Here’s what’s on my virtual book shelf from the last several years:
A
A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
The Acid House by Irvine Welsh
Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting by William Goldman
After the Empire: The Breakdown of the American Order (European Perspectives: A Series in Social Thought and Cultural Criticism) by Emmanuel Todd
All You Need to Know About the Music Business by Donald Passman
American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century by Kevin Phillips
Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
Attack Poodles and Other Media Mutants: The Looting of the News in a Time of Terror by James Wolcott
B
Banana Republicans: How the Right Wing Is Turning America into a One-Party State by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber
Bastard Out of Carolina: A Novel by Dorothy Allison
Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story by Paul Monette
The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker
Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative by David Brock
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Breakfast of Champions: A Novel by Kurt Vonnegut
Breaking The News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy by James Fallows
By a Nose: The Off-Center Life of Football’s Funniest Lineman by Fred Smerlas and Vic Carucci
C
Can’t Stop Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation by Jeff Chang
Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Chain of Command: The Road from 9/11 to Abu Ghraib by Seymour Hersh
Chatter: Uncovering the Echelon Surveillance Network and the Secret World of Global Eavesdropping by Patrick Radden Keefe
Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq by Michael Gordon and Bernard Trainor
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins
The Conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism by Thomas Frank
The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power by Joel Bakan
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
The Customer Is Always Wrong: The Retail Chronicles by Jeff Martin
Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics by Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas
The Customer Is Always Wrong: The Retail Chronicles by Jeff Martin
D
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism by Cornel West
Divergent by Veronica Roth
Don’t Think Of An Elephant!: How Democrats And Progressives Can Win: Know Your Values And Frame The Debate: The Essential Guide For Progressives by George Lakoff
Downsize This!: Random Threats from an Unarmed American by Michael Moore
Drinking with Strangers: Music Lessons from a Teenage Bullet Belt by Butch Walker
Dude, Where’s My Country? by Michael Moore
E
Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris
Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge by Mark Yarm
Everything: A Book About Manic Street Preachers by Simon Price
Everything I’m Cracked Up to Be: A Rock & Roll Fairy Tale by Jen Trynin
F
Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota by Chuck Klosterman
Fight the Power: Rap, Race, and Reality by Chuck D, Yusuf Jah and Spike Lee
G
The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists by Neil Strauss
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in the New Century by Paul Krugman
The Greatest Sci-fi Movies Never Made by David Hughes
Guided by Voices: A Brief History: Twenty-One Years of Hunting Accidents in the Forests of Rock and Roll by James Greer
H
Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles by Geoff Emerick
Hitless Wonder: A Life in Minor League Rock and Roll by Joe Oestreich
I
Imperial America: Reflections on the United States of Amnesia by Gore Vidal
In Other Words: Artists Talk About Life and Work by Anthony DeCurtis
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
J
K
Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story by Chuck Klosterman
Kitchen Confidential Updated Edition: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly by Anthony Bourdain
L
The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell: An Accidental Soldier’s Account of the War in Iraq by John Crawford
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken
Live From New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, as Told By Its Stars, Writers and Guests by Tom Shales
Lost in the ’90s by Frank Anthony Polito
M
Mad Cow U.S.A. by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber
Milk It: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the ’90s by Jim DeRogatis
N
Nerd Do Well: A Small Boy?s Journey to Becoming a Big Kid by Simon Pegg
Next Man Up: A Year Behind the Lines in Today’s NFL by John Feinstein
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
No Logo by Naomi Klein
O
One Market Under God: Extreme Capitalism, Market Populism, and the End of Economic Democracy by Thomas Frank
Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991 by Michael Azerrad
P
Perfect From Now On: How Indie Rock Saved My Life by John Sellers
Perfectly Legal: The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich–and Cheat Everybody Else by David Cay Johnston
Pigs at the Trough: How Corporate Greed and Political Corruption Are Undermining America by Arianna Huffington
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk by Legs McNeil
Politics: Observations and Arguments, 1966-2004 by Hendrik Hertzberg
Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung: The Work of a Legendary Critic: Rock’N'Roll as Literature and Literature as Rock ‘N’Roll by Lester Bangs
Q
R
The Real State Of The Union: From The Best Minds In America, Bold Solutions To The Problems Politicians Dare Not Address by Ted Halstead
Rebel without a Crew: Or How a 23-Year-Old Filmmaker With $7,000 Became a Hollywood Player by Robert Rodriguez
The Republican Noise Machine: Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy by David Brock
The Republican War on Science by Chris Mooney
Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984 by Simon Reynolds
Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot by Al Franken
S
Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need by Blake Snyder
Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by Syd Field
Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg
Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect, and Communicate with Your Baby by Tracy Hogg
See A Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody by Bob Mould
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman
Skipping Towards Gomorrah: The Sevenly Deadly Sins and the Pursuit of Happiness in America by Dan Savage
Slanted and Enchanted: The Evolution of Indie Culture by Kaya Oakes
Slaughterhouse-Five: A Novel by Kurt Vonnegut
Smartbomb: The Quest for Art, Entertainment, and Big Bucks in the Videogame Revolution by Heather Chaplin and Aaron Ruby
So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star: How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful Of Record Executives and Other True Tales from a Drummer’s Life by Jacob Slichter
The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic by Chalmers Johnson
Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal by Ian Christe
Story: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee
Stupid White Men …and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation! by Michael Moore
Sundays in the Pound: The Heroics and Heartbreak of the 1985-89 Cleveland Browns by Jonathon Knight
T
Take Your Eye Off the Ball: How to Watch Football by Knowing Where to Look by Pat Kirwan
Teachers Have It Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America’s Teachers by Daniel Moulthrop, Ninive Clements Calegari and Dave Eggers
Toxic Sludge is Good For You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber
Trust Us We’re Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles with Your Future by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber
U
Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky by Noam Chomsky
V
W
Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush’s War on Iraq by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber
What Liberal Media? The Truth About Bias and the News by Eric Alterman
What’s the Matter with Kansas?: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America by Thomas Frank
When Presidents Lie: A History of Official Deception and Its Consequences by Eric Alterman
Where Else Would You Rather Be? by Marv Levy
Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade by William Goldman
Wilco: Learning How to Die by Greg Kot
Woodrow Wilson: A Biography by John Milton Cooper, Jr.
Writing Movies for Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too! by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant
X
Y
Yippee Ki-Yay Moviegoer!: Writings on Bruce Willis, Badass Cinema and Other Important Topics by Vern
Z
