When I went back to check Iraqi Blog Count (I had left a comment there and wanted to see if it had received a response), I was distressed to see this comment there:
Hi
I am an American who stumbled onto your blog:)
Here are some really good books that I reccomend for you to read.
(Maybe you have read some of them, apologies if you
have)The Oil Junta and other essays by
Gore VidalHegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance
Noam ChomskyLies, and the Lying Liars Who tell them
by AL FrankenBushwacked
by Molly IvinsDude, Where’s My Country?
by Michael MooreHouse of Saud, House of Bush
by Craig Unger
If I were going to recommend books to someone from another country whose only exposure to the United States was what she read in the newspaper or what she saw on TV, I don’t think I’d recommend any of those books. None of them are great literature and they paint a picture of America that I just don’t recognize. Ann Coulter’s books paint a picture of America that I don’t recognize either and I wouldn’t recommend her work to someone unfamiliar with this country as well.
So what would your choices be? Any books that really paint a recognizeable picture of this country? They can be humble choices or grand.
UPDATE: Submitted to Beltway Traffic Jam.
Tocqueville’s Democracy in America.
My God, Chomsky, Vidal, and Moore? Disgusting.
I’ll leave a comment over there.
Gary Wills’ Lincoln At Gettsyburg: The Words That Remade America (1992). Thomas Sowells’ A Conflict of Visions (1987).
Dave,
Here’s my list–
Ringworld by Larry Niven
Nature via Nurture by Matt Ridley
Religion Explained by Pascal Boyer. 🙂
Alternative Selections: Godel-Escher-Bach, or Hawking’s A Brief History of Time?
So many books, so little time! 🙂
Dear gEye:
My favorite Americam book is “Why to win friends and influence people”. Indeed, in my opinion it is a very good lecture to all American in Iraq.
Aquele abraço!
Alvaro Frota