Episode · EconTalk · 2022-04-18
Books mentioned on Tyler Cowen on Reading
Intellectual omnivore Tyler Cowen of George Mason University and EconTalk host Russ Roberts talk about their reading habits, their favorite books, and the pile of books on their nightstands right now.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The Republic
The Republic by Plato is an ancient philosophical masterpiece exploring the nature of justice, the ideal state, and the human soul.
Discussed“is it comfort those you want to reread after many years so tocqueville plato's republic adam smith the very best books”
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“so something like a moby dick or flaubert or war and peace”
Where to get it
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War and Peace
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy is a sweeping historical epic exploring Russian society and human agency during the Napoleonic Wars.
Discussed“so something like a moby dick or flaubert or war and peace”
Where to get it
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Bleak House
Bleak House by Charles Dickens is an expansive and intricate Victorian masterpiece known for its biting social satire, dense plot, and a memorable opening sentence that drops the main verb to create a powerful rhetorical effect.
Recommended“let's say proust tolstoys who are in peace dervantes moby dick and dickens bleak house”
Where to get it
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In Search of Lost Time
In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust is a monumental, multi-volume modernist novel that explores memory, time, art, and the profound meaning of human existence through an immersive blend of narrative and philosophical essay.
Critiqued“proust is unbearable and unreadable terrible book, i read volume uh i read in search of lost time i think it's the way it goes right um which is volume one of um no swans away sorry swansway which is the first volume in search of lost time”
Where to get it
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Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy is a monumental 19th-century masterpiece of Russian literature that explores complex themes of love, adultery, social class, and tragic human choices.
Critiqued“i would like to read that again because i did not like anna karenina and that would be my uh least favorite famous book that most people love”
Where to get it
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The Brothers Karamazov
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a complex philosophical novel that delves deeply into faith, doubt, free will, and morality through the turbulent relationships of the Karamazov family.
Recommended“my top five would be uh the brothers karamazov soldiers of the great war brothers come outside by dostoyevsky”
Where to get it
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A soldier of the great war
A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin is an epic and sweeping historical novel that follows an elderly Italian man reflecting on his youth, art, and his harrowing experiences fighting on the Italian front during World War I.
Recommended“soldiers of the great war brothers come outside by dostoyevsky soldiers the soldier of a great war of the great war by mark halperin”
Where to get it
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In the First Circle
In the First Circle is a powerful and semi-autobiographical novel by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn that portrays the harsh realities of life and forced labor for intellectuals inside a special Soviet prison scientific research institute.
Recommended“in the first circle by alexander sochninson”
Where to get it
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Our Mutual Friend
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens is a sweeping Victorian novel exploring wealth, corruption, and societal hypocrisy against the backdrop of the River Thames.
Recommended“i would pick our mutual friend by dickens which is just my personal very good and underrated”
Where to get it
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After Babel
After Babel by George Steiner is a profound scholarly exploration of language, meaning, and the inherent communicative challenges of translation.
Discussed“i am reading after babel by george steiner”
Where to get it
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Invisible Man
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison is a classic American novel that examines the complex identity, social isolation, and awakening of a nameless Black man in twentieth-century America.
Discussed“oh i'm reading invisible man for econ talk that kind of counts”
Where to get it
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Winter's Tale
Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin is a sweeping, magical realist novel set in a mythical New York City around the turn of the twentieth century.
Recommended“i think winter's tale is a great book also and um anyway”
Where to get it
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Capitalism, the unknown ideal
Ayn Rand's "Capitalism, the Unknown Ideal" is a collection of essays championing laissez-faire capitalism and objectivist philosophy.
Discussed“but reading ein rand capitalism the unknown idea i am was a big thing for me”
Where to get it
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Reasons and Persons
Reasons and Persons by Derek Parfit is a landmark work of analytic philosophy that explores personal identity, utilitarianism, population ethics, and moral obligations to future generations.
Discussed“well derek parfit reasons and persons which i just discovered in a harvard bookstore in 1984.”
Where to get it
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Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged is a sprawling philosophical novel by Ayn Rand that champions objectivism and rational self-interest against the backdrop of a collapsing society.
Discussed“uh i think atlas shrugged in particular it was highly prophetic and it's become underrated as sociology”
Where to get it
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Anarchy, State, and Utopia
Anarchy, State, and Utopia by Robert Nozick is a foundational 1974 political philosophy book that defends libertarianism and introduces famous thought experiments like the pleasure machine.
Discussed“thought anarchy state utopia by robert nozick which i have not gone i have not gone back to but it had a huge impact on me”
Where to get it
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Fooled by Randomness
Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a popular exploration of the massive role that chance, luck, and probability play in human success, finance, and everyday life.
Discussed“fooled by randomness which was like by tallah was the the beginning of my obsession with being deceived by numbers and the challenge of thinking about uncertainty”
Where to get it
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The Theory of Moral Sentiments
The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith is a foundational 1759 philosophical work examining the moral agency, empathy, and social bonds that govern human interactions.
Discussed“this book by adam smith not the wealth of nations called the theory of moral sentiments which has also was an eye opener for me”
Where to get it
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The Social Contract
The Social Contract by Robert Ardrey is a provocative exploration of human behavior, evolutionary biology, and the innate drives that shape social organization and political institutions.
Discussed“and then the third book he wrote it was called the social contract which i'd love to go back and read when i finished that book it was 1976”
Where to get it
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I, Robot
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov is a classic science fiction collection of interconnected short stories exploring the ethical and practical implications of artificial intelligence and robotics.
Discussed“you know it's um i think irobot might go down is the most influential book of the 20th century not counting something like mind comps which is a very different direction”
Where to get it
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Last and First Men
"Last and First Men" by Olaf Stapledon is a sweeping science fiction novel written in the 1930s that chronicles the history of humanity across two billion years and nineteen distinct human species.
Recommended“try olaf stapleton last and first men from the 30s”
Where to get it
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The Once and Future King
The Once and Future King by T.
Recommended“once in future king by white i think is a fantastic book i would recommend you try that”
Where to get it
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As I Lay Dying
As I Lay Dying is a classic 1930 novel by American author William Faulkner that presents the harrowing journey of the Bundren family as they attempt to fulfill their matriarch's dying wish for burial.
Recommended“my advice is always start with as i lay dying”
Where to get it
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Finnegans Wake
Finnegans Wake by James Joyce is a famously complex, dense, and linguistically experimental modernist novel.
Discussed“and by the way my other confession i've never read ulysses by james joyce or finnegan's awake are you ready ulysses has to be in my top five”
Where to get it
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Ulysses
Ulysses by James Joyce is a landmark modernist novel that chronicles a single day in the life of Leopold Bloom in Dublin, mirroring the structure of Homer's epic.
Discussed“and by the way my other confession i've never read ulysses by james joyce or finnegan's awake are you ready”
Where to get it
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Life of Samuel Johnson
Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell is an acclaimed eighteenth-century British biography that captures the wit, wisdom, and distinct personality of its subject.
Recommended“like roswell's life of johnson would be one of my favorites”
Where to get it
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The Myth of the Rational Voter
The Myth of the Rational Voter by Bryan Caplan is an influential economic and political science text that examines voter behavior and the phenomenon of political irrationality.
Discussed“i remember when i read uh brian kaplan or my former colleague your current colleague his book the myth of the rational voter”
Where to get it
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The Three Languages of Politics
The Three Languages of Politics by Arnold Kling is a thought-provoking nonfiction book that examines how progressives, conservatives, and libertarians rely on fundamentally different moral frameworks and linguistic lenses to interpret political events.
Recommended“one of my favorite books is arnold cling's three language politics short every page is also good”
Where to get it
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Sum
Sum by David Eagleman is a short, thought-provoking work of speculative fiction comprising forty imaginative tales from various afterlives.
Discussed“have you read some by david eagleman”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (2) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“stubborn attachments came out of reading parfit”
“the book i just finished writing called talent with daniel gross my co-author”