It’s always an eye-opener to read books that challenge existing notions or add new thinking. Here are three that have had an impact on my world view. Enjoy … and let me know if you’d like to see other books on snoety …
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BOOK INFO, AMAZON REVIEWS & LINKS to PURCHASE:
“The Post American World” by Fareed Zakaria — I love this guy … also read his column in Newsweek, and he’s got a really interesting Sunday show on CNN at 1:00 PM that I tape to watch later ...
“One of our most distinguished thinkers argues that the ‘rise of the rest’ is the great story of our time.”
“This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else.” So begins Fareed Zakaria’s important new work on the era we are now entering … [He} describes with equal prescience a world in which the United States will no longer dominate the global economy, orchestrate geopolitics, or overwhelm cultures. He sees the “rise of the rest”—the growth of countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia, and many others—as the great story of our time, and one that will reshape the world…What does it mean to live in a truly global era? Zakaria answers these questions with his customary lucidity, insight, and imagination.”
“Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariely – He got me in the first chapter, and I’m already applying what I’ve learned …
“When it comes to making decisions in our lives, we think we’re in control. We think we’re making smart, rational choices. But are we? In a series of illuminating, often surprising experiments, MIT behavioral economist Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. Blending everyday experience with groundbreaking research, Ariely explains how expectations, emotions, social norms, and other invisible, seemingly illogical forces skew our reasoning abilities…Ariely explains how to break through these systematic patterns of thought to make better decisions…”
“The Namesake” by Jhumpa Lahiri – There’s a lot of hype out now about her Lahiri’s new book (which I haven’t read yet), and I recently saw her on “Charlie Rose” and was surprised at how quiet and open she was (even talked about her psychotherapy). Anyway, I belong to a book club and this was their selection, and it intrigued me on numerous levels.
Any talk of The Namesake…must begin with a name: Gogol Ganguli. Born to an Indian academic and his wife, Gogol is afflicted from birth with a name that is neither Indian nor American nor even really a first name at all… Awkwardness is [his] birthright. He grows up a bright American boy, goes to Yale, has pretty girlfriends, becomes a successful architect, but…he can never quite find his place in the world…Gogol’s story is neither comedy nor tragedy; it’s simply that ordinary, hard-to-get-down-on-paper commodity: real life. –Claire Dederer –This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Let me know if you’d like to see more book recommendations from snoety,
Harriett
