My non-fiction bookshelf

I have recently added a few books to my non-fiction, must-seriously-read bookshelf. I have been reading one chapter from each book per week, and hoping to continue to do so until I finish them all. These books have been interesting and challenging in various ways, and I want to share them with you now.

“The American Pageant” by Thomas Bailey
The first edition of this book was published in 1956. My copy is the second edition, published in 1961. It is an American history textbook, much like what we used in high school―some of you might have used it in high school. Because I didn't pay much attention in my history class, I have to spend the time now to catch up on what I've been missing. (I'm totally serious, up until now I knew next to nothing about the New World, and how this country came about. I really didn't pay any attention.) This book, though old, is very well written and enjoyable. Even though a lot of details are omitted, it is unbiased and doesn't embellish the dark side of the truth. I am convinced that even if you got an A in history, there is no way that you would have remembered everything you learned back then. So if you want to brush up on your history, this is a good one. There are newer editions in which other authors added chapters on the later eras that Bailey didn't cover, and they are expensive, but you might be able to grab an old edition for cheaper prizes. (Mine ends with the 60s.)

“A People's History of the United States: 1492 – Present” by Howard Zinn
This is a great supplementary text to Bailey's. I've been reading the two books side-by-side. Zinn's text omits the key facts and focuses more on the deeper context. The second chapter, for example, is about the nature slavery and racism as was apparent in the way black slaves were treated during the early years of the US. Zinn's writing is insightful, and he cold-heartedly captures the brutal truths. It is depressing to read but it will make you understand and remember the history.

“Social Theory” by Jonathan Joseph
Last year I took a course called “Modern Marxist Theory” out of which I didn't get much. The subject was too difficult―I was not well prepared for it―and the texts too far beyond my level. This book, however, discusses the works of the same theorists taught in the class, and explains a lot of the things I didn't understand before in a much clearer way than the stuff I read in class. Mind you it is still pretty challenging, but it is a fairly good introductory guide for those who are interested in theory/philosophy/sociology. It is really helping me to prepare for my future education. The eight chapters of the book discuss Marx, Engels, Gramsci, Durkheim, Weber, the Frankfurt school, and Foucault.

"Will in the World" by Stephen Greenblatt

It is difficult for me to write about books that aren't fictional. But I have recently finished reading Stephen Greenblatt's "Will in the World," which I found so fascinating and thoroughly entertaining that I can't leave it out of my blog.

Greenblatt is best know as one of the founders of the New Historicism movement, and as a scholar of Renaissance Studies and Shakespeare Studies. He had edited numerous anthologies that I use in my studies, including "The Norton Shakespeare," from which I read the Bard's plays every month. In this book, he illustrates perhaps as vivid a portrait of Shakespeare as can possibly be illustrated, using a wide range of existing documents regarding Shakespeare and England of the time. The task was possible, luckily, because the Elizabethan society happened to be a record-keeping one, so that while we have very few known facts about Shakespeare, a highly educated and probably conjecture can be formed. Greenblatt's research is impressive, and while what he writes about Shakespeare can be challenged, the information is still a valid knowledge about the literary and theatrical world, as well as the lives of the English people. The book discusses the reign of Elizabeth and James; the politics surrounded social classes, religion, witchcraft, and the theater; The Bard's possibly homosexual relationship with Lord Southamton; and how the different elements in Shakespeare's lives--his father's obscure faith, England's famous figures, the death of his son, and the Bard's aging process--contribute to the plots and the characters in his plays.

But the book isn't merely about history. Greenblatt draws many connections between Shakespeare's texts to those of others, offering insights into how art and society inform each other. There are thoroughly studies of "Measure for Measure," "Hamlet," and "King Lear," and many more, which guarantee to change the way we read these plays for the better. Despite being highly informative, I really enjoy this book and highly recommend it to anybody who is interested in Shakespeare and Renaissance history.