Books Everyone Should Read, Really

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson


This is book is on the list of books recommended by members of the CMA listserv as a book that all journalists should read, and I would agree.

While this book is celebrating its 50th anniversary, the ideas it contains are still just as fresh as they were when Carson introduced them—our planet is still imperiled by the overuse of toxic chemicals to kill weeds, bugs and other such pests, and people have a general carefree attitude about said herbicides, insecticides and other such toxic chemicals. But that isn’t the reason why all journalists should read this groundbreaking book.

All journalists, all communicators, should read this groundbreaking book because it contains great examples of well-written prose that use many different rhetorical devices to move the reader to action. This book was the beginning of the environmental movement because it stirred people. It moved them to action. It took disparate and complex ideas, broke them into simple language, used analogy, facts, stories and statistics to explain the ideas and challenged people to think differently and ultimately to act. That’s why Silent Spring was so controversial when it was published, and that’s why it continues to resonate with people today.

Carson proved that complex topics such as chemistry, biology and entomology, just to name a few, don’t have to be written about in complex language. She showed that simple, direct and eloquent writing could be applied to science so that the masses could understand. That idea lives on today in some of the best science writing. Take Jon Franklin's Pultizer Prize winning feature articles for example, specifically Mrs. Kelly's Monster.

So why should you, humble communication student, read this book? For two reasons:
1) It’s a great example of well-researched and thorough reporting that supports a well-written and eloquent thesis. In other words, it’s good writing.

2) You will like it, or you won’t like it, depending on your view of the environmental movement. Chances are, you won’t like it, because it will make you angry, but Silent Spring will make you feel. And that, is the most important reason you should read this book.

Up next, Earnest Hemingway’s Green Hills of Africa.

Books That Journalists Should Read, Absolutely

Slouching Towards Bethlehem  by Joan Didion

This book is on the list of books recommended by members of the CMA listserv as a book that all journalists should read, and I would agree.

I’ve read some of Joan Didion’s most recent books, including the previously reviewed The Year of Magical Thinking, but this is the first one of Didion’s early books that I’ve read. This book is a compilation of essays Didion wrote, mostly about 1960s California.

For those who were children, or rather teens and young adults of the 1960s, this book will remind them of life during the days of drugs, alcohol, rock ‘n roll and free love. Since I don’t really remember those days, this collection of essays gave me another view of the counterculture movement, but what this really gave me was an indication of the lyrical writing style that Didion developed.

While her latest books display a fully developed writer undertaking some of the most difficult subjects anyone has to deal with such as death, dying and the grief process, this book shows Didion in the early stages of her craft but with talent to spare.

Didion’s use of language and style to display tone and mood are superior. Her finely tuned reporting ability gives you the feeling that you are there with her as she interviews Joan Baez, John Wayne and “average” people with the hopes of getting to the heart of life in 1960s America.

This collection gives a great perspective on the history of the United States and the history of a great writer and reporter. Didion shows a keen eye for detail, facts and lyrical voice, providing some of the best narrative writing you will ever read.

A must read for journalists—I’d say absolutely. Unlike the crazy antics and writing of Hunter Thompson, who also wrote about this time period, Joan Didion provides facts and truth, describing the world as it exists and dissecting its meaning, something that all journalism students would be advised to learn.

Up next, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.

Books Journalists Should Read, Definitely

Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World by Michael Lewis


This is the second Michael Lewis book I have read, with a previous review of Moneyball.

Lewis is a bestselling author and journalist, specializing in business journalism. His forte from the two books that I’ve read is transforming complex economic and business issues into easy-to-understand prose. Lewis also displays a wicked sense of humor in this book, sometimes veering toward scathing, but always entertaining. The title alone demonstrates his sense of the absurd. Look at the table of contents and the countries covered—the new Third World includes Iceland, Greece, Ireland, Germany and the United States.

If you’ll notice, three of the five countries Lewis includes in his list have already experienced severe financial meltdown, and some would probably argue that all five are headed in that direction, which is why Lewis considers them part of the new Third World.

This book details his travels into this new Third World to discover why financial meltdown has occurred or is occuring.

Boomerang shows a top-notch reporter’s skills at their best. Using statistics and personal anecdotes, this book details the economics behind the global financial meltdown and the cultural imperatives that drove it.

Whether it was the unregulated ability for Icelanders to become investment bankers—the overconfidence of the traditional fishermen to learn anything quickly—or the idea that Irish from throughout the world would find their way back to Ireland to buy the massive numbers of second homes being built, it’s easy to see how cultural imperatives, lax loan standards and just plain delusion led many of these countries and to financial disaster.

While this book wasn't on the CMA list of books journalists should read, I think it should be added. Lewis tells a compelling story, using great reporting and clear analysis. If that isn't a great example of good communication, especially for young journalists, I don't know what is.

Up next, the previously promised review of Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem.