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I detected two books on the American intellectual horizon that are likely to be intensely discussed. Has anybody read them already?

1. Alan Greenspan's "The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World".

No comments, the author's name speaks for itself. Also, I am vastly ignorant in the field of economy to be qualified to comment.

2. Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine".

-- of which book Bill Kowinski wrote in today's San Francisco Chronicle:

"With a bold and brilliantly conceived thesis, skillfully and cogently threaded through more than 500 pages of trenchant writing, Klein may well have revealed the master narrative of our time. And because the pattern she exposes could govern our future as well, "The Shock Doctrine" could turn out to be among the most important books of the decade."

From what I read in the rest of his review, the book paints a rather doom picture of our future. This makes me wonder if the author's "bold and brilliantly conceived thesis" is um... true; or "The Shock Doctrine" is yet another master dystopia of our time, "skillfully and cogently threaded through more than 500 pages".
[ September 23, 2007: Message edited by: Mapraputa Is ]
 
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Newsweek had long interviews and an essay (book excerpt?) with Greenspan. Fascinating guy, brilliant and admits when he's guessing. I enjoyed his thoughts about the economy 30 years out.

I'm biased because he was a tenor sax man, played in some big bands. NPR asked about the alcohol and drug culture in the music biz. He said he never smoked or drank, but still readily recognizes the smell of pot. Heh heh.
 
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In the 1950s Greenspan was in Ayn Rand's inner circle. I don't know whether he has said much about it. (My understanding is that she was a totalitarian personality who made a fetish of freedom; an extreme rationalist unwilling to recognize that she, as an individual, was consumed by passion.)
 
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