WHAT WE'RE READING IN POLITICS
"No
One Left to Lie To" by Christopher Hitchens If you thought
Bill Clinton was catching hell from the conservatives, wait until you read
what Christopher Hitchens has to say about the president in "No One
Left to Lie To." For this prominent left-wing journalist, the "inappropriate
relationship" with Monica Lewinsky is only the tip of an iceberg that
includes financial crookery, cynical exploitation of racial division, and
a string of war crimes that have turned the United States into a "potential
banana republic."
"Gore:
A Political Life" by Bob Zelnick Television journalist
Bob Zelnick was fired by ABC News when it was discovered that he was working
on "Gore: A Political Life" in his spare time. But that didn't
stop him from finishing this comprehensive look at the career of Bill Clinton's
vice president, examining the political and personal contradictions bubbling
beneath Gore's stiff, placid public demeanor.
Don't forget to look at our "Crisis
in Kosovo" booklist for a selection of books on the history of
the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.
STEPHANOPOULOS SPILLS THE
BEANS
In "All
Too Human," former Clinton campaign manager and chief presidential
advisor George Stephanopoulos describes what it was like to be privy to
the world's highest political office. The erstwhile insider stopped by our
offices and took a moment to tell Amazon.com's Rebekah Warren what he thinks
of the commander in chief, Hillary, and Kenneth Starr.
"All
Too Human" by George Stephanopoulos AMERICAN LIBERALS *****************
In "An Even Better Place," House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt
takes stock of the United States, setting a new and improved agenda for
the 21st century. We've compiled a list of other books that offer a liberal
(and in some cases, rather radical) perspective on contemporary American
politics, as well as its past. http://www.amazon.com/american-liberals-booklist
"An
Even Better Place" by Richard Gephardt
BESTSELLERS
"The
Lexus and the Olive Tree" by Thomas L. Friedman Foreign
affairs columnist for the New York Times and National Book Award winner
Thomas L. Friedman offers readers his firsthand perspective on the give-and-take
between the globalizing effects of worldwide free-market capitalism and
the powerful desire of local communities to resist outside influence--be
it religious, national, or cultural--and assert their own identities.
"Year
of the Rat" by Edward Timperlake and William C. Triplett
II While many political journalists largely considered the second term
of Bill Clinton's presidency in terms of his romantic interludes, Edward
Timperlake and William C. Triplett II follow up on one of the more controversial
scandals of the 1996 reelection campaign. The Democratic National Committee
was eventually forced to return $2.8 million in illegal contributions, much
of it from foreign nationals, and much of it brought to the party by fundraising
executive John Huang. Poking around, Timperlake and Triplett gather together
an astonishing--and largely convincing--mass of evidence that the Clinton-Gore
administration "has made a series of Faustian bargains and policy blunders
that have allowed a hostile power to further its aims in Washington."
In addition to the potential security breach represented by Huang, they
document numerous policy decisions that risk strengthening the technological
and military power of Communist China, power that might well be used against
the United States in the future.
"Real
Boys" by William Pollack What are little boys made of?
In "Real Boys," author and psychologist William Pollack presents
his findings from almost 20 years of clinical work and his recently completed
study examining contemporary boyhood and the ways boys manifest their social
and emotional disconnection through anger and violence. There's a code of
boy behavior, Pollack says--an unspoken "boy code" that teaches
boys how to act and demands that they cover up their emotions. But the author
submits that boys are lonely, they are loyal, they are depressed, they struggle
with self-esteem issues, they are at risk, they need to be understood, and
they need to be listened to. Boys can be empathetic and sensitive, Pollack
stresses, as he effectively and convincingly disabuses readers of a number
of myths: that testosterone controls a boy's behavior; that boys should
fit into a gender stereotype of masculinity; and that boys are toxic, "psychologically
unaware, emotionally unsocialized creatures."
NEW IN PAPERBACK
"Guns,
Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond Since 1500, Europeans
have--for better and worse--called the tune that the world has danced to.
In "Guns, Germs, and Steel," Jared Diamond explains the reasons
things worked out that way, relying on scientific fact rather than specious
theories of European genetic superiority. Diamond, a professor of physiology
at UCLA, suggests that the geography of Eurasia was best suited to farming,
the domestication of animals, and the free flow of information. The more
populous cultures that developed as a result had more complex forms of government
and communication--and increased resistance to disease. In addition, fragmented
Europe harnessed the power of competitive innovation in ways that China
did not. Diamond's book is complex and a bit overwhelming, but the thesis
he methodically puts forth makes sense.
"A
Hope in the Unseen" by Ron Suskind Cedric Jennings,
an inner-city youth who worked his way into Brown University, is "like
tens of thousands of kids that don't get across all the hurdles in life
they face," says Ron Suskind, who chronicled Jennings's struggles in
the 1998 bestseller "A Hope in the Unseen." "He just has
heavier portions of will and faith and grit."
COMING SOON
"Unvanquished:
A U.S.-U.N. Saga" by Boutros Boutros-Ghali The former
secretary-general of the United Nations who was blocked from a second term
by a veto from the United States pulls no punches in his analysis of the
tensions between the international diplomatic organization and the world's
leading superpower.
"Truth
to Tell" by Lanny J. Davis Bill Clinton's special counsel
(a.k.a. "spinmeister") offers a behind-the-scenes look at what
happened when one of the best damage-control teams in politics had to confront
its toughest scandal ever. But that's just one of the stories Lanny Davis
has to tell of his years in the Clinton White House. |