book pickings

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politics

  1. Virtually Normal Andrew Sullivan “Silence, if it does not equal death, equals the living equivalent.” Excerpts from Andrew Sullivan’s seminal 1993 essay “The Politics of Homosexuality,” which changed the discourse on LGBT rights:

    Virtually Normal

    Andrew Sullivan

    “Silence, if it does not equal death, equals the living equivalent.”

    Excerpts from Andrew Sullivan’s seminal 1993 essay “The Politics of Homosexuality,” which changed the discourse on LGBT rights:
  2. Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation Michael Pollan “What Winston Churchill once said of architecture — “First we shape our buildings, and then they shape us” — might also be said of cooking. First we cooked our food, and then our food cooked us.” Essential reading: Michael Pollan on reclaiming cooking as social glue and anti-corporate activism

    Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation

    Michael Pollan

    “What Winston Churchill once said of architecture — “First we shape our buildings, and then they shape us” — might also be said of cooking. First we cooked our food, and then our food cooked us.”

    Essential reading: Michael Pollan on reclaiming cooking as social glue and anti-corporate activism
  3. They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the Civil War DeAnne Blanton “Women lived in germ-ridden camps, languished in appalling prisons, and died miserably, but honorably, for their country and their cause just as men did.” The untold story of the women who dressed like and fought as men in the Civil War:

    They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the Civil War

    DeAnne Blanton

    “Women lived in germ-ridden camps, languished in appalling prisons, and died miserably, but honorably, for their country and their cause just as men did.”

    The untold story of the women who dressed like and fought as men in the Civil War:
  4. At the Same Time: Essays and Speeches Susan Sontag “Principles invite us to do something about the morass of contradictions in which we function morally.” Read on for Sontag’s poignant essay on courage and resistance:

    At the Same Time: Essays and Speeches

    Susan Sontag

    “Principles invite us to do something about the morass of contradictions in which we function morally.”

    Read on for Sontag’s poignant essay on courage and resistance:
  5. Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel Richard H. Minear & Dr. Seuss A collection of Dr. Seuss’s little-known wartime propaganda cartoons.

    Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel

    Richard H. Minear & Dr. Seuss

    A collection of Dr. Seuss’s little-known wartime propaganda cartoons.
  6. As Consciousness Is Harnessed to Flesh: Journals and Notebooks, 1964-1980 Susan Sontag An extraordinary look at the inner world of a genius, oscillating between conviction and insecurity in the most beautifully imperfect and human way possible. From detailed notes on her formidable media diet of literature and film to her intense love affairs and infatuations to her meditations on society’s values and vices, the hefty volume is a true cultural treasure.

    As Consciousness Is Harnessed to Flesh: Journals and Notebooks, 1964-1980

    Susan Sontag

    An extraordinary look at the inner world of a genius, oscillating between conviction and insecurity in the most beautifully imperfect and human way possible. From detailed notes on her formidable media diet of literature and film to her intense love affairs and infatuations to her meditations on society’s values and vices, the hefty volume is a true cultural treasure.
  7. Presidential Campaign Posters: Two Hundred Years of Election Art The Library Of Congress A magnificent large-format volume of 100 tear-out, ready-to-frame political campaign posters from the Library of Congress archives, each contextualized by a short historical essay on the respective election, alongside its final electoral and popular vote statistics.

    Presidential Campaign Posters: Two Hundred Years of Election Art

    The Library Of Congress

    A magnificent large-format volume of 100 tear-out, ready-to-frame political campaign posters from the Library of Congress archives, each contextualized by a short historical essay on the respective election, alongside its final electoral and popular vote statistics.
  8. Blown Covers: New Yorker Covers You Were Never Meant to See Francoise Mouly A rare behind-the-scenes look at The New Yorker’s art-science of walking the fine line between keen and crass.

    Blown Covers: New Yorker Covers You Were Never Meant to See

    Francoise Mouly

    A rare behind-the-scenes look at The New Yorker’s art-science of walking the fine line between keen and crass.
  9. Ideas And Opinions Albert Einstein The definitive collection of the great thinker’s essays on everything from science and religion to government to human nature, gathered under the supervision of Einstein himself.

    Ideas And Opinions

    Albert Einstein

    The definitive collection of the great thinker’s essays on everything from science and religion to government to human nature, gathered under the supervision of Einstein himself.
  10. The Three Astronauts Umberto Eco This vintage semiotic children’s book by iconic novelist and philosopher Umberto Eco tells the inspired and irreverent story of space exploration and world peace as a Martian shows concern for a frightened bird and teaches three astronauts — an American, a Russian, and a Chinese — a lesson in tolerance despite difference.

    The Three Astronauts

    Umberto Eco

    This vintage semiotic children’s book by iconic novelist and philosopher Umberto Eco tells the inspired and irreverent story of space exploration and world peace as a Martian shows concern for a frightened bird and teaches three astronauts — an American, a Russian, and a Chinese — a lesson in tolerance despite difference.
  11. The MAD Fold-In Collection: 1964-2010 Al Jaffee  For the past half-century, Jaffeee, just as brilliant today at 90, has been poking fun at the established political order with his clever satirical cartoons that made no topic, ideology, regime, politician or pop star safe from skewering as the reader simply folds the page to align arrow A with arrow B and reveal the hidden gag image. Now, from Chronicle Books comes The MAD Fold-In Collection: 1964-2010 — the definitive treasure trove of Jaffee’s genius, a formidable four-volume set featuring 410 fold-ins reproduced at original size, each thoughtfully accompanied by a digital representation of the folded image so you wouldn’t have to actually fold your lavish book.

    The MAD Fold-In Collection: 1964-2010

    Al Jaffee

     For the past half-century, Jaffeee, just as brilliant today at 90, has been poking fun at the established political order with his clever satirical cartoons that made no topic, ideology, regime, politician or pop star safe from skewering as the reader simply folds the page to align arrow A with arrow B and reveal the hidden gag image. Now, from Chronicle Books comes The MAD Fold-In Collection: 1964-2010 — the definitive treasure trove of Jaffee’s genius, a formidable four-volume set featuring 410 fold-ins reproduced at original size, each thoughtfully accompanied by a digital representation of the folded image so you wouldn’t have to actually fold your lavish book.
  12. Cultural Connectives: Bridging the Latin and Arabic Alphabets Rana Rjeily These days, news of the Middle East is a frequent staple of our daily media diet, but these media portrayals tend to be limited, one-dimensional, and reductionist. We know precious little about Arab culture, with all its rich and layered multiplicity, and even less about its language. Cultural Connectives aims to bridge this gap though a cultural cross-pollinator in the form of a typeface family designed by author Rana Abou Rjeily that brings the Arabic and Latin alphabets together and, in the process, fosters a new understanding of Arab culture. Both minimalist and illuminating, the book’s stunning pages map the rules of Arabic writing, grammar and pronunciation to English, using this typographic harmony as the vehicle for better understanding this ancient culture from a Western standpoint.

    Cultural Connectives: Bridging the Latin and Arabic Alphabets

    Rana Rjeily

    These days, news of the Middle East is a frequent staple of our daily media diet, but these media portrayals tend to be limited, one-dimensional, and reductionist. We know precious little about Arab culture, with all its rich and layered multiplicity, and even less about its language. Cultural Connectives aims to bridge this gap though a cultural cross-pollinator in the form of a typeface family designed by author Rana Abou Rjeily that brings the Arabic and Latin alphabets together and, in the process, fosters a new understanding of Arab culture.

    Both minimalist and illuminating, the book’s stunning pages map the rules of Arabic writing, grammar and pronunciation to English, using this typographic harmony as the vehicle for better understanding this ancient culture from a Western standpoint.