Favourite NON-FICTION books...
 

Before posting my list (which actually is very similiar to a post I recently made here), I'm curious as to the opinions of my co-boardmembers.

Do you have any favourite non-fiction books?

And don't include any computer books in your response!

:)

Mr Mephisto

The Future of Life - E.O. Wilson

Black Hawk down is excellent. Much better than the movie (I know that's a cliche, but it is). The Perfect Storm is another great book.

Killing Pablo by mark bowden

Nickeled and Dimed- On (not) getting by in America- Ehrenreich

10 Theories of Human Nature

cetacean,

Excellent choice.

Have you read What Evolution Is by Ernst Mayr?

Another excellent choice is Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Daniel C Dennett, though it can get a bit heavy and philosophical at times.

Mr Mephisto

Fast Food Nation

The Scapegoat Generation (Mike Males: about how teenagers get a bad rap and are blamed for everything bad)

Punished by Rewards

Enemy at the Gates (the siege of stalingrad in wwII)

Chosin Resevoir Campaign (40,000 marines circled by 500,000 chinese troops in the dead of winter in Korea)

Caught Inside (A year long journal by a surfer)

I'll try to think of more.

Rebel Without A Crew - Robert Rodriguez

If Chins Could Kill: Confessions Of A B Movie Actor - Bruce Campbell

Have A Nice Day - Mick Foley

The autobiographies of Bruce Campbell and Marilyn Manson were both highgly enjoyable reads, although the Manson one could arguably be fiction I think.

Dragons of Eden-Carl Sagan

The Day the Universe Changed-James Burke

A Natural History-Pliny the Elder (reading this some 2000 years after it was writtern makes for some of the best laughs to be had)

Natural History of the Senses: Ackerman

Don't Stand too Close to a Naked Man: Tim Allen

People actually read non-fiction books? ::baffled:: ::scratches head::

Everything I read is science fiction. Weird. Umm... the last non science-fiction book I read was The Scarlet Letter. Isn't it based on a true story or something?

:thumbsup:

Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel is pretty good. I haven't picked up The Third Chimpanzee yet, but I have heard it is excellent.

The Third Chimpanzee is indeed excellent.

If you have an interest in this area, I also highly recommend The Ape and the Sushi Master by de Waal.

I was also partial to Jane Goodalls two books.

Personally, I have a "thing" about human evolution, primatology and social darwinism... :)

Mr Mephisto

I like travel memoirs and biographies of unusual people.

"Into the Heart of Borneo" by Redmond O'Hanlon is a screamingly funny, almost Pythonesque true account of two academic posers who wangle a dangerous expedition into Borneo for themselves.

For all you guys who consider yourself free agents restrained by nothing by your own will (about 80 percent of the people on this board), I would highly, highly recommend a book called "Fast Company" by John Bradshaw, available only used these days. Bradshaw interviews the great gamlbing hustlers of the early to middle 20th century, people with iron gall and iron nerve like you never see these days: gamblers (Titanic Thompson), pool players (Minnesota Fats), tennis (Bobby Riggs), Johnny Moss (golf and poker) and more. Not currently in print, but if you ever see a used copy, _grab it._

Two of my favorite books are Hunter S. Thompson's Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas (hard to believe it's non-fiction, eh?) and Night by Elie Weisel.

my personal bible... If Life Is a Game, These Are the Rules by Cherie Carter-Scott

Must agree with you there-who knew Ash could write ;)!

I'd also add Shermer's "Why people believe strange things" and another Sagan book, "the demon haunted world".

The Hobbit.

no... wait... that wasn´t true...

how about...

Manufacturing Consent - Chomsky & Hermann
New Rulers of the World - Pilger
The Prize - Yergin
and
The Laetitia Casta Picture Book

haha incest: a diary of love by anais nin.
zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance by robert m persig
the power of now by eckhart tolle
anddd
cunt: a declaration of independence

My two favorites:

Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders -- Vincent Bugliosi
--It's not so much the murders, it's how the DA's office put it together. I mean this is the same office (Although 25 years earlier) that couldn't put together a case against OJ Simpson. They convicted Manson on murder charges and he wasn't even there.




Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line -- Ben Hamper
--Ben Hamper is the guy from "Roger & Me" who goes nuts one day on the assembly line and just leaves work to check himself into an institution. The book is a pretty acurate piece about what it's like to work an assembly line.
I'm from Flint and have done work in the plants, but only for EDS on the helpdesk. My family, however, is full of line workers. The stories they tell are right on par with the one's in the book.

Surely You're Joking Mr. Feyman - this is an incredible biography of the noble winning physicist. He led an incredible life from working on the atomic bomb to discovering why one of the shuttles exploded. I can't recommend this book enough.

The Code Book and Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh. Anything by Singh is worth reading.

Positively Fifth Street- Tells the story of the author, who went to Vegas to cover the Ted Binion murder trial, bought his way into the World Series of Poker and made it all the way to the final table. If you like poker, you'll love the book. If you've never played poker, you'll love the insight it gives into the game and the caracters that surround it. Excellent.

Into Thin Air- Jon Krakauer (Sp?) puts you on Everest the day so many people died. Explains why he and so many others feel the need to climb and the commercialism that led to the disaster. I've never been interested in climbing, but this book hooked me in quick.

Truman- If you have any interest in Harry Truman as a President or just as a person, this is a must read. David McCoullgh (SP?) take Harry S. Truman from birth to death and seems to fully explain this complex man. Took me a year to get through it's 1,200 pages, but it was well worth it.

I completely forgot about this book.... its one of my absolute favorite books ever! I think I have read it 5 or 6 times and it never getss old...

Both excellent choices.

I would also recommend Genius - A biography of Richard P Feynman by James Gleick, author of the excellent Chaos by the way.

Feynman was an astounding man. Very interesting.

Mr Mephisto

The Education of Little Tree - Forrest Carter

actually came out in the news a few years ago that it's all a hoax, and that the author was a Klan member or something. I don't give a shit.

"Peter the Great" by Robert Massie. I read it when I was about 16, then went out and got a degree in Russian History. Not that I use it much now, but it looks good on a resume, I guess. Peter is still on my wish list of 3 people to have dinner with.

Superb book.

Massie's other excellent book would have to be Dreadnought. This is a great narrative of the naval arms race between Great Britian and the German Empire that led up, and maybe even contributed to, the First World War.

To say this book is riveting is an understatement.

Massie is a great author.

Mr Mephisto