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Member: BGP

CollectionsYour library (1,612), Read but unowned (251), Currently reading (16), Documentary films (2), Wishlist (969), The Owned Unowned (Recataloging Omnibi) (11), All collections (2,844)

Reviews40 reviews

TagsNon-Fiction (1,248), Fiction (716), US (452), Political theory (394), Authoritarian politics (370), Europe (364), Philosophy (349), Revolutionary politics (220), US fiction (216), Middle East & North Africa (206) — see all tags

Cloudstag cloud, author cloud

Groups20-Something LibraryThingers, Graduate Students, Non-Fiction Readers, Reading Globally, Social Democrats & Democratic Socialists, The Globe, The Prizes, Treehuggers, Working Class

Favorite authorsIsaiah Berlin, Eduard Bernstein, Jorge Luis Borges, Bertolt Brecht, Mikhail Bulgakov, John Le Carré, Milovan Djilas, Robert Fisk, Michel Foucault, Graham Greene, Alexander Hamilton, John Heartfield, Joseph Heller, Herodotus, Christopher Hitchens, E. J. Hobsbawm, C.L.R. James, Tony Judt, Ryszard Kapuściński, Robert Kee, Arthur Koestler, T. E. Lawrence, Rian Malan, André Malraux, Karl Marx, Ernie O'Malley, George Orwell, Thomas Paine, Orhan Pamuk, Salman Rushdie, William Shakespeare, David Simon, Hunter S. Thompson, Voltaire, Kurt Vonnegut (Shared favorites)

Favorite bookstoresBartleby's Books, Daedalus Books, Powell's City of Books, Smith Family Bookstore - Campus, Smith Family Bookstore - Downtown

About meI'm a democratic socialist/social democrat (in the European tradition) living in a nation of economic liberals, reactionary populists, traditional conservatives, religious fundamentalists, docile nationalists, imperialistic neo-conservatives, amoral hedonists and the obligatory handful of extremist right- and left-leaning anti-statists... Consequently, my free hours are typically dedicated to histories, political theory, literature, a thorough review of national and international news or a heated political debate regarding any number of the pressing issues of our time.

As of now, I should be considered semi-retired from LT Talk. Too much on my plate, I'm afraid. That said, don't hesitate to leave me a message. I'll be logging in for perfectly selfish reasons (digital library maintenance, and what have you) regularly.

Philosophically aligned with: The Socialist International

Contributing member of: The American Civil Liberties Union; Amnesty International;
Conservation International; The Electronic Frontier Foundation; and The Nature Conservancy

Lapsed contributing member of: The Sierra Club; and The Wilderness Society

Former (and future!) biannual contributor to: Doctors without Borders

A regular subscriber to: Dissent; In These Times; and The Economist

Were I to add a fourth subscription, it would be to: The New York Review of Books

When the price is right, I resubscribe to: Foreign Affairs; Harpers; Mother Jones; The New Yorker; and The Progressive

And, finally, I am quite fond of the following publishing companies: Library of America; The Modern Library (both classic and contemporary); and Verso

About my libraryMy collections should be self-explanatory, but I'll expound upon them anyway. Just for kicks.

Your library is, quite naturally, my corporeal library.

Read but unowned is a partial list of books that I've read, but have never bothered to buy (or, in the case of a number of out of print non-fiction works, simply couldn't afford). It also includes a handful of books which were so bad that I had no choice but to sell them back to my favorite local bookstore. If I haven't read a book in its entirety, it will not be listed here; the few exceptions (yes, there are always exceptions) to this rule come in the form of one star novels and texts which were given a chance, but ultimately left me with absolutely no reason or motivation to finish them. Finally, most of the fiction which I read in my youth will not be added, for many a three star novel came and went without leaving a distinct impression. Ultimately, this collection will only be updated when I'm looking to avoid something enriching and productive, and/or when my thoughts gravitate toward a specific book or collection of books which I read some time ago.

My Wishlist is a list of books which have aroused my interest, but have yet to be pursued. It also includes a number of works which were once begun, but never finished.

I have no interest in cataloging all of my DVDs, but Documentary films lists the few worthy documentary works which I have managed to find at a worthy price.

Finally, The following ratings guide will be formalized whenever I need a good reason to procrastinate. My actual book ratings are, however, by no means final (for now, anyway).

★★★★★:
★★★★½:
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★★½:
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★½:
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Also onAmazon

Membership LibraryThing Early Reviewers/Member Giveaway

Account typepublic, lifetime

Connection NewsConnection News

URLs http://www.librarything.com/profile/BGP (profile)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/BGP (library)

Common KnowledgeSeries (244), Awards (344), Characters (4975), Places (1057)

Member sinceAug 18, 2007

Currently readingThe Consolidation of Democracy in East-Central Europe by Karen Dawisha
Central and Eastern Europe, 1944-1993: Detour from the Periphery to the Periphery by Ivan Berend
The Silent Prophet by Joseph Roth
Revolt On Goose Island: The Chicago Factory Takeover, and What it Says About the Economic Crisis by Kari Lydersen
East Central Europe in the Modern World: The Politics of the Borderlands from Pre- to Postcommunism by Andrew Janos
Developments in Central and East European Politics by Stephen White
The Birth of Tragedy by Friedrich Nietzsche
Leon Trotsky by Irving Howe
Regions of War and Peace by Douglas Lemke
Power Transitions: Strategies For the 21st Century by Ronald L. Tammen
Parity and War: Evaluations and Extensions of The War Ledger by Jacek Kugler
The $36 Billion Bargain: U.S. Aid to Israel and American Public Opinion by A. F. K. Organski
Births, Deaths, and Taxes: The Demographic and Political Transitions by A. F. K. Organski
The War Ledger by A.F.K. Organski
The Stages of Political Development by A. F. K. Organski
The Prophet Armed: Trotsky 1879-1921 by Isaac Deutscher
show all (16)