Press Action ::: Books for the Holidays 2003

Monday, December 15, 2003

Books for the Holidays 2003

Sunil Sharma of Dissident Voice has asked contributors to his website to send in lists of good books they’ve read recently so that he could post them on DV in order to give his readers a nice selection of recommended books to choose from as possible gifts for the holidays.

“Since I figure hell, if readers out there are going to get in the consumptive spirit during the holidays, then there is no better gift (to me anyway) than books to stimulate the mind (and maybe even spur positive action),” Sunil said.

Sunil plans to post the lists of books on DV at the end of this week. For a sneak preview, here’s my short list of recommended books, plus Sunil’s longer list (I must be a slow reader!). – Mark Hand

My List:

1) The Man Who Knew Too Much, Dick Russell, Carroll & Graf, 2003 — Carroll & Graf reissued this (real-life?) spy thriller in November 2003 with plenty of updated material to coincide with the 40th anniversary of JFK’s murder. The book, my favorite on the Kennedy murder (the original edition appeared on my top 25 list of non-fiction books), is an enormously engrossing story about the life of Richard Case Nagell, who Russell describes as the man hired to kill Oswald and prevent the murder of JFK.

2) North Korea: Another Country, Bruce Cuming, New Press, 2003 — In this slender volume, Cuming adds texture to the one-dimensional portrait of North Korea presented to the outside world by the press, politicians and academics. Suffering no misconceptions about the suffocating form of government practiced by the North Korean dictatorship, the long-time Korea scholar provides much-needed context to our understanding of U.S.-Korean relations. Furthermore, New Press books are always a treat to read for their graceful style of writing and wonderful editing. Thank you, Andre Schiffrin, for launching this gem of a publishing house.

3) Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire, Chalmers Johnson, Owl Books, 2000 — Blowback has become an instant classic and a must-read for anyone who wishes to obtain a full understanding of U.S. Empire in the 21st century. It is accessible and scholarly. It is brilliant and depressing. Given Johnson’s expertise on Japan, Blowback’s analysis of U.S. involvement in Japan since World War II is especially informative.

4) Fools’ Crusade, Diana Johnstone, Monthly Review Press, 2003 — Until this thought-provoking book came to my attention, Johnstone had slipped from my radar since her days as an international correspondent for In These Times. As I said in my review that ran earlier this year in Press Action, Fools’ Crusade magnifies the propaganda that emanated from the Yugoslavia wars of the 1990s and explains how the same misinformation is being used by the U.S. and its allies in the worldwide “war on terrorism.”

5) The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron, Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, Portfolio, 2003 — This is the best book yet on the downfall of Enron. McLean, a Fortune magazine journalist who is credited with writing one of the first skeptical pieces on Enron’s finances, and Elkind took their time in putting this book together, and the time was well-spent. The writing is clear, the editing is superb, and the insight into the transformation of Enron from a natural gas pipeline company into an “asset-lite” commodity trading behemoth is unmatched. If you want to read the definitive book on the Enron debacle, this is it (at least, so far).

Sunil’s List:

1) Noam Chomsky, Hegemony or Survival?

2) Robert Pollin, The Contours of Descent

3) John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, Weapons of Mass Deception

4) Michael Albert, Parecon

5) Robin Hahnel, The ABCs of Political Economy

6) Lewis Lapham, Theater of War

7) Chris Hedges, War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning

8) Thomas Frank ed., Boob Jubilee

9) Stephen Kinzer, All the Shah’s Men

10) Robert Brenner, The Boom and the Bubble

11) Doug Henwood, After the New Economy