At first Warrens' thesis seems counter-intuitive: two income households today are less financially secure than comparable single income households a generation ago. This actually makes sense for a simple reason: if a household plans for two incomes, loosing either income is more dangerous because there is no safety net. In single income households, if the main income earner loses his or her job, the spouse can enter the job force to fill a gap in household income. But in a dual income household that requires both incomes to make mortgage payments and pay for other living expenses, the loss or reduction of one of those incomes can be devastating. The book goes on to explain other ways in which the middle class is being squeezed.

I first saw Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard law professor, in the documentary film Maxed Out about the growing credit card problem in America. She is brilliant at explaining the fundamental problems with credit cards from the point of view of consumers. She also discussed the credit card industry on NPR's Fresh Air program on March 27, 2007.

I saw this book mentioned in the New York Times, and flying on American in a few days time myself, I decided to get the book to read during my flight. Overall it was a fun read. The entire book is a complaint letter to American Airlines written by the protagonist, Benjamin Ford, during his overnight stay at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport after his flight has been cancelled. Though prompted by his travel misfortunes, his complaint letter encompasses much more than just American Airlines incompetence. The humor in some of his complaints to the airline are balanced by sad remembrances from his life that have brought him to this point -- stuck in Chicago en route to his estranged daughter's wedding in California. This is good summer reading, especially if you're stuck flying American Airlines, but the book covers a number of adult themes, so don't expect it to simply be a 192 page funny complaint letter.

While browsing at a used book shop, I realized that I had somehow escaped from high school and college literature classes without having to read any Camus, so I bought a copy of The Plague and found The Stranger at the library. Both were rather good books and I enjoyed Camus' narrative style.

Who knew alternate side parking could be so funny? This quick read is terrifically funny, especially if you've ever had to find a parking spot in New York that is "good for tomorrow." Even if you don't know what that means, you'll probably really like the book.

Jack Goldsmith was Assistant Attorney General and head of the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) for nine months from the fall of 2003 to July 2004. Though a conservative who agrees with much of what the administration has done and is doing in the "war on terror," Goldsmith famously withdrew two OLC memos related to torture including the infamous "Torture Memo" (Times article). He makes clear in The Terror Presidency that this was not a move against the administration from within, but rather a necessary decision to correct a flawed legal opinion. In fact, Goldsmith helped the administration carve our legal footing for many counterterrorism programs. His book does an excellent job of demonstrating the legal and moral ambiguity in the war on terror and the way that war fighting and national security issues rely more heavily on legal issues than ever before. He also shows that the Bush administration's goal of creating a more powerful executive by using the president's hard power through unilateral action to expand his authority rather than using the soft power of persuasion and compromise has likely left the office less, rather than more, powerful.

I ended up reading this book because I started reading a different book: Gödel, Escher, Bach: an eternal golden braid by Douglas Hofstadter. Early on in G.E.B., Hofstadter refers to Bach's composition "Musikalisches Opfer." Wanting a better understanding of what was being described I decided to get a recording of "Musickalisches Opfer," but not knowing which recording was best I contacted my college friend and harpsichordist, Mahan Esfahani. He recommended two recordings to me. The first is a recording by Gustav Leonhardt originally issued as an LP in the 1970s, but now available on a CD reissue by Sony Classical in Europe. The second is an orchestral arrangement by Karl Münchinger and the Stuttgarter Kammerorchester. I got this recording on a double CD offering from Decca that also included "Die Kunst der Fuge."
Mahan also recommended Evening in the Palace of Reason for its concluding chapter that in his words is a "wonderful, concise, and 'layman's' view of Bach's particular aesthetic weltanschauung." As a musical "layman" this was perfect for me and changed the way I listened to the music. Overall the book is great for a musical novice, but only average if one considers it as a biography or history, as it attempts to provide parallel biographies of both J.S. Bach and Frederick the Great in less than 300 pages--both of which are complex lives that probably require multi-volume biographies for anything approaching completeness.

Krugman provides a good explanation of the history of movement conservatism and its means of gaining political traction in the United States. Krugman demonstrates how movement conservatism betrays the American dream and actually works against many of those whom it entices to support the movement. Krugman also makes a good case for why guaranteed health care for all Americans makes good economic and moral sense.

My cat, Molly, appears to enjoy Krugman's book, too.

Orhan Pamuk delighted me again with My Name is Red, a wonderfully told story of murder, deceit, and Islamic miniaturists. Told from the point of view of multiple characters, including the murderer and some of the miniaturists' illustrations, the story and characters are as rich and vibrant as a page from an illuminated manuscript. As I mentioned in my review of Pamuk's Snow, he is certainly deserving of the Nobel Prize in Literature.