Chris Blattman

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What I’ve been reading

  1. What God Hath Wrought, by Daniel Walker Howe. Subtitled ‘The Transformation of America, 1815-1848’. I am brushing up on my US history, and this is superb. I may assign in my comparative development course, in case people are feeling pessimistic about Africa today. It could be worse. Usually an author who uses his full middle name is a bad sign, but the book is excellent.
  2. Bright’s Passage, by Josh Ritter. Journey of a traumatized WWI veteran, with his talking angelic horse. Somehow it works.
  3. Freedomland, by Richard Price. Gritty, modern urban crime fiction. I liked Lush Life enough to buy a second Price novel, and was sorely disappointed. Put down after Chapter 3.
  4. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, by John le Careé. Since, with a baby, going to a movie now costs $100 more dollars, I read the book. I have a soft spot for le Carré novels, at least when he is writing about the Cold War rather than Africa. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold will become available on Kindle in a couple of weeks.

4 Responses

  1. To get your dose of Cold War Le Carre, you can always watch the TTSS miniseries with Alex Guiness on DVD.
    Also, if you haven’t read it, Le Carre’s Little Drummer Girl is well worth reading (or re-reading). Though you must avoid the DVD at all costs.

  2. Hi Chris, since you mentioned in a previous post that these are affiliate links, I was wondering if you will still receive part of the purchase price if the kindle version is purchased. If not, it might be worth it to include a link to the kindle version too, to receive a couple of cents from those of us who use e-readers.

  3. Drew Gilpin Faust (author of the book the previous poster cited) is a woman, and president of Harvard. And while Lush Life was OK, Clockers is the original and classic Richard Price novel. Freedomland, however, was not bad; you should give it more of a chance.

Why We Fight - Book Cover
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