Manson is probably the best popular level writer on psychology and how we're just not very good at figuring out what's best for us, either as individuals or as a species. I don't agree with everything he says, but he makes me think and keeps me entertained every time.
The New Class War: Saving Democracy From the Managerial Elite, interesting and short book that would have benefitted, frankly, by being even shorter, or by being a lot less abstract. Had Michael Lind named names, policies, groups, etc. that embody what he was talking about, the book would be better, IMO.
Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life, a book that makes me glad that I haven't had much to do with educating the meritocracy for a variety of reasons by William Deresiewicz
I am quoting this for truth. I am glad, too. My closest colleague observes of our high achieving, highly engaged students that it is wonderful they feel no entitlement to what we do, and are uniformly and consistently grateful.
Academia is tragic, isn't it. We have a department on our campus which is described as 'eating its young'. It's very tough for new faculty to survive the complete buttheads (who are jealous of the newbies being more with-it in their teaching approach).
Octavia E. Butler -- Fledgling Part of this newly released first volume in the Library of America edition of Butler’s works. According to this article, it looks like there will ultimately be four LOA volumes collecting Butler's work.
The Mind That Is Catholic: Philosophical and Political Essays, a series of occasional pieces originally published in popular and academic sources by really smart Jesuit guys James V. Schall. Might have to go back and read some Plato after this....
Stunningly accurate look at what constant interruption and connection do to our ability to think deeply, especially considering it was written in 2010.
On Henry Miller; or, How to Be an Anarchist, a very short book on the Princeton UP "Writers on Writers" series by Scottish poet John Burnside, the highlight of which is his acknowledgment of the general feminist criticism of Miller while pointing out that Miller has always been about more than sex (though that's what got him censored for 30+ years), and in fact Miller presents a pretty deep critique of modern civilization. At one point, Burnside presents four passages from Miller's The Air Conditioned Nightmare and Rachel Carson's Silent Spring... It is really, really hard to tell which author wrote which passage (which in addition makes me think even higher of Rachel Carson).
Disgrace by JM Coetzee. The South African-born author writes a tale of a college professor whose life slowly unravels. Apparently, there was a film made from the book, starring John Malkovich. Might have to check it out.
Theodore Sturgeon -- More Than Human This is the last for me of the four novels in this Library of America collection of early 1950s American science fiction. LOA issued a two-volume set of nine 1950s SF novels back in 2012 and a then released a two-volume set of eight 1960s SF novels in 2019. I have both sets. I'd like to start dipping into the others soon, though my TBR pile is massive, so who knows when it'll happen.
Another short book in the Princeton UP series... What W. H. Auden Can Do For You, a briskly moving appreciation of Wystan Hugh that for reasons I don't comprehend spends A LOT of time on poems that Auden eventually rejected and deliberately never republished, but which is still pretty good, by an author whose name I've seen in bookstores for decades but whose books look like reading them would jack up my estrogen levels, Alexander McCall Smith
A well researched and truly interesting look at US political history, with an emphasis on the changes from the mid 20th century to the current moment. I'm certainly in the white, Christian, and conservative part of voters, but more center-right than wackadoo MAGA. Klein really handles things with a respectful tone even in the areas where you can tell he wants to let his more partisan views take over. The suggestions in the final chapter, especially those for updating the processes for voting and for selecting Supreme Court Justices, are interesting and easily better than what we have at the moment. Also, you've got to respect someone who only mentions being vegan twice while also openly praising a pig farmer.
John Williams -- Stoner Have been wanting to read Butcher's Crossing, but saw Stoner was available from the library for download now, so decided to go for it. FYI, LOA is going to collect Williams' three major novels later this year, so I'll be picking that up. Due for publication 10/5/21:
I've been meaning to read this series for years, it ran from January 2003-February 2018, and with the animated series coming to Amazon at the end of March I'm finally doing it. I'm buying the 4 issue trade paperback volumes (25 in total) because most of them (20 of 25) are subtitled with the name of a popular sitcom and that's quirky enough to get me to spend a little extra money. Zipped through Volume 1 today and it's just really well written. They gave just enough of a glimpse into the world to make it make sense while taking down a villain or two. It takes on some of the tropes of superhero comic books without losing the plot by not being a superhero comic book. Good, simple story but several subplots have at least been set up already and I suspect I'll read one volume each week or two until I finish the series later this year or early next year.
With Ezra Klein, I think we are watching the emergence of a political commentator who will be praised for decades to come, and well after his death. Every year his light shines more brightly.
I'll have to check out Klein's book. Matt Taibbi's Hate, Inc., is pretty good, but he has a handful of idées fixes that get in the way. Klein might work really well in my first year writing classes. Savage Gods, a 127 page meditation on writing by a writer whose re-evaluation of many of his ideas contributed to some sort of writer's block/mid-life crisis that he solved by writing his way through it, by English SF/fantasy novelist (and current resident of extremely rural Ireland Paul Kingsnorth, a book I read only because it is published by an awesome indy publisher from Columbus, OH, called Two Dollar Radio.
Joan Didion -- Salvador Quickly read Salvador yesterday afternoon & this morning. Will mix the rest of these 80s/90s Didion works in with other reading over time.
Albert Murray -- The Hero and the Blues Moved on to another short read that I'll likely finish up tomorrow.
This guy needs to be seriously much more widely read. The Omni-Americans is a non-fiction classic, IMO. It came across as untimely when it was published, and it still will in some circles, but it's pretty timely.
I read the LOA volume of his fiction (with a dash of poetry) and loved it. Before that, I knew of him as a commentator on art and culture, etc., who I saw interviewed in the 80s/90s/00s in various contexts. I figured I'd enjoy his non-fiction work based on that (and what I've read about him), but ended up wading into his fiction first -- not sure why. Based on what I've read elsewhere and a few hints in this work, I can tell I'm not always going to agree with him, but I'm certainly always going to find him worth listening to and considering. This short works contains some fascinating thoughts about the nature and function of story, the nature and function of tradition in the arts, etc.
Also, FYI, in addition to the two LOA series volumes collecting his work, LOA also published last year a 50th anniversary paperback edition of The Omni-Americans. The paperback goes for about $15, but the kindle version is just $3.99.