Recently, we asked readers to recommend a book to members of the journalistic community for their summer vacations. Below, we present an alphabetized list of the recommendations we received, with a link to more information for each book.
The Hearts of Darkness, by Milton Allimadi
Family of Secrets, by Russ Baker
Republican Gomorrah, by Max Blumenthal
Murder City, by Charles Bowden
Free For All: The Post-Soviet Transition of Russia, by Gary K. Busch
Zioncheck for President, by Phil Campbell
Capturing the News, by Anthony Collings
Create Your Own Economy, by Tyler Cowen
Conservatives Without Conscience, by John Dean
Richistan, by Robert Frank
Torture the Artist, by Joey Goebel
Bad Moon Rising: How Reverend Moon Created the Washington Times, Seduced the Religious Right, and Built an American Kingdom, by John Gorenfeld
Lost Joy, by Camden Joy
The Tyranny of Oil, by Antonia Juhasz
With God on Their Side, by Esther Kaplan
The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver
The Shock Doctrine, by Naomi Klein
I.O.U.: Why Everyone Owes Everyone and Nobody Can Pay, by John Lanchester
Me Cheeta, by James Lever
The Big Short, by Michael Lewis
Man’s Fate, by Andre Malraux
The Wallander Series, by Henning Mankell
The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
The Death and Life of American Journalism, by Robert McChesney and John Nichols
Solar, by Ian McEwan
Battle Cry of Freedom, by James McPherson
The Meat You Eat, by Ken Midkiff and Wendell Berry
My Ears Are Bent, by Joseph Mitchell
Homage to Catalonia, by George Orwell
Before the Storm, by Rick Perlstein
Nixonland, by Rick Perlstein
The Imperfectionists, by Thomas Rachman
Confidence Game, by Christine S. Richard
Low Life, by Luc Sante
Blackwater, by Jeremy Scahill
Spoon Fed - How Eight Cooks Saved My Life, by Kim Severson
The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, by Jeff Sharlet
The Black Swan, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
The Lemon Tree, by Sandy Tolan
All the King’s Men, by Robert Penn Warren
City, Save Thyself!, by David Wylie
You have my book listed but by a different author. I think you will find that I was the author. Thanks
Free For All: The Post-Soviet Transition of Russia, by Roman Solchanyk
#1 Posted by Gary Busch, CJR on Fri 13 Aug 2010 at 03:11 AM
Fixed it. Sorry about that, Gary.
#2 Posted by Justin Peters, CJR on Fri 13 Aug 2010 at 09:08 AM
A few good ones to add:
The Dark Side, Jane Mayer
Maiden USA, Kathleen Sweeney
Changing My Mind, Zadie Smith
and perhaps The Beautiful Struggle, Ta-Nehisi Coates
#3 Posted by Jill, CJR on Fri 13 Aug 2010 at 12:02 PM
Among the books that have powerfully influenced me as a journalist (and a thinking person):
The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World (Michelle Goldberg)
Slouching Towards Bethlehem (Joan Didion)
The Omnivore's Dilemma (Michael Pollan)
"Politics and the English Language" (George Orwell)
The Feminine Mystique (Betty Friedan)
In Cold Blood (Truman Capote)
Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing (Ted Conover)
Notes of a Native Son (James Baldwin)
The Fire Next Time (James Baldwin)
Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty (Dorothy Roberts)
... and anything by Natalie Angier...
#4 Posted by Anna Clark, CJR on Fri 13 Aug 2010 at 12:49 PM
While I appreciate your readers recommending my book Family of Secrets, i was astonished to see that your link for "more information" is to a review in the Washington Post (by a satirical writer with no background in this material) that basically seeks to ridicule the book--and that, unconscionably fails to mention the copious revelations in Family of Secrets about the Washington Post itself and its historic role in disinformation. The presumably unintended effect of sending your readers to this review is to violate just about everything in the CJR/Columbia playbook. Why not let them read uncontrolled reader reviews on the Amazon page?
#5 Posted by Russ Baker, CJR on Sat 14 Aug 2010 at 04:47 AM