Steal This Book, by
Abbie Hoffman.
Social/political philosophy and survival manual all rolled into
one. Some of the stuff in there's just for shock value, and it
succeeded: the book was rejected by 30 publishers because it
would purportedly destroy democracy, free speech, etc. There's
stealing and scamming in the book, but most of all there are
survival strategies, infused throughout with a strong system of
personal ethics and social responsibility.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by
Robert Pirsig. I was one of the millions of Westerners for
whom this book resonates. Western philosophy reclaims some of
its roots, and finds echoes in the East. Reading this book
helps me find balance, and I've reread this one more than any
other (save for some Peanuts paperbacks).
Design for the Real World, by Victor Papanek.
A very incisive look at the role of design and technology in the
context of real human needs, and how the prevailing teachings and
practices of design fail to meet those needs. This book changed
my perspective forever. Reading it should be a prerequisite for
a career in design or engineeering.
Daring to Be Bad, by Alice Echols. A
definitive history of radical feminism. Feminism is a vital
body of thought, and one that has been subject to an inordinate
amount of historical revisionism. This book sets things
straight. Strictly speaking, the writings and ideas of radical
feminism were the real influence on me, long before this book
was written, but reading this book (and tracking down the
material in its footnotes) brought it all together, and added a
bit of historical hindsight.
The Underground Reader, edited by Mel Howard
and the Reverend Thomas King Forcade. This is a compilation
of stuff from the underground newspapers of the 60s (think
zines, minus 20 years or so).
A People's History of the United States, by
Howard Zinn. If you're a typical American, your knowledge
of American history has some big gaps in it and a whole lot of
misinformation. This book is a good antidote.
Lies My Teacher Told Me and Lies Across
America, by
James W. Loewen. The antidote in more detail. The first
book focuses on history textbooks, where Americans learn all
sorts of falsehoods; and the second book focuses on historical
markers, where Americans learn more historical falsehoods after
they leave school.
Race Traitor, edited by Noel Ignatiev and John
Garvey. American society suffers from an illness known as
racism, and hasn't been healing from this illness in recent
years -- in fact, the illness is getting worse. This book
collects essays from Race Traitor, a journal dedicated to the abolition
of racism by challenging the very notion of race. These are
fresh and vigorous ideas which will hopefully help our society
find its way to a cure.
Clutter's Last Stand and Not For Packrats
Only, by Don Aslett. These are two of Aslett's many
helpful household cleaning books. Their inclusion on a list
such as this one may seem odd, but what these books do is lead
you through a stark appraisal of your relationship with
clutter -- and thus, your (perhaps dysfunctional) relationship
with your possessions. This practical approach has done more
for me than any mysticism-oriented tome on the subject!
Introduction to Programming (1969), by Digital
Equipment Corporation. My hat is off to the uncredited
author(s), who achieved the most effective piece of educational
techncal writing I've ever come across. This book was very out
of date when I got my hands on it, but so was the computer in my
high school. When I started reading it, all I knew was BASIC;
but when I finished it, I knew how to program an early RISC
machine with 12-bit words and practically no memory (why, all
you have to do is memorize the octal codes for the assembly
instructions and reuse them as data!). I had no idea how
horrendously complicated this all was: after all, the book's
title was Introduction to Programming, so I decided
it was easy. It led to a career. (Now available
![[PDF]](../icons/imc-pdf.gif)
online -- in PDF format.) |
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