# Nonfiction recommendations, please **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 16, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121 "2008-06-16T16:41:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/1 "2008-06-16T16:41:12Z")
I find myself reading more and more nonfiction lately. This is a little puzzling to me, as just five years ago, my recreational reading was made up strictly of fiction. I’m looking for some recommendations. I’m particularly interested in history and sociology, but I’m game for anything. I’m not looking to become an expert on any one subject, but am perfectly happy to read about the Black Death one week and Zoroastrians the next. Some nonfiction I’ve read recently and enjoyed: The Great Mortality, John Kelly Spook, Mary Roach Salt: A World History, Mark Kurlansky The World Without Us, Alan Weisman The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan The Professor and the Madman, Simon Winchester Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, Charles Seife The Boy’s Crusade, Paul Fussell ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/2 "2008-06-16T16:50:18Z")
**Rocket Boys** by Homer Hickam. A memoir about a group of young men building rockets in a small coal mining town. The book has every thing: coming of age, science, romance, labor disputes, small town politics. One of the best books I have read. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/3 "2008-06-16T16:56:55Z")
[The Worst Hard Time](http://www.amazon.com/Worst-Hard-Time-Survived-American/dp/061834697X) by Timothy Egan. National Book Award nonfiction winner for 2006. It’s about the Dust Bowl, its causes and the aftermath, and it’s a great read. I’m tempted to buy another copy – my daughter loaned mine to a teacher and the teacher lost it!! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/4 "2008-06-16T18:37:12Z")
_Critical Mass - how one thing leads to another_ by [Philip Ball](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Ball) was quite interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/5 "2008-06-16T19:40:49Z")
I’ve recently read: [The Know-It-All](http://www.amazon.com/Know-All-Humble-Become-Smartest/dp/0743250621/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213644678&sr=8-1), by A. J. Jacobs, which is about a guy who attempts to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. [Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith](http://www.amazon.com/Under-Banner-Heaven-Story-Violent/dp/1400032806/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213644789&sr=1-2), by Jon Krakauer. It’s a history of fundamental Mormonism. [Final Exam: A Surgeon’s Reflections on Mortality](http://www.amazon.com/Final-Exam-Surgeons-Reflections-Mortality/dp/030727537X/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213645085&sr=1-1), by Pauline Chen. On that Amazon page is a link to Complications, by Atul Gawande, which I also recommend. I would also check out Stiff, also by Mary Roach, and, if you have the stomach for it, [Aftermath, Inc.,](http://www.amazon.com/Aftermath-Inc-Cleaning-After-Goes/dp/B000Z4K4WU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213644946&sr=1-1) which is about the crime-scene cleanup company with the same name. I swear I’m not as morbid as these choices imply. 🙂 I just like reading about medicine, science, and psychology. ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/6 "2008-06-16T19:52:12Z")
I really enjoyed Freakonomics, The Perfect Storm, and Into Thin Air. Oldies but goodies. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/7 "2008-06-16T20:01:18Z")
[QUOTE=TheMerchandise] The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan [/QUOTE] Check out his _Botany of Desire_, about the coevolution of four plants (apples, tulips, potatoes, marijuana) with the humans who have cultivated them to fulfill different needs (sweetness, beauty, control, intoxication). ---
**Author:** ![Sublata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7cd45c/32.png) [@Sublata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublata)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/8 "2008-06-16T20:18:36Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] [The Worst Hard Time](http://www.amazon.com/Worst-Hard-Time-Survived-American/dp/061834697X) by Timothy Egan. National Book Award nonfiction winner for 2006. It’s about the Dust Bowl, its causes and the aftermath, and it’s a great read. I’m tempted to buy another copy – my daughter loaned mine to a teacher and the teacher lost it!! [/QUOTE] I second that recommendation. Another book by Timothy Egan that I liked was [Breaking Blue](http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Blue-Timothy-Egan/dp/1570614296/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213642681&sr=1-1), about the murder of a cop during the 1930s and a modern sheriff’s obsession with solving the case. Other non-fiction I’ve found interesting: [The Children’s Blizzard](http://www.amazon.com/Childrens-Blizzard-P-S-David-Laskin/dp/0060520760/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213646796&sr=1-1) by David Laskin. [Under a Flaming Sky: The Great Hinckley Firestorm of 1894](http://www.amazon.com/Under-Flaming-Sky-Hinckley-Firestorm/dp/006123625X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213647396&sr=1-1) by Daniel James Brown [Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies and Why](http://www.amazon.com/Deep-Survival-Who-Lives-Dies/dp/0393326152/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213642466&sr=1-1) by Laurence Gonzalez [Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America’s Soul](http://www.amazon.com/Sin-Second-City-Ministers-Playboys/dp/0812975995/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213647052&sr=1-1) by Karen Abbott (interesting topic but annoying writing IMHO) [Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets](http://www.amazon.com/Fooled-Randomness-Hidden-Chance-Markets/dp/0812975219/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213647246&sr=1-1) by Nassim Nicholas Taleb ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/9 "2008-06-16T20:33:57Z")
[QUOTE=AudreyK] I would also check out Stiff, also by Mary Roach, and, if you have the stomach for it, [Aftermath, Inc.,](http://www.amazon.com/Aftermath-Inc-Cleaning-After-Goes/dp/B000Z4K4WU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213644946&sr=1-1) which is about the crime-scene cleanup company with the same name. I swear I’m not as morbid as these choices imply. 🙂 I just like reading about medicine, science, and psychology. [/QUOTE] **AudreyK** , I’ve read Stiff too and really liked it. More than Spook, actually. I tend to like the morbid stuff as well. You might like A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities, by Jan Bondeson. Thanks for all the recommendations, everyone! Keep 'em coming! ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/10 "2008-06-16T20:48:05Z")
Lynne Olsen’s “Troublesome Young Men”, about the anti-appeasement Tories before World War II who defied Chamberlain and tried to get Britain ready for war. And, for some business books. Kurt Eichenwald’s “The Informant”, about a whistle-blower who lets the FBI know about price fixing by Arthur Daniels Midland, and the FBI, who have to make their case against ADM and at the same time deal with the unstable whistle-blower. Eichenwald’s “Conspiracy of Fools” and Bethany MacLean’s and Peter Elkend’s “The Smartest Guys in the Room”. Two very different looks at the financial scandal that brought down Enron. James Stewart’s “Disneywar”, his look at Disney during the Eisner years and “Den of Thieves”, his look at Michael Milken and Ivan Boesky. Brian Burrough and John Helyer’s “Barbarians at the Gate”, Ross Johnson’s attempt to conduct a leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/11 "2008-06-16T21:49:52Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] Kurt Eichenwald’s “The Informant” … Eichenwald’s “Conspiracy of Fools” [/QUOTE] Heartily seconded. See if you can scare up a copy of Robert Lindsey’s _A Gathering of Saints_. Sort of a true crime police procedural. One of my favorite books for going on 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/12 "2008-06-16T22:18:48Z")
My absolute favorite: [Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea](http://www.amazon.com/Ship-Gold-Deep-Blue-Sea/dp/0375703373/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213653637&sr=1-1). Let’s see what else we’ve got handy on the bookshelf here that I can recommend: [The Great Influenza](http://www.amazon.com/Great-Influenza-deadliest-pandemic-history/dp/0143036491/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213654291&sr=1-2) by John M. Barry (the 1918 flu pandemic) [Newjack](http://www.amazon.com/Newjack-Guarding-Sing-Ted-Conover/dp/0375726624/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213653772&sr=1-1) by Ted Conover (one year as a prison guard at Sing Sing) [Mountains Beyond Mountains](http://www.amazon.com/Mountains-Beyond-Quest-Farmer-Would/dp/0812973011/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213653852&sr=1-1) by Tracy Kidder (an American doctor trying to cure disease in Haiti and other places) [Confederates in the Attic](http://www.amazon.com/Confederates-Attic-Dispatches-Unfinished-Civil/dp/067975833X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213653920&sr=1-1) by Tony Horwitz (the modern South and its continuing obsession with the Civil War) [Random Family](http://www.amazon.com/Random-Family-Drugs-Trouble-Coming/dp/B0013L8BI8/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213654038&sr=1-1) by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (“Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age In The Bronx”) [The Circus Fire](http://www.amazon.com/Circus-Fire-Story-American-Tragedy/dp/0385496850/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213654188&sr=1-1) by Stewart O’Nan (story of the deadly big top fire of 1944) [Breaking Clean](http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Clean-Judy-Blunt/dp/0375701303/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213654621&sr=1-2) by Judy Blunt (memoir of growing up in rural Montana and leaving) ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/13 "2008-06-16T22:38:48Z")
Looking behind me at my bookshelf… Anything by Studs Terkel - esp. Working and Will the Circle be Unbroken Miracle in the Andes - Written by one of the survivors who climbed out of the mountains after the “cannibal” plane crash Outrage - Vincent Bugliosi’s excellent legal analysis of the OJ Trial Live from New York - The history of SNL Masters of Doom - Biography of John Carmak and John Romero of id software Loved all of these… ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/14 "2008-06-16T22:47:02Z")
_The Devil in the White City_ by Erik Larson is about two men in Chicago during the 1893 World’s Columbia Fair. One is Daniel H. Burnham who was one of the principle designers of the fair and the other is Dr. H.H. Holmes who was a serial killer who probably killed about 27 people (though some exaggerated numbers say 200+). It’s very interesting to read about the Gilded Age and people who live what we think of as modern lives. Telephones, skyscrapers, and the urban serial killer. _The Devil in the White City_ is a good read. Marc ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/15 "2008-06-17T08:06:22Z")
I found Richard Feynman’s memoirs to be very interesting. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Them](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@The\_Them](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Them)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/16 "2008-06-17T09:50:00Z")
These are actually collections of essays. Everything these guys have written is OK, but in my humble opinion, these aren’t just their best, they fulfill the notion that “Truth is stranger than fiction”. In the best way. _Video Night in Katmandu,_ by Pico Ayer. _A Wolverine Is Eating My Leg_, by Tim Cahill. These are essentially travelogues. Speaking of which, _The Peoples’ Guide to Mexico_, by Carl Franz & Associated Lunatics, is downright educational. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/17 "2008-06-17T12:06:36Z")
**Uncommon Carriers, by John McPhee**. He can make anything interesting. This is a collection of long articles about transportation, trains, trucks, boats. I think you would enjoy this even if you think you have no interest in the subject matter. **Young Men and Fire, by Norman Maclean**. This book about the Mann Gulch forest fire of 1949 made me wish that Maclean had written more books. His only other is A river Runs Through It. **Beautiful Swimmers, by William Warner**. The subtitle is “Crabs, Waterman and the Chesapeake Bay.” Warner writes beautifully about an amazing body of water and the people who make their living from it. This one won a Pulitzer. ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/18 "2008-06-17T12:37:09Z")
**America Unzipped** , which my wife bought me a few months ago, is a fascinating read about America’s changing sexual mores. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/19 "2008-06-17T13:12:36Z")
[QUOTE=Jodi] [Breaking Clean](http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Clean-Judy-Blunt/dp/0375701303/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213654621&sr=1-2) by Judy Blunt (memoir of growing up in rural Montana and leaving) [/QUOTE] I’ll definitely have to check this one out, as I also grew up in rural Montana and left! ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121/20 "2008-06-17T13:48:45Z")
Oh, I forgot to mention all of Chuck Klosterman’s books:[ul][li]_Fargo Rock City_[/li][li]_Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs_[/li][li]_Killing Yourself to Live_[/li]_Chuck Klosterman IV_[/ul] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nonfiction-recommendations-please/453121.md?page=2)