February 28, 2000

Looking for a great read or a gift for someone? Check out this stack of books, compiled and recommended by us Fools. Look for them at your local library or bookstore, or just order them through Amazon.com by clicking on the title.

2001: A Space Odyssey & 2010: Odyssey Two (sequel)
By Arthur C. Clarke
This man writes some of the best science fiction around. Most people are probably familiar with the movie 2001, having at least heard of it if not having seen it. The movie was excellent. The book is at least as good, and in some ways better, as it explains things that may have been a trifle confusing on the big screen. And it's pretty close to the movie, since they were created in tandem, with Clarke frequently rewriting portions of the book as he saw Stanley Kubrik's rushes from the film. The movie's follow-up, 2010, was terribly disappointing. Trust me, the book is far better. There's no new Cuban Missile Crisis in the making; instead there's an incredible race to Jupiter. It goes into a great deal more detail about Jupiter and the enigmatic life on Europa than the movie could have done, and generally expands on many things that were simply glossed over in the movie. Treat yourself to a couple of really great reads and pick these up. -- Kaiti Trimble, FoolMart

A Confederacy of Dunces
By John Kennedy Toole
From time to time we read something that makes us feel glad to be alive, to be human. This ain't it. Call it a farce, a satire, a comedy... no matter what you call it, you will constantly berate yourself for reading it, but you can't stop. Ignatious Reilly is a truly repugnant character, and never has a book been so well written on such an ignoble subject. This over-the-transom novel was sold to the publisher by the author's mother, after his suicide. It's a shame he's not around. John Toole has a lot to answer for. -- Richard Dressner, Community

The Day Traders
By Gregory J. Millman
With Boiler Room being the hottest thing to highlight Wall Street since, well, Wall Street, it's a great time to beef up on your history of the seedy underbelly of the market. Greg Millman's The Day Traders: The Untold Story of the Extreme Investors and How They Changed Wall Street Forever will send chills up any Fool's spine. At the New Jersey headquarters of Harvey Houtkin's All-Tech Investment Group Inc., a day-trading boot camp, Millman introduces us to a handful of students trying to take part in the modern-day gold rush. We meet a housewife with unfulfilled needs for achievement; a former bank CFO who is bored in retirement; an unemployed West Virginia mining engineer; a hopeful Thai immigrant. They're looking to regain self esteem, start second careers, and tempt the inevitability of market statistics that show day trading just doesn't pay for most investors. (You should rip out pages 181-224, which is an unFoolish "Extreme Investor's Manual.")

Millman, a personal pal (We're all about disclosure here at the Fool!), is a financial journalist and a fantastic wordsmith. He makes this true, investigative tale almost as riveting as fiction. I'd cast Ralph Fiennes in the role of the original day-trading bandit, Harvey Houtkin. (More Fool disclosure: I'd cast Ralph Fiennes in any role.) -- Dayana Yochim, Editorial

The Dilbert Principle
By Scott Adams
Where else can one find relentless jabs at co-workers and upper management? Dilbert, Adams' popular cartoon strip, has an unhealthy disdain for executives, marketers and humanity (and not necessarily in that order). While most of his books are strip collections, The Dilbert Principle is a unique work. It's a sardonic look at corporate culture from top to bottom. For a light read that will always bring a smile to your face, check it out. -- Rick Munarriz, Editorial

Ecotopia
By Ernest Callenbach
Imagine if northern California, Oregon, and Washington had seceded from the United States to form a socialist, environmentally conscious nation. That's the premise of this speculative fiction novel, which takes the form of the columns and diary entries of a New York newspaper reporter assigned to find out about the broken-off nation twenty years after its founding. A fascinating ecological parable and an interesting story about the way people do and always will relate to each other. -- Jen Silber, Operations

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
By Jared Diamond
This 1998 Pulitzer Prize winner, now out in paperback, is a tour de force through history, geography, archaeology, anthropology, and biology as author Jared Diamond tackles some of the tougher and touchier questions from our planet's past: Why have different peoples around the world fared differently over the centuries? Why did some people colonize others, rather than the reverse?

While these questions usually are either politely ignored or used to support crackpot racial theories, Diamond instead demonstrates the impact that environmental and geographic factors have had on different continents and therefore on different peoples. For example, he describes how the East-West axis of the Eurasian continent, and its resulting similarities in climate and geography, made innovations and communication travel much faster than in the Americas and Africa, which are primarily on North-South axes, resulting in restricted communication because of climate differences and geographic barriers such as deserts. While alone this is a fairly interesting insight, when added to the vast tapestry Diamond weaves it makes for a fascinating and thought-provoking book. In short, anyone wanting a better understanding of history and the world around us should check it out. -- Chris Rugaber, Editorial

Hannibal
By Thomas Harris
Those who thought Harris the master of suspense and graphic detail in The Silence of the Lambs, will undoubtedly pay homage to his latest work. In Hannibal, Dr. Lechter returns, this time a free man. Lechter's appetite is whet, and Special Agent Clarice Starling is in danger of being his main course. While the plot of this sequel to Silence of the Lambs is somewhat strange, the suspense is masterful and the story wonderfully written. Those who know Florence, Italy will especially enjoy Harris's exacting detail of the city as we follow America's favorite protagonist and his pursuers through it. Be prepared for a book you won't want to put down! -- Rob Schmidt, Human Resources

The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth
By Paul Hoffman
This book chronicles the life of 20th century mathematician Paul Erdos. Erdos was an incredibly eccentric man one of the most prolific mathematicians ever. He sought mathematical truth throughout his entire life, publishing like mad, and believed that the best way to ferret it out was through working with other mathematicians. In fact, he looked with disdain on his fellow mathematicians who worked solo. It's a wonderful story of a man driven by a passion for numbers, and a desire to collaborate with as many people as he could. The book also talks at length about developments in number theory throughout the 20th century and discusses a few other important mathematicians. It's not a light read, but it's a very rewarding one. The lessons I drew from the book are many, but the most important one is recognizing that working with other people, as opposed to going it alone, can be both personally and professionally valuable. -- LouAnn Lofton, Editorial

The Not So Big House
By Sarah Susanka
This is a great architectural antidote to "bigger is better" and "Starter Castles" -- those 5000-square-foot homes that cover their lot. Susanka talks about the need for spaces that reflect our lives. How often do you formally entertain? What role does the TV play in your life (be honest)? What room do you spend the most time in? She emphasizes building quality into those spaces that you use and eliminating the ones you don't. The book has great photographs and floor plans to demonstrate her point. This is a great Living Below Your Means book. -- Duffy Winters, Business Development

The Samurai's Garden
By Gail Tsukiyama
A beautiful book -- simultaneously spare and rich like a Japanese painted screen. Gail Tsukiyama combines coming of age, war, illness, trust, complicated notions of honor and duty, love, sex, romance, adultery, and cross-cultural Chinese/Japanese issues in this gem set in 1937 Hong Kong and a Japanese seaside town just as Imperial Japan begins to invade mainland China. It's Jane Austen meets Memoirs of a Geisha meets The Little Prince. And, at 211 pages, you'll think it ends way too soon. -- Gabrielle Loperfido, Business Development

The Secret History
By Donna Tartt
Start with a fascinating assortment of classics scholars at an elite liberal arts college in New England, pepper the plot with murder and intrigue, and you have the basis for Donna Tartt's novel, The Secret History. This psychologically complex story depicts a sordid side to those oh-so-intense college relationships, showing that diabolical things can result from all of that late-night philosophizing and constant togetherness. You'll follow student Richard Papen as he seeks acceptance into a clique of wealthy, Greek scholars and ends up with much more than he bargained for. If you're interested in intelligent, elegant prose, but you're not willing to sacrifice a compelling plot to get it, then The Secret History is a must-read. -- Elizabeth Brokamp, Operations

The Sparrow & Children of God (sequel)
By Mary Doria Russell
Look -- up there in the sky! It's a sci-fi book! No, it's a romance! No, it's a theological adventure story! Well, these wonderful books are actually all of the above. Consider the premise: Scientists listening to outer space for signs of life hear singing coming from a far-off planet. The first humans sent to the planet are, oddly enough, a combination of scientists and Jesuit priests. They see and experience strange beauty, unexpected violence, and many inexplicable things. They ponder some tough questions. Some fall in love. This is a truly remarkable pair of books. You won't regret reading them. -- Selena Maranjian, Editorial

The Wisdom of Insecurity
By Alan Watts
Alan Watts is considered one of the most "unrutted" philosophers of his time, although he would disagree with the idea that he was a philosopher at all. One of the most interesting "thinking persons" writing during the 20th century, The Wisdom of Insecurity is considered just one of Watts's several great works. Tackling the conventional wisdom that suggests people should seek "security" in their lives by latching onto objects, other people, ideas, and so forth, Watts writes to demonstrate how life is actually much more rewarding when you realize that security as it is commonly envisioned can never truly exist, and that lasting security will never be possible. Rather than this being a glum conclusion, it is liberating insight and Watts shares it profoundly. Watts also tackles the idea of living in the present versus the poor habit that we sometimes develop of continually living for the future. At least in the beginning of the book, Watts discusses these topics with a reference to various religious beliefs, but not in a way that should prove offensive to anyone. -- Jeff Fischer, Editorial

Wooden : A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court
By John Wooden
I guess you could call John Wooden the Warren Buffet of basketball. He was extremely successful in the game of basketball as both a player and a coach. However, I think it's safe to say he's been even more successful in the game of life. As a matter of fact, I believe he's one of the very few people who has mastered the game of life. If I'm lucky enough to reach Mr. Wooden's age, I hope I can look back on my life and my efforts with half as much contentment as he can. There's a lot to learn from this book, but I'll try to sum it up with one of his favorite sayings: "Prepare for life as if it's going to last forever. Live each day as if it's your last." This book provides a road map for doing just that. Part of the formula comprises physical, mental, and spiritual discipline along with preparation and attention to details. If you enjoy learning about life from one of the masters, I think you'll love this book. -- Buck Hartzell, TechDome

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