Summer Reading

It's great being out of college. I finally have the freedom to read anything I want without worrying about catching up on "assigned reading." Don't get me wrong I loved reading for class, I got to read a whole bunch of stuff I wouldn't typically pick up, but it does feels good to be able to read with a conscience void of term papers and write-ups. Lately, I haven't been reading as much as I'd like, because I've been job hunting, but now that I'm officially alright with being unemployed and broke as hell, I've come back to my favorite pass time. Here's what I've been reading:



The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times and Ideas of The Great Economic Thinkers by Robert L. Heilbroner
My favorite read, as of now. I've never taken economics courses or did much reading on economics, I've always thought most of it was strange, but this book has changed my mind on the subject. Heilbroner discusses how capitalism and the "market system" are modern phenomenons, and argues that without the profit motive economist would never exist. I'm only on the third chapter which is about Adam Smith.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
I finished this one a few weeks ago. I don't know what to say... So there. Just read it.

Jesus' Son by Dennis Johnson
Quick read, great stories. I guess I'd say the stories are shocking, not because of the content, but in how they're written. Johnson has a way with small details and his endings always leave me mesmerized. I remember reading the last sentence to "Car Crash While Hitchhiking" and thinking "What the fuck just happened? You can do that with a story?" But I guess I got that with every single story in this collection.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
I found this book at work the other day. Apparently my mom has been going through my stacks trying to find reading material to better her English. I guess the vignette form caught her eyes--that's what caught my eyes when I bought this book for Mrs. Biaz's freshmen English class. It's good reading this again. The writing is great. I remember reading Cisneros essay "My Hips, My Caderas" for Locklin's Engl 100 class; I've been a fan of Cisneros ever since.

The Foundations of Leninism by Joseph Stalin
Bought this for a buck a few semesters ago. It's been sitting on my self for too long. Recently, Tammy has fallen in love with Stolichnaya--mostly because she likes the sound of the word, not so much the taste of the vodka--and so I lent her my pocket edition Communist Manifesto. I wanted to re-read that, but apparently, she lost it, or it's misplaced somewhere, so now I'm reading this. This book is more appropriate with a glass of Stolichnaya anyways. It's a collection of Stalin's lectures on Leninism. It pairs well with the Heilbroner book.

Existentialism and Human Emotions by Jean-Paul Sartre
I've always been interested in existentialism after studying the American artists from the New York School--Pollock in particular. This was my first time reading Sartre. I finished this book in one sitting--it's really short--but I only understood parts of the first three sections. I was totally lost when it got into existentialist psychoanalysis. My plan is to read Sartre's earlier works and other philosophers that he frequently cites in this book before coming back to it.


After I'm done with these books I'll move on to professor recommendations, which are mostly novels. So that should be a change.