Author Topic: Fave Books / Currently Reading  (Read 946073 times)

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1890 on: June 04, 2013, 01:19:30 PM »
A lot of scholars and people I respect hail this as the best non-fiction book ever written.

I am neither a scholar nor respectable, but I think of it as the best damn non-fiction book I've ever read. It's a page-turner, too, you may finish it more quickly than you realize.
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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1891 on: July 20, 2013, 05:40:59 PM »
I am reading The One, RJ Smith's biography of James Brown, and I recommend it without hesitation.
"Another thing that interests me about The Eagles is that I hate them." -- Robert Christgau

effecT

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1892 on: July 21, 2013, 01:25:36 PM »
Soo much like the Greggulator I only read non-fiction:

THE BLING RING - Nancy Jo Sales

Well, the book is almost an instruction on how to be hypocritical about how to deal with the content of your investigation.
The book, that is now going to be turned into another Sofia Coppola movie I refuse to see, is meticulous in its detail relating to fashion and associated fluff, that makes gossip\celebrity magazines what they are and on the other hand the book mounts an overambitious critique of celebrity culture.

Who is to blame for the burglaries according to Nancy Jo Sales: Facebook, Twitter, reality shows, raunch culture and porn. This all to familiar register of culprits is now missing Marilyn Manson or Dee Snider, but the story always stays the same. The youth is uncultured and uncouth, because of the listed bad influences and therefore also prone to break the rules of civil society. Go figure...

However I thought the story in itself can be appreciated for it's absurdity. The people in the Bling Ring will now be more famous, than they probably could have ever been if they tried their hand at traditional fields of merit, that take one to popularity, like acting or singing and that is fascinating.


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Steve of Bloomington

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1894 on: July 22, 2013, 11:18:17 AM »
Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber

So far (I'm up to the 'Axial Age' ~800-200 BCE) there's a lot of focus on slavery, and I'm not sure this is going to change.

A few interesting items learned: the 'everything started with barter' theory is complete b.s., also that at one time Ireland priced most everything in units of 'bondmaids'.

not that clay

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1895 on: July 22, 2013, 05:59:16 PM »
Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber

So far (I'm up to the 'Axial Age' ~800-200 BCE) there's a lot of focus on slavery, and I'm not sure this is going to change.

A few interesting items learned: the 'everything started with barter' theory is complete b.s., also that at one time Ireland priced most everything in units of 'bondmaids'.

That's one of my favorite books ever. There a couple of howlers in there, and the author is a complete asshole, but it's an amazing book. I'd like to re-read it.

effecT

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1896 on: July 22, 2013, 06:01:11 PM »
Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber

So far (I'm up to the 'Axial Age' ~800-200 BCE) there's a lot of focus on slavery, and I'm not sure this is going to change.

A few interesting items learned: the 'everything started with barter' theory is complete b.s., also that at one time Ireland priced most everything in units of 'bondmaids'.
 

I hate that book. It sets itself up to take down academic economics by repetitively pointing out that the barter theory is made up and inferring a conspiracy of the science from that.

Also here is a more informed opinion than mine:
http://noahpinionblog.blogspot.de/2013/02/david-graeber-debt-is-bad-or-something.html

not that clay

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1897 on: July 23, 2013, 01:15:05 AM »
Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber

So far (I'm up to the 'Axial Age' ~800-200 BCE) there's a lot of focus on slavery, and I'm not sure this is going to change.

A few interesting items learned: the 'everything started with barter' theory is complete b.s., also that at one time Ireland priced most everything in units of 'bondmaids'.
 

I hate that book. It sets itself up to take down academic economics by repetitively pointing out that the barter theory is made up and inferring a conspiracy of the science from that.

Also here is a more informed opinion than mine:
http://noahpinionblog.blogspot.de/2013/02/david-graeber-debt-is-bad-or-something.html

Noah's just throwing up squid ink there. That's probably his worst post ever. That and this one.

I'll let you guys in on a little secret about how mainstream econ works. It's all about narrowing your focus so much that you just kind of forget about all the things that normal people care about. Once they get you seeing everything through tiny pinholes they cram a bunch of math through it, and you're so busy keeping up with that that you forget you ever cared about anything else. It's just a magician's misdirection. The thing that makes "Debt" so explosive, despite or because of being a huge woolly mess of a book, is that gets you to look at the big picture, the really really big picture again. Noah is doing the typical glib economist thing there and asking a lot of stupid questions, and complaining that Graeber didn't boil it down to some oversimplified math. Good! Graeber isn't claiming to have all the answers, the way economists do.

Also, there's not a single macro textbook in America that correctly explains where money comes from, so Graeber is not wrong there either.

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1898 on: July 23, 2013, 08:42:03 AM »
It's all about narrowing your focus so much that you just kind of forget about all the things that normal people care about.

So true. Like when they talk about inflation but, don't include food and gas prices. Two things that use up a significant portion of most folks' income.
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Kormodd

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1899 on: July 23, 2013, 09:01:36 AM »
Yeah, so whatever. I'm reading The Bible. If you want to read about forced circumcisions mandated from up on high, this is the book for you. There's a lot of violence, sex, and deity worship. Worshipping Baal or Beezlebub will get you in a lot of trouble, apparently. Only worship the one and only god, Yahweh. This book is pretty wild, so you should have a couple drinks before you get into it. Snootch.
Ever do nothing and gain nothing from it?
Ever feel stupid and then know that you really are?
Ever think you're smart and then find out you aren't?
Ever play the fool and then find out that you're worse?

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1900 on: July 23, 2013, 09:51:57 AM »
Yeah, so whatever. I'm reading The Bible.

There are a lot of good yuks in that, as I recall. I liked the part where some tribe invites the Israelites to share their land and they're all "OK, great, just get all your males circumcised and we can intermarry and everything will be cool" and then while all the males are rolling around in agony (no anesthetic in those days), the Israelites come in and slaughter them all.
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fonpr

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1901 on: July 23, 2013, 03:12:08 PM »
Yeah, so whatever. I'm reading The Bible.

There are a lot of good yuks in that, as I recall. I liked the part where some tribe invites the Israelites to share their land and they're all "OK, great, just get all your males circumcised and we can intermarry and everything will be cool" and then while all the males are rolling around in agony (no anesthetic in those days), the Israelites come in and slaughter them all.
Did god tell them to do that or did they come up with that one by themselves?
"Like it or not, Florida seems dedicated to a 'live fast, die' way of doing things."

Kormodd

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1902 on: July 23, 2013, 04:16:03 PM »
I think that was one of their ideas. The moral import of that passage will last with me forever.
Ever do nothing and gain nothing from it?
Ever feel stupid and then know that you really are?
Ever think you're smart and then find out you aren't?
Ever play the fool and then find out that you're worse?

Steve of Bloomington

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1903 on: July 23, 2013, 05:22:54 PM »
Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber

So far (I'm up to the 'Axial Age' ~800-200 BCE) there's a lot of focus on slavery, and I'm not sure this is going to change.

A few interesting items learned: the 'everything started with barter' theory is complete b.s., also that at one time Ireland priced most everything in units of 'bondmaids'.

That's one of my favorite books ever. There a couple of howlers in there, and the author is a complete asshole, but it's an amazing book. I'd like to re-read it.

Often assholes write the best books.

Steve of Bloomington

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Re: Fave Books / Currently Reading
« Reply #1904 on: July 23, 2013, 05:26:12 PM »
Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber

So far (I'm up to the 'Axial Age' ~800-200 BCE) there's a lot of focus on slavery, and I'm not sure this is going to change.

A few interesting items learned: the 'everything started with barter' theory is complete b.s., also that at one time Ireland priced most everything in units of 'bondmaids'.
 

I hate that book. It sets itself up to take down academic economics by repetitively pointing out that the barter theory is made up and inferring a conspiracy of the science from that.

Also here is a more informed opinion than mine:
http://noahpinionblog.blogspot.de/2013/02/david-graeber-debt-is-bad-or-something.html

Interesting, I'll take a look. I didn't get 'they are all in it together because that's what they want you to think, man', more 'here's something scholars do sometimes, think up something good and put it on paper, verification and validation left as an exercise for the reader'.

Of course we all know any scholarly pursuits outside of mathematics are shaky, but that's the world we live in.