Episode · EconTalk · 2022-05-02
Books mentioned on Dwayne Betts on Ellison, Levi, and Human Suffering
In his memoir of his time in Auschwitz, Primo Levi describes Jewish prisoners bathing in freezing water without soap--not because they thought it would make them cleaner, but because it helped them hold on to their dignity.
Russ Roberts recommended Everything Flows by Vasily Grossman, and discussed If this is a Man by Primo Levi, The Truce by Primo Levi, and The Periodic Table by Primo Levi. Dwayne Betts discussed Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, Juneteenth by Ralph Ellison, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, Black Boy by Richard Wright, and The Chosen by Chaim Potok and others.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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If this is a Man
If This Is a Man by Primo Levi is a harrowing and essential memoir documenting the author's survival in the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust.
Discussed“uh i encouraged duane to read two books by primo levy that i had read a long time ago at least one of them the first one and that is a book called if this is a man which is his memoir of being in auschwitz”
Where to get it
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The Truce
The Truce by Primo Levi is a powerful autobiographical sequel that chronicles the author's long, meandering, and physically challenging journey back to Italy following his liberation from the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Discussed“and about a decade plus after he wrote that first book he wrote a sequel sort of of what happened after he was released from our switch auschwitz called the truce”
Where to get it
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Invisible Man
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is a landmark twentieth-century American novel that explores the complex themes of identity, race, and societal invisibility through the eyes of an unnamed Black narrator moving from the American South to Harlem.
Discussed“um because and i'll talk about invisible man in a second but he's the kind of person who put a lot of pressure on himself to write the first book”
Where to get it
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Juneteenth
Discussed“and his his second novel juneteenth uh was never completed but famously as he was working on it and delayed and delayed and delayed it was like the whole manuscript burned in the fire”
Where to get it
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The Periodic Table
Discussed“he eventually writes a number of books the most well known after these two are is the one called the periodic table drawing on his chemistry experience and also it's also a different kind of memoir it's a it's a wonderful book i really like it”
Where to get it
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Everything Flows
Everything Flows by Vasily Grossman is a powerful, concise novel that confronts the devastating legacy of Soviet totalitarianism, the psychological scars of the Gulag, and the historical trauma of the Ukrainian terror famine.
Recommended“he says that in his other book uh everything flows another great book he wrote incredible book”
Where to get it
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Man's Search for Meaning
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E.
Discussed“and i've read other books that you know i mean we sent 1500 copies of um of um franco's book man search for meaning”
Where to get it
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Black Boy
Black Boy by Richard Wright is a powerful autobiographical chronicle detailing the author's harrowing upbringing in the American South, marked by systemic racism, poverty, and isolation, followed by his awakening through reading and his eventual escape to Chicago.
Discussed“it was sort of that like enough about the holocaust i thought like what book will i choose and and you know i was thinking about rape because i was i was reading it in the moment right richard writes black boy and i and i chose”
Where to get it
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The Chosen
The Chosen by Chaim Potok is a compelling contemporary novel that explores the complex dynamics of friendship, faith, and cultural identity within a Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn.
Discussed“um and then i think no i mean i don't i read the chosen you know i read i've read a few other books you know and i connected with the chosen”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (5) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“his first appearance on econ talk was october 2020 when he talked about reading his time in prison his poetry collection entitled fallon and his project which is now called freedom reads which has the goal of placing a curated 500 book collection in prison housing units so that curious prisoners can have access to books”
“i'll mention in passing they have different titles sometimes in america um the first if this is a man is also called in america survival in auschwitz”
“he wrote shadowing act and going to the territory”
“he wrote shadowing act and going to the territory”
“one was juneteenth and one was like three days um before the shooting”