What I’m Reading
Spin : How to Turn the Power of the Press to Your Advantage by Michael Sitrick (good, surprisingly relevant considering it was written almost 10 years ago)
Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law by Martha C. Nussbaum (sort of just flipping through it at this point)
Spin-Free Economics by Nariman Behravesh (I was kind of hoping this would be an economics primer but really it’s mostly just a collection of the commonly held beliefs of modern economists)
Thurgood Marshall: American Revolutionary by Juan Williams (very interesting guy – it’s becoming much more common that I’m disappointing in the actual writing of the book. this was a good example)
Hemingway vs. Fitzgerald: The Rise and Fall of a Literary Friendship by Scott Donaldson (flipping through for research purposes. Hemingway destroyed Fitzgerald in one bold move)
Robert Kennedy and His Times by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr (I read a couple others and big chunk of this one. Everybody kept saying he was super ruthless and JFK’s enforcer but I didn’t find one interesting example, not ONE)
-Klosterman’s review of Chinese Democracy is actually really good, I was going the buy it on Amazon after but of course couldn’t because GNR did one of those obnoxious exclusive deals and there was no way I was driving to Best Buy
-Denis from Wikinomics responded to me calling him an asshole. He seems like a smart guy and as always, the book is fantastic.
-Somebody stole from Daniel at Cracked, who is a cool guy. He also managed to find and move into the single worst neighborhood in Los Angeles for almost no reason.
–Dickersonian questions are something I’d like to start using
How did Hemingway destroy Fitzgerald in one move? I read Donaldson’s book and Fitzgerald’s downfall seemed like the result of a personality dependent on alcohol and the attention of others.
Hi Ryan,
I read your blog and respect your opinion.
I was wondering what your thoughts are on truth.
I think truth resides in objectivity and absolutes.
Perception is what people do to objectivity and absolutes.
Dialogue is the result.
Thanks,
John
“The rich were dull and they drank too much or they played too much backgammon. They were dull and they were repetitious. He remembered poor Scott Fitzgerald and his romantic awe of them and how he had started a story once that began, ‘The rich are different from you and me.’ And how someone had said to Scott, Yes, they have more money. But that was not humorous to Scott. He thought they were a special glamorous race and when he found they weren’t it wrecked him just as much as any other thing that wrecked him.”
That’s still the dominant image we have of Fitzgerald. The irony though is that the exchange actually happened to Hemingway. If you look at Fitzgerald’s life, although he clearly had a drinking problem and was a bit of a fading star, that was sort of the last nail in the coffin.
Interesting book list. Mine is about the same length, with a stack that just arrived from Amazon just sitting there waiting to be prioritized.
One stack I look at every morning is about 5 books high and focuses on economics. The first book in that pile I read was the “Undercover Economist”, and if you haven’t read it, don’t bother. Total garbage.
Ryan, how did you go about reconciling the teachings of Aurelius in ‘Meditations’ (who appears to espouse a positive view of humanity) with the teachings of say Greene in ’48 Laws of Powers’ who proposes that one use every possible tactic to deceive mankind.
Fortunately, that’s a false conflict.
1) Robert doesn’t espouse anything. He writes history books. Many of the Laws contradict each other because they’re not so much advice as they are collections of congruent strategies that you can take or leave.
2) Marcus Aurelius, if anything, had a very negative view of humanity. His point, similar to Robert’s, is that regardless of what you think or do, people are going to act a certain way, a way that tends to be conniving, evil, ignorant, petty, pathetic, emotional and manipulative. Marcus’s book was a collection of maxims to protect himself and remain in control. I also happen to know that Robert is using some Aurelius in his next book.
Robert’s philosophy is basically: whether you play the game or not, you should know how to. Marcus says, if you’re self-disciplined enough, you can keep yourself above the fray. So there is really not a contradiction.
Make sense?
“Almost no reason”? I’ll have you know that I’m within walking distance of six different laundromats and liquor stores. Does Hollywood have that?
I think not.
On a less serious note: save your money when it comes to Chinese Democracy. That album is fucking terrible. I’m genuinely astonished at some of the reviews it’s been getting.