Books I Read in 1996

Books are listed in reverse chronological order

Endless Highway, by David Carradine.The star of my favorite television show when I was a teenager, Kung Fu, tells all--in 647 entertaining, well-written pages. The original manuscript was longer but the publisher told Carradine to cut it down. I could have easily read a few hundred more pages about this man's unbelievable life, which might be described aptly as one continuous adventure.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams. I know, you are dumbstruck that I somehow managed to wait this long to read this classic. (But I'm 42 now, so isn't it appropriate?) Actually, I really have been meaning to read this book for a long time because I was getting stuck in the computer game for the Apple IIe based on the book and I thought reading it might help. Also, I really enjoyed Adams's book, Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency. However, someone had already given away the answer to the Ultimate Question, so I lost one reason for reading the book. I'm glad I finally read the book and I was highly amused by the fake ultimate question concocted at the end of the story. I look forward to reading the rest of Adams's "trilogy."

Raising a Son, by Don and Jeanne Elium. My wife, Carolyn, is always on the lookout for books about raising sons because we have four boys. For better or worse, I am usually more prone to acting and reacting instinctively toward my boys as opposed to finding and applying formulas suggested by others. I read this book anyway and it did not persuade me to change my ways. The book is a crazy quilt of ideas, a mishmash of oversimplified biochemistry and evolutionary psychology, Jung, Piaget, psychotherapeutic odds and ends, and men's movement ideology.

The Moral Animal, by Robert Wright. The title is intended to be ironic. This is an accessible book overviewing evolutionary psychology. Wright uses an unusual device I found quite engaging: He presents annecdotes from Charles Darwin's own life that illustrate the general evolutionary principles he describes. The book is so well-written and informative that I may assign it in one of my psychology classes. Here's a good review of The Moral Animal.

Rebound: The Odyssey of Michael Jordan, by Bob Greene. I love biographies. I love basketball. (I used to love baseball, too, until my hero, Roberto Clemente, died.) I would rather play basketball than watch it or read about it, but Greene tells the the story of Michael's move from one sport to the other and back again with a nice, understated style. My favorite part of the entire book is a quotation from Michael Jordan that resonates with my own views on morality : "I can't understand that kind of thinking," Jordan said. "That I can be called selfish because I want to do something with my life-- but that the people who would have me do something else, because they think it provides them pleasure, aren't selfish. Is that what they're saying--that if they want me to do something to please them, and I don't do it, then I'm the one who's being selfish?" ... "I just don't like being told I'm selfish because I do something that I think might be good for me. ... How many people get called selfish for making decisions about their own lives? It's crazy." (p. 185).

Restoring the American Dream, by Robert J. Ringer. The Advocates for Self-Government sent me this book (and a lot of information about Libertarianism) when I sent them an $8.00 donation. I wasn't sure I'd like it enough to read it; like a lot of other communalists, I dissed Ringer (author of Looking Out for #1) throughout the 80s for glorifying individualism and ignoring communal needs. But, three chapters into the book, I got hooked. I don't agree with everything he says, but 90% of his remarks are so reasonable that they are absolutely compelling.

Why Government Doesn't Work, by Harry Browne. Browne authored one of my all-time favorite books, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World, a book I often assign to students in my Personal Well-Being and Adjustment class. I flipped out when I discovered he was running for president. I'm a registered Democrat, but this Libertarian definitely has my vote.

John A. Johnson