"It's true you can't judge a book by its cover, but you can tell a lot about a person by what he or she reads."
That’s what Katie Couric said on her January 29, 2008 program of the CBS Evening News. With this questionable presumption in mind, she then went on to ask the presidential candidates what book, besides the Bible, they would bring with them to the White House. John McCain said Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. Barak Obama picked Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals. And Hillary Clinton said The Federalist Papers. There were other presidential candidates that were asked at the time, but it’s less relevant now that it appears they won’t be moving into the White House with their favorite book any time soon.
Inspired, or in some other way motivated, by Ms. Couric, Bill Moyers, on his February 8th program of Bill Moyers’ Journal, invited his viewers to recommend to his blog what book, other than the Bible, the next President, whomever they may be, should take to the White House. The response was robust, and Mr. Moyers’ blog received a horde of responses. The most popular recommendations were:
• Naomi Klein, THE SHOCK DOCTRINE
• Howard Zinn, A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
• Kim Michaels, THE ART OF NON-WAR
• Jared Diamond, COLLAPSE
• Chalmers Johnson, BLOWBACK triology
• Tom Paine, COLLECTED WORKS/COMMON SENSE
• Al Gore, ASSAULT ON REASON/AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
• David Cay Johnston, FREE LUNCH
• George Orwell, 1984/ANIMAL FARM
• Naomi Wolff, THE END OF AMERICA: LETTERS TO A YOUNG PATRIOT
• Greg Mortenson, THREE CUPS OF TEA
• Barbara Ehrenreich, NICKLE AND DIMED
• Barbara Tuchman, MARCH OF FOLLY
• Doris Kearns Goodwin, TEAM OF RIVALS
• David Korten, THE GREAT TURNING
• John Steinbeck, THE GRAPES OF WRATH
• Ayn Rand, ATLAS SHRUGGED
• John Dean, BROKEN GOVERNMENT
• John Perkins, CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HITMAN
• James Carroll, HOUSE OF WAR
• Thomas Friedman, THE WORLD IS FLAT
• Lao Tzu, TE TAO CHING
• Tim Weiner, LEGACY OF ASHES
• Dr. Seuss (THE LORAX, HORTON HEARS A WHO, THE PLACES YOU'LL GO, IF I RAN THE ZOO)
The only book on this list that the Santa Fe Public Library does not own is the one by Kim Michaels, The Art of Non-War. We’ll order and try to get it for any presidential hopefuls in our midst. And there was a whole cart load of other titles recommended-- maybe you’d like to go to Moyers’ blog to see if there’s something you find inspiring. As for the next president, may s/he read well.
Posted by TG at Main Library
No comments:
Post a Comment