The Rittenhouse Review

A Philadelphia Journal of Politics, Finance, Ethics, and Culture


Saturday, December 04, 2004  

THE SEVEN-PERCENT SOLUTION
One Hundred Notable Books. Seven of Special Interest.

The Sunday Book Review of the New York Times tomorrow will publish its annual list of 100 notable books of 2004, the list already available on the web.

Of these 100 books, I have read just seven, a surprisingly low number for someone who reads three books a week, though I keep in mind that I rarely read contemporary fiction.

The seven non-fiction books I read are: Against All Enemies, by Richard A. Clarke; My Life, by former President Bill Clinton; The 9/11 Commission Report; Plan of Attack, by Bob Woodward; The Price of Loyalty, by Ron Suskind; What’s the Matter With Kansas?, by Thomas Frank; and The Working Poor, by David K. Shipler.

I can safely say that I recommend each and every one of these books. If I had to choose just one, the one book from my New-York-Times-affirmed reading list that you should read, it would be Shipler’s The Working Poor, a brilliant and absorbing treatment that lays bares the lives of the forgotten Americans.

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