Suggestion: A Game As Old As Empire

I was intrigued when I heard an interview with John Perkins upon the release of the first book, Confessions of an Economic Hitman. This second book is a compilation from others. A different angled follow-up to the Beah book -- cuz, how are they getting all those guns and drugs in the African jungle?

"John Perkins exposed this shocking secret world in Confessions, his first-person account of his own life as an Economic Hit Man, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. Here, other economic hit men, journalists, and investigators join Perkins to reveal many more deeply disturbing stories of greed and international corruption. In gripping detail, they describe the schemes and subterfuges that multinational corporations, governments, powerful individuals, financial institutions, and quasi-governmental agencies use to line their pockets behind the façade of “foreign aid” and “international development.” "

http://www.economichitman.com/

Group Discussion #2

Book:
You Don't Love Me Yet: A Novel, by Jonathan Lethem.

Date & Location:
TBD (first to second week of June).

Author's web site

Book Description:

From the incomparable Jonathan Lethem, a raucous romantic farce that explores the paradoxes of love and art.

Lucinda Hoekke spends eight hours a day at the Complaint Line, listening to anonymous callers air their random grievances. Most of the time, the work is excruciatingly tedious. But one frequent caller, who insists on speaking only to Lucinda, captivates her with his off-color ruminations and opaque self-reflections. In blatant defiance of the rules, Lucinda and the Complainer arrange a face-to-face meeting—and fall desperately in love.

Consumed by passion, Lucinda manages only to tear herself away from the Complainer to practice with the alternative band in which she plays bass. The lead singer of the band is Matthew, a confused young man who works at the zoo and has kidnapped a kangaroo to save it from ennui. Denise, the drummer, works at No Shame, a masturbation boutique. The band’s talented lyricist, Bedwin, conflicted about the group’s as-yet-nonexistent fame, is suffering from writer’s block. Hoping to recharge the band’s creative energy, Lucinda “suggests” some of the Complainer’s philosophical musings to Bedwin. When Bedwin transforms them into brilliant songs, the band gets its big break, including an invitation to appear on L.A.’s premiere alternative radio show. The only problem is the Complainer. He insists on joining the band, with disastrous consequences for all.

Brimming with satire and sex, You Don’t Love Me Yet is a funny and affectionate send-up of the alternative band scene, the city of Los Angeles, and the entire genre of romantic comedy, but remains unmistakably the work of the inimitable Jonathan Lethem.

About the Author:

JONATHAN LETHEM is the author of six novels, including the bestsellers The Fortress of Solitude and Motherless Brooklyn, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award. He is also the author of two short story collections, Men and Cartoons and The Wall of the Sky, the Wall of the Eye, and a collection of essays, The Disappointment Artist. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, and Maine.

suggestions: the book of salt

by monique truong. fictionalized account of alice b toklas' & gertrude stein's manservant.

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