Best of: Reads

What follows are the best books/articles/reviews I’ve read all year:

1. Under the Banner of Heaven by John Krakauer: One of the more mind-boggling and terrifying books I read all year. A must read for anyone obsessed with the blotchy path of religious/political history between the crucifixion, Constantine’s dream, and ascension of Charlemagne. If at any time you’ve wondered how a poor Jewish carpenter, with a few words and a glorious death, could have taken over the world, might I suggest looking no further than Salt Lake City, Utah, a place where history is being gathered and vaulted by the LDS. That Joseph Smith lived during the modern age (the fact that there are book reviews of the Book of Mormon blew my mind) and thrived during the Second Great Awakening, having established one of the fastest growing religions, is, on the one hand, perfectly American—which is to say that Joseph Smith and Brigam Young’s (one of the true criminals of American history) legacy has been one of violence and subjugation during the age of manifest destiny should be a given. That Mormonism's more fundamentalist aspects still exists and are growing should be terrifying (seriously, see if you feel safe driving through Colorado City). Anyone who looks at Mitt Romney and is perplexed at how one could have risen so high so fast, for essentially tailoring his message (a nice way of saying contradicting himself) to an exceedingly desperate audience (republican voters in the wake of W. Bush), need look no further than his religious idol Joseph Smith: a first rate, handsome, showman, who always seemed to have the “perfect story”, not to mention a peep stone and a black hat that gave him all the answers.

2. All The Shah’s Men by Stephen Kinzer: No other book I’ve read this year better illustrated the way in which American arrogance and small mindedness has damaged the Middle East. After reading this book, it was not hard to fathom the idea that had America stood with Mohammed Mosedegh, rather than orchestrating his downfall (Kermit Roosevelt making James Bond look like a pussy), a progressive Middle East might not have seemed like such a pipe dream. It also goes a long way towards illustrating America’s willingness to forego its’ integrity and principles for the sake of economic supremacy. Not to mention those fucking British…

3. His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman: After a good week spent raging against the last Harry Potter, I needed my pallet cleansed. I remembered a friend mentioning Pullman’s books as a better example of young adult fiction. Boy was he right! Let me go on record as saying Pullman’s canny and vicious Lyra Belacqua could kick Harry Potter’s pouting ass, and that Will Parry could make mincemeat of Ron and Hermione (that is assuming he could handle Hermione’s dangerous EXCLAMATIONS!!!). A saga in which the young heroes actually aged, while, with great vigor, rigorously dissecting the confusing morality and complexity of the adult world. A believable relationship between two budding adults, no short cuts, no neat tidy thirteenth-hour revelations—oh, and two words: Gay Angels… (Note: Avoid the movie adaptation at all costs!)

4. Into Thin Air by John Krakauer: Everything I ever wanted to know about Mt. Everest and an effective missive about why I should never go. Adventure writing at its peak (heh, heh…)

5. “Disaster Capitalism” by Namoi Klein (Harper’s Magazine): If reading this doesn’t put you into an existential funk, then might I suggest her book The Shock Doctrine. Word of advice: Do not read said book with a loaded gun in the house. You may not survive.

Honerable Mention (in no particular order): The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright, Lost Girls by Alan Moore, Y the Last Man by Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra, 100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso, The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, “Clueless into Kabul” by Michael Scheuer (The American Interest), “Making Enemies” by Anna Simons (The American Interest), “The Vacationers” by Colin Mort (Virginia Quarterly Review), “Utopianism Redux”: a review of Leszek Kolakowski’s Main Currents of Marxism by John Gray (The American Interest), “Their Men in Washington” by Ken Silverstine (Harper’s Magazine), “Literary Entrails” by Cynthia Ozick (Harper’s Magazine), “Moby-Duck” by Donovan Hohn (Harper’s Magazine), “The Madness of Jewcentricity” by Adam Garfinkle (The American Interest), “Shepherdess by Dan Chaon (Virginia Quarterly Review), The Headmaster Ritual by Taylor Antrim.