Tag Archives: humanities

The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written

Posted on August 7, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Most Influential Books Ever Written: the History of Thought from Ancient Times to Today© 1998 Martin Seymour-Smith498 pages In retrospect, the introduction should have served as a warning to me.  Author Martin Seymour-Smith opened his The 100 Most Influential … Continue reading →

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Walking towards Walden

Posted on July 19, 2010 by smellincoffee

Walking towards Walden: A Pilgrimage in Search of Place© 1995 John Hanson Mitchell301 pages Just before he set out on his journey to the netherworld, the great pilgrim Dante Alighieri had to pass through a lion-haunted forest where the straight … Continue reading →

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The Geography of Nowhere

Posted on February 24, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Geography of Nowhere: the Rise and Decline of America’s Man-Made Landscape© 1993 James Howard Kunstler303 pages Little boxes on the hillside, little boxes made of ticky-tacky Little boxes, little boxes, little boxes all the same There’s a green one, … Continue reading →

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Stories Behind Words

Posted on February 23, 2010 by smellincoffee

Stories Behind Words: The Origins and Histories of 285 English Words© 1986 Peter Limburg288 pages I have long held an interest in etymology and the history of language, thus this book’s interest to me.  Author Peter Limburg expounds upon the … Continue reading →

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When Religion Becomes Evil

Posted on December 17, 2009 by smellincoffee

When Religion Turns Evil© 2002 Charles Kimball256 pages Published in 2002 before the Iraq War and the rise of the “New Atheism”  Charles Kimball’s When Religion Becomes Evil seeks to preserve religion for humanity’s sake by elaborating on five ways … Continue reading →

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Marx in Soho

Posted on November 22, 2009 by smellincoffee

Marx in Soho © 1999 Howard Zinn 88 pages “Oh, ja — ‘capitalism has triumphed!’ — but over whom?” – Marx, Marx in Soho Although The Zinn Reader held a near-monopoly on my attention last week, there was a brief … Continue reading →

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The Zinn Reader

Posted on November 21, 2009 by smellincoffee

The Zinn Reader© 1997 Howard Zinn668 pages When I pulled this book from the shelf, I did so with the intention of checking it out and reading it over the Thanksgiving holiday. I did not anticipate the book monopolizing my … Continue reading →

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Off the Books

Posted on November 8, 2009 by smellincoffee

Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor© 2006 Sudhir Venkatesh426 pages In the spring, I read Sudhir Venkatesh’s Gang Leader for a Day, an analysis of gang life in one of Chicago’s more prominent street gangs, which … Continue reading →

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For Everything a Season

Posted on October 24, 2009 by smellincoffee

For Everything a Season: Simple Musings on Living Well © 2001 Phillip Gully 220 pages I don’t recall what lead me to reading this book, although I’m sure my fondness for the Hebrew book of Ecclesiastes had something to do … Continue reading →

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Humanist Anthology

Posted on October 14, 2009 by smellincoffee

Humanist Anthology© 1995 ed. Margaret Knight and revised editor James Herrick220 pages Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study of Mankind is Man. Plac’d on this isthmus of a middle state, A being darkly wise, and … Continue reading →

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