Book recommendations Jan-June 2024

“In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a broad subject matter area) who didn't read all the time -- none, zero. You'd be amazed at how much Warren reads--and at how much I read. My children laugh at me. They think I'm a book with a couple of legs sticking out.”

― Charles T. Munger, Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger

“Nobody’s so damn well educated that you can’t learn ninety per cent of what he knows in six weeks. The other ten per cent is decoration.”

― Kurt Vonnegut, Player Piano

The extended Fourth of July weekend gives all a chance to reflect both on America’s 248 years of independence as well as the nature of liberty in the 21st century. Here are some book recommendations that help focus the mind on these weighty topics, and others that may serve as worthy distractions when such thoughts may become overwrought or even depressing. Enjoy!

An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro??

“Then he looked up and asked: ‘Was Oji a famous artist once?’ ‘A famous artist?’ I gave a laugh. ‘I suppose you might say that. Is that what your mother says?’ ‘Father says you used to be a famous artist. But you had to finish.’ ‘I’ve retired, Ichiro. Everyone retires when they get to a certain age. It’s only right, they deserve a rest.’ ‘Father says you had to finish. Because Japan lost the war.’ I gave another laugh, then reached forward and took the sketchpad.”

The relationship between being moral and being powerful is an ancient one. In the Beatitudes when Jesus preached that “blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”- this was a radical concept- as, for most of human history, being soft was many things, but not a blessing (to put in mildly). But while the archetypical hero may have shifted from Achilles (or Beowulf) out for personal glory to Galahad the pure-hearted on a grail quest in the Christian era – the old heroes never truly disappeared. They speak too deeply to the human experience – and thus were preserved not only in the non-Christian world but also in the monasteries that were the sanctum of Christendom. I think this helps explain the fascination with Hiroo Onoda- the Japanese army officer who held out 29 years post Japan’s surrender in the jungles of the Philippines- surviving on what he could raid from local villagers farms (which resulted in, among other things, the deaths of up to 30 civilians). I can't decide says more culturally – that Onoda was not the only Japanese soldier to keep fighting 20+ years after losing contact with his army (and ignoring multiple announcements of the surrender.. surely they must be a hoax as the Emperor cannot be defeated); or that the rest of the world, and specifically the Philippines did not punish him for his actions, but rather gave grudging respect to the man who would not quit- would not accept that his side could lose. The Japanese Imperial Army was definitely not good (the Korean and Chinese campaigns provide ample evidence of this if not the actions of Unit 731) but it was powerful. This is why the Battle of Tsushima is taught in classrooms around Asia (finally an Asian country standing up successfully against a European power), this is why Japanese politicians still go to the Yasakuni shrine, and why Kamikaze attacks and Banzai charges are recounted in documentaries in hushed, almost reverent tones that are very different than the tactics of the Wehrmacht are mentioned. To go further, in an increasingly post-Christian America- we live in the time of the antihero. Walter White who refuses, by whatever means at his disposal, to accept his fate. However, while we may have a grudging respect for this premodern hero who will not let mere morality get in the way of his aims- what about the sidekick or worse the stooge. Someone who also joined the wrong cause, but rather than cutting a wide swath of terror- merely sold his soul but accomplished nothing. The artist who became a propagandist but not good enough to be reviled but merely forgotten. That is a theme of this book by Ishiguro- in the winter of his days how will such a man seek to be remembered- and whether notoriety is better than irrelevance.??

Yellowface by R.F Kuang

He wrote papers on thought experiments so implausible that I often thought he would have been better off writing science fiction—whether we have obligations to future, unborn peoples, for example, or whether you can desecrate bodies if it will cause no harm to the living. Some of his arguments were a little extreme—he didn’t think, for instance, that there is any moral obligation to follow wills of the deceased if there is an overriding interest in redistributing wealth elsewhere, or that there are strong moral objections to using cemetery grounds for, say, housing for the poor. The general theme of his research was under what circumstances someone counts as a moral agent that deserves consideration. I didn’t understand much of his work, but his central argument was quite compelling: we owe nothing to the dead. Especially when the dead are thieves and liars, too. And fuck it, I’ll just say it: taking Athena’s manuscript felt like reparations, payback for the things that Athena took from me.

What do we deserve and more importantly, when we don’t get it who owes us- this is what R.F Kuang explores in Yellowface. I am normally skeptical about stories about cultural appropriation (as I think we all build upon each other, standing on the shoulders of the past) but the author’s previous genre works I have thoroughly enjoyed, and thought I would give this a chance.? I was not disappointed- no sacred cows were protected and this is no simple morality tale. It is hard to talk more about this book without giving away spoilers- but over the last few months, I have found myself discussing this book with others that have read it more than almost any book on this list (Player Piano is the exception).

The Fund by Rob Copeland

It’s finally happening to me, she thought to herself. Dalio announced to the room that he would first “probe” and then deliver what he called a “diagnosis.” In the probe he asked her to confirm that she had fallen short in his assignment. The diagnosis was that she was an idiot, a point he made over and over. “You’re a dumb shit!” Dalio spat. “You don’t even know what you don’t know”

We live in a time of idolatry. There is a whole market of interviews with the Masters of Universe that implicitly promote the idea that if you mirror a morning routine and a sleeping schedule you the consumer can also get a little closer to the nirvana that is cultural relevance. David McCormick, after a successful career as an Armor officer, Mckinsey consultant, and entrepreneur was a few crudités short of winning a Republican primary and perhaps becoming the Senator from Pennsylvania. James Comey was a former U.S. Attorney and FBI director, and a darling of the Left for his fight with President Trump. They both were recently working for Ray Dalio, legendary investor and theoretician of the modern world- who developed Principles and an honest analytical framework for humanity to live by (and progress to be understood). Their role at the company however, while well compensation was shockingly degrading- Dalio needed them to solve the mystery of who kept pissing on the floor of the executive washroom. DNA testing and a sting were contemplated. Some rather dark hilarity ensued. While broadly, this book has had no impact- Dalio is still a genius on CNBC and the podcast circuit and McCormick will run again for higher office, is a great antidote to the Instagram/Linkedin/ podcast bubble- for Diogenes may have been onto something- to become truly rich don’t ask the king for something material (and accept the resulting strings that are attached) but rather merely ask him to step out of the sun.

Fancy bear Goes Fishing by Scott J. Shapiro (Technology)

“Even more confusing was the world of hacking, a place teeming with tricky lingo. Honeypots? Sinkholing? Fuzzing? Shellcode? Mimikatz? Evil maid attacks? WTF is an evil maid attack?! It all seemed opaque, unintelligible, and impossibly abstract. But I was becoming increasingly aware that I wouldn’t be able to do my day job, which was to study cyberwar, if I didn’t get up to speed. To adapt Leon Trotsky’s famous line about war, you may not be interested in hacking, but hacking is interested in you.”

From age 22 as a newly commissioned Communications Officer working with SHF radios to Google I have always worked around tech even though I (rather sheepishly) am not particularly technical. I have read enough news articles and policy papers to understand that cyberwarfare and cybersecurity are important, but while I may have had a breadth of knowledge it was not (and is not) particularly deep. Learning about the finer points of hacking or thinking about finer points of the benefits of open source vs. closed (or upcode vs. downcode) was daunting- whether because of the technical gaps in my understanding or the chance to open myself to a security risk from looking into these areas (curiosity killed the cat). This was a good intermediate book on the history of hacking- providing enough information that it was not merely a surface narrative but not too much that I felt overwhelmed. Highly recommended if this is an area of interest.

Player Piano by Kurt Vonnegut

“The Sovereignty of the United States resides in the people, not in the machines, and it's the people's to take back, if they so wish. The machines," said Paul, "have exceeded the personal sovereignty willingly surrendered to them by the American people for the good government. Machines and organization and pursuit of efficiency have robbed the American people of liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

This was Vonnegut’s first book published in 1952- as such it is unlikely that a? 72 year old sci-fi book would hold up from a technology perspective- we are almost as far away from this period as Vonnegut was from Verne writing “Around the World in 80 Days”. And yet- a story about a techno-corporate elite running an AI based society while the rest of the citizens have been reduced to some welfare based servitude is extremely relevant at the dawn of the society wide transformation (or middle of the hype cycle) we find ourselves in. Dr. Paul Proteus has a great job, a loving wife and is proudly upholding his family’s legacies. But once he becomes aware of the broader problems of society he becomes a class traitor- he can’t unsee it, he can’t be bought off, he refuses to become irrelevant. I do not believe we live in the time of the barricades but if we return there, we would be well served with Paul joining our ranks. This is at least a novel with comic elements (if not a darkly comic novel) and the vignettes give us insights in the 1950s man in a grey suit culture, but predict some of its modern day offshoots- with speculations on what the future might bring, if we are not careful.

Other notable books

Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead Rules of Civility by Amor Towles Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies by Nick Bostrom Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Full list of Books

1.The Creative Act: A Way of Being

2. Yellowface: A Novel

3. Beyond the Myth of Magellan

4. Iron Flame (The Empyrean Book 2)

5. Crook Manifesto: A Novel

6. Rules of Civility: A Novel

7. The Saint of Bright Doors

8. We’ve Got You Covered: Rebooting American Health Care

9. White Mughals

10. Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect

11. The Fund: Ray Dalio, Bridgewater Associates, and the Unraveling of a Wall Street Legend

12. Empires of the Steppes: A History of the Nomadic Tribes Who Shaped Civilization

13. Storm of Steel

14. The Dream of the Celt

15 Bottoms up and the Devil laughs

16 Fancy Bear Goes Phishing: The Dark History of the Information Age, in Five Extraordinary Hacks

17 Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes

18. Sea of Poppies: A Novel (The Ibis Trilogy Book 1)

19. Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative

20. Prophet Song: A Novel

21. The Price of Time: The real story of Interest

22. The Will of the Many (Hierarchy Book 1)

23. Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators & Revolution

24. Number Go Up: Inside Crypto’s Wild Rise and Staggering Fall

25. Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World

26. American Prometheus: The Inspiration for the Major Motion Picture OPPENHEIMER

27. Table for Two: Fictions

28. Read Write Own: Building the Next Era of the Internet

29. Schismatrix Plus

30. Paper Soldiers: How the Weaponization of the Dollar Changed the World Order

31. The Algebra of Wealth: A Simple Formula for Financial Security

32. Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies

33. An Artist of the Floating World (Vintage International)

34. Kafka on the Shore (Vintage International)

35. The Night watchman: A Novel

36. Secrets of the temple

37. The Managerial revolution

38. Poor Charlie's Almanac

39. The Mexican Spy Company

40. Player Piano

41. The Shift Omnibus

42. Whirlwind ???