Favorite Book Genre(s):

Classics / Academia

Least Favorite Book Genre(s):

Fantasy

Five Favorite Books of all Time:

Hegemony or Survival, by Noam Chomsky

Pale Fire, by Vladimir Nabokov

Cloud Atlas, by David Mitchell

The Secret History, by Donna Tartt

Guns, Germs, & Steel, by Jared Diamond

Three Least Favorite Books of all Time:

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke

The Gunslinger, by Stephen King

A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. LeGuin

Favorite Author(s):

Noam Chomsky

Alexander Pope

Favorite Literary Quote:

“In fact, the whole educational and professional training system is a very elaborate filter, which just weeds out people who are too independent, and who think for themselves, and who don’t know how to be submissive, and so on – because they’re dysfunctional to the institutions.  And that’s a large part of education, in fact: just internalizing the understanding that there are certain things it is not proper to say, and it is not proper to think.  And if you don’t learn that, typically you will be weeded out of the institutions somewhere along the line.  By the time you’ve made it… the chances are that you’ve just got all this stuff (the beliefs, the doctrines, the glasses) in your bone – you’ve internalized the values that make it clear to you that there are certain things you just don’t say, and in fact, you don’t even think them anymore.” – Noam Chomsky, Understanding Power

Coffee or Tea:

Coffee.

Hobbies:

Reading.

If you could interview any author, living or dead, who would it be and why?

Noam Chomsky.  His blunt rationale is so enlightening – he sees things quite clearly and is so articulate, it would truly be a conversation to remember!

A Lil’ Something Extra:

I enjoy reading your book reviews very much, but I do wish you would review more Classics (I personally don’t consider Rebecca a Classic), and I’m a little disappointed that no one has submitted an Academic or Non-Fiction book for review.  I would love to see what you each take away from a thought-provoking critique of modern society, such as Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent.