What I’ve been reading

1. Philippe Desan, Montaigne: A Life.  Knotty, complex, and almost 800 pp., the bottom line nonetheless is that I will not liberate this book but rather keep it forever.  I’ve read only about 200 pp. so far, but it is one of the best guides to understanding its main topic, most of all when it comes to integrating how his written texts sprang from his actual life.

2. Dieter Helm, Burn Out: The Endgame for Fossil Fuels.  That’s not the right title, because most of this book covers the game rather than the endgame.  This is a careful and conceptual look at how different sectors of energy production are likely to evolve, taking good care to distinguish different parts of the world and stationary vs. mobile energy sources.

3. John F. Pfaff, Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration and How to Achieve Real Reform.  A very good and readable book on a much misunderstood topic.  Upon a close read of the data, it turns out the War on Drugs and private prisons are overemphasized as causes of overincarceration, whereas much of the actual blame should be placed on altered incentives for prosecutors.  Note that Pfaff also has a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago in addition to his JD.

4. Kevin N. Laland, Darwin’s Unfinished Symphony: How Culture Made the Human Mind.  If you read and profited from Joe Henrich’s The Secret of Success, this book is the next step.  Here are remarks by Robin Hanson on the book.

5. Edna O’Brien, August is a Wicked Month.  Irish fiction, 1967, old and old-fashioned enough that the sex in the story still sizzles, as does the comeuppance.  I will read more of her.

Nadia Hillard’s The Accountability State: US Federal Inspectors General and the Pursuit of Democratic Integrity, is a thorough and useful account of what the title promises.

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