 Small Steps Toward A Much Better World 1. Mark Gilbert, Italy Reborn: From Fascism to Democracy. How Italy built a democracy after WWII, more or less out of nothing. An optimistic and good book. De Gasperi was a great man, and essential to the building out of a democratic Italy, yet today his name is hardly known.
2. Dave Edmonds, Death in a Shallow Pond: A Philosopher, A Drowning Child, and Strangers in Need. An engaging but also intellectually serious history of some strands of utilitarianism and effective altruism. I was happy to blurb this book, you may recall Edmonds also wrote the excellent biography of Derek Parfit.
3. Arundhati Roy, Mother Mary Comes to Me. Well-written, but at some point I started wondering why I should care. OK, Mama was a pain in the ass, but then what? You had to take care of her when she was old. I guess I prefer whaling tales?
4. Chuck Klosterman, Football. An excellent and highly conceptual book about America’s favorite sport. Could this be the best book on (American) football ever?
5. Jordana Pomeroy, Daring: The Life and Art of Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun. Both a book and a picture book rolled into one. This new release is a very good introduction to her life, her art, and her role as semi-official court painter for Marie de Antoinette. She remains an underrated artist.
6. Michael Lentz, Schattenfroh. About one thousand pages, it is receiving buzz as a new novel to master, some are calling it “the new Solenoid” (not a positive for everyone, I do understand). I have tried parts in English and parts in German, but still I do not get it. Does it have a plot? Any humor? For purposes of norming, I am a big fan of James Joyce’s Ulysses. I will try it again, however. At least the author was not complacent.
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