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Robert Caro
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The
Power Broker
When I was a child at Christmas riding in the back seat across one of New
York's cheerily illuminated bridges I asked my parents why we had to pay
tolls when it seemed likely that the bridge had already been paid for. Why
I remember asking that I don't know, but I'm glad I do because here I am
now 25 years later with the answer: Robert Moses, who for 40+ years
almost singlehandedly shaped the face of New York City for better (nice beaches
and parks) and worse (the LIE). Brilliant and ambitious, Moses's acquisition
of power and the bad things he did with it is unlike anything I've read--except
for
Rise
and Fall of the Third Reich, which details Hitler's backroom powergrabs
and eventual undoing due to hubris in much the same thoughtful and thorough
manner.
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| Carl Jensen and Project Censored
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Charles Kaiser
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The Gay Metropolis
A charming history of gay life in New York City (and by extension, the world)
from 1940-1996. Scholars will dig the history, gossips will exult in learning
who was doing whom. It has those tersely journalistic minichapters
that keep you reading "just one more" until three in the morning. A good
book for toilet visits, subway reads (about two stops to digest a section),
or curling up on the couch by an open window in winter waiting for snow.
It is by turns witty, lurid, hilarious, informative, erotic, and touching--all
the elements which comprise daily life in New York City. The Gay
Metropolis is an intellectual turn-on, whether you're gay, straight
or in between. You don't have to be gay to read it, though it might make
you wish you were if you're not.
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Frances Moore Lappe
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Diet
for a Small Planet
Excellent introductory essay goes into nutritional reasons why meat is not
necessary, followed by practical recipes for everyday use. For anyone who
ever thought vegetarianism would take too much time and effort. Special attention
is paid to getting enough protein and B vitamins—two of the reasons
most often cited by those who claim they can't do without meat.
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Noel Mostert
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SUPERSHIP
Originally serialized in the New Yorker in the wake of the early 1970's energy
crisis, this book is an in-depth history and analysis of the biggest moving
objects ever built: oil supertankers. Read full
review...
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Howard Zinn
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A People's History of the United States: 1492 -
Present
Wanna get depressed, indignant, and possibly radicalized? This well-documented
and meticulously researched book replaces with plain facts the lies,
myths, and propaganda that has for hundreds of years constituted "American
history" as it has been recorded and taught in schools. They say history
is written by the winners, and the winners since the time of Columbus's
"discovery" of America have been members of a ruling elite (Columbus's patrons,
British colonial governors, the founding fathers, robber barons, corporation
boards, bootleggers and Bushes) who stole the land, plundered its resources,
committed genocide, enslaved Africans, exploited workers, waged wars for
profit, and kept the majority of the population off-balance, cowed, and
disorganized through unjust laws, political deceit, and deadly force.
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