non-fiction

[Anonymous No.6044686]

I rarely see non-fiction/non-philosophy books discussed here. Let's start a thread with some GOAT non-fiction which isn't written by some old ass greek or some filthy french aristrocat.

[Anonymous No.6044701]

>>6044686
And instead by a filthy English aristocrat. Not to say I don't love this man after reading "Ogilvy On Advertising". He certainly knows his place as a "salesman athlete" compared to the founders of economic theory and advertisement. I'm sure anyone who works in the West (or elsewhere) would benefit from listening to his practices.

[Anonymous No.6044721]

>>6044701

was he even noble? I don't think so. I think most of his success stems from his variety of jobs before he became an advertiser. His broader knowledge allowed him to create more customised campaigns, instead of rather standardized campaigns. His little anecdotes and aphorisms are also quite enjoyable. Among my all time favorite books.

[Anonymous No.6045492]

nobody really interested? Come on, /lit/ can more than circlejerk about DFW, Pinecone, etc ...

[Anonymous No.6046753]

>>6045492
>Come on, /lit/ can more than circlejerk about DFW, Pinecone, etc ...
It can hardly manage that.

[Anonymous No.6047289]

>>6046753
Pretty sad. Really thought people here would inow and appreciate ogilvy ...

[Anonymous No.6047292]

>>6047289
Meant 'know' ... stupid phone.

[Anonymous No.6047302]

I enjoyed it, even if most of it was theories (theories which have since been rejected).

[Anonymous No.6049177]

>>6047302

thanks for your suggestion. I never understood why stemfags hate Freud and psychology in general. Even if he's outdated, it's still interesting to see how a man practically created a whole new science by himself.

[Anonymous No.6049233]

Enjoying this. It makes the case for war against Islamism from a leftist's perspective. Relates Islamism to the anarchist and socialist assassinations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Interesting read.

[Anonymous No.6049256]

>>6049177

[Anonymous No.6049610]

>>6044686
I read that a while back, it was a fun read. Would love to have had a drink with him.

"Consuming Passions: A History of English Food and Appetite" is a fun book about food.

[Anonymous No.6049733]

>>6049256
i was wondering what freud's rebuttal would be, damn

[Anonymous No.6049792]

>>6049256
this guy never read freud

[Anonymous No.6049802]

>>6049233
>leftist

I don't understand how all of you /pol/fags [1] keep on confusing western liberalism with the political left, how retarded do you have to be?

[1] only /pol/fags use the word "leftist"

[Anonymous No.6049827]

>>6049256

[Anonymous No.6049849]

>>6049177

- Freud is psychology's daddy
- truth about psyche is mommy
- stemdolts have to parricide to pound mommy's vag
- parricide is rote, wholesale dismissal of Freud's work
- stemdolts prove Freud right by repeating oedipussy all over again

[Anonymous No.6050209]

>>6049610

goddamn english kitchen. I don't know wether I like it or not it.

Pic related is another fun read, very detailled, witty anecdotes. The BBC documentary about Hebborn is great, too.

[Anonymous No.6050251]

HERE ARE SOME RECENT NON-FICTION READS I LIKED

>The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America
Journalistic non-fiction that tells the story of the collapse/"unwinding" of US society based on the interwoven stories of a few "normal" US-citizens, together with pastiches on famous Americans. Won 2013 National Book Award.

>The Outsider
Philosophical/literature non-fiction from the 50s. Wilson published it when he was in his early 20s, it's all about the role of society's outsider in literature, the lives of artists, and psychology. Extremely erudite.

>The Price of Altruism: George Price and the Search for the Origins of Kindness

The biography of the guy who had massive influence on the few basic formulas of biology and game theory (Price equation, for example). Very sad life.

>The Silence of Animals: On Progress and Other Modern Myths
A very contrarian book about our modern beliefs, e.g., that we are now "advanced" people is all bullshit.

> The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival
My personal surprise of 2014 - it's the story of the Siberian conservation efforts of their local tiger population, interwoven with the story of the hunt for a man-eating tiger in Siberia in the late 1990s.

THAT'S ALL I CAN THINK OF

[Anonymous No.6050267]

>>6050251

nice list, bruh. Appreciated.

[Anonymous No.6050336]

>>6050267
THANK YOU

HERE ARE SOME MORE TO BUMP SINCE THERE ARE SO FEW ACTUAL BOOK THREADS GOING ON

>Adrian Desmond's Darwin and Huxley
Two biographies on Darwin and his "bulldog", Huxley. The Darwin biography is extremely detailed and interesting, and I learned so much about Huxley (did you know he invented "agnostic" to circumvent the whole religion vs. evolution debate?)

>Dyson's The Scientist as Rebel
A collection of some great, some good essays, or rather book reviews that go on a tangent by Freeman Dyson. Not all about "rebels", of course, but about the common theme is the responsibility of scientists towards society (since he worked on the Manhattan Project).

>Holland's Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic
Pop-history, summarizes the fall of the Roman Republic over the last few decades. Engagingly written, not dry at all.

THAT IS ALL

[Anonymous No.6051417]

>>6050336

It's funny how christians hate Darwin, who was in fact a theologist.

[Anonymous No.6051726]

This is one of my favorites. Went into it thinking it was just going to be 1800s Trainspotting. Turned out it was a really interesting meditation on poverty, dreams, and consciousness. Check out The English Mail-Coach by de Quincey as well.

[Anonymous No.6053762]

A few recommendations from somebody who reads non-fiction compulsively.

>Lawrence Wright
Definitely check out his expose of Scientology, Going Clear (a documentary is to be adapted from it soon) and his Pulitzer Prize winning book about the lead-up to the 9/11 attacks, The Looming Tower.

>Walter Isaacson
Amazing writer of biographies. He draws you in with compelling, easily digestible prose and gives you the ins-and-outs of some of the greatest men who ever lived - which can help you pick up some valuable lessons for yourself. The Kissinger one is especially underrated, and his most recent two books - Steve Jobs and The Innovators - are preposterously good, both of which I read in a mad rush in only a few days.

>AJ Jacobs
Very funny writer. His books are like the literary equivalent of these educational comedy shows you sometimes see, like QI and Stephen Fry's documentaries.One of them is about following the bible to the letter, another is about trying to be as healthy as possible...

There's a lot of others too but this is just off the top of my head.

[Anonymous No.6053795]

currently reading pic related

loving it, but it seems a little too good to be true. as if a lot of the things he warns of are novice mistakes rather than fundamental flaws which plague certain fields

[Anonymous No.6053852]

>>6044686
>Someth May - Cambodian witness
autobiography of an adolescent during the Khmer Rouge regime, sent from camp to camp with his family
>Philip Gourevitch - We wish you to inform you that tomorow we will be killed
On the Rwandan genocide, the history of the country and the international community's reaction, or lack of reaction.
>Jean Hatzfeld - Machete season
Interviews with Rwandan genocidaires, can be read with Gourevitch, there will obviously be a little overlap in the standard facts, but it's not much. I read machete season first, but reading Gourevitch first will most likely give you a better perspective on things
>Jean Hatzfeld - The strategy of antelopes
Interviews with survivors of the genocide, stories of survivors as they were fleeing and held up on a mountain to be hunted everyday.
>Van Reybrouck - Congo
Although Reybrouck dramatizes at times, and has a very weak start stating he's interviewing a 120 year old man who can remember the days of Leopold II, it is a good history of the Congo, and the African wars of the 1990s.

Thomas Metzinger - The Ego Tunnel
I suppose you could call this philosophy, but it leans more towards neuroscience/neurophenomenology with Metzinger's and other professors' thoughts on it. The main focus of the book is the creation of consciousness, and the ''I''.
>The Brain has a Mind of its Own (forgot author for a sec, cba to walk to my bookshelf)
A bunch of short essays on neurology from a practicing psychologist+neurosurgeon (basically, if the diagnoses is bad enough, he operates on you himself, it's quite amazing if you ask me) Gives you some basics on the functioning of the brain and introduces some terminology that accompanies it.

Those are some non-fiction works I really enjoyed.

>>6049827
>/lit/

[Anonymous No.6053945]

>>6051726
>>6053762
>>6053795
>>6053852

thanks for all your suggestions, lads. I just read and re-read Hebborns book (see a few posts above), and now I can take a look at your recommendations.

[Anonymous No.6054017]

>>6051417
>It's funny how christians hate Darwin, who was in fact a theologist.

He did become something of an agnostic during his life, he stopped going to church, for example, but he still supported his local parish. He mostly avoided public debate about his religious views, he avoided public debates in general - he seemed to have Morbus Crohn or a similar stress-induced syndrome, any stress had him retching for days... from his very Christian wife's letters, we know that he was fairly open to her about his religious views and she was agonizing about them not being together in heaven due to his doubts.

[Anonymous No.6054034]

This thread misses Ray Monk's biographies of Oppenheimer ("Robert Oppenheimer: A Life Inside the Center") and Wittgenstein ("Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius"). Both are extremely detailed, readable, and long (a.k.a. comfy).

Monk also wrote a "how to" for Wittgenstein called "How to Read Wittgenstein" which I haven't read yet but I've seen it recommended.

[Anonymous No.6054099]

>>6049802
Modern Western liberals are undeniably left wing, have you ever even seen one?