The Stuff of Pleasant Surprises

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Longtime visitors have probably noticed a plug for Steven Pinker’s The Stuff of Thought in the left column since shortly after the book was released last fall.  (Granted, this may have been hard to spot under the excessive Trebekistan-flogging that I need to trim — I kinda got carried away.)

Pinker is one of the world’s leading cognitive scientists and linguistic theorists, so if your own brain is remotely interested in itself, it should read his work.  You and your brain might even get along better.

So this morning, the New York Times Book Review asked a bunch of prominent writers which books they’d recommend to the presidential candidates.  Imagine my surprise at seeing the first book Pinker himself mentions:

"All three candidates should read all three of these books, but McCain gets first crack at Bob Harris’s “Who Hates Whom: Well-Armed Fanatics, Intractable Conflicts, and Various Things Blowing Up.” A lighthearted overview of the insurrections and civil wars in the world today, it will help you tell your Sunnis from your Shiites, remember which Congo is which (it’s so hard to keep them straight!) and remind you whether the Waziris are on our side or not."

This is like being in a garage band and finding out that Dave Matthews is recommending your jam tapes.

My appreciation to Prof. Pinker, and I return the recommendation tenfold.  Albeit in a forum one ten-thousandth the size.