This Fight Is Our Fight by Senator Elizabeth Warren (2017, Metropolitan Books)
Many arguments are based a matter of different perspectives. Senator Warren’s perspective is different than mine, and that fact is underscored throughout this book.
Imagine you had a ball in your hand and you opened your hand. Most people, watching the result, would think that the ball had just dropped to the ground. There might be some who would instead say that the ground had rushed upward to meet the stationary ball, while your body moved out of the way.
Objectively and subjectively, the first interpretation would be correct. If nothing else, the fact that no muscles had been flexed to move you out of the way would be telling.
Elizabeth Warren’s views on economics are those of a person who insists that the ground is rising up to meet the ball. But she frames her arguments in an appealing way, presenting workers as ill-served not by the abuses of a free market but rather by a market which is somehow fully independent.
She is not alone in this. There are entire schools of economic thought which have great respect worldwide but seem to be devoted in part to explaining why adhering to their teachings results in a short term boom in prosperity followed by deepening poverty.
Warren’s book is a good reminder of how dangerous the economic idea of rampant spending can become. It promises readers a better world wherein if they work a full week, they can achieve a level of basic prosperity no matter what the job or how necessary the provided services might be.
That said, it will also provide insight into the thought process of Warren’s fans. It’s hard to say whether she believes any or all of her policies, but she knows that her followers believe it. This makes them somewhat dangerous, because many of them vote.
The Official Godzilla Compendium by J.D. Lees & Marc Cerasini (1998, Random House)
This is the English-language book for any fan of Godzilla and Japanese giant monster movies. It was co-written by the writer of the English-language Godzilla novels, Marc Cerasini, who demonstrates a considerable knowledge of the Godzilla “kaiju” films.
The book provides summaries of all of the Godzilla and related giant-monster films. Original poster art for each of the films is reproduced for the reader. A continuity timeline is provided, with the movie summaries acting as the medium by which the story of Godzilla is told.
The end of the book is immensely interesting to any giant rubber monster fan, as the names and abilities of all of the creatures to appear in the kaiju films are provided.
If you like the old Godzilla films, this book is absolutely worth hunting down. If you weren’t a fan, you’re probably best served ignoring it.
