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Recommend good factual reads - Page 3

post #31 of 38
8/12/10 at 12:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by StephenHero View Post
and David Sedaris.

Free associative ftw! Also, I do like Sedaris but I'm not a big fan. I dig Van Gogh more.
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post #32 of 38
8/12/10 at 1:15pm
A History of the American People and Modern Times by Paul Johnson.
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post #33 of 38
8/12/10 at 4:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by XenoX101 View Post
Currently reading this, it gives a nice overview of futurology and is easy to read but filled with facts and insights on the topic.

http://www.amazon.com/Brief-History-.../dp/1582341087

Interesting suggestion. Thanks.

Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnGalt View Post
FTFY

Gladwell is fucking terrible. His books are nothing more than a string of anecdotes to support his supposed theories. Waste of time.

They are indeed strings of anectodes and I can see how you might dislike that. However, I did not feel that they were a waste of time and found some of the stories quite intriguing, not to say entertaining.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mickey711 View Post
I agree with Fuuma: Freakonomics (as well as The World is Flat) is a load of tripe. Overrated pop-econ that you'll learn absolutely nothing from.
Anything written by Krugman/Stiglitz far surpasses anything Levitt has ever put out.

I have not read The World is Flat, but I have read Freakonomics. I quite liked the book. No one has yet argued what exactly they dislike about the book, except perhaps that it is popular. I also disagree with the notion that nothing at all can be learned from the book. If you were aware of every notion discussed in the book already I congratulate you, I certainly was not.

As for Krugman and Stiglitz, I am not sure whether their books would be quite what the OP is looking for.
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post #34 of 38
8/12/10 at 4:29pm
Ugh, Tom Friedman. His only good book was his first, From Beirut to Jerusalem.
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post #35 of 38
8/13/10 at 5:59am
Thread Starter 
The Prize is on order. I look forward to getting into it.
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post #36 of 38
8/14/10 at 10:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Clean View Post
Interesting suggestion. Thanks. They are indeed strings of anectodes and I can see how you might dislike that. However, I did not feel that they were a waste of time and found some of the stories quite intriguing, not to say entertaining. I have not read The World is Flat, but I have read Freakonomics. I quite liked the book. No one has yet argued what exactly they dislike about the book, except perhaps that it is popular. I also disagree with the notion that nothing at all can be learned from the book. If you were aware of every notion discussed in the book already I congratulate you, I certainly was not. As for Krugman and Stiglitz, I am not sure whether their books would be quite what the OP is looking for.
Freakonomics annoyed me too. I thought Superfreakonomics was better, but they are written with the common man in mind, so are way too simplified to be of any real academic use. Not read TWiF. Richard Dawkins. Jared Diamond and Steven Pinker (although his writing style can be so dense that it is difficult to get through more than a few pages at a time) are worth looking at. Taleb. Fooled by Randomness (A better book than Black Swan, which is basically a rehash to make some more money...)
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post #37 of 38
8/14/10 at 11:01am
The upside of irrationality.
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post #38 of 38
8/14/10 at 2:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr. Clean View Post
I have not read The World is Flat, but I have read Freakonomics. I quite liked the book. No one has yet argued what exactly they dislike about the book, except perhaps that it is popular. I also disagree with the notion that nothing at all can be learned from the book. If you were aware of every notion discussed in the book already I congratulate you, I certainly was not.

As for Krugman and Stiglitz, I am not sure whether their books would be quite what the OP is looking for.

Well, as Infrasonic and I have said, the book is too general to provide any 'real' knowledge. It's not exactly a book that will, say, explain why Argentina's adoption of a currency board wasn't a good idea. Freakonomics may be enjoyable to some, but I found it to be lacking in substance.

Krugman and Stiglitz both have books for general audiences (but not in the same vein as Freakonomics) which are very well-written, for the most part. Freefall's a pretty good read.
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