Newmark's Door

"The Ultimate Comedy Library: 57 Books Every Comedy Fan Should Read"

Tina Fey's Bossypants and others.

"The world's most difficult books: how many have you read?"

Zero. And I have no plans to start.

"Future's so bright we have to wear shades"

Glenn Reynolds reviews America 3.0. It's quite optimistic and Glenn likes it. 

But as Bennett and Lotus note, the problems of America 2.0 are all soluble, and, in what they call America 3.0, they will be solved. The solutions will be as different from America 2.0 as America 2.0 was from America 1.0. We'll see a focus on smaller government, nimbler organization, and living within our means -- because, frankly, we'll have no choice. Something that can't go on forever, won't. If America 2.0 was a fit for the world of giant steel mills and monolithic corporations, America 3.0 will be fit for the world of consumer choice and Internet speed.

Dwight R. Lee reviews "What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets"

Fine, concise review that ends with this zinger:

Allow me to close by complimenting Sandel on writing a book that is sure to be widely read and appreciated. He has taken a position with which almost everyone superficially agrees and supported it with easy-to-understand arguments and examples (despite the failure of many of those examples). Many readers will be left with the impression that they have had a profound intellectual experience.

An application for the Principles course that should interest kids

"What explains the surge in ‘sugar baby’ supply?"

(See also this review of the author's book, Dollars and Sex.)

"Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition"

Sounds like an very interesting book, one I should read.

But it would be way too discouraging. 

"How to Read 31 Books in Four Minutes"

"Some lessons culled from a cross section of America’s self-help oeuvre."

This is a terrific idea. It needs to be expanded to other genres. I'd nominate personal finance and diet books to start. 

"It wasn't the Russian winter that stopped Napoleon."

News to me.

Given that Napoleon was the great captain of his time -- perhaps of all time -- and that his armies had conquered and held most of Europe, the tragic events on the Beresina demand explanation. His defeat is something of a puzzle, too, as the Grande Armée won the campaign's pitched battles fought at Smolensk and Borodino. Harsh winter weather, the commonly assumed culprit, cannot explain the result either; the first frost didn't arrive to bedevil the retreat until just a few weeks before the Beresina crossing.

"Red and Me"

By Bill Russell (with Alan Steinberg). Free online.

The story of Russell's friendship with Red Auerbach. The book badly needs a good editor. But Mr. Russell has a lot of interesting things to say. 

"Auctions: Theory and Practice The Toulouse Lectures in Economics"

Free book by Paul Klemperer.