Used Books (But New to Me)

In light of the fact that mainstream football season is over, I am going to have more time on the weekends to devote to leisure reading. Accordingly, I recently ordered some books from www.alibris.com.

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- The Hidden Persuaders by Vance Packard. Along with "Organization Man" and "The Lonely Crowd", I learned about this book in a college history class. Its focus is on how advertisers and marketers manipulate the public. Having come out in 1957, it is quite prescient if at times a bit dated (for instance, when he is talking about what kind of image certain car brands convey, it's all domestic models). I am only about 1/3 through, but can already recommend it highly.

*****

- The Culture of Narcisissm by Christopher Lasch. If there was such a "culture of narcissim" in 1979, I am curious to ponder how much worse it must be in the i-pod, cell-phone, post-"greed is good" era of today.

*****

- Eastward Towards Tartary by Robert Kaplan. This is kind of a follow-up to Balkan Ghosts, as the author travels to far-flung areas and discusses their contemporary situations as well as respective histories. Since I am not going on holiday anytime soon, vicarious travel will have to do.