Jeremy back.
So Susan Sontag didn't work out. I really can't read nonfiction at this point that isn't assigned to me or can't contribute toward my dissertation at this point. Nevertheless I will read other things instead, as evidenced by the following list:
1. Ludwig Feuerbach, The Essence of Christianity. After I said I was reading Feuerbach, my New Testament scholar friend Micah asked me to define Feuerbach's thesis in two simple sentences. Here it is: "Religion is the good parts of humanity. The bad part of religion is making those good parts into somebody else." There you are - now you don't have to read it. 339 pgs.
2. Anna Quindlen, Rise and Shine. This got on my "To Read" list a long time ago and I finally got around to it. A lovely, sweet little novel that I probably wouldn't have read otherwise. The struggling social-worker sister of a famous talk show host nurses her family after the talk show host breaks down on air. I think New Yorkers would get this more than I did, but I liked it anyway. And Quindlen's politics are solid, too. 269 pgs.
3. John C. Wright, Fugitives of Chaos. Second volume of one of the strangest sci-fi series I've read in a while - and that's saying something. The lone five inhabitants of a prestigious prep school discover they are incarnations of Chaos meant to fight the Greek gods. Each one inhabits a mutually incompatible version of reality that gives them various powers - the matter-manipulating robot, the medieval sorceror, the shaman, the dimensional manipulator, etc. Philosophy and some oddly kinky soft-core BDSM for the kiddies, I suppose. Recommended if you're ready for that kind of thing. 353 pgs.
Next up: A.J. Ayers' attempt to read the Encyclopedia Britannica, and Foucault. Maybe there's a paper in between those last three somewhere.
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