Recommend Non-Fiction Books

[SuBe]

This is a thread to Recommend Non-Fiction Books.

I recommend anyone that is interested in History:

Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg, it's an amazing read about the Truth about Historical Figures like Hitler, Mussolini, and Wooddrow Wilson. I highly recommend it.

[Matt]

Anything by Tom Frank

[November Rain]

If you are looking for a positive attitude towards your thinking process, I recommend

Winning - Jack Welch
The goal - Eli Goldratt (semi non-fiction)
7 Habbits of Highly Sucessful People - Steven Covey

[Dr. Watson]

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. A really great history of turn of the century America. It centre's on two men-one the planner of the Chicago World Fair, the other a serial killer who set up shop while it was going on.

One No, Many Yeses is a travelogue/report on the world wide anti-economic globalization movement post-Seattle. Though you may not agree with the politics of many of the people, it does discuss a lot of interesting issues and options for a different world order. Some of the places the author travels are Mexico to meet with the Zapitistas and Italy to participate in the G8 protests.

The Uncensored Oral History of Punk is comprised of hundreds of interviews that recount the rise of the punk movement in NYC and London through the 70's and 80's, including interviews with the Ramones, David Bowie, Debbie Harry, Vivenne Westwood, and the Sex Pistols. A competely engaging and great read.

[Matt]

I've actually found Donald Trump's books to be quite good. They're not going to get you rich or make you a business guru as he claims, but the man has led an interesting life and has many great stories that he shares with his reader.

[Eggyman]

Most of these are aimed at the budding author...

On Writing by Stephen King. This was my bible when I first started writing - great insight into what to do and what not to do. Very good read with Kings wit prevalent throughout. The section dealing with rewriting is probably the best.

Danse Macabre by Stephen King. This is great for anyone who enjoys the horror genre, pulling it to bits and looking at each medium in turn. It's supplied me with names of classic horror films and books that I've overlooked.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Written like a fictional novel, but based on true events. Classic read.

[Matt]

Catch Me If You Can: The Amazing True Story of the Youngest and Most Daring Con Man in the History of Fun and Profit by Frank W. Abagnale - Great read. I'm sure most of you have already seen the movie, but the book is definitely worth checking out. Abagnale's life seems like it should be a movie. It is that damn amazing.

[Addendum]

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Age of Reason by Thomas Paine
Unweaving the Rainbow by Richard Dawkins
Homo Politicus by Dana Milbank
Chasing Ghosts by Paul Rieckhoff

[SuBe]

Catch Me If You Can: The Amazing True Story of the Youngest and Most Daring Con Man in the History of Fun and Profit by Frank W. Abagnale - Great read. I'm sure most of you have already seen the movie, but the book is definitely worth checking out. Abagnale's life seems like it should be a movie. It is that damn amazing.
I'll have to read it, I loved the Movie.

[Matt]

Let me know what you think SuBe. I love both the movie and book. Abagnale's life...man...it's just the stuff of dreams.

[SuBe]

Will do, did you ever pick up Liberal Fascism?

[Matt]

No, but I'm definitely going to. Especially after reading your brief synopsis. Wilson is one of those presidents who really intrigues me. Some of what he did was genius. Some was a total cluster ****. I love to read any new perspective on him :up:

[The Senator]

Cradle to Cradle: Rethinking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
Hot, Flat & Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris

[StorminNorman]

Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough

Biography on Teddy Roosevelt an Family - fantastic.

[Franklin Richards]

Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams

Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why by Bart D. Ehrman

Johnny Cash: The Autobiography


:thing: :doom: :thing:

[Motown Marvel]

the complete history of jack the ripper. chilling stuff.

[Eggyman]

Here's my review of In Cold Blood quoted from another thread:


I've just read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.

The film Capote was what caught my interest, and I'm always looking for something different to broaden my horizons. It was pretty hard for me to get into, with a very slow start and his prose showing a lot of evidence to his time as a reporter for the New Yorker. He crams sentences with lots of details, relying a lot on bracketing additional information into the sentences (although the info he decides to bracket is usually quite long and then when the brackets close you've lost where the original sentence was going) sometimes leading you to backtrack. See what I did there?

But once the 'story' gets going, it's much more enjoyable, unputdownable in fact. He recreated a genre with this book, reporting actual events but writing of them in a way that makes the book feel like a work of fiction... an actual story rather than a list of dates and happenings.

His attitude towards the events, the characters, and the setting is quite unbiased, leaving you the reader to form your own conclusions in the murder of the Clutter family in November of 1959. Also, what surprised me, after seeing the film Capote where it documents his writing of In Cold Blood, he never breaks the forth wall by mentioning his investigation into the case or the attachment he had towards the two killers.

Great book. Give it a try but be forgiving for the first 60 pages; after that, enjoy the ride.

9/10



:yay:

[adhokk7]

It can be tedious and trying, but The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton is well worth the time and effort.

[Lucy in the sky]

Quotations from chairman mao or Mein Kampf for nationalism

[The Apocalypse]

The Game by Neil Strauss.

[The Denialist]

I second Captote's In Cold Blood, along with The Muses Are Heard, also by Capote. Hell, all of his non-fiction work is great.