Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Books At My Doorstep

Or across campus, in my case. My latest Amazon binge just arrived in the mail today. Unfortunately, since the campus post office is on the other side of Carleton, I had to pick up the books between classes--which meant adding three very heavy books to my already bulging backpack. Ouch.

Anyway, the three additions to my happy bookshelf are Assassin's Gate by George Packer, Critical Race Theory: The Cutting Edge, edited by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic, and And We Are Not Saved by Derrick Bell. The first of these is very exciting, because I have heard universal raves about this book from virtually everyone who has read it, and it seems to be the most through explication of many of the suspicions I've had about the Iraq over the past several years.

The last of these books, by contrast, is particularly tragic. Derrick Bell, as you may well know, is the founder of the Critical Race Theory movement--a philosophy of which I am somewhat enamored with. And not only that, he is coming to Carleton College to speak at our convocation next friday. And where will I be on that auspicious day? Driving to Seward, Nebraska for my first debate tournament of the term. Oh cruel world--why do you toy with me so?

1 comment:

Pooh said...

Assasin's Gate is bracing. Packer only really loses his temper once in the book, yet his anger over the giant clusterf*** of the whole escapade is clear. I'd say "enjoy", but it's not really that kind of book.