It is time to shop till you drop. 'Tis the season to be giving -- and if give you must, I suggest you give the gift of a book: one mind saying to another mind, "I respect you. Read this".My suggestions are not going to be the standard suggestions. As usual, I am going to recommend the unusual. If you need to give someone a gift, do grab a pen and a piece of paper. Here is my very short, very biased, list of book-gift suggestions.
I will begin with two books that will make a reader think -- wonderful books, books full of new & unusual ideas. You've probably heard of Bill Moyers who conducts interviews on Public Television. Buy Interviews with Bill Moyers Volumes One & Two. You get dozens of points of view from extremely intelligent, actively engaged, people. Buy both books; read them. Buy them for a friend whose mind you admire.
We all know someone who loves to rent Videocassetes. Buy that person the big, very fat, Time Out Film Guide. I recently wrote a whole radio talk on this British book that reviews videocassetes. Every time I open the book to read a review of a movie, I end up spending ten minutes reading various other reviews because one review cross-references me to another & that one to still another--and all the reviews are all so well written, so informative. For your friend, who constantly rents Videocassete, The Time Out Film Guide.
You know I love to be made to think. One of the most provocative books I've read in the last 20 years is Conversations with Noam Chomsky, by David Barsamian. When Noam Chomsky writes, I have a hard time grasping his ideas because his prose is so dense. When Noam Chomsky talks, he is crystal clear, and he says so many things so well, things we all need to hear. He is the only man who offers me hope -- who proposes solutions to problems I think are insoluble. A great, great book: Conversations with Noam Chomsky, by David Barsamian.
X.J. Kennedy--now there's a name you never heard before--but this man is not a member of the famous Kennedy family. X.J. Kennedy is one of America's greatest poets. He put together an anthology of Literature -- Short stories, plays, poems -- and his explanation of each of these forms is unbelievably clear. When he explains, I understand. He is one of the greatest teachers I have ever encountered. Again, the name --The X.J. Kennedy Anthology of Literature -- which is available in our college bookstore.
I recommend you give the gift of a year long subscription to the New Yorker. For fifty two weeks a year your friend will think of you -- as they read superbly written articles & short stories. A gift that keeps giving week after week after week. I also recommend a year long subscription to Funny Times. I read it cover to cover within 24 hours of the time I receive it. Funny Times is mostly cartoons -- pages & pages of cartoons, but there are also around ten funny essays. On a recent camping trip, my son & ex-wife were hounded by my oldest son who walked around behind them reading them excerpts from the most recent Funny Times.
Let me recapitulate. Let me read off my short list--in case you finally got around to acquiring a pen & paper. The Bill Moyers Interviews. The Time Out Film Guide, Conversations with Noam Chomsky, The X.J.Kennedy Anthology of Literature, and the New Yorker magazine & Funny Times.
Copyright © 2004 Henry Morgenstein