I thought about that one, but the trouble is it is so out of date. If King would issue a revised updated copy I would be the first in line to get it.
What most people who don’t like Stephen King don’t realize is that he writes extremely well.
Great thread topic, phouka! I’ll be following it with interest.
Some contributions:
The Song of the Dodo by David Quammen. With a subtitle of Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction, Quammen covers a breadth of material. He writes with an underlying passion on the future of species biodiversity and the implications of island biogeography for mainland species being confined to smaller and smaller spaces, but doing so in a very accessible way. And dammit, I still think from time to time of the dying song of the last dodo.
The very recently published Flirting with Disaster: Why Accidents are Rarely Accidental by Marc Gerstein with a foreword and afterword by Daniel Ellsberg. Gerstein focuses on “organizational” (in the sense of a collection of people) disasters and discusses underlying causes. I think it has a useful perspective amongst other things on probability, bystander behaviour, and game theory, but in practical applications where disastrous results have ensued. Both he and Ellsberg then discuss disaster avoidance.
Since no one else has mentioned it yet, Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. Diamond’s treatise on 13,000 years of human history. (ETA: Sorry, HongKongFooey, took me a long time to get this done, and at the time I started you hadn’t posted yet.)
The Ancestor’s Tale by Richard Dawkins. Dawkins follows the human family tree (co-ancestors) all the way back to the beginning. Incidentally this was also the source of one my favourite pieces of random trivia: hippos closest living relatives are whales.
And that he knows a thing or two about what makes good writing. Some people don’t like Stephen King because they don’t like the kind of thing he writes. I know people who don’t like Stephen King who do like his On Writing.
I second or third or fourth or whatever “Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan. Great book.
“Origin of the Species” by Charles Darwin. Almost 200 years old and still great.
“Brothel” by Alexa Albert. Dr. Albert does a public health study of Nevada’s legal bordellos and gets to the know some of the working ladies too.
Just finished At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig: Travels Through Paraguay. A very, very interesting read about a country about which I knew nothing. Equal parts history, humor, and bizarre travelogue-type stories.
I thought Carl Sagan’s “The Dragons Of Eden” was a marvelously thought-provoking book.
Years ago I read an essay King wrote about how he handles interviews. It appeared in the Sunday New York Times literary magazine.
The man was hilarious! He could make money writing comedy, and I’d buy every piece. It just probably wouldn’t make as MUCH money as his horror/macabre stuff. It was that essay that made me realize how good a writer King really is, even though I grimace at some of his stuff.
Because the first was almost verbatim what I was going to say, I’ve put Harris’ book on my list to read.
Having been multiply beaten to Cuckoo’s Egg, I’ll mention A Gathering of Saints by Robert Lindsey. Amazing true-crime police procedural of the investigation and prosecution of the mid-80s bombings in Salt Lake City.
Not necessary, your post was great! I’m especially interested in Flirting with Disaster, hadn’t heard of that one yet.
Seconded, thirded, and fourthed. A GREAT book. I buy spare copies and hand them out as needed.
Actually, it’s “The Origin of Species.” [/nitpick]
If you do read it, I’d be interested to know what you think. I thought Ellsberg’s comments around what caused him to release the Pentagon Papers, and his sentiments around US involvement in Iraq noteworthy, for example.
The World is Flat.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Also Found (and the rest of the series) by Davy Rothbart: moving, insightful, hilarious, and definitely worthwhile.
How is H2G2 non-fiction?
Unless you’re talking about the large-print edition, you know, the one that takes several inconveniently large buildings to cart it around…
A couple from me for what it’s worth:
The Trouble with Physics by Lee Smolin , finally a book not praising string theory.
and
End of Faith by Sam Harris
and of course
God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens.
Stephen King is NOT a horror writer. He is a damn good writer who concentrates on horror. In some of his books, the horror is the weakest element. Rose Madder should have ended with Rose kicking Norman’s ass.
The Transparent Society by David Brin.
A book on the death of privacy in an age of databases and cheap and EZ surveillance.
I’ll second Into Thin Air, a thrilling and heartbreaking true-life adventure story. And 84 Charing Cross Road, a charming book about loving books. And The Hot Zone, a very scary nonfiction account of an Ebola near-outbreak in the U.S.
I’ll add:
Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams (yes, that Douglas Adams) and Mark Carwardine, a tragicomic account of seeking out highly endangered species.
The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger, about swordfishermen taking on the sea, and losing. Much better than the movie.
Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis, a Pulitzer Prize-winner about the Framers and their dealings with each other as they wrestled with the big issues of the day: slavery, state’s rights, power, and forming a new nation. A brilliant, concise, fascinating introduction to early American history.
Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell. well-written, highly readable, American History.
The Ancient Engineers by L. Sprague De Camp. Also well-written & readable, very good for dispelling the “aliens built Stonehenge” crowd.