvre and strategy in the broadest terms. [via]

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  • The Art of War : Translation, Essays and Commentary by the Denma Translation Group
    by Sun-Tzu, Denma Translation Group
    ISBN 1570625522 (1-57062-552-2)
    Hardcover, Shambhala Publications, Incorporated

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    Book summary:

    The Art of War was written over 2,300 years ago in what is now North China. Yet it still remains a contemporary lesson on how to attain victory without going to battle. Modern-day warriors find its ancient strategies helpful regardless of whether the conflict dwells in the boardroom or the bedroom. Despite numerous references to enemies, generals, and armies, The Art of War is about nonaggression. At its core, The Art of War offers a sophisticated lesson on "taking whole," meaning staying openhearted and relaxed in order to sidestep a fight--whether you are a field commander, a CEO, or a frustrated mother putting a resistant son to bed. This particular translation comes from the Denma Translation Group, led by scholars Kidder Smith and James Gimian (publisher of Shambhala Sun magazine). Because of the text's obscure wording (even the Chinese find the original document cumbersome), the translators have inserted helpful commentary that removes some of the linguistic barriers. --Gail Hudson [via]

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  • Bomb the Suburbs
    by William U. Wimsatt
    ISBN 1887128441 (1-887128-44-1)
    Softcover, Soft Skull Pr

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  • Bomb the Suburbs : Grafitti, Race, Freight-Hopping and the Search for Hip Hop's Moral Center
    by William Upski Wimsatt
    ISBN 1887128964 (1-887128-96-4)
    Softcover, Counterpoint

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    Should graffiti writers organize to tear up the cities, or should they really be bombing the 'burbs? That's the question posed by William Upski Wimsatt in his seminal foray into the world of hip-hop, rap, and street art, and the culture and politics that surround it. But to say that the book deals only with taggers and hip-hop is selling it short. Taking on a broad range of topics, including suburban sprawl, racial identity, and youth activism, Wimsatt (a graffiti artist himself) uses a kaleidoscopic approach that combines stories, cartoons, interviews, disses, parodies, and original research to challenge the suburban mindset wherever it's found: suburbs and corporate headquarters, inner cities and housing projects, even in hip-hop itself. Funny, provocative, and painfully honest,Bomb the Suburbsencourages readers to expand their social boundaries and explore the vibrant, chaotic world that exists beyond their comfort zones. [via]

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  • Brave New World
    by Aldous Huxley
    ISBN 156000522X (1-56000-522-X)
    Hardcover, Transaction Pub Large Print

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    A fantasy of the future that sheds a blazing critical light on the present--considered to be Aldous Huxley's most enduring masterpiece.

    "Mr. Huxley is eloquent in his declaration of an artist's faith in man, and it is his eloquence, bitter in attack, noble in defense, that, when one has closed the book, one remembers."
    --Saturday Review of Literature

    "A Fantastic racy narrative, full of much excellent satire and literary horseplay."
    --Forum

    "It is as sparkling, provocative, as brilliant, in the appropriate sense, as impressive ads the day it was published. This is in part because its prophetic voice has remained surprisingly contemporary, both in its particular forecasts and in its general tone of semiserious alarm. But it is much more because the book succeeds as a work of art...This is surely Huxley's best book."
    --Martin Green

    [via]

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  • Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Soccer
    by David Winner
    ISBN 1585672580 (1-58567-258-0)
    Hardcover, Overlook Press, The

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    Brilliant Orange is a book about Dutch soccer that's not really about Dutch soccer. It's more about an enigmatic way of thinking peculiar to a people whose landscape is unrelentingly flat, mostly below sea level, and who owe their salvation to a boy who plugged a fractured dike with his little finger. If any one thing, Brilliant Orange is about Dutch space, and a people whose unique conception of it has led to some of the most enduring art, the weirdest architecture, and a bizarrely cerebral form of soccer-Total Football-that led in 1974 to a World Cup finals match with arch-rival Germany, and continues with its intricacy and oddity to mystify and delight observers around the world.

    "In the hot summer of 1975 Wim van Hanegem was offered the chance to leave his beloved Feyenoord and join the French club Olympique Marseilles. . . He couldn't decide what to do. . . So he turned to his dog: 'We can't decide. It's up to you now. If you want to go to Marseilles, bark or show me.' For several minutes the dog and Van Hanegem stared at each other. The dog didn't move. 'OK' said Wim, 'he doesn't want to go. We're staying."

    The cast stretches from anarchists and church painters to rabbis and skinheads, and of course, to Holland's beloved soccer players, whose eccentricities are wryly detailed by David Winner through hilarious anecdotes that call to mind Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch. As idiosyncratic as its subject, quirky and provocative, Brilliant Orange reaches out to the reader from an unsuspected place and never lets go.

    "Occasionally a book comes along that you fall in or out of love with on the basis of nothing more than the contents page . . . Brilliant Orange is one of those strangely informative books that will even entertain those who have little interest in either soccer or the Netherlands." (The Economist) [via]

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  • The Cathedral and the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary
    by Eric S. Raymond
    ISBN 1565927249 (1-56592-724-9)
    Hardcover, Oreilly & Associates Inc

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    Book summary:

    It may be foolish to consider Eric Raymond's recent collection of essays, The Cathedral and the Bazaar, the most important computer programming thinking to follow the Internet revolution. But it would be more unfortunate to overlook the implications and long-term benefits of his fastidious description of open-source software development considering the growing dependence businesses and economies have on emerging computer technologies.

    The Cathedral and the Bazaar takes its title from an essay Raymond read at the 1997 Linux Kongress. The essay documents Raymond's acquisition, re-creation, and numerous revisions of an e-mail utility known as fetchmail. Raymond engagingly narrates the fetchmail development process while elaborating on the ongoing bazaar development method he uses with the help of volunteer programmers. The essay smartly spares the reader from the technical morass that could easily detract from the text's goal of demonstrating the efficacy of the open-source, or bazaar, method in creating robust, usable software.

    Once Raymond has established the components and players necessary for an optimally running open-source model, he sets out to counter the conventional wisdom of private, closed-source software development. Like superbly written code, the author's arguments systematically anticipate their rebuttals. For programmers who "worry that the transition to open source will abolish or devalue their jobs," Raymond adeptly and factually counters that "most developer's salaries don't depend on software sale value." Raymond's uncanny ability to convince is as unrestrained as his capacity for extrapolating upon the promise of open-source development.

    In addition to outlining the open-source methodology and its benefits, Raymond also sets out to salvage the hacker moniker from the nefarious connotations typically associated with it in his essay, "A Brief History of Hackerdom" (not surprisingly, he is also the compiler of The New Hacker's Dictionary). Recasting hackerdom in a more positive light may be a heroic undertaking in itself, but considering the Herculean efforts and perfectionist motivations of Raymond and his fellow open-source developers, that light will shine brightly. --Ryan Kuykendall [via]

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  • Coercion
    by Douglas Rushkoff
    ISBN 157322829X (1-57322-829-X)
    Softcover, Riverhead Books

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    In 1994's Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Hyperspace, Douglas Rushkoff extolled the democratic promise of the then-emergent Internet, but the once optimistic author has grown a bit disillusioned with what the Net--and the rest of the world--has become. His exuberantly written, disturbing Coercion may induce paranoia in readers as it illuminates the countless ways marketing has insinuated itself not just into every aspect of Western culture but into our individual lives. Rushkoff opens with a series of pronouncements: "They say human beings use only ten percent of their brains.... They say Prozac alleviates depression." But "who, exactly, are 'they,'" he asks, and "why do we listen to them?"

    Marketing continues to grow more aggressive, and Rushkoff tracks the increasingly coercive techniques it employs to ingrain its message in the minds of consumers, as well as the results: toddlers can recognize the golden arches of McDonald's, young rebels get tattooed with the Nike swoosh, and news stories are increasingly taken verbatim from company press releases. "Corporations and consumers are in a coercive arms race," argues Rushkoff. "Every effort we make to regain authority over our actions is met by an even greater effort to usurp it." As he surveys the visual, aural, and scented shopping environment and interviews salesmen, public relations men, telemarketers, admen, and consumers, Rushkoff--who admits to being one of "them" in his occasional capacity as paid corporate consultant--concludes that "they" are just "us" and that the only way the process of coercion can be reversed is to refuse to comply. "Without us," he assures, "they don't exist." --Kera Bolonik [via]

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  • Coercion : Why We Listen to What "They" Say
    by Douglas Rushkoff
    ISBN 1573221155 (1-57322-115-5)
    Softcover, Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated

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    Book summary:

    In 1994's Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Hyperspace, Douglas Rushkoff extolled the democratic promise of the then-emergent Internet, but the once optimistic author has grown a bit disillusioned with what the Net--and the rest of the world--has become. His exuberantly written, disturbing Coercion may induce paranoia in readers as it illuminates the countless ways marketing has insinuated itself not just into every aspect of Western culture but into our individual lives. Rushkoff opens with a series of pronouncements: "They say human beings use only ten percent of their brains.... They say Prozac alleviates depression." But "who, exactly, are 'they,'" he asks, and "why do we listen to them?"

    Marketing continues to grow more aggressive, and Rushkoff tracks the increasingly coercive techniques it employs to ingrain its message in the minds of consumers, as well as the results: toddlers can recognize the golden arches of McDonald's, young rebels get tattooed with the Nike swoosh, and news stories are increasingly taken verbatim from company press releases. "Corporations and consumers are in a coercive arms race," argues Rushkoff. "Every effort we make to regain authority over our actions is met by an even greater effort to usurp it." As he surveys the visual, aural, and scented shopping environment and interviews salesmen, public relations men, telemarketers, admen, and consumers, Rushkoff--who admits to being one of "them" in his occasional capacity as paid corporate consultant--concludes that "they" are just "us" and that the only way the process of coercion can be reversed is to refuse to comply. "Without us," he assures, "they don't exist." --Kera Bolonik [via]

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  • A Cook's Tour: In Search of the Perfect Meal
    by Anthony Bourdain
    ISBN 1582341400 (1-58234-140-0)
    Hardcover, Bloomsbury Pub Plc USA

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    A Cook's Tour is the written record of Anthony Bourdain's travels around the world in his search for the perfect meal. All too conscious of the state of his 44-year-old knees after a working life standing at restaurant stoves, but with the unlooked-for jackpot of Kitchen Confidential as collateral, Mr. Bourdain evidently concluded he needed a bit more wind under his wings.

    The idea of "perfect meal" in this context is to be taken to mean not necessarily the most upscale, chi-chi, three-star dining experience, but the ideal combination of food, atmosphere, and company. This would take in fishing villages in Vietnam, bars in Cambodia, and Tuareg camps in Morocco (roasted sheep's testicle, as it happens); it would stretch to smoked fish and sauna in the frozen Russian countryside and the French Laundry in California's Napa Valley. It would mean exquisitely refined kaiseki rituals in Japan after yakitori with drunken salarymen. Deep-fried Mars Bars in Glasgow and Gordon Ramsay in London. The still-beating heart of a cobra in Saigon. Drink. Danger. Guns. All with a TV crew in tow for the accompanying series--22 episodes of video gold, we are assured, featuring many don't-try-this-at-home shots of the author in gastric distress or crawling into yet another storm drain at four in the morning.

    You are unlikely to lay your hands on a more hectically, strenuously entertaining book for some time. Our hero eats and swashbuckles round the globe with perfect-pitch attitude and liberal use of judiciously placed profanities. Bourdain can write. His timing is great. He is very funny and is under no illusions whatsoever about himself or anyone else. But most of all, he is a chef who got himself out of his kitchen and found, all over the world, people who understand that eating well is the foundation of harmonious living. --Robin Davidson, Amazon.co.uk [via]

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  • Culture and Anarchy
    by Matthew Arnold
    ISBN 1404301178 (1-4043-0117-8)
    Softcover, Indypublish.Com

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    Book summary:

    A classic study of the moral and social character of education in an industrialized society. Widely used in classrooms in the U. S. [via]

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  • Kolanad, Gitanjali: Culture Shock! India
    Culture Shock! India
    by Gitanjali Kolanad
    ISBN 1558686193 (1-55868-619-3)
    Softcover, Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company

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  • Kolanad, Gitanjal: Culture Shock! India: A Guide to Customs and Etiquette
    Culture Shock! India: A Guide to Customs and Etiquette
    by Gitanjal Kolanad
    ISBN 1558681450 (1-55868-145-0)
    Softcover, Graphic Arts Center Pub Co

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  • Kolanad, Gitanjali: Culture Shock! India: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette
    Culture Shock! India: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette
    by Gitanjali Kolanad
    ISBN 155868932X (1-55868-932-X)
    Softcover, Graphic Arts Center Pub Co

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  • De LA Democratie En Amerique
    by Alexis De Tocqueville
    ISBN 2070323544 (2-07-032354-4)
    Softcover, Schoenhofs Foreign Books

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    Théoricien du libéralisme, Tocqueville montre dans De la démocratie en Amérique comment la démocratie s'est accompagnée des progrès de l'individualisme. Cependant, les droits individuels une fois proclamés et reconnus, ce goût pour la liberté s'est corrompu en passion pour l'égalité, favorisant la diffusion d'un esprit majoritaire et conformiste.

    En effet, à force de réclamer les mêmes droits pour tous, les individus se contentent de revendiquer une égalisation de leur condition sociale et de leur mode de vie. Or, la majorité ne se reconnaissant que dans ce qui lui ressemble, l'obsession égalitariste finit par nuire à la créativité, toute volonté de différenciation étant par avance condamnée ; elle finit aussi par menacer les institutions politiques elles-mêmes. Uniquement soucieux de défendre leurs acquis sociaux et matériels, les individus se désintéressent de la chose publique et se replient sur leur vie privée, au profit d'une administration toute puissante dont la douce tyrannie menace à terme leurs libertés.

    Cette analyse de la pensée unique et du conformisme démocratique fait de Tocqueville un auteur résolument moderne, dont l'oeuvre a eu une influence considérable et mérite plus que jamais qu'on la découvre. --Paul Klein [via]

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  • The Disappointment Artist: and Other Essays
    by Jonathan Lethem
    ISBN 1400076811 (1-4000-7681-1)
    Softcover, Random House Inc

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    In a volume he describes as "a series of covert and not-so-covert autobiographical pieces," Jonathan Lethem explores the nature of cultural obsessionfrom western films and comic books, to the music of Pink Floyd and the New York City subway. Along the way, he shows how each of these "voyages out from himself" has led him to the source of his beginnings as a writer. The Disappointment Artist is a series of windows onto the collisions of art, landscape, and personal history that formed Lethems richly imaginative, searingly honest perspective on life. A touching, deeply perceptive portrait of a writer in the making. [via]

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  • The Disuniting of America
    by Arthur M. Schlesinger
    ISBN 1879736004 (1-879736-00-4)
    Hardcover, Whittle Direct Books

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    What does it mean to be an American? Is the republic a unified whole or a collection of disparate ethnic groups? In this book, the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr, examines the changing face of American history and shows how an increasing focus on ethnicity has affected life both in academic circles and on the street. America has always been a nation of immigrants striving towards the common goal of a better life than they had known in the old country. But the melting pot no longer seems an apt metaphor for the American experience: racial and ethnic minorities are drifting apart, focusing on individual heritage and becoming more bitterly divided. However, Professor Schlesinger ultimately believes that the old ideals of "e pluribus unum" are still strong enough to bind the United States together. [via]

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  • Doing Our Own Thing: The Degradation Of Language And Music And Why We Should, Like, Care
    by John McWhorter
    ISBN 1592400841 (1-59240-084-1)
    Softcover, Gotham Books

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    A rousing polemic in defense of the written word by the New York Times bestselling author of Losing the Race and the widely acclaimed history of language The Power of Babel.

    Critically acclaimed linguist John McWhorter has devoted his career to exploring the evolution of language. He has often argued that language change is inevitable and in general culturally neutral-languages change rapidly even in indigenous cultures where traditions perpetuate; and among modernized peoples, culture endures despite linguistic shifts. But in his provocative new book, Doing Our Own Thing, McWhorter draws the line when it comes to how cultural change is turning the English language upside down in America today, and how public English is being overwhelmed by street English, with serious consequences for our writing, our music, and our society.

    McWhorter explores the triumph of casual over formal speech-particularly since the dawn of 1960s counterculture-and its effect on Americans' ability to write, read, critique, argue, and imagine. In the face of this growing rift between written English and spoken English, the intricate vocabularies and syntactic roadmaps of our language appear to be slipping away, eroding our intellectual and artistic capacities. He argues that "our increasing alienation from 'written language' signals a gutting of our intellectual powers, our self-regard as a nation, and thus our very substance as a people."

    Timely, thought-provoking, and compellingly written, Doing Our Own Thing is sure to stoke many debates about the fate of our threatened intellectual culture, and the destiny of our democracy. [via]

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  • Dune: La Batalla De Corrin
    by Frank Herbert
    ISBN 8470021818 (84-7002-181-8)
    Softcover, Lectorum Pubns Inc

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  • Dune:La Yihad Butleriana / Dune:the Butlerian Yihad: La Yihad Butleriana/ the Butlerian Yihad
    by Brian Herbert, Random House Mondadori, Domingo Santos
    ISBN 849759682X (84-9759-682-X)
    Softcover, Debolsillo

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  • E.M. Forster: A Passage to India
    by Betty Jay
    ISBN 184046027X (1-84046-027-X)
    Softcover, Palgrave Macmillan

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    In this Readers' Guide, Betty Jay considers the establishment of Forster's reputation and the various attempts of critics to decipher the complex codes that are a feature of his novel. Successive chapters focus on debates around Forster's liberal-humanism, with essays from F. R. Leavis, Lionel Trilling and Malcolm Bradbury; on the indeterminacy and ambiguity of the text, with extracts from essays by Gillian Beer, Robert Barratt, Wendy Moffat and Jo-Ann Hoeppner Moran; and on the sexual politics of Forster's work, with writings from Elaine Showalter, Frances L. Restuccia and Eve Dawkins Poll. The Guide concludes with essays from Jeffrey Meyers and Jenny Sharpe, who read A Passage to India in terms of its engagement with British imperialism.
    [via]

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  • Kimball, Roger: Experiments Against Reality: The Fate of Culture in the Postmodern Age
    Experiments Against Reality: The Fate of Culture in the Postmodern Age
    by Roger Kimball
    ISBN 156663430X (1-56663-430-X)
    Softcover, Ivan R Dee

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    Experiments Against Reality displays the sophistication, breadth of knowledge, and clarity of argument that have made Mr. Kimball one of the most trenchant critics of our contemporary culture. He begins by considering the influential poet and theorist T. E. Hulme, and shows how the work of Eliot, Auden, Wallace Stevens, Robert Musil, Elias Canetti, and others can be seen as efforts to articulate a convincing alternative to the intellectual and spiritual desolations of the age. Turning to the philosophical tradition, Mr. Kimball suggests how figures from Mill and Nietzsche to Bertrand Russell, Wittgenstein, Sartre, Heidegger, Foucault, and Roger Scruton have addressedor in many cases evadedthe defining moral imperatives of modernity. Finally he steps back to consider more generally the career of contemporary culturethe trivializing nature of the contemporary art world; the academic attack on historical truth and scientific rationality; the fate of the two cultures controversy. Experiments Against Reality offers continuing evidence of Mr. Kimball's stature as one of our most important cultural critics. Named an International Book of the Year by Mary Lefkowitz, Times Literary Supplement. A scathing critic but one whose tirades are usually justified.... His intellectual rigor is refreshing. Experiments Against Reality demonstrates what criticism can be if you take away all the theoretical scaffolding inherent in, say, a deconstructionist, structuralist or feminist reading. Catherine Saint Louis, New York Times Book Review [via]

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  • Flying High America
    by Jim Wark
    ISBN 8854400033 (88-544-0003-3)
    Hardcover, Random House Inc

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    This book takes a pictorial look at the nation from above, with dazzling full-color photographs of each region of the United States of America. These territories continue to reach out to settlers and travelers, challenging those who would try to conquer its mountains, rivers, and canyons as well as those who try get to know its patchwork quilt of people and regional cultural variations. The reader takes a thrilling journey over mountains, deserts, mighty rivers, swaths of farmland, and the great cities and landmark skyscrapers, all shown from an aerial vantage point. The design of the pages is carefully planned to bring out the panoramic qualities of the exceptionally beautiful photographs. The reduced album format of the book has been chosen to emphasize the wide-angle approach of the pictures. [via]

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  • Going Nucular: Language, Politics, and Culture in Controversial Times
    by Geoff Nunberg
    ISBN 1586482343 (1-58648-234-3)
    Hardcover, Perseus Books Group

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    Geoffrey Nunberg can make one quite self conscious to write even a simple sentence. And yes, that is a compliment. A regular language commentator on NPR's Fresh Air, Nunberg examines the curious ways in which the modern language expresses far more about history, politics, and culture than most casual English users would ever realize. Going Nucular, besides having one of the more whimsical titles to come along in a while, offers up scores of chapters, each examining specific words, phrases, or verbal tendencies. And while words like "terrorism", "fascism", "appeasement", and "Caucasian" (and even the hapless "like" and "ain't") are tossed about regularly in contemporary usage, achieving an understanding of their origin and evolution can serve to better explain not just the word but the issue to which it is attached. Other language books have become popular among the "grammarati" for their hard line approach but Nunberg seeks to explore and understand rather than to enforce and punish. To that end, he defends "blog" as being a verb and noun that has earned its place in the language; it's very phonetic clunkiness being part of the appeal. And though he can diagram a sentence with the best of them, Nunberg is at his most delightful when shining a harsh lingual light on the ways in which the average person encounters words every day. A stinging and hilarious indictment of TV news' weird obsession with the present tense ("In North Dakota, high winds making life difficult") makes the reader hear the evening news in an entirely new way. Going Nucular is much more than a nudge and a wisecrack to self-appointed word cops, it's an insider's tour of the vernacular by the English teacher you only wish you had. --John Moe [via]

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  • Going Nucular: Language, Politics. and Culture in Confrontational Times
    by Geoff Nunberg
    ISBN 1586483455 (1-58648-345-5)
    Softcover, Perseus Books Group

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    Book summary:

    Geoffrey Nunberg can make one quite self conscious to write even a simple sentence. And yes, that is a compliment. A regular language commentator on NPR's Fresh Air, Nunberg examines the curious ways in which the modern language expresses far more about history, politics, and culture than most casual English users would ever realize. Going Nucular, besides having one of the more whimsical titles to come along in a while, offers up scores of chapters, each examining specific words, phrases, or verbal tendencies. And while words like "terrorism", "fascism", "appeasement", and "Caucasian" (and even the hapless "like" and "ain't") are tossed about regularly in contemporary usage, achieving an understanding of their origin and evolution can serve to better explain not just the word but the issue to which it is attached. Other language books have become popular among the "grammarati" for their hard line approach but Nunberg seeks to explore and understand rather than to enforce and punish. To that end, he defends "blog" as being a verb and noun that has earned its place in the language; it's very phonetic clunkiness being part of the appeal. And though he can diagram a sentence with the best of them, Nunberg is at his most delightful when shining a harsh lingual light on the ways in which the average person encounters words every day. A stinging and hilarious indictment of TV news' weird obsession with the present tense ("In North Dakota, high winds making life difficult") makes the reader hear the evening news in an entirely new way. Going Nucular is much more than a nudge and a wisecrack to self-appointed word cops, it's an insider's tour of the vernacular by the English teacher you only wish you had. --John Moe [via]

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  • Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai
    by Yamamoto Tsunetomo, William Scott Wilson
    ISBN 4770011067 (4-7700-1106-7)
    Softcover, Kodansha Amer Inc

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    |Hagakure ("In the Shadow of Leaves"') is a manual for the samurai classes consisting of a series of short anecdotes and reflections that give both insight and instruction-in the philosophy and code of behavior that foster the true spirit of Bushido-the Way of the Warrior. It is not a book of philosophy as most would understand the word: it is a collection of thoughts and sayings recorded over a period of seven years, and as such covers a wide variety of subjects, often in no particular sequence.

    The work represents an attitude far removed from our modern pragmatism and materialism, and posesses an intuitive rather than rational appeal in its assertion that Bushido is a Way of Dying, and that only a samurai retainer prepared and willing to die at any moment can be totally true to his lord. While Hagakure was for many years a secret text known only to the warrior vassals of the Hizen fief to which the author belonged, it later came to be recognized as a classic exposition of samurai thought and came to influence many subsequent generations, including Yukio Mishima.

    This translation offers 300 selections that constitute the core texts of the 1,300 present in the original. [via]

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  • Hippie
    by Barry Miles
    ISBN 1402728735 (1-4027-2873-5)
    Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc

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    Its the celebration of an era. At a mind-blowing price, this ultimate, beautiful, illuminating, and really groovy look at the 1960s counterculture is rich in illustrations and filled with the history, politics, sayings, and slogans that defined the age. For those who were there, this volume will flash them back. For those who werent, theyll wish they had been.

    Sex, drugs, and rock and roll; peace rallies and riots in the ghettos; Flower Power, Black Power, and Gay Power; Mothers of Invention and Womens Liberation; Woodstock, Monterey Pop, and Altamont. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times: it all depends on whom you ask. But without a doubt the hippies transformed society. Every significant moment of the era comes vibrantly alive once again in psychedelic images, rare portraits of writers and musicians, dynamite poster and album artwork, and photographic records of political events that shook the world. Hundreds of unforgettable quotations come from seminal figures such as Ken Kesey, Timothy Leary, Grace Slick and George Harrison. Proceeding year by year from 1965 to 1971, Hippie gives an unprecedented degree of shape and coherence to an agethat is kaleidoscopically astounding.

    Barry Miles was a central figure in the counterculture milieu. He wrote Paul McCartney: Many Years from Now, as well as The Beatles: A Diary; contributed to I Want to Take You Higher, the Rock Music Hall of Fames chronicle of psychedelic music. The Sixties is Miles own memoir of the decade.
    [via]

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  • Van Doren, Charles: History of Knowledge : Past, Present and Future
    History of Knowledge : Past, Present and Future
    by Charles Van Doren
    ISBN 1559720379 (1-55972-037-9)
    Softcover, Kensington Publishing Corporation

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  • Hungry Planet
    by Peter Menzel, Faith D'Aluisio
    ISBN 1580086810 (1-58008-681-0)
    Hardcover, Ten Speed Pr

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    On the banks of Mali's Niger River, Soumana Natomo and his family gather for a communal dinner of millet porridge with tamarind juice. In the USA, the Ronayne-Caven family enjoys corndogs-on-a-stick with a tossed green salad. This age-old practice of sitting down to a family meal is undergoing unprecedented change as rising world affluence and trade, along with the spread of global food conglomerates, transform diets worldwide. In HUNGRY PLANET, the creative team behind the best-selling Material World, Women in the Material World, and MAN EATING BUGS presents a photographic study of families from around the world, revealing what people eat during the course of one week. Each family's profile includes a detailed description.



     

     

     

     

     

      Awards

    2006 James Beard Cookbook of the Year The Splendid Table Book of the Year

    2005 Harry Chapin Media Award

    finalist for the 2006 IACP Cookbook Award Reviews

    "Arresting, beautiful, enlightening and infinitely human, this is a collection of full-page photos of families around the world surrounded by what they eat in a single week -- from Bhutan to San Antonio. Read the illuminating statistics and the essays. This is a book for the family and for the classroom. You won't see the same old "aren't we better than them" attitude, nor will you be shamed. This book reminds us that what we eat is the simplest, yet most profound, thread that ties us together."Lynne Rossetto Kasper, Host of American Public Media's Public Radio Program, The Splendid Tablethe politics of food at its most poignant and provocative. A coffee table book that will certainly make coffee interesting.Washington PostWhile the photos are extraordinary--fine enough for a stand-alone volume--it's the questions these photos ask that make this volume so gripping. This is a beautiful, quietly provocative volume.Publishers Weekly, *Starred Review*This book of portraits reveals a planet of joyful individuality, dispiriting sameness, and heart-breaking disparity. It's a perfect gift for the budding anti-globalists on your listBon Appetit [A] unique photographic study of global nutrition        USA Today Grabs your attention for the startlingly varied stories it tells about how people feed themselves around the world. Its contents are based on detailed research, beautifully photographed, presented with often disturbing clarity.                                                     Associated Press "The world's kitchens open to Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio, the intrepid couple who created the series of books called Material World.... As always with this couple's terse, lively travelogues, politics and the world economy are never far from view."                                 New York Times Book Review  illuminating, thought-provoking, and gloriously colorful                                                  Saveur Magazine Richly colored and quietly composed photographs....Hungry Planet is not a book about obesity or corporate villains; it's something much grander. Its premise is simple to the point of obvious and powerful to the point of art.                                                                     Salon.com A fascinating nutritional and gustatory tour.                                                                San Jose Mercury News

    A grand culinary voyage through our modern world...a lushly illustrated anthropological study.                                                                                                                 San Francisco Bay Guardian

    The talked-about book of the season...the stories are fascinating.                                    Detroit Free Press

    Unique and engaging                                                                                              Delta Airlines Sky magazine [via]

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  • The Illustrated Art of War
    by Sun-Tzu, Thomas F. Cleary
    ISBN 1590301854 (1-59030-185-4)
    Softcover, Random House Inc

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    Sun Tzu's Art of War just got better. The Illustrated Art of War enlivens Thomas Cleary's complete translation, including commentaries, with full-color reproductions of paintings and statuary from China and Japan. Talk about martial art--these depictions show full battles scenes, the Chinese god of war, weaponry, processions--even an ancient map. --Brian Bruya [via]

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  • The Illustrated Art of War
    by Thomas Cleary, Sun-Tzu
    ISBN 1570624224 (1-57062-422-4)
    Hardcover, Shambhala Pubns

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    Sun Tzu's Art of War just got better. The Illustrated Art of War enlivens Thomas Cleary's complete translation, including commentaries, with full-color reproductions of paintings and statuary from China and Japan. Talk about martial art--these depictions show full battles scenes, the Chinese god of war, weaponry, processions--even an ancient map. --Brian Bruya [via]

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  • Capote, Truman: In Cold Blood
    In Cold Blood
    by Truman Capote
    ISBN 1568491522 (1-56849-152-2)
    Hardcover, Buccaneer Books

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  • Williams, Raymond: Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society
    Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society
    by Raymond Williams
    ISBN 000654021X (0-00-654021-X)
    Softcover, Fontana Paperbacks

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  • Mundo Feliz
    by Aldous Huxley
    ISBN 8497594258 (84-9759-425-8)
    Softcover, Debolsillo

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    Book summary:

    Un mundo feliz es posiblemente la novela mas leida de Huxley, y su influencia es evidente tanto en buena parte de la novela de ciencia ficcion de calidad como en las novelas filosoficas. Presenta un mundo en el que el Estado controla hasta el mas minimo detalle de la vida de los individuos, a los que mantiene en una ignorancia, producto de un depurado lavado de cerebro. Mas tarde el autor escribiria Nueva visita a un mundo feliz, donde analizaria lo que habia escrito anos antes y sacaria conclusiones muy distintas sobre el destino de la humanidad. [via]

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  • The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon
    by Sei Shonagon, Arthur Waley
    ISBN 1417900695 (1-4179-0069-5)
    Softcover, Kessinger Pub Co

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    996 A.D., with later revisions. The translation of the diaries of a court lady in tenth-century Japan, it is a collection of anecdotes, memories of court and religious ceremonies, character sketches, lists of things the author enjoyed or loathed, places that interested her, diary entries, descriptions of nature, pilgrimages, conversations, poetry exchanges--indeed, almost everything that made up daily life for the upper classes in Japan during the Heian period. [via]

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  • Reviving Ophelia
    by Mary Bray Pipher
    ISBN 1594481881 (1-59448-188-1)
    Softcover, Riverhead Books

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    Book summary:

    At adolescence, says Mary Pipher, "girls become 'female impersonators' who fit their whole selves into small, crowded spaces." Many lose spark, interest, and even IQ points as a "girl-poisoning" society forces a choice between being shunned for staying true to oneself and struggling to stay within a narrow definition of female. Pipher's alarming tales of a generation swamped by pain may be partly informed by her role as a therapist who sees troubled children and teens, but her sketch of a tougher, more menacing world for girls often hits the mark. She offers some prescriptions for changing society and helping girls resist. [via]

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  • Sparknotes Dune
    by Frank Herbert
    ISBN 1586635107 (1-58663-510-7)
    Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc

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    Book summary:

    Get your "A" in gear!

    They're today's most popular study guides-with everything you need to succeed in school. Written by Harvard students for students, since its inception SparkNotes" has developed a loyal community of dedicated users and become a major education brand. Consumer demand has been so strong that the guides have expanded to over 150 titles. SparkNotes'" motto is Smarter, Better, Faster because:

    · They feature the most current ideas and themes, written by experts.
    · They're easier to understand, because the same people who use them have also written them.
    · The clear writing style and edited content enables students to read through the material quickly, saving valuable time.

    And with everything covered--context; plot overview; character lists; themes, motifs, and symbols; summary and analysis, key facts; study questions and essay topics; and reviews and resources--you don't have to go anywhere else!



    [via]

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  • Totem and Taboo
    by Sigmund Freud, A.A. Brill
    ISBN 1573927899 (1-57392-789-9)
    Softcover, Prometheus Books

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    Book summary:

    In this controversial study Freud applies the theories and evidence of his psychoanalytic investigations to the study of aboriginal peoples and, by extension, to the earliest cultural stages of the human race before the rise of large-scale civilizations. Relying on the reports of ethnographers such as J. G. Frazer, E. B. Tylor, and others, Freud points out the striking parallels between the cultural practices of native tribal groups and the behavior patterns of neurotics. His ultimate aim is to shed light on the psychological factors involved in the development of culture in the same way as he analyzed the unconscious motivations of neurotic individuals.

    Beginning with a discussion of the incest taboo, which is one of the main features of the totemic tribal structure, he compares the taboo to the infantile stage of individual psychological development, in which the male child experiences incestuous sexual feelings for his mother (and the girl for her father). He draws parallels between some of the elaborate taboo restrictions seen in these early cultures and the scrupulous rituals of compulsion neurotics, who in a similar fashion are wrestling with the ambivalent emotions aroused by the incest taboo. The implication is that many of the ceremonies and
    rituals of culture develop as a psychological reaction to the incest taboo, which prohibits the acting out of an infantile impulse that would be socially destructive.

    Freud contends that cultures evolve through three main stages: the animistic, the religious, and the scientific. The earliest stage of animism corresponds to the narcissistic phase of individual development, when the child overvalues the importance and influence of his inner psychic life on the outer world. In the religious stage of culture, humanity realizes that its own conceptions do not have full power to control outer reality and attributes this power to deities, who nonetheless can be manipulated through religious ceremony. This stage of culture corresponds to the individual growth phase of dependence on the parents. The scientific stage is tantamount to the mature phase of individual development, in which the individual recognizes his very limited power to control the universe and accepts the reality of his own death as well as all other natural realities.

    Freud concludes by invoking his famous Oedipus complex as the key to the development of culture, just as it is the main conflict underlying all neurotic illness in his theory. The repressed psychological urge to kill the father as the rival for the mother's affections is the underlying motive for the symbols and ceremonies of religion with all its many sacrificial rituals of expiation and its notions of angry gods, original sin, and humankind's guilt and need for atonement.

    Although Freud's theories and life are controversial today, this masterful synthesis and its undeniable influence on later scholars of religion, anthropology, and psychology make it an indispensable work. [via]

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  • Understanding Comics
    by Scott McCloud
    ISBN 1563895579 (1-56389-557-9)
    Softcover, Dc Comics

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    Book summary:

    216 page paperback written in comic book form about the world's most misunderstood artform. [via]

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  • What the World Needs Now
    by Steven Johnson
    ISBN 1580083099 (1-58008-309-9)
    Softcover, Ten Speed Pr

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    Ever wanted a chair that converts into a rowing machine? Sunglasses that serve as a wallet? A car with a sundeck so you can work on your tan on those long road trips? Well, inventor and illustrator Steven Johnson has designed these marvels and many, many more, spurred on by a truly insatiable imagination. His wacky, wonderful concepts could very well change the world-that is, if someone was ever bold enough to build them. From clothing to dining technology, home furnishings to appliances, and gardening gadgets to survival gear, WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW is a sourcebook of revolutionary designs that prove how far our techno-culture has yet to go. Ģ Includes a three-step plan for inventing useful and useless things. [via]

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  • White Teeth: Reader's Companion
    by Zadie Smith
    ISBN 1568959508 (1-56895-950-8)
    Hardcover, Wheeler Pub Inc

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    Book summary:

    Epic in scale and intimate in approach, White Teeth is a formidably ambitious debut. First novelist Zadie Smith takes on race, sex, class, history, and the minefield of gender politics, and such is her wit and inventiveness that these weighty subjects seem effortlessly light. She also has an impressive geographical range, guiding the reader from Jamaica to Turkey to Bangladesh and back again.

    Still, the book's home base is a scrubby North London borough, where we encounter Smith's unlikely heroes: prevaricating Archie Jones and intemperate Samad Iqbal, who served together in the so-called Buggered Battalion during World War II. In the ensuing decades, both have gone forth and multiplied: Archie marries beautiful, bucktoothed Clara--who's on the run from her Jehovah's Witness mother--and fathers a daughter. Samad marries stroppy Alsana, who gives birth to twin sons. Here is multiculturalism in its most elemental form: "Children with first and last names on a direct collision course. Names that secrete within them mass exodus, cramped boats and planes, cold arrivals, medical checks."

    Big questions demand boldly drawn characters. Zadie Smith's aren't heroic, just real: warm, funny, misguided, and entirely familiar. Reading their conversations is like eavesdropping. Even a simple exchange between Alsana and Clara about their pregnancies has a comical ring of truth: "A woman has to have the private things--a husband needn't be involved in body business, in a lady's... parts." And the men, of course, have their own involvement in bodily functions:

    The deal was this: on January 1, 1980, like a New Year dieter who gives up cheese on the condition that he can have chocolate, Samad gave up masturbation so that he might drink. It was a deal, a business proposition, that he had made with God: Samad being the party of the first part, God being the sleeping partner. And since that day Samad had enjoyed relative spiritual peace and many a frothy Guinness with Archibald Jones; he had even developed the habit of taking his last gulp looking up at the sky like a Christian, thinking: I'm basically a good man.
    Not all of White Teeth is so amusingly carnal. The mixed blessings of assimilation, for example, are an ongoing torture for Samad as he watches his sons grow up. "They have both lost their way," he grumbles. "Strayed so far from what I had intended for them. No doubt they will both marry white women called Sheila and put me in an early grave." These classic immigrant fears--of dilution and disappearance--are no laughing matter. But in the end, they're exactly what gives White Teeth its lasting power and undeniable bite. --Eithne Farry [via]

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  • Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping
    by Paco Underhill
    ISBN 158799044X (1-58799-044-X)
    Softcover, Texere

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    Book summary:

    In an effort to determine why people buy, Paco Underhill and his detailed-oriented band of retail researchers have camped out in stores over the course of 20 years, dedicating their lives to the "science of shopping." Armed with an array of video equipment, store maps, and customer-profile sheets, Underhill and his consulting firm, Envirosell, have observed over 900 aspects of interaction between shopper and store. They've discovered that men who take jeans into fitting rooms are more likely to buy than females (65 percent vs. 25 percent). They've learned how the "butt-brush factor" (bumped from behind, shoppers become irritated and move elsewhere) makes women avoid narrow aisles. They've quantified the importance of shopping baskets; contact between employees and shoppers; the "transition zone" (the area just inside the store's entrance); and "circulation patterns" (how shoppers move throughout a store). And they've explored the relationship between a customer's amenability and profitability, learning how good stores capitalize on a shopper's unspoken inclinations and desires.

    Underhill, whose clients include McDonald's, Starbucks, Estée Lauder, and Blockbuster, stocks Why We Buy with a wealth of retail insights, showing how men are beginning to shop like women, and how women have changed the way supermarkets are laid out. He also looks to the future, projecting massive retail opportunities with an aging baby-boom population and predicting how online retailing will affect shopping malls. This lighthearted look at shopping is highly recommended to anyone who buys or sells. --Rob McDonald [via]

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  • Zen and Japanese Culture
    by Daisetz T. Suzuki
    ISBN 1567311245 (1-56731-124-5)
    Hardcover, Fine Communications

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    Zen and Japanese Culture is one of the twentieth century's leading works on Zen, and a valuable source for those wishing to understand its concepts in the context of Japanese life and art. In simple, often poetic, language, Daisetz Suzuki describes his conception of Zen and its historical evolution. He connects Zen to the philosophy of the samurai, and subtly portrays the relationship between Zen and swordsmanship, haiku, tea ceremonies, and the Japanese love of nature. Suzuki's contemplative work is enhanced by anecdotes, poetry, and illustrations showing silk screens, calligraphy, and examples of architecture.

    Since its original publication in 1938, this important work has played a major role in shaping conceptions of Zen's influence on Japanese traditional arts. Richard Jaffe's introduction acquaints a new generation of readers with Suzuki's life and career in both Japan and America. Jaffe discusses how Zen and Japanese Culture was received upon its first publication and analyzes the book in light of contemporary criticism, especially by scholars of Japanese Buddhism.

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  • Das Passagen-Werk
    by Walter Benjamin, Rolf Tiedemann
    ISBN 3518112007 (3-518-11200-7)
    Softcover, Suhrkamp

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  • Zähne zeigen
    by Zadie Smith
    ISBN 342662141X (3-426-62141-X)
    Softcover

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    Zähne zeigen, monumental im Ausmaß und intim im Ansatz, ist ein ehrgeiziger Roman. Seine Themen drehen sich um Herkunft, Religion, Geschlechterbeziehungen, Hautfarbe, gesellschaftliche Stellung und Geschichte, aber Zadie Smith ist mit einem Witz und einem Einfallsreichtum gesegnet, die diese gewichtigen Ideen mühelos leicht erscheinen lassen.

    Die Handlung führt uns nach Jamaika, die Türkei, Bangladesch und Indien und bringt uns schließlich in einen schäbigen Vorort von North London, in dem die zwei merkwürdigen Helden dieses Buches zu Hause sind: Archie Jones, der es mit der Wahrheit nicht so genau nimmt, und Samad Iqbal, der im hohen Maße dem Alkohol zuspricht. Sie begegneten sich erstmals im Zweiten Weltkrieg als Mitglieder eines vom Pech verfolgten Bataillons und sind seitdem unzertrennlich. Archie heiratet die schöne Clara mit den vorstehenden Zähnen, die sich auf der Flucht vor ihrer Mutter befindet, einer Zeugin Jehovas, und mit der er eine Tochter hat, Irie. Samad heiratet die pampige Alsana, die ihm zwei stramme Jungs schenkt -- Zwillinge: "Kinder mit Vor- und Zunamen, die sich auf direktem Kollisionskurs befinden; Namen, hinter denen sich Massenexodus, überfüllte Boote und Flugzeuge, unfreundliche Ankünfte und ärztliche Untersuchungen verbergen."

    Große Fragen verlangen nach kühn gezeichneten Charakteren. Zadie Smiths Helden sind nicht heroisch; sie sind einfach echt: warmherzig, komisch, fehlgeleitet und absolut vertraut. Wenn man ihre Unterhaltungen liest, kommt man sich vor, als würde man sie heimlich belauschen. In einer ganz einfachen Szene unterhalten sich Alsana und Clara im Park über ihre Schwangerschaften: "Eine Frau muss ihre privaten Dinge haben -- ein Ehemann sollte sich nicht in die körperlichen Angelegenheiten einmischen, in den Intimbereich einer Frau."

    Samad ist verärgert über seine Söhne: "Sie sind beide vom Weg abgekommen; so weit weg von dem, was ich für sie geplant hatte. Es gibt wohl keinen Zweifel, dass sie beide irgendwann weiße Frauen heiraten werden, die Sheila heißen, und mich früh unter die Erde bringen." Hier spiegeln sich "die Ängste des Einwanderers -- Identitätsverlust, Auflösung" -- deutlich wider, die Samad mehr als alles andere geprägt haben.

    Die Lektüre von Zähne zeigen ist eine wahre Freude. In diesem Buch wimmelt es vor Leben und Überschwänglichkeit, und doch besitzt es genug Schläue und despektierliche Seriosität, um ihm eine gewisse Bissigkeit zu geben. --Eithne Farry [via]

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