The Accidental Theorist

December 20, 2009
Book of the Day: The Accidental Theorist and Other Dispatches from the Dismal Science, by Paul Krugman
Grade: C
First published: 1998
1-word review: Capital
6-word review: Economics really is a science, really!

Why do popular economics books always exaggerate the veracity of claims made by economists? Krugman manages to do this while at the same time insulting the many economists he disagrees with. How about just one mention of the generally recognized rule that an economic theory is considered to be a wild success if it can be shown to apply in just two-thirds of cases?

Krugman has become famous in recent years as a public intellectual, specifically a liberal one. Despite his liberalism, he is an ardent defender of capitalism, and many of these essays reflect that. His writing style is only adequate, and this book is pretty forgettable. And I was disappointed that Idaho didn't get a single mention.

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Freddy the Detective

December 11, 2009 Book of the Day: Freddy the Detective , by Walter R. Brooks Grade: A- First published: 1932 1-word review: Porcine 5-word review: Don't mess with the pig. Freddy the Pig awakes one morning to find Hambone, his best friend and longtime sty-mate, missing. He begins an investigation into the disappearance only to stumble upon the dismembered and eviscerated corpse of Hammy hanging in a meat locker. He proceeds to take revenge on those he deems responsible, doing to them what was done to his buddy. Blood flows as Freddy self-destructs in an orgy of violence. This is all rather surprising to find in a children's book. Warning to my more sensitive readers! Here's a gruesome picture of some of Hammy's remains, shown only in the interest of science. Here we have Idaho.

A Month in Books (December 2009)

I'm sure you as my massive reading audience greatly enjoyed my month in books (not that I'm suggesting that you, dear reader, are personally massive). This will be my last post until my next Book-a-Day month, at a yet to be determined point in the future. Here are my December awards: Book of the Month Award - Arabian Nights and Days , by Naguib Mahfouz Honorable Mentions - Homage to Catalonia , by George Orwell; The Atom Station , by Halldor Laxness; The Spy Who Came in from the Cold , by John le Carré Worst Book Award - The Museum of Dr. Moses: Tales of Mystery and Suspense , by Joyce Carol Oates Dishonorable Mention - Into the Wild , by Jon Krakauer And here are some of the things I learned over the month of December: If you choose to read a book a day, pick a month other than December to do it, even though you'll be out of school. The holidays really screw with the reading time. Avoid trying to read a short story collection in a single day. Write in your blog immediat...

Disgrace

December 12, 2009 Book of the Day: Disgrace , by J.M. Coetzee Grade: A First published: 1999 1-word review: Brutal 9-word review: South Africa's still struggling in the aftermath of apartheid. A communications professor in Cape Town resigns his job after having a scandalous affair with a student. He visits his daughter on her ranch in the country, where they are viciously attacked and robbed in her home. The rest of the novel, in sparse and nearly perfect prose, deals with the aftermath of this attack, examining white guilt, police incompetence, and intellectual bankruptcy. Coetzee is a white South African who wrote a novel that depicts black on white violent crime in his country. As you may expect, this has generated quite some controversy, despite Coetzee's bona fide anti-apartheid status. Many critics have suggested that Disgrace should be read as an allegorical tale about the inadequacies of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a body set up in South Africa to exam...

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