Books You Might Want to Read

This is a slightly strange post. I'm going to recommend four books. Unfortunately I haven't read any of them. I've heard and seen interviews with three of the authors and I am a bit familiar with two of them. Now, granted, this isn't the best way to recommend a book ... but I'm a little busy reading books for school. So these are books that have piqued my interest and perhaps you'll find them interesting as well.

The Blind Side by Michael Lewis. You may remember Lewis from his critically acclaimed and popular book Moneyball. In his new book Lewis focuses on football and how the game has evolved to highly prize the left tackle offensive lineman. The prototypical left tackle would be 6'8", 330 lbs, and run a 40 yard dash in 4.5 seconds. Clearly it takes the rare male who can solidify an offensive line and protect the QB from ferocious, highly efficient defensive pash rushes. At the heart of Lewis' book is the story of such a talent. A young man who will one day start at left tackle for an NFL team. A young man who went from being a street kid who did not know his real name to a college football star. FYI: Lewis is married to Tabitha Soren. Yes, that Tabitha Soren. From MTV. Remember?!?!? Oh man I'm so old.

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. Dr. Dawkins is a prominent ethologist, evolutionary theorist, and popular sciencey guy (yes, the last one is a technical term). Dawkins is perhaps most famous for his 1979 book The Selfish Gene in which he argues evolution is gene centered. Another book I need to read. Anyway, in his new book Dawkins takes on religion and the existence of God. An outspoken atheist, Dawkins ardently criticizes religion and argues the existence of a supreme being is supremely improbable. On a planet where atheists are a clear minority, this book might seem controversial or, at the least, be treated as controversial. I strongly feel it shouldn't be. Here is one of the planet's intelligent and eloquent scientific minds and he is simply making an argument. To treat his detailed argument as controversial or taboo is simply irrational and intolerant. Anyway, as someone who fluctuates from pantheism to agnosticism to reluctant atheism perhaps I'm a bit afraid Dawkins' argument will be rather convincing. Like Agent Mulder, I want to believe.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins. I'm the least familiar with this book and its author. I have yet to read or hear or view an interview with Perkins. However I am a bit familiar with the great corporate influence over globalization policies since taking a course of Global Political Economy and from currently reading The Bush Agenda (which I will post about very soon). And as a purported Economic Hit Man, Perkins states that he directly influenced the economic policy of developing nations. He makes very pointed allegations and because of that this is a controversial book. The B&N synopsis of the book reads:

"Perkins was one of those highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars by funneling development aid money into the coffers of huge corporations and a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources. Fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder are among their tools. He had begun to confess his role and expose the game since the early 1980s, but was always stopped by bribes or threats. September 11th was the final spur."

I'm not sure what evidence Perkins provides but the high indebtedness of many developing nations has continued under the structural adjustment policies that the IMF/World Bank has made developing nations implement in exchange for needed loans. More on this when I post about The Bush Agenda (a great book that I feel is slightly mis-titled). FYI, the US State Dept has a webpage refuting some of the book.

Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy. I caught the lovely Ariel Levy on The Colbert Report. Her book critizes a segment of modern female culture which seems to have embraced and one-upped male chauvinism. Back when she was writing the book she followed a Girls Gone Wild camera crew and wrote a Dispatch column for Slate. (Yes people, it all turns back to Slate! Moving on.) Levy made insightful points on The Colbert Report. One was that the "female talent" of Girls Gone Wild are not paid. I remember reading about this in Levy's Slate piece. I also remember reading that a couple of the young ladies who were taped were graduate students (though I doubt Levy asked them for ID). I must admit I was a bit shocked (just a tad bit). But perhaps I'm just old and/or I don't see the feminist perspective (or empowerment) in the embrace of what Levy refers to as raunch culture.