[Hac-announce] Book Discussion Group Announcements

[Dan Blinn]

This afternoon at 3:00, we will be discussing "She's Not There: A Life in
Two Genders" by Jennifer Finney
Boylan<http://www.amazon.com/Shes-Not-There-Life-Genders/dp/0767914295/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353166619&sr=1-1&keywords=she%27s+not+there+by+jennifer+finney+boylan>.
 We will also be selecting a date to discuss our next book "Breakfast With
Buddha" by Roland
Merullo<http://www.amazon.com/Breakfast-Buddha-Roland-Merullo/dp/1565126165/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353166685&sr=1-1&keywords=breakfast+with+buddha>
.

We will also be discussing the nominees for our January book.  We will not
be selecting the book, however, for that will be done over the course of
the next several days by survey <http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Z3JNWFT>.
It has been suggested that it is helpful to discuss the choices, so I'm
encouraging everyone who is coming to this afternoon's discussion to hold
off on voting until after we have discussed the three choices as a group.

The three nominees include the two non-fiction books that were not selected
for November plus a new selection that was the subject of a recent
Conversations talk on Steven Pinker and the decline of violence.  The
options are:


"Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy by
Joseph Stiglitz<http://www.amazon.com/Freefall-America-Markets-Sinking-Economy/dp/B007SRWER0/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353167159&sr=1-3&keywords=freefall>

An incisive look at the global economic crisis, our flawed response, and
the implications for the world’s future prosperity.  The Great Recession,
as it has come to be called, has impacted more people worldwide than any
crisis since the Great Depression. Flawed government policy and
unscrupulous personal and corporate behavior in the United States created
the current financial meltdown, which was exported across the globe with
devastating consequences. The crisis has sparked an essential debate about
America’s economic missteps, the soundness of this country’s economy, and
even the appropriate shape of a capitalist system. Few are more qualified
to comment during this turbulent time than Joseph E. Stiglitz. Winner of
the 2001 Nobel Prize in Economics, Stiglitz is “an insanely great
economist, in ways you can’t really appreciate unless you’re deep into the
field” (Paul Krugman, New York Times). In Freefall, Stiglitz traces the
origins of the Great Recession, eschewing easy answers and demolishing the
contention that America needs more billion-dollar bailouts and free passes
to those “too big to fail,” while also outlining the alternatives and
revealing that even now there are choices ahead that can make a difference.
The system is broken, and we can only fix it by examining the underlying
theories that have led us into this new “bubble capitalism.”

"Age of Reason" by Thomas
Paine<http://www.amazon.com/Age-Reason-Thomas-Paine/dp/145656854X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353167203&sr=1-1&keywords=the+age+of+reason>

The Age of Reason challenges institutionalized religion and challenges the
legitimacy of the Bible, the central sacred text of Christianity. Published
in three parts in 1794, 1795, and 1807, it was a bestseller in the United
States, where it caused a short-lived deistic revival. British audiences,
however, fearing increased political radicalism as a result of the French
Revolution, received it with more hostility. The Age of Reason presents
common deistic arguments; for example, it highlights what Paine saw as
corruption of the Christian Church and criticizes its efforts to acquire
political power. Paine advocates reason in the place of revelation, leading
him to reject miracles and to view the Bible as an ordinary piece of
literature rather than as a divinely inspired text. It promotes natural
religion and argues for the existence of a creator-God.
Most of Paine's arguments had long been available to the educated elite,
but by presenting them in an engaging and irreverent style, he made deism
appealing and accessible to a mass audience. The book was also inexpensive,
putting it within the reach of a large number of buyers. Fearing the spread
of what they viewed as potentially revolutionary ideas, the British
government prosecuted printers and booksellers who tried to publish and
distribute it. Paine nevertheless inspired and guided many British
freethinkers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

"The Better Angels of our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined" by Steven
Pinker<http://www.amazon.com/Better-Angels-Our-Nature-Violence/dp/0670022950/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353167298&sr=1-1&keywords=better+angels+of+our+nature+by+steven+pinker>

Faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism,
one could easily think we live in the most violent age ever seen. Yet as
New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows in this startling and
engaging new work, just the opposite is true: violence has been diminishing
for millennia and we may be living in the most peaceful time in our
species's existence. For most of history, war, slavery, infanticide, child
abuse, assassinations, pogroms, gruesome punishments, deadly quarrels, and
genocide were ordinary features of life. But today, Pinker shows (with the
help of more than a hundred graphs and maps) all these forms of violence
have dwindled and are widely condemned. How has this happened?

This groundbreaking book continues Pinker's exploration of the essence of
human nature, mixing psychology and history to provide a remarkable picture
of an increasingly nonviolent world. The key, he explains, is to understand
our intrinsic motives- the inner demons that incline us toward violence and
the better angels that steer us away-and how changing circumstances have
allowed our better angels to prevail. Exploding fatalist myths about
humankind's inherent violence and the curse of modernity, this ambitious
and provocative book is sure to be hotly debated in living rooms and the
Pentagon alike, and will challenge and change the way we think about our
society.


I suggest that you wait until after this afternoon's discussion suggestion
before voting - you might change your mind! The survey will be kept open
until Monday at 7:30 pm, and I'll announce the selected book at the monthly
meeting.  You can take the survey <http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Z3JNWFT>at:


http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Z3JNWFT

Dan Blinn
danblinn at gmail.com
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