Annotated Great Books Bibliography (N = 66)

Burke, James, Ornstein, Robert. (1995). The Axemakers' Gift. The Double-Edged History of Human Culture. Finally, a history of the world without the dates! Actually, quite a good historical overview of world history, as impacted by technological advances. Helps you to understand that Change has its positive AND negative aspects, and the unintended consequences are usually long-term outcomes nobody ever thinks of when they are lost in the short-term perks.

Caldwell, Ian & Thomason, Dustin. (2004). The Rule of Four. NY: Bantam Press. Two Princeton students get lured into the mysteries of an ancient book, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili that is riddled with riddles and hidden codes that must be solved in order to make any sense of the book. Who would ever guess that plagiarism can be a reason for murder? Those who have attended Princeton will probably enjoy the insider's perspective. A little more academic than The DaVinci Code, but enjoyable nevertheless.

Chang, Iris. (2003). The Chinese in America. A Narrative History. NY: Viking Press. What a wonderful, well-told history of the Chinese in America! For those who are, and for those interested in the Chinese, this is a must-read. Chang, a gifted writer, weaves the histories of both China and the United States into the lives of the Chinese who were continually caught between two cultures over decades of separated families, blatant racism and changing politics. Her well-documented, seriously-researched tome is worth the time you spend reliving the spirit of a people that overcame extreme obstacles just to become a part of America. You will also like Chang's "The Rape of Nanking."

Chen, Pauline W. (2007). Final Exam. A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality NY: Vintage House. A compassionate female surgeon shares the trials and tribulations of being a doctor, along with an inside look at medical school. While explaining why doctors practice in the most scientific of ways, she injects the Art of Medicine into her narrative of a physician's life. It does explain why the arduous medical school regimen breaks the most timid of souls who would seek to heal, and hardens the hearts of many who survive the rigors so they can deal with the most common experience of Life, and the most difficult for many - Death. It explains why some doctors use algorithms to manage the uncertainties of disease processes, and how such rituals save practitioners from the tenuous hold they think they have with exquisite knowledge and skills. No, doctors are not gods, but then, none of us are.

Perhaps, the most beautiful thought to come out of Chen's book is a new perspective of how we should thank Medicine - not for the miracles of prolonging life indefinitely, but just enough so we can get things in order before the evitable - the chance to say good-bye gracefully to Life. What a wonderful book about Medicine and those who strive hard to heal and help us all to face the frailties of the human body!

I found Chen's depiction of what medical students must go through in gross anatomy an eye-opener, and how decades of medical education has managed to dehumanize the study of the human body to spare students of the reality of dealing with what were living human beings. However, Chen does provide updates about the changes made to the medical education curriculum that hopefully will prepare future doctors to become more aware of their role in the lives of their patients and families - it's not just healing, but guiding those in their care through a good death.

There are notes at the end of the book which includes many references to how medical students are socialized, for better or worse, into the culture of the medical profession. A must-read.

Clapton, Eric (2007). Clapton: The Autobiography. NY:Broadway. Rock guitar legend Eric Clapton comes clean from an almost wasted life from drugs and alcohol to finally enjoy the fruits of his talents. It is incredible he remembered anything at all, although he was smart enough to keep a diary that helped with placing events his fans would know with the life only he knew. It is hard to imagine that someone so talented almost blew it all because he could not stay away from substance abuse and destructive relationships that ruined the lives of everyone involved. Though I know a few of the songs he was noted for, I read this simply because it came out after Pattie Boyd's autobiography, and I thought it would be interesting to see how the lives of two celebrities that shared a common past remembered that past. I read Clapton's first because he was more well-known. It was worth reading. He did finally mature enough to make sense of his life.

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity. Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention. A great follow-up to his ground breaking, Flow (read that first), which discusses his almost common-sense concept of "Flow" - what you experience when you are at your very best - a loss of time. Of course, he's not talking about the mind numbing and altering existence of bad habits and health-destroying addictions. Rather "how time flies when you're having fun" experience. In this book he tries to find this in a group of people he defines as creative individuals. Not always a "perfect fit" between theory and reality, but nevertheless a fine read. It was interesting how he did manage to find some common threads in terms of traits shared by a bunch, I think, of overachievers (what they would be called by some other theorist). I read this book slowly because I didn't want it to end, okay?

Didion, Joan (2005). The Year of Magical Thinking. NY: Alfred A. Knopf. A renown author bares her heart and soul in this heart-wrenching account of what it's like to lose your spouse suddenly from a heart attack. Didion will make you think about the brevity of life, and how everything changes when you least expect it, and then be forced to deal with the aftermath almost in a zombie-like existence because there is no other way to deal with it.

How do you make sense of a reality of life that we, as a society, never talk about, as if not talking about it will make it go away? I suppose it makes "perfect sense" that we would continue to deal with death the same way, after the fact, by wishing away the void left by those we love, through rituals to numb the emptiness and sadness we don't want to deal with. Perhaps, what is most sad is that here is a woman in her late 60s, forced to deal with the death of a husband with whom she has worked so closely with in their lives as writers. We think it is so tragic to lose loved ones who are young and in their prime, but it is no less tragic to lose a loved one after a lifetime shared, and at a later age when death becomes inevitable and the meaning of such an inevitability is meaningless on many levels.

Epstein, Joseph (2002). Snobbery. The American Version. NY: Houghton Mifflin Company. Confessions of a self-professed intellectual snob in a somewhat sociological commentary of the games that middle class Americans play in the name of social awkwardness. Unlike the rigid social milieu of European society, where everyone has their place and know it, Americans can pretty much, most of the time, find their place in the sun on a variety of levels. Though the those most ambitious strive for upward mobility, the sad fact of the 21st century is the mighty slippery slopes of economic downturns. We all struggle and expose our insecurities by psychologically stepping on others to make ourselves feel better about ourselves. Not necessarily the most healthiest, at least we now have a "manual' to identify the worst pretenders. Great read.

Ehrenreich, Barbara (2005). Bait and Switch. NY: Metropolitan Books. A free-lance female writer tries to find a job in corporate America, and finds that it is virtually impossible, while getting fleeced along the way by a new group of charlatans. This tragicomedic look at what happens to professional people who lose their jobs these days, only to discover they have more than enough time to meditate on just how slippery the slope is for those who chase the ever-elusive American Dream. Even getting a college education is no guarantee for lifetime employment, nor is networking what it's cracked up to be. Ehrenreich's cynical eye makes for the perfect spy into the ever-growing mass of the unemployed, people who never thought they ever needed to beg for an opportunity to work. Great read.

Fonda, Jane (2005). My Life So Far. NY: Random House. An honest autobiography of probably the most misunderstood celebrity of the last half of the 20th century (this sounds truly awful...). Fonda does make an academic effort to clear her name about a life she was forced to live publicly. Overall, she was quite a whiz with damage control, but her earlier indiscretions continue to plague her to this day.

Not your usual "this is my life, love it or leave it" book, Fonda does put her life into perspective and shares her findings from government files kept on her activities (which was quite interesting) to her amazed findings of how her father really felt about her. Of course, this is probably the saddest part of all, that she had to read the biographies of her famous father, Henry Fonda, to find whatever acceptance he begrudgingly gave to her in writing, but never in person. We all have such regrets.

Probably the biggest mistake Fonda made in those early years was to underestimate her naivete over how powerful celebrity can be when mixed with politics. Her search for her authentic self took her into territories, in a most a public way, that most of us will never encounter. She did her best, under the circumstances. Her efforts to share the lessons learned are commendable, and the book does offer a voyeuristic look into the life of a woman who tried so hard to be herself in the face of the unrealistic expectations of her public persona. Read it and understand.

Friedman, Thomas L. (2005). The World is Flat. A Brief History of the 21st Century. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. If Technology could create a world, what kind of world would it create? A flat one, so Friedman argues - and a convincing argument he makes! If you are trying to make sense of what's going on, in 2006, here is the best explanation I have seen so far. The author offers a rational framework that delineates all the major events over the past 2 decades that have resulted in what we are currently living in - a world that has shrunk from its global dimensions to what is now a level playing field. Let's play ball, but, in the eyes of the whole world. Shakespeare was right - all the world's a stage....

Friedman pretty much sees commerce as totally driven by technology, so much so that geography no longer matters, but being part of a global supply chain is. People no longer need to come to America for golden opportunities, not when they can go on the Internet and have the world that's one mouse click away. Always the optimist, Friedman sees this trend as the best of any world, but does offer some caveats and examples of those left behind. His explanation of how the Middle East is falling behind can very well explain why terrorism exists today.

Basically, I see this book as a father's attempt to share his wisdom with his daughters, while praying for their safety in a fast-changing world, full of hope and inspiration, mixed in with some caveats. Parents with college-age kids should read this book and pass it on to their kids. I think this book would make a great textbook for college macro- and micro-economic classes, as well as a great textbook for graduate business schools, to start a dialogue of what we need to do about the cyber-driven world we are living in. Though Friedman does try to put a positive spin to these new business practices, I seriously suspect that the bottom line still rules the day, even though the rheteoric is all win-win....

Gigerenzer, G. (2002). Calculated Risks. How To Know When Numbers Deceive You NY: Simon & Shuster MacMillan Co. An excellent book that introduces you to a better way of understanding statistics. Yes, it is possible to present statistical information in an easy-to-understand format that can be used for decision-making. The author's premise that presenting risk in natural frequencies is the right way to talk about risk is well-supported by examples and explanation. I think this book would be more useful if he also presented a curriculum with which schools and universities can incorporate his ideas into teaching math and statistics from elementary all the way into professional schools (i.e., medicine, law, etc.). Great promise for improving Public Health risk communication, too. Nothing is worst than people trying to fog you with statistics when they themselves don't even understand what they are saying!!! A must read.

Gladwell, Malcolm (2005). Blink. The Power of Thinking without Thinking. NY: Little, Brown and Company. Gladwell does it again! This time he takes on "gut reactions." Gladwell peels apart what we seem to do so instinctively when we size up situations at a moment's notice. However, he does offer some caveats on becoming too dependent on relying totally on first impressions, by encouraging us to think about why we come to those immediate conclusions. I really like the way he writes. It's almost like packing a picnic basket - all the ingredients just seem too disparate by themselves, but somehow they all make sense in the context of the picnic. He'll drop an anecdote here and vignette there, but along the way he does remember to pick them back up, then offers up a bouquet too fragrant to dismiss. Worth your time.

Gladwell, Malcolm (2000). The Tipping Point. NY: Little, Brown and Company. A great book that looks at the social phenomenon of cultural change using the analogy of disease epidemics. Connectors, salesmen and mavens are people who spread, by word-of-mouth, societal change. And, the next time someone brags that s/he knows over 150 people you will be able to call that person a liar. Gladwell's tipping point is the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back. Perhaps, public health practitioners may benefit from the author's contention that you can bring about behavioral change by using the right people to spread your message. A must-read.

Goldberg, Bernard (2001). Bias. A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News. WASH DC: Regnery Publishing, Inc. Journalists definitely have a responsibility to objectively reporting on the news of the day. It is unfortunate, however, that journalists end up telling stories rather than reporting the news, and, as we all know, that how we tell our stories are tainted by our personal perspective. In light of the latest debacle of James Frey and his inability to distinguish between what's real and what's a lie about his life, we definitely must be ever vigilant about what we read and hear. In essence, I want to know what's fact and what's opinion.

While Goldberg may have felt he did the right thing to blow the whistle, at the time, this entire book sounds more like a sarcastic rationalization of his actions, a plea for sympathy in the most worst way. It doesn't serve his case well to whine about what he shoulda done and what coulda happen, bla, bla, bla. Maybe he can take some tips from Jane Fonda, who made a better case for the victory of those wrongly persecuted by the press....

Golden, Arthur (1997). Memoirs of a Geisha. NY: Vintage Contemporaries. A fictional autobiographical account of a well-respected geisha from the early to mid-1900s. A poignant look at women who lived such lives with little opportunity for personal happiness. Golden's writing is fluid and magical, making this an enjoyable read. The 12/2005 film based on this book should be interesting. A must-read.

Goleman, Daniel (2006). Social Intelligence. The New Science of Human Relationships NY: Bantam Books. Goleman applies his "emotional intelligence" (you should read that one, too) to social relationships, and expounds on the concept of social neuroscience. Basically, the relationships we have with others have a biological impact that can reconfigure our brains for future interactions. If this is true, then I think the whole controversy over "nature vs. nurture" can be readily resolved. It also does bring up the need for us to take responsibility for our part in relationships - being cognizant of the impact we can make on someone else's psyche, thus, cultivating kindness is something we can do to improve our lives than perpetuate meanness in our interactions. Of course, a middle ground needs to be paved, and we really shouldn't give in to those who emotionally abuse others out of insecurity, nor should we tolerate those who emotionally bully for the same reason. Goleman does a wonderful job in weaving the latest findings from the research in these new areas into a can't-put-down narrative that will be worth all the time you spend reading this great book.

Goolrick, Robert. (2007). The End of the World As We Know It. Scenes from a Life. NC: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. It is always interesting to see how people "memoirize" their lives in ways that are very distinctive to those who would set their lives in print. Unlike biographies, autobiographies, especially of those who have lived unusually, are the most interesting to read.

Goolrick, a brilliant writer, reminds me of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Gatsby character, who tried so hard to create a better persona for himself. His storytelling has the charm of Frank McCourt, as he provides vignettes of his life in non-linear flashbacks to better times, or so he wants (us, also) to believe. There were good times, but they seemed scant in the shadow of the overwhelming times of neglect and despair, when no one seemed to care.

As the book progresses, the vignettes become more and more self-revealing until the reader begins to understand how that one monumental episode of child abuse left the author emotionally shattered throughout his childhood into his adulthood. All of a sudden, all the self-destruction seemed to make sense as the only way he knew how to ask for help.

Given the medications he is currently taking, it is amazing he could appear to sound lucid at all. But he does, and with great insight, along with some rationalizing (like the Cowardly Lion's "I do believe, I do believe...) to dull the pain that never seems to go away. Here is a man who has managed to salvage all the good he could find in his life to counterbalance the unmentionable abuse he suffered to provide a cautionary tale of the fragility of the lives of young children. In the end, you will agree with his "If you don't receive love from the ones who are meant to love you, you will never stop looking for it."

Gore, Al (2006). An Inconvenient Truth. The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It. PA: Rodale Press. This is probably the only book I have ever read AFTER seeing the film. Full of pictures, graphs and charts, Gore makes an excellent case for the need of people today, in the early part of the 21st century, to think about what is happening to our environment. I should mention, as I write this, July 2006 has turned out to be the most sweltering month, with record heat waves across the nation (like California with a 20+ day heat wave of triple digit temperatures and close to 200 dead from the heat). While his passion for the environment began early in life, this baby boomer is well aware that we can't just have an annual "Earth Day" anymore, but that it must become a part of our daily consciousness, from watching what we buy to what we eat and becoming an activist for Mother Nature, in doing our part to address global warming. Though Gore has probably spread his message more broadly through other media (like film and writing) than through politics, it does seem he misses the political arena, even though he repeatedly says that he can perform public service in many ways. Actually, he probably would make a good president, from a public health standpoint, because his heart and head are really in the same place.

Hammond, J. & Morrison, J. (1996). The Stuff Americans are Made Of. NY: Simon & Shuster MacMillan Co. A credible model of the American Culture that does explain why Americans act the way they do. It also explains why TQM, as a management tool, has failed as miserably as it has succeeded beyond expectations in Japan. For a generalist like myself, this book was a godsend in supporting many of the gut feelings I have developed in the face of daily reality. And, there is such a species called "American" rather than the hyphenated identities we have all been forced to adopt in the PC world of cultural diversity.

Harr, Jonathan. (1995). A Civil Action. A non-fiction can't-put-down courtroom thriller about the games lawyers play and how the legal system failed to fulfill its mission. Plaintiffs are more interested in seeing justice being done, and lawyers in seeing that it's not by translating it into money deals. A great look at how corporations have the money to never admit they've done anything wrong. By the way, this book does support the need for environmental vigilance in a world run by corporations only interested in pleasing stockholders without thinking about the health consequences of trying to save a few bucks.

Howard, P.K. (1994). The Death of Common Sense. How Law is Suffocating America. NY: Random House. A scathing insider's look at the corruption of Justice by man-made attempts to mold it in Man's own image. Or, how laws are doing injustice to the noble concept of Justice. It would take a lawyer to take the law into his own hands... For any public servant who has tried to work within the ever-convoluted limitations of constantly changing statutes and regulations, this book should come as no great revelation that the system does not work - and it's not their fault. Don't even think about health policy...

Indiana, G. (1999). Three Month Fever. The Andrew Cunanan Story. NY:HarperCollins Publishers. Another perspective about Andrew Cunanan. (See Orth's Vulgar Favors review) Indiana attempts to explain the motives of someone no one knew. Makes for interesting reading, and Cunanan comes off as a miscreant. I like Orth's book better.

Karasyov, C. & Kargman, J. (2004). The Right Address NY: Broadway Books. A scathing fictional look at all those rich people living on the Upper East Side, with full coffers but empty lives. These are the women who don't need to work and don't quite know what they want except to fill their time with mindless shopping and spending, ostentatious in designer clothes, terrified of growing old and fearful of what others of their kind think, creating the illusion of importance with endless gossip. Made for good summer time reading, but tsk tsk on the proof readers who allowed me to find 3 typos and the misuse of taught for taut.

Kohn, H. (1992). From Archetype to Zietgeist. MA: Little, Brown and Co. A dictionary you can enjoy reading! Covers the general ideas and concepts in the major academic disciplinary areas. You will find explanations for such overused terms as deconstruction, stylistics, anachronism, to name a few.

Latus, Janine. (2007). If I am Missing or Dead. A Sister' s Story of Love, Murder and Liberation. NY: Simon and Shuster. A true story about two women, both who were smart, but not when it came to relationships with men, and how one eventually loses her life. An emotionally raw honest portrayal of the tenuous relationship women have with their self-esteem and how far they should go to please the men in their lives and how much they conceal from themselves and others.

Levison, Iain. (2002). A Working Stiff's Manifesto. NY:Random House Trade Paperbacks. An autobiography of a sad case of the American Dream gone awry - an intelligent college grad scraping by in today's economic climate. I am glad he decided to record his horrible work experiences. Even better would be a movie adaptation with Edward Norton playing the lead. You really don't know how good you've got it until you see what Levison had to go through, sometimes for just $9.00 an hour. Read it and weep.

Levitt, Steven D. & Dubner, Stephen J. (2005). Freakonomics. A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything. NY:HarperCollins Publishers. It is actually a statistical look at modern society that no one ever bothered to do up to this point. The authors do try to put social trends into a new perspective that is worth your time to explore, like how names betray the social class of the parents who pick them for their children, an explanation for lower crime rates, and what exactly is a perfect parent. Challenge your thinking and read this book!

Liu, Eric. (1998). The Accidental Asian. NY: Vantage Books. An autobiography of all first generation Americans born on US soil. A presidential speechwriter, Liu extends his craft to the printed page in his eloquent attempt to capture the angst of those who are torn between 2 cultures. While he is ethnically Chinese, he would much prefer to be just an American than a Chinese - or Asian American. Not to be missed, especially his chapter, Fear of a Yellow Planet's section on Glory - absolutely brilliant.

Lubrano, A. (2004). Limbo. Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams NJ: John Wiley and Sons. Here is a first-hand look at what happens to those who chase the American Dream and then reach a semblance of it, thanks to education. Though this phenomenon is not new, Lubrano does add a personal perspective about how class differences affected his relationship with his family, supported by vignettes from others, a fraternity of "straddlers," people who feel uncomfortable with those who molded their childhood and those who make them feel estranged from the middle-class culture in their adulthood. However, I don't really think the lives of straddlers are that much different from those who came as immigrants to establish a new life in the U.S., nor from those who are the children of immigrants who then go on to excel in education. Straddlers are not as isolated as they may feel, but should revel in the fact that what they have become they have worked hard to achieve, and that is something those who were born rich will never understand. Good read.

Macrone, Michael. (1994). Eureka! 81 Key Ideas Explained. Probably everything you should have learned in college but someone on the curriculum committee forgot to mention. Learning them this way (on your own) is really painless and quite entertaining. Macrone really has a gift for explaining some of the most obtruse ideas great minds have thought up in the past few centuries. At least he understands them well enough to explain them to the rest of us. Great read.

Mah, Adeline Yen. (1997). Falling Leaves. An autobiography of everyone who has ever felt unwanted and/or unloved, and how such emotional abuse does not have to ruin one's life. Truly a heartbreaking account of a Chinese woman who survived the worst of Chinese society and culture. In this case, fiction can hardly outdo fact. A must-read.

McCourt, Frank. (1997). Angela's Ashes. An autobiography of everyone who has lived an impoverished childhood and tried to make sense of it. It is possible to rise above the most adverse of life's circumstances, but it helps to have a little humor.

McCourt, Frank. (1999). 'Tis. A memoir, and follow-up to the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Angela's Ashes." A worthy sequel but not as intense. The ending was a slight letdown, but his recounting of his misadventures with the New York City school system as a totally unappreciated teacher is worth reading.

McCourt, Frank. (2006). Teacher Man. A NY: Scribner. McCourt returns to the writing style that made Angela's Ashes so popular, and goes a little more in-depth about being a teacher for 30 years in the New York City School system. He finally finds his niche in teaching creative writing, but doesn't reach this epiphany until his marriage ends and he is close to 50. Though he seemed to have wasted away much of his life lost in his inability to find meaningfulness in what he did, he is nevertheless inspiring because he knows how to weave a good tale from observing what is happening around him. Teachers and would-be teachers should read this to gain some insight into what it's like to teach in inner-city schools. He was fortunate to have had the support of parents who wanted a better life for their kids.

McFarlane, Evelyn & Saywell, James. (1999). How Far Will You Go? This is one of those books you must read. Though it consists of a series of 500 questions, some are the toughest I have ever faced. How would you answer - "What is the single nastiest thing you've ever done to someone?" Answer that honestly, and go to the head of the class. If you want to challenge yourself at all levels, then read this book.

McGreevey, James E. (2006). The Confession. NY: HarperCollins Books. True to his Roman Catholic upbringing, McGreevey, ex-governor of New Jersey, fesses up to everything that has ailed him for over 40 years. But, would his readers offer him the absolution he craves? Perhaps, it's more of a cautionary tale of blind ambition, and how those who are this ambitious eventually get taken down by those who are are just, if not more ambitious, as they are but too insecure to see the bigger picture. The book is worth reading not so much for the tormented gay theme of a closeted life, but for the revealing look at local and state politics, and why some equate politics with the word "dirty." It's also a good look at how self-deception can be used to justify just about everything one would do not to get caught, and how living the "down low" is the most despicable form of existence - hurting those too trusting to suspect the cheating that, by any other name, is still cheating. And, I do have a sneaking suspicion that McGreevey is still campaigning, and his public life is not yet quite over.

McLaughlin, E., & Kraus, N. (2002). The Nanny Diaries. NY: St. Martin's Press. A fictional account of a modern-day governess who slaves for an unappreciative highly unlikable and unsympathetic well-to-do NYC family. Written with much humor and occasional stabs at the rich's sterile existence in which children are true pawns who are left to the care of those who really care.

Moser-Wellman, A. (2001). The Five Faces of Genius. The Skills to Master Ideas at Work Viking Press. Here is a truly great book that brings together psychology and practical skills to the workplace. The author is definitely an alchemist - one of five creative skill sets of this personality model. Don't miss if you want to learn more about creativity and how to make the most of your strengths and ameliorate the weak areas of your creative thinking!

Orth, Maureen. (1999). Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History. NY: Random House. If you are not a fan of True Crime, you will be after reading Orth's great literary odyssey across the emotional, psychological and geographical landscape of a very sick mind. Never one to judge the criminal mind, her compassionate portrayal will leave you almost as sorry about the wasted gifts Cunanan squandered as you would be for the families devastated by the deaths of his victims.

Petroski, H. (2003). Small Things Considered. NY: Alfred A Knopf. If you can accept the fact that this was written by a civil engineer with the penchant to analyze everything to death, then you can move on, especially after the first 25 pages spent on the imperfections of the water glass. He goes on to talk about all the things we see every day but simply take for granted, like the location of light switches, angle of a tootbrush, etc. The most interesting tidbits include the creation of the rotary-dial telephone by an undertaker who was paranoid about losing business to his competitor, and the differences in numerical sequencing on the cellphone and the calculator. Never noticed that, eh? Petroski makes the case for design in everything we do, from menu planning to remodeling, and while no design is perfect, everything still works and mankind is forever adaptable. However, I suspect that we wouldn't mind if all the remote controls in our lives can simply share the same programming, as the VCR, DVD, TV, blah, blah, blah. Nice reading for the trivia buff.

Preston, D. (2007). Blasphemy. NY: Tom Doherty Associates. A dozen renown scientists, along with its charismatic leader, Dr. Hazelius, work to replicate the collision that gave rise to the Big Bang Theory. In the process they couldn't get the supercollider to work properly because they fear it is being hacked, but are not so sure when it appears an intelligence has taken over the machine. Could this be really God? This techno-thriller is a page-turner that raises the question of whether it is possible to merge Religion and Science in the quest for Truth. Good summer reading.

Rich, F. (2006). The Greatest Story Ever Sold. NY: Penguin Books. Though the book reads like a summary of current events, this book will be a goldmine for future historians when they try to make sense of the U.S. in the early 21st century. This book will help the reader to understand the convoluted politics of the day and the games played by those in power. Rich is a wonderful writer who makes every effort to look for the truth behind the smoke and mirrors. And, coming from someone who has lived the time, Rich is right on the mark.

Rushkoff, D. (1999). Coercion. Why We Listen to What "They" Say. NY: Riverhead Books. A current updating of Vance Packard's (you may need to look this guy up and check out his other great book, "The Status Seekers") "Hidden Persuaders." It is somewhat frightening to see how parasitic marketers are in preying on the consumer, and how insidious the media has been in trying to influence our thinking. Rushkoff's object lesson can be aptly stated in what Pogo said a long time ago - "We Have Seen the Enemy, and He is Us". I suppose if we "wanted" fewer things, we would not be such ready targets for the pressure to buy, buy, buy. But, then again, who doesn't want to be wanted??? Good read.

Salsburg, D. (2001). The Lady Tasting Tea. How Statistics Revolutionized Science in the Twentieth Century. NY: WH Freeman. This humanities-approach look at how Statistics evolved into what it is today is quite insightful. A well-rounded interesting look at the personalities behind the named procedures we use as statisticians. However, I must say that it's incredible that the pettiness of such "great" minds did not undermine the genius each displayed in his own way. I think that increasing accessibility during the 1990s of statistical software programs for the broader audience of numbers crunchers has probably done more to demystify and lessen the anxiety of statistics in our lives, but not necessarily the mathematical theories that seem only to make sense within their own universes. It really wasn't necessary for Salzburg to apologize for not including "everyone" in his Afterword, but it would have been a great benefit if he did summarize all the issues and problems facing Statistics that he identified and mentioned throughout the book. A worthwhile book for those who work as statisticians to discover and appreciate how easy their lives are today as compared to the early 1900s when "computers" and "calculators" were women who spent months tediously doing and redoing the math....

Seckel, A. (2003). Incredible Visual Illusions. London:Arcturus Publishing Limited. Here is something completely different. You do get to read a little, but you will spend most of your time trying to figure out how your eyes are playing tricks on the way you perceive things. Is that really movement in 2D? How can there be so much depth on a flat piece of paper? You will thoroughly enjoy this book, trust me.

Sheff. D (2008). Beautiful Boy. NY: Houghton Mifflin Company. A harrowing true account of how a father dealt with a son who became a methamphetamine addict in his mid-teens. While one may question the maturity of a father who would share a joint with a son who has a drug problem, it does paint a realistic of picture of parents who think being their child's buddies is the role they should play. The book is really more about the father who had to grow up himself to deal with his son's problems than it was about the son who got lost in the divorce wars and could not live up to the expectations of others, least of all himself. Sheff does provide some guidance for others who have a family member with a drug problem. His insight into the destructive life of being a codependent is invaluable, as are his experiences with support groups.

Shenk, David. (1997). Data Smog. NY:HarperCollins Publishers. Basically, an eloquent journalist obsessing over the possible implications of a highly technical society for his trade. More seriously, an entertaining book about the curses rather than the blessings of Technology, more specifically, the double-edged sword of Internet access. What Shenk refers to as information is really data, and data are only as useful as our interpretation of them. It will make you think twice about what we take for granted as a wealth of information is really impoverishing our quality of life.

Suckling, Nigel. (2000). Year of the Dragon - Legends & Lore. NY:Barnes & Noble. Based on the travelogue from the 1800s, a visitor of China takes a serious approach to the most mythical of creatures - the dragon. Next time, count the number of claws a dragon has. You'll have to read the book to learn why.

Surowiecki, James. (2005). The Wisdom of Crowds. NY:Anchor Books. Groups can be smarter than the smartest people who are part of them, so Surowiecki asserts, in his sociological approach to human behavior. That is why juries work, and why the more diverse the group is, the more powerful they are at addressing problems. The key is diversity, because there is the danger of "groupthink" within small homogenous groups. The author introduces us to "confirmation bias" that causes decision makers to look for the bits of information that confirm their underlying intuitions (p. 178), and the idea that reaching consensus is not necessarily going to result in the best solution, only the least offending one. Thus, the wisdom from crowds is coming up with a better answer than any particular individual, on average, without necessarily guaranteeing the right answer (p. 235). This textbook is useful in helping us to become less reliant on what experts supposedly can provide us - answers we can find ourselves, with a little help from the people around us.

Sykes, Charles J. (1988). ProfScam: Professors and the Demise of Higher Education. An unvarnished critique of academia and how it has failed to fulfill its mission. Not exactly what we like to learn about how our tuition gets wasted by the politics of education, but you will become a better consumer of educational products nevertheless.

Tenner, Edward (1996). Why Things Bite Back. Technology and the Revenge of Unintended Consequences. NY: Vintage Books. Is a futurist only as good as his predictions realized? A decade after its publication, Tenner's book is still as relevant as ever. Though I didn't mean to "test" his hypotheses, it just took me this long to get to this book, in 2005, and it was worth all the time I could spend with it (among everything else I had to do and read along the way). All the "ghosts in the machines" we nonchalantly refer to when things don't work right may be "spirits" we need to appease, after all!

Tenner posits that while Man has made the most of Technology to improve our lives, our creations have come back to haunt our peace of mind. Unlike God's creations, which are basically self-perpetuating and ecologically appropriate, what Man creates, however, through Technology cannot sustain themselves, but must be nurtured with vigilance. When all we were looking for were time-saving devices to make our lives easier (i.e., washing machines), the broader outcome turns out to be the need to use the time we have saved in doing tedious tasks of daily living to maintaining the systems we thought would take care of themselves (self-correcting, right!).

Tenner sees the development of systems (which is the basic idea behind quality assurance and quality management) as not the blessings we thought they would be, but a way to complicate our need to sustain them by spending more time keeping them running smoothly, or heaven help us all if something should break down. Because Technology is so good at standardizing things, personalization has lost its edge to the point that we no longer own things, but they own us. He is probably right we may never see the paperless office we envisioned when computers and fax machines replaced typewriters, and we will always need the car mechanic (who must now be computer saavy) when the dream machines being developed are electronic systems that cannot be tinkered with by the weekend mechanic. Can "I, Robot" be far behind?

Tenner actually spends several chapters on how Technology has affected Medicine and Public Health (this book covers everything, believe me), and actually provides a very insightful explanation as to why medical errors have become the par for course, when we think that an MRI will reveal everything we will ever need to know about our health. To some extent, this is true, but we will need someone now who knows how to read those MRIs.... As Health Care becomes more reliant on machines to diagnose and treat, we can only suffer from the revenge effects of complicating the whole process of diagnosis and treatment.

Perhaps, Tenner's perspective explains why the fracturing of health services we are seeing today is really a result of our growing and unrealistic expectations of what Medicine should be doing for us - that Technology can surely cure everything that ails us, regardless of how we treat our bodies and minds. And, what about Public Health? The ability to build high smokestacks allowed industries to comply with local clean air standards only to spread their pollution over a broader geographic area...

Tenner is the 21st Century Renaissance Man who will hopefully not meet the fate of Cassandra. His book is a must-read for developing a mindset that will be needed to understand the sometimes self-defeating approaches Civilization takes towards Life. Technology must be understood in order to be harnessed. While Technology's children has brought much joy into our lives, they must be disciplined so they will grow up to be productive adults that will contribute than be a weight on society.

Truss, Lynne (2003). Eats, Shoots & Leaves. NY: Gotham Books. A more appropriate title would probably be "Punctuation Matters" though not so much that it's a book about the proper use of ".,"'()[]{};, etc. but more that punctuation matters. While Truss does provide some pointers on how to properly punctuate any sentence under the sun, the book should really be appreciated for the historical insight she provides about how punctuation came about. Given that the use of punctuation has been somewhat a fluid and an evolving practice to clarify written thought, it does not help that writers perpetually break the rules of grammar as a matter of creative license while mere mortals like ourselves must obey the technical aspects of writing just so we won't look stupid. Great read.

Truss, Lynne (2005). Talk to the Hand #?*! The Utter Bloody Rudeness of the World Today, or Six Good Reasons to Stay Home and Bolt the Door. NY: Gotham Books. If you get annoyed at the pervasive rudeness all around you, then this is the book for you. Truss, more confident from her success in championing the bane of high school English teachers around the world, takes on our present society's growing attitude of ignoring the existence of others in public, which is basically reflected in rude behavior. Obviously, rudeness is not just an American malady, but can be found anywhere that you find people too self-absorbed to treat others with any sense of dignity. Just think of all the times on the highway in which you are followed by some idiot, whether in a car or tractor trailer, who simply cannot keep his fingers off the headlights. What is the point, praytell, to furiously flashing your headlights on the person in front of you? Like the road belongs to only you?? Leave your house 5 minutes earlier, buddy. See? You will find many reasons to agree with Truss in her ranting over the insensitive actions of others who don't know the meaning of manners or social graces. You will chuckle at her put-downs, ever so gentle, and you will laugh at her solutions to correcting the problem of the growing population of bores who can improve everyone's day by just staying home. Good read.

Vincent, Norah (2006). Self-Made Man. One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man NY: Penguin Books. The author successfully passes as her alter ego, Ned, living the life of a man in public life, as a member of a men's bowling team, and a men's empowerment group, a door-to-door salesman, then lives in a monastery, go to strip clubs and dates women "he" meets on the Internet, and lives to tell about it all.

This is probably the most interesting book I have read in quite awhile, because she has done what hardly any woman would think of doing and what even few men would experience. Her writing is so insightful and reveals that being a man is not so great as most women think it is and what few men would admit to. It is somewhat sad that she would conclude that men and women can only peacefully co-exist by living parallel lives. However, it is also nice that she came out of this realizing it's great being a woman. A must-read for EVERYONE, for a better understanding of gender roles and how they affect our lives.

Vos Savant, M. (1996). The Power of Logical Thinking. NY: St. Martin's Griffin. A great book about analytical thinking from the woman with an IQ of 200. Just think, it's probably higher when you think the creators probably had IQs <200. Vos Savant makes excellent attempts to simplify the principles of probability. However, let's face it, much of probability is so counter-intuitive that it will probably make no sense to you anyway (especially if you think you can win the lottery).

The most enlightening portions of this book are the scalding comments from PhDs all over the world who are convinced that Vos Savant knows nothing about math (because she doesn't have a PhD AND the fact that she's a woman). Kudos to Vos Savant for not backing down from these academic bullies.

The last part of the book analyzes the statistical misformation that Clinton and Perot forced down everyone's throats during the 1992 presidential campaign. Of course, in retrospect, these sins are hardly sins next to ....

Winchester, S. (2005). A Crack in the Edge of the World. America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906 NY: HarperCollins Publishers. A truly fascinating read about an event that happened 100 years ago. It is easy how fast we can forget the catastrophic events that happened to those who lived through it long enough to give eyewitness accounts of such happenings. Winchester is a wonderful writer who manages to make an historical event interesting and suspenseful. He spends the first half of the book providing the various perspectives that will serve as a firm foundation for the reader to appreciate the final description of the actual event.

You get learn about geology (if Geology was taught this way in the schools, maybe there would be more geologists), the cultural temperature of the 1800s, a mini history lesson of the wild West (if History was taught.....), and a wonderful history of the city of San Francisco itself, and its place in California history and politics. Those interested in Public Health may find this book useful in studying the aftermath of natural disasters, and all the problems that affect the Public Health in such instances.

However, the spirit of this book is a travelogue of a passionate geologist who travels the wonders of the Western U.S., taking in the wondrous sites of places that will eventually succumb to the eventual catastrophic outpouring of the tectonic plates that move under us, most notably the infamous San Andreas Fault. Don't say that you have not been warned.... Excellent read.