Weekly Non-Fiction Reading List 8.15.22
This week, I finished 5 books. There’s a fantastic book about how the rich get away with white-collar crime that’ll piss you off, and there’s also a book about being awesome and not sucking. There’s also a book about this history of misinformation and a book labeled as evo psych that kinda made me angry. Enjoy!
Each of the links to the books are affiliate links, so if you use my link to purchase any of these books, some comes back to support what I do (and it also helps fund my reading habit).
Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers by Tom Wolfe
My anti-elite buddy Batya-Unger Sargon recommended this book and told me it’s a classic on the topic. I loved Batya’s book Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy, so I trust her taste. She was correct. This book is great, and it’s definitely something I wouldn’t have normally read.
This is a fictional story taking place in the 70s of some wealthy, upper-class people donating money and supporting the Black Panthers. The book highlights how out-of-touch the elites are while thinking they know how to help. It also shows how the Black Panthers have to play the game in order to get money for their cause, but they also know how these elites are using them as a signal of status.
It’s kind of hard to explain, but it’s a good kind of social commentary that’s just as relevant today with the wealthy “woke” liberals. It’s a short read, so check it out.
Hungry: Avocado Toast, Instagram Influencers, and Our Search for Connection and Meaning by Eve Turow-Paul
This book made me so mad, and I hate that I have to write negatively about it because it’s not a bad book. Eve Turow-Paul did an excellent job with this book, but I blame her publishers for my anger. This book was recommended in a list of evolutionary psychology books, and it’s not that type of book. But, it wasn’t the lists fault because whoever wrote the description of this book put that info in there, and it also says “sociology.”
This book is pop psychology at best, but if you’re looking for an evo psych book, this isn’t the book for you. While Eve does touch on a few things here and there about how we evolved for wanting to be accepted by groups, it’s probably less than 2% of this entire book, and that’s what angered me.
Since they botched the description of this book, let me give it a try.
This book is about the social media culture around food, health and wellness. Have you ever wondered why people take pictures of their food and make it such a big deal? Are you curious about the odd rise in people looking for gluten-free food? Want to know why a lot of teens are depressed? This book is a journey to find answers to these questions as well as much more about how social media is impacting our lives and how this culture intersects with food.
Overall, there wasn’t much new in this book for me. It has a lot of interviews because the author traveled a ton talking with people. Throughout the book, she points to different studies, stats, and data. But, if you’re familiar with books about social media and how its affecting us, I’m not sure how much you’ll learn from this book aside from just the interesting interviews with the people kind of obsessed with the culture of finding the perfect places to Instagram your meal.
If you’re curious, definitely check it out. Like I said, it’s not a bad book. If I was unfamiliar with the topic, I would have loved it. I still gave it a 5-star rating, but I feel like the description was a bait and switch, and I don’t like that.
Big Dirty Money: The Shocking Injustice and Unseen Cost of White Collar Crime by Jennifer Taub
Go get this book ASAP. I can’t remember how I stumbled across it, but I’m super glad it was recommended. Jennifer Taub did a fantastic job breaking down how the wealthy live by a different set of rules than the rest of us. I don’t understand how anyone could read this book and think we live in a fair, equal, and meritocratic society. Our prisons are filled with people who have done far less than the white-collar criminals Taub describes in this book. Each chapter has stories of rich people who got away with major crimes.
It’ll make you mad, but you should read this. The United States is not the country we’re told it is. If you have money, you live in a completely different world than the middle and lower classes. We should all take issue with the prison industrial complex and how peoples’ lives are ruined for something as stupid as drug posession while there are multimillionaires who are destroying lives, and in the case of Big Pharma, actually killing people.
Get this book and buy some copies for your friends.
Truth: A Brief History of Total Bullsh*t by Tom Phillips
This book was also recommended on an evolutionary psychology book, and that’s not what this book is. It’s a great book, but it has less evo psych than other books that were on the list. I still enjoyed it because the description told me exactly what I was getting. I like learning stories about who falls for scams, lies, and just flat out fake information. Tom Phillips brings in a ton of stories of major scams and big lies told throughout history. I read a ton of books on this topic, and I was unfamiliar with a lot of the stories Phillips discusses in this book.
On Being Awesome: A Unified Theory of How Not to Suck by Nick Riggle
This was a fun book, and I’m glad I took the tiem to read it. If you’re wondering what it means to be awesome and would also like to know how not to suck, this book is for you. Nick Riggle is a former skater turned philosopher, and this book is a great one about just living your best life while also being a pleasure to be around. He also describes what it means to be someone that others don’t like being around. It’s like a philosophical self-help book written by a cool dude who uses pretty chill language, so anyone can enjoy it. So, if you want to be a bit more awesome and don’t want to suck, check this book out.
If you enjoyed this post, it’d mean a lot to me if you shared it. Forward it in an email, share it on social media, or whatever suits your fancy.
To stay updated follow me on Twitter and Instagram @TheRewiredSoul and subscribe to the Substack.