I’m interested in a multitude of things, including social justice, socialism, history, poetry, magical realism (fiction), capitalism, race and class struggle, plus stuff like wine, baseball and music.
So mostly non-fiction, though I read maybe two novels per year and maybe one poetry collection.
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27% complete! Steven Ray has read 5 of 18 books.
Václav Havel’s remarkable and rousing essay on the tyranny of apathy, with a new introduction by Timothy Snyder
Cowed by …
As the first book I've read about Autism, I found this one helpful. As every autistic person does not have the same symptoms / challenges, there are always going to be some things which don't pertain to you. But, the author did a good job of going over the wide range of challenges which one can face and what strategies and other things are available to help you cope.
Depicts a day in the life of a family deteriorating from alcoholism, drug addiction, and imminent death. Ageing actor, James …
The Obama presidency represents a major milestone in black history and the struggle for political, economic and cultural equality in …
The Obama presidency represents a major milestone in black history and the struggle for political, …
I read this book through the lens of everything that's happened since it was published in 2012. It's main focus is the event of the Obama presidency, and what it meant to both the author and to the people she interviewed. It's also of course about the history of being black in this country, and how the ascent of a black man to the presidency adds to that history and changes perceptions, changes the dynamic. So, it was a really worthwhile read.
In regards to progress, there's just so much more to do, and I think that'll always be true.
After the Second World War, nationalism emerged as the principle expression of resistance to Western imperialism in a variety of …
The Obama presidency represents a major milestone in black history and the struggle for political, economic and cultural equality in …
The Obama presidency represents a major milestone in black history and the struggle for political, economic and cultural equality in …
Opinion polls show that many people in the U.S. prefer socialism to capitalism. But after being declared dead and buried …
Opinion polls show that many people in the U.S. prefer socialism to capitalism. But after …
Written in a very casual, approachable style and full of good humor, I found this book to be a good intro to Socialism. I’d read many books on theory which were fairly deep and insightful and covered more ground, but this one would probably have been a good choice to read first to give me a good base of knowledge before delving deeper. The author does a good job of giving us a history lesson, defining what the term means and pointing us to a way forward. I can definitely recommend it.
Opinion polls show that many people in the U.S. prefer socialism to capitalism. But after being declared dead and buried …
The three-volume text by Henri Lefebvre is perhaps the richest, most prescient work about modern …
Diving into this gigantic Marxist critique of consumerism, etc.
The classic account of ambient music, with a new foreword by Michel Faber
David Toop's …
What an adventure. Weaving personal experience with myriad interviews and deep knowledge as both a musician and a listener, David Toop fills the reader’s mind with musical history. Not so much a chronological history as it is a tale of organic evolution encompassing everything from classical to dub, Musique concréte to minimalism, Kraut Rock to cosmic jazz. Going pretty far afield at times, you’ll find yourself reading an interview of Brian Eno on one page and a while later, an account of the author recording a group of shamans deep in the Amazon rainforest. Even if you’re not a huge fan of Ambient music, you may still get a lot out of this book. For me, it was a joy to read.
A study of the psychological effects of totalitarianism, and how those under it's thumb adapted to survive.
The Captive Mind …
