Episode · EconTalk · 2020-10-19
Books mentioned on Dwayne Betts on Reading, Prison, and the Million Book Project
Author, lawyer, and poet Dwayne Betts talks about his time in prison and the power of reading with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Betts is the founder of the Million Book Project, which aims to put a small library of great books in 1,000 U.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Black Poets
The Black Poets by Dudley Randall is an influential and expansive poetry anthology that preserves and celebrates foundational works of African American verse.
Discussed“this book called the black poets and by dudley randall and it was an anthology of poetry”
Where to get it
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Felon
Discussed“i have been in conversations with people to create um a sort of freedom edition of felon a paperback version that i would give away to 20 000 people”
Where to get it
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The Color Purple
The Color Purple by Alice Walker is a classic epistolary novel following the life of Celie, an African American woman living in the American South who endures profound hardship and discovers her self-worth.
Discussed“alice walker's book it's the color purple”
Where to get it
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The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a monumental philosophical novel that explores deep questions concerning faith, doubt, morality, and free will through the tumultuous relationships of the Karamazov family.
Discussed“or for people who are not watching oh yeah on youtube the brothers karamazov”
Where to get it
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The Wretched of the Earth
The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon is a psychological and political analysis of decolonization, oppression, and the inevitable use of violence by the colonized against colonial powers.
Discussed“wretched of the earth the only thing i understood was uh was like some of the stories and and i remember them and i carried them with me”
Where to get it
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Range
Range by David J.
Discussed“talking to epstein about absolutely and like range is sort of like like chess is not that interesting”
Where to get it
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MOBY-DICK; or, THE WHALE
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale by Herman Melville is a classic epic novel detailing Captain Ahab's obsessive pursuit of the white sperm whale.
Discussed“this is the story of a man obsessed with a whale”
Where to get it
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The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas is an epic classic adventure novel centering on betrayal, wrongful imprisonment, and a meticulously planned revenge.
Discussed“so like great expectations would be there count of money crystal would be there”
Where to get it
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Great Expectations
Great Expectations is Charles Dickens's classic coming-of-age novel that follows the orphan Pip as he navigates class, ambition, and heartbreak in nineteenth-century England.
Discussed“so like great expectations would be there count of money crystal would be there”
Where to get it
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The Wealth of Nations
The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith is a foundational 1776 text in economics that explores the nature and causes of the wealth of nations, famously introducing concepts like the division of labor and the invisible hand of the free market.
Discussed“i don't even know the name of on capitol hill nations the wealth of nations like i don't know if i would have read that by the time we go to print”
Where to get it
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The Iliad
Homer's epic poem The Iliad recounts the events of the Trojan War and serves as the precursor to The Odyssey.
Discussed“you got to put homer because you put the iliad in there”
Where to get it
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The Odyssey
The Odyssey by Homer is an epic ancient Greek poem detailing the arduous ten-year journey of Odysseus trying to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War.
Recommended“so i want you to get the get that that two-volume set of the fagel's translation of the iliad and the odyssey and we'll count that as one you can't leave off the odyssey”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (3) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“his most recent poetry collection is felon published in 2019”
“i read david copperfield”
“uh i have a copy of felon”