Scott's Picks: Summer 2008
Predictably Irrationalby Dan Ariely
While I may not be a strict adherent of rationality, I’m definitely a proponent. I find the choices people make on a regular basis to be fascinatingly irrational, and in Predictably Irrational, Dan Ariely dives into this strange phenomenon head first. From our glitchy reponsiveness to advertising to the erratic methods we employ in planning to better ourselves, Ariely tackles the nuances and consistent irrationalities of human thought in a decidedly rational fashion.
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The Sex Lives of Cannibalsby J. Maarten Troost
Despite the horribly cheesy cover and the author’s tripartite name, Sex Lives of Cannibals is a surprisingly well-written travelogue. Part Wilfred Thesiger trekking across the Empty Quarter with the Bedouins, part David Sedaris dissecting the national obsession with the Macarena, J. Maarten Troost somehow pulls off an excellent balance of comedy and substance. A great book for those times when you’re worn out with the drudge of your daily existence, when that itch to pick up and go starts nagging at you. Or a terrible book for times like that, depending on how impulsive you are.
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The Master and Margaritaby Mikhail Bulgakov
When I think of Stalin-era Russian protest literature, rarely do I conjure up images of a fat black tom cat engaging in a farcical gun fight with the Russian police, swinging from a chandelier and firing blanks before performing a Bugs Bunny style “ya got me” faux-death scene. But Master and Margarita has all this and more. Censored well into the 70s, Bulgakov’s masterpiece blends mystical realism with religious discourse, acrid satires on the Russian intelligentsia with Ignatius J. Reilly-esque farcical comedy, and the classic love story with a framework that sets up an insane asylum denizen with a satanic witch. I don’t really know what more you could ask for.
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The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clayby Michael Chabon
Kavalier and Clay is neither Chabon’s newest nor oldest release, but sits instead right around the middle of his career, at a sort of peak, if you will. Some will admire his more recent work for the increasingly refined style and diction, or the older works for the more rugged and autobiographical content, but I’ve always felt that Kavalier and Clay provided Chabon with a combination of grand adventure, playful surrealism and coming of age drama that captured the best of his style in a number of ways. He’s quickly established himself as a major writer of his generation, and this book is still the best way to begin – or complete – your exploration of his works.
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Armageddon in Retrospectby Kurt Vonnegut
The latest by the purportedly dead Kurt Vonnegut (so it goes.), Armageddon in Retrospect is a direct engagement with perhaps the central theme of Vonnegut’s career – war and peace. Some of these also present Vonnegut’s personal history in a more direct format – particularly the letter to home during the war. I could go on, but the bottom line is this; if it’s Vonnegut you haven’t already read, it better be Vonnegut you’re reading.
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