What Our Next President Should Be Reading, pt. 2…
By Kristen on Feb 23, 2008 in Future Classics...?, Literary News
On February 8, I wrote a quick post about the response Bill Moyers received when he asked his readers what they believed our next president should be reading.
Photo by fotogeneric
Here’s a complilation of the responses:
- Naomi Klein, THE SHOCK DOCTRINE
- Howard Zinn, A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
- Kim Michaels, THE ART OF NON-WAR
- Jared Diamond, COLLAPSE
- Chalmers Johnson, BLOWBACK triology
- Tom Paine, COLLECTED WORKS/COMMON SENSE
- Al Gore, ASSAULT ON REASON/AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
- David Cay Johnston, FREE LUNCH
- George Orwell, 1984/ANIMAL FARM
- Naomi Wolff, THE END OF AMERICA: LETTERS TO A YOUNG PATRIOT
- Greg Mortenson, THREE CUPS OF TEA
- Barbara Ehrenreich, NICKLE AND DIMED
- Barbara Tuchman, MARCH OF FOLLY
- Doris Kearns Goodwin, TEAM OF RIVALS
- David Korten, THE GREAT TURNING
- John Steinbeck, THE GRAPES OF WRATH
- Ayn Rand, ATLAS SHRUGGED
- John Dean, BROKEN GOVERNMENT
- John Perkins, CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HITMAN
- James Carroll, HOUSE OF WAR
- Thomas Friedman, THE WORLD IS FLAT
- Lao Tzu, TE TAO CHING
- Tim Weiner, LEGACY OF ASHES
- Dr. Seuss (THE LORAX, HORTON HEARS A WHO, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO, IF I RAN THE ZOO)
Here’s a link to all of the responses on Moyers’s blog. Moyers himself chose Command of Office: How War, Secrecy, and Deception Transformed the Presidency, from Theodore Roosevelt to George W. Bush by Stephen Graubard. I recommend watching the video on his blog to hear why he chose it (and why a few of the above titles were chosen).
Photo by IvanoMak
And here’s a reminder of the candidates’s actual responses to Katie Couric’s original question.
I would love to hear what you think — about the above responses or any titles you believe should’ve made the list!
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