Nonfiction Book Discussion - NONZERO by Robert Wright - wrap-up for book next Weds May 16th 7-9pm, Houston Central Market Community Rm (upstairs)

[Alice Aman]

Hi everyone -

We will be meeting next week, on Wednesday May 16th at 7pm at Houston
Central Market (Weslayan and Westheimer) in the Community Room
upstairs. We will finish our discussion of NONZERO: The Logic of Human
Destiny by Robert Wright (publ 2001) with Part 2 chapters 17 thru 22,
Appendix 1 and 2 (about 105 pages) along with any residual issues and
thoughts about first part of the book. Comments, opinions, and
questions that apply to all sections of the book will be welcome.

And participants are welcome even if they have missed one or two of
the earlier meetings on this book. We do ask that you read the book
if you want to submit comments but anyone is welcome to attend and
just listen whether they have read the book or not.

Also, we will be voting on a book that Kathy has requested. The title
is: THE BENEFIT AND THE BURDEN: Tax Reform-Why We Need It and What It
Will Take [Hardcover] by Bruce Bartlett. She has asked that we
consider adding this title to our reading list before our January
election of books. In particular, she wanted to have us discuss it
prior to the November Presidential election since the topic is very
relevant. If elected, we will discuss it in September. She has read
the book and says it is very worthwhile.

So if you get a chance, and wish to be an informed voter, please check
out some of the info on Amazon at:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Benefit-Burden-Reform-Why-Need/dp/1451646194/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336535626&sr=1-1
You must be present to vote.

Next month, on June 20th, we will begin a new book titled THE
EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS by Henry Adams. Reading assignment will be
the Editor's Preface, Preface, Chapters I through X (about 140 pages).
This one is on the top of many of the "lists" of great nonfiction
books on the web.

Hope you are continuing to enjoy NONZERO like I am. Wendy has
mentioned that we might do our discussion differently this month. As
we progress through the remaining pages, section by section, we
thought it might be good to go around the room and ask participants
what particular parts they "highlighted" or found particularly
enlightening or worthy of criticism relevant to the section being
discussed at the time. We can talk about this more at the meeting in
case some of you would prefer not to do it this way.

Hope to see you next week.

--Alice

http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/HoustonNonfiction/
http://www.houstonbookclubs.org/GreatBooksGuide.htm

===Upcoming Books ==================

[ May 16th - cont'd from March and April, and finishing this month]
--NONZERO: The Logic of Human Destiny by Robert Wright (publ 2001) 347
total pages
[from 75 Smartest Books We Know by Fortune Magazine]
A dazzling mix of history, theology, economics, game theory, and
evolutionary biology that paints the world's increasing entwinement as
a positive and possibly inevitable development.

[Jun 20, Jul 18, and finishing on Aug 15]
--THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS by Henry Adams (publ 1907) 420 total pages
[Top 100 Modern Library list and Pulitzer Prize winner in 1919]
Printed privately in 1907 and published to wide acclaim shortly after
the author's death in 1918, The Education of Henry Adams is a
brilliant, idiosyncratic blend of autobiography and history that
charts the great transformation in American life during the so-called
Gilded Age.

[Sept 19, and finishing on Oct 17]
--THE SHALLOWS: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas
Carr (publ 2011) 228 total pgs
[2011 Pulitzer Prize finalist]
While the author tries to ground his argument in the details of modern
neuroscience, his most powerful points have nothing do with our
plastic cortex. Instead, he is most successful when he sticks to
cultural criticism, as he documents the losses that accompany the
arrival of new technologies.

[Nov 21, Dec 19, and finishing on Jan 16]
--THE ELEGANT UNIVERSE: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest
for the Ultimate Theory by Brian Greene (publ 2001) 464 total pgs
[2000 Pulitzer Prize finalist]
The author, a specialist in quantum field theory, believes that the
two pillars of physics - general relativity and quantum mechanics -
can be reconciled in superstring theory and gives the nonspecialist at
least an illusion of understanding--or the sense of knowing what it is
that you don't know. And that is traditionally the first step on the
road to knowledge.

[Jan 16 - election of new titles - those who have attended at least
twice may submit up to two titles for the ballot IN ADVANCE. Winners
will lead discussion of the book they suggested. Titles subject to
review.]

[Feb 20, Mar 20, and finishing on Apr 17]
--LORDS OF FINANCE: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed
(publ 2009) 505 total pages
[2010 Pulizer Prize]
The book is about events leading up to and culminating in the Great
Depression as told through the personal histories of the heads of the
Central Banks of the world's four major economies at the time:
Benjamin Strong Jr. of the New York Federal Reserve, Montagu Norman of
the Bank of England, Émile Moreau of the Banque de France, and
Hjalmar Schacht of the Reichsbank.