American Vertigo

American Vertigo. Traveling America in the Footsteps of Tocqueville.
by
Bernard-Henri Levy
(Random House, 2006)

From the front flap:

What does it mean to be American, and what can America be today? To answer these questions, celebrated philosopher and journalist Bernard-Henri Levy spent a year traveling throughout the country... The result is ... a fascinating, wholly fresh look at a country we sometimes only think we know.

Quote from within:

And then, farther down the road, the Hearst Castle, set on an arid mountain facing the ocean: San Simeon, bombastic kitsch, as big as one-fourth of Rhode Island, where I arrive full of emotion (wasn't this, after all, the model for Citizen Kane's Xanadu, the fortress of solitude where Orson Welles brought to life, and enclosed, his character?) but which I leave, an hour later, torn between irrepressible and contradictory wishes to laugh, to vomit, and yet at times to applaud.

Resource Wars

Resource Wars. The New Landscape of Global Conflict
by
Michael T. Klare
(Owl Books, 2001)

An obvious wakeup call for consumers every where. Energy and resources are the driving forces of our era.

From the back cover:

A much-needed assessment of a changed world, resource Wars is a compelling look at warfare in an era of rampant globalization and intense economic competition.

"Brilliantly researched, ably argued... Resource Wars shows that a new geography of conflict is already being mapped out. Klare's analysis is indisputable."
~ David Rieff, Los Angles Times Book Review

The Buying of the President 2004

The Buying of the President 2004. Who's Really Bankrolling Bush and His Democratic Challengers -- and What They Expect in Return.
by
Charles Lewis and the Center For Public Integrity
(Perennial, 2004)

From the back cover: Is the Oval Office for Sale?

The Buying of the President 2004 reveals how the process of choosing a president has moved from the voting booth to the auction block, and highlights the special interests that heavily invest in the politicians seeking the nation's highest office. Lewis and his team reveal and investigate the sponsors and the known and not-so-known conficts of inteest entangling each of the aspirants to the White House. This is the only book of its kind, containing investigative profiles and personal histories of the major presidential candidates.

See www.publicintegrity.org for more info.

"The flood of money that gushes into politics today is a pollution of democracy."
~ Theodore H. White

Political Babble

Political Babble: The 1,000 Dumbest Things Ever Said by Politicians
by
David Olive
(John Wiley & Sons, 1992)

Funny collection of witless dribbles from politicians now and then. Amazing collection, good for all things, but especially for lightening the mood of this Dark Age.

"I would have made a good Pope."
~ Richard Nixon

"I have opinions of my own - strong opinions -- but I don't always agree with them."
~ George Bush

America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction

America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction
by
John Stewart, Ben Karlin, David Javerbaum
(Warner Books, 2004)

Perhaps the most hysterical, yet sad, send up of American politics ever written. Derived from and part of The Daily Show with John Stewart, this smart book will have you laughing out loud and the crime of it all.

Whether it is exploring the King of Democracy, the Shadow Government's God Complex, or which example of photojournalism gnaws at your soul, this book covers the gamut. A must read, especially if you, like all of us, must laugh to cover the painful tears you are crying at the shame of it all.

"I would certainly read this book if I were alive today, which, for all you geniuses out there, I am not."

~ Abraham Lincoln