Understanding Power - Noam Chomsky

My book group's most recent selection (at my suggestion) was Chomsky's "Understanding Power." My friend Dan had urged me to read this book many times and I kept putting it off, thinking it would be boring and difficult. Nothing could be farther from the truth! This gripping book, although shocking and disturbing at times, was extremely interesting and readable. It is an edited transcript of Chomsky's various talks, and his style is clear and persuasive. I found this book to be profoundly eye-opening and unsettling regarding American politics and media censorship, and while I felt very disillusioned, it was important for me to have a better understanding of power and oppression in our nation. A must-read for everyone, I think!

Footnotes to the text are available here.

The Protest Singer: An Intimate Portrait of Pete Seeger

Alec Wilkerson, a writer for the New Yorker, has truly given us an intimate portrait of Seeger - not in the sense of "revealing all" but of sketching the feel of Seeger as a person, framed by some of the major events of Seeger's life. A very striking incident is a concert-turned-riot that featured Paul Robeson - later, the description of the primitive house on a cliff above the Hudson that Seeger built by hand reveals that the stonework contains two grapefruit-sized rocks that had been thrown forcefully through the windows of Seeger's car while he was driving away from the concert.

Wilkerson describes Seeger's experiences singing with the Weavers, who at one point had a regular, nationally-broadcast television show. Seeger was personally uncomfortable with this level of fame, and believed the attention given to prominent people slighted the more significant achievements of "ordinary" people. The book describes Seeger's testimony to the House Un-American Activities Committee, an amazing display of idealism and integrity. Seeger was blacklisted and took his family on an extended "world tour" to escape the lack of work and hostile political climate in the US.

I particularly enjoyed this book because of the connections with events I had experienced (at a distance) when I was growing up, but also because it depicted Seeger in real life - rather than larger-then-life terms. A very likable, interesting, and unusual man portrayed in a quick (199 small pages) and very enjoyable read.