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The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule
Thomas Frank
Metropolitan Books, 2008
The Rosetta Stone of the George W. Bush Administration
This is a fascinating, extremely well referenced work about the neocon rule book. It explodes all the rumors that Bush is not smart. He has actually just been following this rule book.
Rule One: Government services are bad and business services are good. Attack big ...
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The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism
Andrew Bacevich
Metropolitan Books, 2008
IRAQ WAR VETS AGREE
Even before I read Col. Bacevich's OUTSTANDING book, I wrote several letters to the editor at my local level warning the same thing; most were not printed as they were seen as being too long or stinging. Every vet who knows anything about anything that I served with in ...
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The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters
Rose George
Metropolitan Books, 2008
An utterly original exploration of the world of human waste that will surprise, outrage?and entertain Produced behind closed doors, disposed of discreetly, and hidden by euphemism, bodily waste is something common to all and as natural as breathing, yet we prefer not to talk about it. But we should?even those of us who take care of our business ...
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Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy
Michael T. Klare
Metropolitan Books, 2008
Charting the challenges ahead
The charts alone tell the story of what lies ahead. The most striking figure for me is that the US, the world's sole superpower for the last 2 decades, holds 3.3% of the world's natural gas reserves yet produces and uses 18.5% of the world total - not sustainable long ...
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This Land Is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation
Barbara Ehrenreich
Metropolitan Books, 2008
Ms Ehrenreich is the voice of our conscience, or should be.
This collection of brief observations is pithy and to the point, and each one takes just a few minutes to read. But you should read slowly because otherwise the sudden rise in blood pressure they elicit may be harmful to your health. As I'm writing this, the economic ...
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Better
Metropolitan Books, 2007
The progress of medical science
Like another Amazon reviewer, I found this book to be the best book written about the medical profession in some time. Dr. Gawande's style is lively and thought-provoking, particularly as he discusses practicing medicine in war-torn Iraq or how doctors struggle with ...
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What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America
Thomas Frank
Metropolitan Books, 2004
Another native supporter
I just want to say that this book is completely on target and right about the political mindset of Kansas citizens in addition to almost every other right-winged American. I should know -- I used to live in Kansas. Luckily, I spent most of my life growing up in NY ...
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The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia
Orlando Figes
Metropolitan Books, 2007
Dangerous whispers
"The Whisperers" by Orlando Figes is an outstanding piece of scholarship painting a harrowing picture of the results which Stalinist terror had on its victims and on the society it created. The book combines facts of historical developments at various significant ...
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A People's History of American Empire
Howard Zinn, Mike Konopacki, ...
Metropolitan Books, 2008
Just another opinion . . . . .
Love or hate it, this book is historically accurate and presents a viewpoint and perspective which is missing even from advanced college level American History courses. For that reason alone, Mr. Zinn must be given credit. Ultimately, politics is simply a matter of ...
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The Shock Doctrine
Metropolitan Books, 2007
Eye opening
I would describe myself as reasonably well informed, economically literate, a Wall Street investor and Democrat. I found this book eye-opening, although I believe Klein is pushing a point of view which is frequently incorrect; e.g. privatization is not always bad, ...
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Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism
Susan Jacoby
Metropolitan Books, 2004
America's Greatest Gift to the World...
....is secular government, the separation of church and state. Jefferson said it most eloquently when he spoke of a "wall of separation," and for once his actions fully complemented his words. Author Susan Jacoby recounts: "In 1799, Jefferson proposed a bill that ...
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Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science
Atul Gawande
Metropolitan Books, 2002
Why your Doc says, "I don't know."
It's not that doctors skip most of their classes or that they're getting a second-rate education. It's that we walk in as enigmas--we don't fit the textbook case. Just extracting this idea from "Complications" is worth your time and money. Instead of becoming ...
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Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic [American Empire Project]
Metropolitan Books, 2007
A Great American Patriot
Chalmers Johnson is one of America's greatest heroes for writing INFORMATIVE books that display his critical thinking. We must know what is going on with our American country and we must understand that the mainstream media is part of the empire umbrella. (For example, ...
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Everything Is Cinema: The Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard
Richard Brody
Metropolitan Books, 2008
Everything Is Cinema:The Working Life Of JLG - Richard Brody
Excellent portrait of JLG & the complexities & foibles of a person driven
to question the very form of filmaking. Thoroughly engrossing read, written in an easy flowing style without the inflections of worship or prejudice. A primary source for the understanding of a ...
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What We Say Goes: Conversations on U.S. Power in a Changing World
Noam Chomsky, David Barsamian
Metropolitan Books, 2007
As well-informed as ever
Chomsky consistently finds documents and articles that the rest of us have missed. Like all his books, this is full of fascinating revelations.
His title comes from a speech by George Bush senior in 1991, when he said that the main principle of his new world order ...
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