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Showing posts with label picks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label picks. Show all posts

Monday, December 9, 2013

Weekend picks for book lovers

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Spend your weekend reading about a biography of Norman Rockwell.

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What should you read this weekend? USA TODAY's picks for book lovers include a new biography of American painter Norman Rockwell, and essays about reading by Britain's Nick Hornby.

American Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell by Deborah Solomon; Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 441 pp.; non-fiction

Why is it that so many great artists were so screwed up? Even Norman Rockwell. Norman Rockwell, for pete's sake!

He is the cornball king, the artist as fantasy storyteller, the artist of Americana. But was he a "real" artist? Art-world types argue about it to this day. Even Rockwell (especially Rockwell) dithered, dismissing himself as a mere illustrator while secretly longing to be taken seriously as an ARTIST, all caps.

As his new biographer, Deborah Solomon, makes clear, Rockwell was more than an illustrator. He painted arresting images that move us, inspire us, amuse us, that tell us something about ourselves and our times.

But his full story is often surprising.

If you thought you knew what Rockwell was all about, well, Solomon suggests maybe not. Did you know that he spent years in therapy with a leading psychiatrist — Erik Erikson — decades before seeing a shrink was routine?

USA TODAY says ***½ out of four. "Highly readable, illuminating."

Ten Years in the Tub: A Decade Soaking in Great Books; by Nick Hornby, McSweeney's, 464 pp.; non-fiction

Collects Hornby's "Stuff I've Been Reading" columns from Believer magazine.

USA TODAY says ***1/2. "Ten Years in the Tub is something to soak in and savor."

Stella Bain; by Anita Shreve, Little, Brown, 261 pp.; fiction

In Marne, France, in 1916, a woman drifts into consciousness on a battlefield hospital cot and realizes "that she does not know her own name."

USA TODAY says ***. "An intriguing character study that delivers compelling mystery without melodrama."

Double Down: Game Change 2012 by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann; Penguin Press, 482 pp.; non-fiction

The authors' sequel to the best seller Game Change looks back at the last presidential election.

USA TODAY says *** ½ out of four. "Heilemann and Halperin's ability to get behind the scenes and into Obama's head makes Double Down nearly as riveting as their first work about the 2008 election."

Tatiana by Martin Cruz Smith; Simon & Schuster, 304 pp.; fiction

Investigator Arkady Renko is on the case after an investigative journalist named Tatiana Petrovna – inspired by the real-life Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya – dies after falling from the balcony of her abandoned apartment building.

USA TODAY says *** ½ out of four. "Smith's writing conveys irony, social commentary and wry humor in whippet-sleek phrasing."

Contributing reviewers: Maria Puente, Korina Lopez, Jocelyn McClurg, Aamer Madhani, Patty Rhule


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Monday, January 7, 2013

Weekend picks for book lovers

'The Entertainer: Movies, Magic and My Father's Twentieth Century' by Margaret Talbot

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Friday, September 28, 2012

Weekend picks for book lovers

USA TODAY gives 'Winter of the World' by Ken Follett 3 1/2 stars out of four.

USA TODAY gives 'Winter of the World' by Ken Follett 3 1/2 stars out of four.

USA TODAY gives 'Winter of the World' by Ken Follett 3 1/2 stars out of four.

What should you read this weekend? USA TODAY's picks for book lovers include Ken Follett's fat but addictive "Century" sequel, and Salman Rushdie's reflections on his years in hiding.

Winter of the World By Ken Follett; Dutton, 960 pp., $36; fiction

Ken Follett's second book in his massive Century Trilogy is 960 pages long.

It will take you more than a few cool autumn nights to finish, but it's a good investment in time.

The reader is once again transported, this time back to the 1930s and '40s, an era ripe for the picking. There's the burning of the Reichstag and the chilling rise of Adolf Hitler; there's unrest in London and civil war in Spain; there's Pearl Harbor, the Battle of France, the Battle of Britain, the Battle of Moscow.

Winter of the World is told through the eyes of five inter-related families â?? American, German, Russian, English, Welsh â?? characters who were introduced in Follett's Fall of Giants, the first novel in the trilogy. Follett gives us a history lesson through the lives of both historic figures and his fictional families.

USA TODAY says *** 1/2 out of four. "Quintessential Follett. The delight remains in the details."

Joseph Anton By Salman Rushdie; Random House, 656 pp., $30; non-fiction

In his new memoir, Rushdie chronicles the years he spent in hiding after the Ayatollah Khomeini sentenced him to death -- because of Rushdie's "blasphemous" novel, The Satanic Verses.

USA TODAY says ****. "An important book...a fascinating look into the intense drama of how those years of death threats, bookstore bombings, attacks and murders affected U.S. and British publishing circles."

We Sinners By Hanna Pylväinen; Henry Holt, 189 pp., $23; fiction

The Finnish-American Rovaniemi family in We Sinners belong to the Laestadian Lutheran Church, founded in 19th-century Sweden. The author tells their story in 11 chapters, each from a different family member's perspective.

USA TODAY says *** 1/2. "The rare mainstream novel that treats faith with respect and subtlety...a moving story (of) grace, insight and compassion."

Telegraph Avenue By Michael Chabon; Harper, 465 pp., $27.99; fiction

Set at the border of Oakland and Berkeley, Calif., in 2004, Chabon's novel centers on Archy and Nat â?? owners of a struggling used-record store â?? whose wives work together as midwives. Their intertwined businesses and relationships totter on the edge of collapse.

USA TODAY says **** out of four. "Evocative and true â?¦ Michael Chabon is having some century."

Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures By Emma Straub; Riverhead, 304 pp., $26.95; fiction

In Straub's first novel, a young Midwestern blonde named Elsa Emerson travels to Hollywood in the late 1930s and is transformed into the title character, a brunette screen goddess.

USA TODAY says *** ½ out of four. "Vividly recaptures the glamour and meticulously contrived mythology of the studio-system era."

Contributing reviewers: Craig Wilson, Don Oldenburg, Deirdre Donahue, Robert Bianco and Elysa Gardner

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Thursday, August 23, 2012

Weekend book picks: 'How It Ends,' 'City of Women'

What should you read this weekend? USA TODAY's picks for book lovers go international, with a touching love story set in Ireland, and a compelling historical novel about World War II Berlin, a "city of women."

This Is How It Ends
By Kathleen MacMahon; Grand Central, 346 pp., $24.99; fiction

Craving a novel about family ties and romance? This summer serves up This Is How It Ends.

Irish writer Kathleen MacMahon's debut novel takes place in Ireland in 2008 in the run-up to the U.S. presidential election. It centers on Bruno Boylan, a middle-aged American who, on his first trip to his father's homeland, falls in love with Ireland and Addie Murphy. She's a bit of a loner, caring for her dad and doting on her sister's young children.

They give each other a go and though a future together seems tenuous — Bruno is waiting to go back to the U.S. if and only if Obama is elected — their love seems life-changing and then is tested by tragedy.

USA TODAY says *** out of four. "Readers mourning the loss of Irish author Maeve Binchy may find a new friend in MacMahon, who delivers a similar sort of family drama well suited to drowsy afternoons and a cup of tea with a packet of tissues nearby."

City of Women
By David R. Gillham; Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam, 392 pp., $25.95; fiction

City of Women is the story of Sigrid Schröder, a (fictional) stenographer in 1943 Berlin whose husband is off on the front lines. She has a secret in her recent past, an affair with a Jewish man. When she has the opportunity to help a resistance group, we know before she does that she will take it.

USA TODAY says *** out of four. "The author's impeccable research, realism and tenderness … make fiction seem like a viable tool for reminding ourselves of history as it truly happened."

The Great Escape
By Susan Elizabeth Phillips; William Morrow, 420 pp., $25.99; fiction

Presidential first daughter turned runaway bride Lucy Jorik leaves her groom at the altar. A sullen biker and a small island in Lake Michigan help her heal.

USA TODAY says **** out of four. "Phillips' novels — funny, sweet, insightful — set the gold standard in contemporary romance."

On the Island
By Tracey Garvis Graves; Plume, $15, 328 pp., paperback original; fiction

A 30-year-old teacher and her 16-year-old student are stranded on a deserted Maldives island for 3½ years. Not as icky as it sounds.

USA TODAY says *** out of four. "From shark attacks to sex scenes, On the Island defines guilty pleasure."

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
By Rachel Joyce; Random House, 325 pp., $25; fiction

When a woman he had once known but not seen in 20 years writes to say she's dying of cancer, Harold Fry takes his inadequate response to the nearest mail box. Rather than mailing it, he keeps walking — from one end of England to the other, for 87 days and 627 miles.

USA TODAY says **** out of four. A "remarkable debut novel … a gentle adventure with an emotional wallop."

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Thursday, July 5, 2012

Weekend book picks: Three new memoirs

What should you read this weekend? USA TODAY's picks for book lovers include three new memoirs, and the latest novel by Mark Haddon, set at an English country house.

Janet Groth recounts her experience in 'The Receptionist: An Education at the New Yorker.'

Janet Groth recounts her experience in 'The Receptionist: An Education at the New Yorker.'

Janet Groth recounts her experience in 'The Receptionist: An Education at the New Yorker.'

The Receptionist: An Education at The New Yorker
By Janet Groth; Algonquin, 240 pp., $21.95; non-fiction

Janet Groth was a receptionist at the legendary New Yorker magazine from 1957 to 1978. She saw and heard it all.

Groth was the one who had to tell J.D. Salinger there was no office Coke machine. She steered Woody Allen to the right floor. Repeatedly.

And then, of course, there's humorist Calvin Trillin, cartoonist Charles Addams and the painfully shy E.B. White, who hired her. The magazine's eccentricity was not lost on Groth. Lucky for us.

USA TODAY says *** out of four. "Are you a New Yorker magazine groupie? Do you wait every week just to laugh at the cartoons and read Talk of the Town? If so, we have a book for you."

Apron Anxiety: My Messy Affairs
In and Out of the Kitchen|-|
By Alyssa Shelasky; Three Rivers, 260 pp., $14, paperback original; non-fiction

When New York party girl Alyssa Shelasky moves to Washington, D.C., with her busy celebrity-chef boyfriend (Top Chef's Spike Mendelsohn, who is unnamed in the book), the former kitchen-phobe turns to cooking as "Chef's" career heats up and their relationship fizzles.

USA TODAY says *** out of four. "A fresh dining and dating memoir … charming."

Hotels, Hospitals and Jails
By Anthony Swofford; Twelve, 276 pp., $26.99; non-fiction

By Christa Parravani

'Jarhead' author Anthony Swofford tells the rest of the story in 'Hotels, Hospitals and Jails.'

After former Marine sniper Anthony Swofford hit it big with Jarhead, his memoir about the Gulf War that became an acclaimed movie, he had to deal with a new problem: too much money, sex, drugs and alcohol, which nearly killed him.

USA TODAY says ***½ out of four. "Gritty, intense and wrenching."

The Red House
By Mark Haddon; Doubleday, 264 pp., $25.95; fiction

Eight relatives, stuck with one another on an eight-day holiday in the English countryside, offer plenty of drama in The Red House, the third novel by Mark Haddon (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time).

USA TODAY says *** out of four. "Haddon delivers a story of remarkable complexity, exploring the rich interior lives of his characters."

The Seven Wonders
By Steven Saylor; Minotaur, 321 pp., $25.99; fiction

It's 92 B.C., and Steven Saylor's fictional teenage crime-solver Gordianus is on a tour of the Seven Wonders of the World. This is a younger version of Gordianus the Finder from Saylor's mystery series, and here he solves his first cases accompanied by Antipater of Sidon, a famous and real poet.

USA TODAY says ***½ out of four. "If you're going to tour the ancient world, you could find no better guide than Saylor."

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Sunday, June 17, 2012

Good picks for audiobooks on your road trip this summer

On a long road trip, the right audio offers a magic elixir of voice and story. It can mitigate irritation over snarled traffic, remedy boredom and, on occasion, lighten the mood if the atmosphere in the minivan resembles the Donner Party minutes before the knives came out.

Here is a sampling of great listens, whether you are traveling solo, paired, with pals, or hauling the whole tribe. If you have little ones, exert a bit of caution. My older son fondly recalls my desperate swerve to hit pause during a particularly inappropriate sex and drugs anecdote featured in Anthony Bourdain's splendid reading of his 2000 tell-all memoir, Kitchen Confidential (Random House Audio, $20). Very funny, but for big-boy ears only.

Family 'Potter' time 

(All seven books in digital audio: $242.94 on Pottermore. Complete seven-audio Listening Library set on CD from Amazon.com, $286.52)

Whether you loved the seven Harry Potter books or never read a one, you'll adore the unabridged audios. The marvelous actor Jim Dale reads J.K. Rowling's magical books about the boy wizard with the wand. A Brit by birth who spent decades in the USA, Dale proved the perfect choice because his accent wasn't too strong for American children. He created more than 250 different voices for the Potter audios — 146 alone for 2007's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which set a Guinness World Record.

Another suggestion:  Listen as a family to your child's assigned summer reading. For example, Sissy Spacek's narration of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (Caedmon/HarperAudio, $34.99) does quiet justice to the 1960 classic.

New roads, new 'Immortal' topics 

(Random House Audio, $35)

From the opening, you know The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is no ordinary work of non-fiction. It tells the story of a poor black woman named Henrietta Lacks, today known as HeLa. Her cells were taken in 1951 without her knowledge as the Baltimore mother of five was dying of cervical cancer. HeLa cells have helped in medical breakthroughs such as the polio vaccine, cloning and gene mapping. But Lacks' children and grandchildren can't afford health insurance. Read by well-known narrator Cassandra Campbell and actress Bahni Turpin, the audio raises powerful questions about money, race and science.

Divine silliness with the 'Woosters' 

(AudioGO, $29.95)

P.G. Wodehouse's immortal The Code of the Woosters sparkles with wit and humor. And the British narrator, Jonathan Cecil, is truly "touched by the divine fire" as Wodehouse describes the book's French cook Anatole. (Avoid the other audio editions, because Cecil is "the voice.") The 1938 comic novel centers on rich feckless British aristocrat "Bertie" Wooster, who must be rescued from bullies, bossy aunts and unsuitable fiancées by his suave valet, Jeeves. It is almost impossible to convey the enduring appeal of Wodehouse because his plots sound ridiculous and the characters vapid. Yet this and other Wodehouse audios have embedded themselves in my heart for over a decade.

Prepare for 'World War Z' 

(Random House Audio, $14.99)

You'll never again dismiss the walking dead as silly once you've heard Max Brooks' unforgettable World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. Think Mad Max meets The Hot Zone. The novel's premise: A virus has created flesh-devouring zombie hordes who roam the earth, hunting down and infecting the living. Governments, armies, doctors and economies collapse in turn. For older teens, it's Apocalypse Now, pandemic-style, told through interviews with the survivors. The audio features a multi-actor cast that includes Alan Alda, Mark Hamill, Carl Reiner and John Turturro. (Brad Pitt stars in the upcoming 2013 movie.)

Solitary musings on 'Organizing' 

(Simon & Schuster, $19.95)

Self-help audios are perhaps best listened to alone, since one rarely enjoys a choir chiming in about one's flaws. If you struggle with clutter and disorganization, there is help to be heard: Julie Morgenstern's Organizing From the Inside Out. In clear, compassionate language, Morgenstern — herself a recovered slob — gives sensible tips and, more importantly, astute insights about the psychological reasons why some people find keeping things in order hard.

Help on health and 'Happiness' 

(Hachette, $29.98)

If reading about all the things you should do but don't gives you the vapors, schedule an audio house call with Andrew Weil's Spontaneous Happiness. A leading figure in integrating alternative and traditional medicine, the Arizona doctor will perk you right up. From the beginning of his career, Weil has always advocated for the simple: real food, deep sleep, good friends, exercise, mindfulness. It's his wise, calm, human-to-human delivery that empowers the listener to make changes.

Voices from the past in 'Stalingrad' 

(Available as a download from Audible.com, $11.95)

This August marks the 70th anniversary of the battle of Stalingrad, one of the most brutal struggles in history. It began on Aug. 23, 1942, when the German army attacked the city, and raged until Feb. 2, 1943, when the remnants of the German army surrendered. Antony Beevor's Stalingrad is a history classic read by a master narrator, George Guidall, one of Audiofile magazine's "Golden Voices."

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Sunday, March 11, 2012

Sophie Kinsella's 'Number' leads the weekend book picks

What should you read this weekend? USA TODAY's picks for book lovers including chick-lit hilarity from Sophie Kinsella, a sympathetic take on crown-wrecker Wallis Simpson, and a multi-generational immigrant saga.

I've Got Your Number| Sophie Kinsella; The Dial Press; 448 pp.; $26; fiction

Fans of Sophie Kinsella's amusing Shopaholic novels won't want to miss her latest foray into chick lit. Ditsy heroine Becky Bloomwood may have taken a shopping break, but Britain's Kinsella brings us an equally delightful funny girl in Poppy Wyatt.

Poppy is a charming if insecure physiotherapist who is engaged to Magnus, a celebrity university lecturer. After she loses her emerald engagement ring and has her cellphone stolen, Poppy stumbles upon another phone in the trash that belonged to the former assistant of Sam Roxton, a handsome exec at a consulting firm.

Complications (and humor) ensue as Poppy convinces Sam to allow her to keep the phone until she finds her ring — promising to forward his messages, Poppy-style.

USA TODAY says *** out of four. "Delivers all the usual Kinsella hallmarks — sharp insight into the current state of relationships crossed with laugh-out-loud screwball situations — but with a digital-age twist."

That Woman: The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor| Anne Sebba; St. Martin's Press; 283 pp.; $27.99; non-fiction

Wallis Simpson — the American for whom Britain's king famously abdicated — is everywhere these days. In Madonna's new movie, W.E. In a new stage drama in London. And in new biographies, including That Woman by Anne Sebba, who had access to previously unexamined Simpson letters. Her fresh take on a familiar tale concludes that this wasn't the "romance of the century" — just a pathetic muddle.

USA TODAY says *** ½ out of four. "This book is clear-sighted about but relatively sympathetic to the American woman for whom King Edward VIII gave up his throne in 1936, shaking Britain and its royal family to the core."

A Good American| Alex George; Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam; 384 pp.; $25.95; fiction

In this heartfelt novel, Alex George depicts the immigrant experience — beginning in 1904 in Germany as a young couple flees to America after the girl's family discovers she is pregnant. Frederick Meisenheimer and Jette Furste end up in Missouri, where generations of the Meisenheimer family will flourish and fulfill the American dream.

USA TODAY says *** out of four. "Epic and lyrical …an honest and delightful story."

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity | Katherine Boo; Random House, 256 pp., $27; non-fiction

The hit movie Slumdog Millionaire made viewers around the world aware of the poverty and slums in Mumbai, India. In Behind the Beautiful Forevers, New Yorker staff writer Katherine Boo takes a microscope to that world, centering on a slum called Annawadi and its desperate, if resourceful, inhabitants.

USATODAY says ***1/2 out of four. "Outstanding. … Brings alive an almost unimaginably harsh world through the stories of people trying to make their way in a place few of us can imagine."

What It Was | George Pelecanos; Reagan Arthur/Back Bay, 272 pp., $9.99 paperback original; 99-cent e-book until Feb. 27, then $4.99; fiction

Here's your last chance to get What It Was, George Pelecanos' terrific new crime novel, as a 99-cent e-book. The price, good until Monday, is a steal. And for those who prefer print books, there's a $9.99 paperback. You'll get a rip-roaring introduction to Derek Strange, a young black private investigator and the hero of a number of Pelecanos' earlier novels.

USA TODAY says ***½ out of four. Pelecanos is "the best crime writer you've never read. … Buckle up for one thrilling ride. For 99 cents, you can't afford to miss it."

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Sunday, December 11, 2011

Top weekend book picks: Chris Matthews, Gabby Giffords

What should you read — or listen to — this weekend? USA TODAY's top picks for book lovers include two new titles dedicated to JFK. Plus, during holiday travel season, consider tuning in to the audio editions of Gabby Giffords' and Newt Gingrich's new books.

The host of MSNBC's 'Hardball' goes back to the president's childhood in 'Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero.'

The host of MSNBC's 'Hardball' goes back to the president's childhood in 'Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero.'

The host of MSNBC's 'Hardball' goes back to the president's childhood in 'Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero.'

Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero

By Chris Matthews

Simon & Schuster, 406 pp., $27.50, non-fiction

Like millions of Americans, Chris Matthews is still fascinated by President John F. Kennedy nearly a half century after his assassination.

In this new biography of the "elusive" JFK, the host of MSNBC's Hardball goes back to Kennedy's childhood to discover what made the future president the man he was. There were always "two Jacks." One was "sunny and full of good humor," the other lonely "with a craving for company" and "already a victim of persistent ill health," Matthews writes. And Kennedy was ambitious, if ever enigmatic.

USA TODAY says: *** out of four. "Sure to be a hit with readers who love the inside baseball of politics and the Kennedy cult of personality."

•11/22/63 byStephen King

Scribner, 849 pp., $35, fiction

Craving more about JFK? Then Stephen King's time-traveling thriller should fit the bill. Schoolteacher Jake Epping is whisked back in time to try to prevent Kennedy's assassination. Can Jake keep Lee Harvey Oswald from squeezing the trigger in Dallas?

USA TODAY says: * * * * out of four. "King's latest epic is as fascinating as the premise sounds. … It is not typical Stephen King. It is extraordinary Stephen King."

• The Prague Cemeteryby Umberto Eco

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 464 pp., $27, fiction

Umberto Eco's first novel in seven years - a best seller abroad — is a literary thriller set in late-19th-century Europe. Its protagonist is a detestable anti-Semite - and a master forger of documents (not to mention a murderous spy).

USA TODAY says: *** out of four. "It's provocative and suspenseful, and it's already drumming up controversy."

•Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hopewritten and read by Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly

Simon & Schuster Audio, $39.99, unabridged, 11.5 hours, non-fiction

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, tell the inspiring story of Giffords' road to recovery since she was shot in the head by a would-be assassin. Kelly reads most of the audio book, but Giffords takes over in the final chapter.

USA TODAY says: *** out of four. "A powerful story … In harrowing detail, Gabby captures Giffords' injuries and her struggle to regain her life and health."

•The Battle of the Craterwritten by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen; read by William Dufris

Macmillan Audio, $44.99, unabridged, 12 hours, fiction

When he's not running for the Republican presidential nomination, Newt Gingrich (with writing partner William Forstschen) pens historical fiction. Their latest, about the catastrophic 1864 Battle of the Crater during the Civil War, will appeal to history buffs.

USA TODAY says: *** out of four. "William Dufris provides a lively narration and handles a variety of accents."

To read full reviews, go to books.usatoday.com

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.

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Monday, June 6, 2011

Joseph Nye picks 5 books about power




1.The Post-American World, by Fareed Zakaria (2008). Zakaria looks at whether the United States is in decline, and decides that the problem with the term “decline” is that, if it means absolute decline, as with ancient Rome, then it’s not a very good description. What the United States faces is not absolute decline but relative decline, in that the gap between the Unites States and other countries is diminishing with the rise of China, India, Brazil and others. Zakaria chose a happy term that is better than relative decline — “the rise of the rest.”



2.History of the Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides (fifth century B.C.).Thucydides points out that sometimes people are worried not just about absolute gains but about relative gains. That is, we’re all getting better off, but if you’re getting a lot better off than I am, then you’re going to be able to exercise power over me, and I begin to develop anxieties. So when Thucydides is trying to account for the Peloponnesian War, an extraordinary war in the fifth century B.C. in which the Greek city-state system tore itself apart, he says the basic cause was the rise in power of Athens and the fear that this created in Sparta. He points out that this kind of fear, along with a belief that war is inevitable, can itself become a cause of war.



3.Rivals: How the Power Struggle Between China, India and Japan Will Shape Our Next Decade, by Bill Emmott (2008). As we look at the rise of China, we have to ask whether China will present the kind of challenge to the United States that Athens did to Sparta. But Emmott argues that if you look more carefully, you see that Asia has its own internal balance of power. As China’s power grows, the Japanese, Indians — not to mention the Vietnamese, South Koreans and so on — become worried and ask themselves, how can we balance that power? That makes them actually welcome America’s presence.



4.Power: A Radical View, by Steven Lukes (1974). This book on radical views of power follows a tradition of people writing that power was the ability to get others to do what they otherwise wouldn’t do. Lukes said, wait a minute, if I can set the agenda so that your items don’t even arise for us to discuss, then I don’t have to twist your arm. What’s more, if I can establish your preferences, then I don’t have to coerce you to get you to do what I want. What Lukes did was to identify three faces of power: coercion and payments (or sticks and carrots); setting the agenda so that your issues don’t come up; and shaping your preferences so that you want what I want and I don’t have to spend anything on carrots and sticks.



5.Cyber War: The Next Threat to National Security and What to Do About It, by Richard A. Clarke and Robert K. Knake (2010). When you look at the enormous opportunities that the Internet has presented — economic efficiency, great communication — we generally think of the positive side. But Clarke and Knake point out that, as we open these opportunities, we also make ourselves vulnerable to their disruption. For example, you may have the capacity to do damage in the physical world just by sending electrons across a border. If there were suddenly a loss of electricity, water supply or transportation in the United States, we wouldn’t know who did it, a government or an individual. “Cyber War” is a useful introduction to the increasing availability of power to non-state actors.





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