I need some Noam Chomsky reading suggestions

I am more than half way through my self imposed crash course in liberal political reading and should be through my stack of books in the next couple weeks, and as I went along have started a wish list for more books I wanted to read. The name Chomsky comes up occasionally and I’ve picked a few of his most recent books, but frankly I don’t know much about him other than he is a liberal sociopolitical analyst, and he has so many books to choose from it’s hard to know where to start.

So, could some of you Chomsky fans or scholars tell me a little more about him and tell me what 2 or 3 books would be good for a Chomsky novice to read? The 2 I have on my wish list are listed below but I’m open for suggestions. And, I’m already oversaturated on Iraq war and 911 so I didn’t even consider those books. Thanks for any suggestions.

Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance (The American Empire Project)
Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky

For starters.

so is 9/11, although it's just a collection of interviews.

(there's also a documentary by the same name)

The Chomsky Reader is good too.
A collection of writings from Chomsky on philosophy and history.

I added to wish list. :thumbsup:

gives much insight into how the media distorts. Great book. Propaganda and the Public Mind was decent. His pamphlet books are fun to carry around.

Good luck!

Excellent intro to Chomsky. It's a very well edited collection of interviews that cover a ton of subjects. That book really changed things for me. Chomsky is brilliant and understandable. He eschews high-minded theory. He just works his ass off and then reports his findings in a very straightforward way.

Understanding Power. Pick it up!

Here's a link.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1565847032/qid=1071792081//ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i0_xgl14/103-9113158-5290216?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

to look for Chomsky material

http://www.alternativeradio.org/programs/speakers/CHON.html

David Barsamian has been conducting audio interviews with Chomsky for ? yrs. He's also published many of the interviews.

and if you buy from the site you'll be supporting liberal radio.

Thank you!

Looks like they only had 3 of his books offered though.

Sorry...don't know what came over me.

I gave my sister his book on Israel a couple years ago. Doubt she's read it.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians?

Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda - 2nd edition Short must reads. Your two picks so far are right on the money!

Some have suggested Manufacturing Consent ; it is not a book for someone new to Chomsky. It was the first Chomsky book I read and I still suffer from brain freezes. I would suggest that you rent the Documentary of Chomsky called Manufacturing consent it will give you a birds eye view.

Here is another short amateur http://sf.indymedia.org/uploads/chomsky_rwap1.rm">documentary on Chomsky you can watch.

And thanks for the tip on Manufacturing Consent. I definitely don't want to start with something that is going to give me brain freeze!

http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/sam/sam-contents.html

covers from the end of wwII till 1992...
very short and easy to read.

The future
Things have changed

It's important to recognize how much the scene has changed in the past 30 years as a result of the popular movements that organized in a loose and chaotic way around such issues as civil rights, peace, feminism, the environment and other issues of human concern.

Take the Kennedy and Reagan administrations, which were similar in a number of ways in their basic policies and commitments. When Kennedy launched a huge international terrorist campaign against Cuba after his invasion failed, and then escalated the murderous state terror in South Vietnam to outright aggression, there was no detectable protest.

It wasn't until hundreds of thousands of American troops were deployed and all of Indochina was under devastating attack, with hundreds of thousands slaughtered, that protest became more than marginally significant. In contrast, as soon as the Reagan administration hinted that they intended to intervene directly in Central America, spontaneous protest erupted at a scale sufficient to compel the state terrorists to turn to other means.

Leaders may crow about the end of the "Vietnam syndrome," but they know better. A National Security Policy Review of the Bush administration, leaked at the moment of the ground attack in the Gulf, noted that, "In cases where the US confronts much weaker enemies" -- the only ones that the true statesman will agree to fight -- "our challenge will be not simply to defeat them, but to defeat them decisively and rapidly." Any other outcome would be "embarrassing" and might "undercut political support," understood to be very thin.

By now, classical intervention is not even considered an option. The means are limited to clandestine terror, kept secret from the domestic population, or "decisive and rapid" demolition of "much weaker enemies" -- after huge propaganda campaigns depicting them as monsters of indescribable power.

Much the same is true across the board. Take 1992. If the Columbus quincentenary had been in 1962, it would have been a celebration of the liberation of the continent. In 1992, that response no longer has a monopoly, a fact that has aroused much hysteria among the cultural managers who are used to near-totalitarian control. They now rant about the "fascist excesses" of those who urge respect for other people and other cultures.

In other areas too, there's more openness and understanding, more skepticism and questioning of authority. Of course, the latter tendencies are double-edged. They may lead to independent thought, popular organizing and pressures for much-needed institutional change. Or they may provide a mass base of frightened people for new authoritarian leaders. These possible outcomes are not a matter for speculation, but for action, with stakes that are very large.

thank gore he 'invented' the internet :bounce:

peace

On Language: Chomsky's Classic Works Language and Responsibility and Reflections on Language in One Volume

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1565844750/ref=pd_sim_books_1/104-8846357-5081542?v=glance&s=books

Noam's true beauty lies in linguistics and I think these books open you to more truth then books like "Manufacturing Consent" and 9-11, etc...

:thumbsup:

Chomsky's linguistics stuff is far more interesting than his neo-anarchist political diatribes.

:kick:

I find his political stuff to be nonsense, but his scientific reasearch on language aquistion is unparralleled.

I loved that one. Helped shape my political thought when it was first released.

It's like taking the red pill (Or was it the blue pill?)

is another good one.