Most Clever Non-Fiction Book?

I’m just looking for something to read/learn from/be entertained by…
I’ve already read Leon Lederman’s “The God Particle” which is a hilarious physics book about the Higgs-Boson particle and Peter McWilliams’ brillian “Ain’t Nobody’s Business If You Do…”.
Any dopers have any favorite NF books?

I’ve seen several uncomplimentary references to Bill Bryson here at SDMB, but have yet to learn why he’s regarded as worthy of the putdowns. But one of the better books in the NF vein I’ve read in recent years is his “A Walk In The Woods.”

Having done a bit of hiking on portions of the Appalachian Trail, I found his prose to be captivating. His detailed analysis of the demise of the wild places was also heart-rending for me. Especially the demise of the chestnut tree.

I heartily agree with you, I love his collection “I’m a Stranger Here Myself”. Thanks!!1

We have the “book on CD” version of “I’m a Stranger Here Myself” that we got for Christmas a year or two ago and listen to it as we travel. Still have one CD to hear.

Are you familiar with Leonard Shlain? His “The Alphabet Versus The Goddess” is intriguing.

I read non-fiction almost exclusively.

’Godel, Escher, Bach’ by Douglas Hofstadter. Once described as like a workout in the best mental gymnasium in town. It IS a bit intense at times, but it’s worth it. An amazing piece of work which really can change the way you think.

’Last Chance To See’ by Douglas Adams. Adams goes off to look at some of the world’s most endangered species, and to understand the ecological issues involved. For me, funnier and better written than any of his fiction, and as educational as it is moving.

’Flim-Flam’ by James Randi. Best thing he’s ever done. A stunning, hilarious, witty, comprehensive, eye-opening tour-de-force of ‘debunking’ which is a joy to read from first to last and, in its genre, will never be bettered.

’In Cold Blood’ by Truman Capote. A non-fiction novel i.e. an extended piece of journalistic reportage concerning a real-life crime, although it reads like a story. Few people could write as well as Capote at his best, and I have never known anyone read this and not be impressed at the sheer quality of the prose, style and construction.

’Final Cut’ by Steven Bach. The complete, compelling story of the making of ‘Heaven’s Gate’, the movie which bankrupted United Artists, told in rivetting style by the only person who was involved (as Exec Producer) from start to finish. Hilarious, agonisingly real and will take your breath away. Sadly, this book is no longer in print so you’ll have to track down a second-hand copy. Well worth it.

’Why Things Bite Back’ by Edward Tenner. A funny yet sobering analysis of why even the best laid plans often go astray, and we’re so often left with the same problems we started with. Highly perceptive, well-written, and eye-opening.

Any of William Goldman’s books. He’s a successful screenwriter who has written three non-fiction books (Adventures In The Screen Trade, Hype & Glory, Which Lie Did I Tell?) revolving around his life and times in the movie industry. All three are majestically entertaining and thought-provoking.

’Paperweight’ by Stephen Fry. A compilation of his newspaper columns and essays. High entertainment on a stick, to be licked as you please.

’The Battersea Park Road To Enlightenment’ by Isabel Losada. One woman decides to personally try out every form of self-help therapy and self-improvement class, to see if any of them actually make any difference. A masterclass in good, funny, punchy writing, deliciously perceptive and witty as hell without ever ridiculing the various belief systems she encounters. The Prologue alone is worth ten years of ‘How to write well’ lessons.

’The Art of Deception’ by Kevin Mitnick. A devastating expose of ‘social engineering’, or subverting security systems by conning people. Eye-opening to say the least, and a hugely significant social docment.

“Most Clever Non-Fiction Book” is the best four-word summary I’ve ever seen of the afore-mentioned Goedel, Escher, Bach: The Eternal Golden Braid. If you have any interest at all in mathematics, computer science, information theory, or any related field, read that book.

But I will warn you, it’s extremely dense, and extremely long. This is not something you can read in a week.

Peter Jenkins’ Looking For Alaska. Anything by either Tracy Kidder or Bill Bryson.

And I keep re-reading Woodward and Armstrong’s The Brethren, about the Supreme Court in the early-mid '70s.

Bill Bryson- Notes from a Big Country… I think he’s hilarious, although I’ve come to doubt some of his facts and figures.

I personally thought In Cold Blood was horrible, but that’s just me.

Jared Diamond’s “Guns, Germs and Steel.”
Matt Ridley’s “Genome.”
Donald Johanson’s “Lucy.” Over 10 years old but still a good read.

Jon Krakauer’s “Into the Wild” and “Into Thin Air”.

I also second (or fourth or fifth) the recommendation for Bill Bryson, especially “A Walk in the Woods” and my newest favorite, “A Short History of Nearly Everything”.

Another vote for anything by Bill Bryson - I really cannot imagine what sort of problem people could have with what he writes - he cracks me up EVERY time…

Howard Bloom has written some ‘through provoking’ things in the form of The Lucifer Principle and Global Brain - they reside firmly in the ‘read and consider’ rather than ‘read and believe’ section tho…

Currently I’m reading IBM and the Holocaust (Edwin Black) and whilst it’s a bit slow and ‘too detailed for general reading’ - the way in which IBM did business and the early history of ‘data processing’ make interesting stories in themselves…

TTFN

JP

I like a lot of Bryson, too, but I’ve heard that his “Short History…” is full of errata.

There’s always Norman Cohn’s “Pursuit of the Millenium,” which examines religious beliefs surrounding the apocalypse, as well as various cults in Europe between 600 and 1530. It’s a bit scholarly but well worth the read.

Wendy Kaminer’s “Sleeping With Extra-Terrestrials” discusses both mainstream and new age religious beliefs and the role of these beliefs in our lives.

Damn. This is the thread I was bound & determined to start this morning. Thanks for doing it for me. :slight_smile:

I love Bryson, too. A Walk in the Woods is just funnier than hell, among other great points.

My first one is pretty obvious right now, but Laura Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit is one of the best books I’ve ever read in any category. She writes beautifully, captures that era clearly, and manages to get into the mind of both man and beast equally as well.

Virginia Scott Jenkin’s The Lawn: The History of an Obsession sounds bizarre and quirky, but it isn’t. Well, it’s quirky. But she manages to tie the subject into a commentary on classism, consumerism and ecologly. It’s also incredibly readable, and has a sense of humor about its subject.

Mike Davis’ City of Quartz is a masterpiece of urban studies. It’s about Los Angeles and how the city has evolved over the years.

Marc Reisner’s Cadillac Desert is a wonderfully written history of water management in the west, about the competition to build dams and manage rivers. It’s also a scary book if you live out here and have an inkling that big desert cities may not be such a good idea.

And finally, for something completely different, Ruben Hersh’s What is Mathematics, Really? challenges neoplatonist ideas in the philosophy of math, seeing it as a human endeavor and a triumph of human collaboration and creativity. If you have a taste for anything about the philosophy of science, get this.

I’ll heartily second both of those and add Marc Reisner’s new (and unfortunately, last) book A Dangerous Place. It’s an analysis of the earthquake danger in California that ends with a first person fictional account of what the ‘big one’ might be like.

And I’ll have to add John McPhee’s Annals of the Former World, or any of his work, really. Annals is a overview of the geology (and the geologists) of the United States as revealed by the roadcut left by the building of I-80 from NJ to CA. A Pulitzer Prize winner!

True story: My wife, an intelligent, well-read woman, inexplicably told the counter person at our bookstore that she was looking for a book called Anals of the Former World. I guess no matter who you are, some words just slip right by you.

Another vote for Gödel, Escher, Bach.

I’d like to make a case for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig, too, (although many people persist in viewing it as either fiction or as an autobiographical narrative of events rather than as a metaphysics/epistemology text).

Oh, and A Brief History of Time is worthy of mention.

So is James Gleck’s Chaos.

If I were handing out the awards I’d have to give the nod to GEB though.

I highly recommend the books of John McPhee. Especially my favorite, Looking For A Ship. But my favorite non-fiction book is Ship of Gold In The Deep Blue Sea, which simultaneously tells the historic story of how a ship loaded with California gold went down off the Atlantic coast in the 1800s, and the modern story of how a dedicated treasure hunter invented the equipment necessary to find it. I thought it was great.

And I also love everything by Bill Bryson, but if you like language I’d especially recommend his books on the history of English and American English, Mother Tongue and . . . shoot, I can’t remember the name of the other one.

Flatterland: Like Flatland, Only More So, by Ian Stewart

The Collapse of Chaos: Discovering Simplicity in a Complex World, by Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen

Both very entertaining and illuminating looks at math and science.

It may not be straight out non-fiction, but Kurt Vonnegut’s Timequake definitely fits your criteria. You’ll read, you’ll learn, you’ll be entertained.

I’m not sure how you define “clever”, but…

I’ll second Genome and Chaos. Genome certainly fits what I would call “clever”.

“Be entertained by” - I would suggest Anne Lamott’s Operating Instructions. You won’t ever find a more honest, humorous journal.

For the mathematics inclined, I’d also suggest Fermat’s Enigma.