The Confusion by Neal Stephenson

This book contains more of the same careful attention to detail, plot, character, and history which marked Quicksilver, but it also does much more to suggest the overall arc of the plot--where things are headed. This clarity could come from the fact that I've already read one book setting things up, but I appreciated it. I loved the gold-theft plot--it worked particularly well between the two interwoven books (writ large, the story of Jack and the story of Eliza). I'm looking forward to the third book in this trilogy.

William Faulkner: An Economy of Complex Words by Richard Godden

This book contends that Faulkner's prose reflects the trauma of the South after World War II: as its old forms of labor changed (and African Americans migrated north in increasing numbers) white Southerners came to realize that their identity depended on African American identity. Godden gives excellent close readings, although his argument is a bit more radical (and tenuous) than I would like.

The Black Vampyre by Uriah Derick D'Arcy

This book, which is perhaps more accurately described as a pamphlet, continues to amaze me. It's formally a mess: there's a short story (hard to call it a novel, when it clocks in at less than 50 small pages), and a long poem about vampirism. While the story starts as your typical horror story, it quickly becomes a critique of a wide variety of things, including but not limited to capitalism, plagiarism, and slavery.

Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism by Frederic Jameson

This book is a massive cultural study of postmodernism that declines to define postmodernism. I found parts of the book very difficult to follow: the theory was dense (and drew on philosophers with whom I am not familiar). I thought Jameson offered convincing readings of film (in ways that reminded me of the way that film works in Infinite Jest) and architecture especially. This book makes me glad my interests are in the nineteenth century.

Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson

This book gives a no-frills, no-holds-barred account of the rise of Atlantic City, New Jersey. The main contention of the book (insofar as it as one) is that Atlantic City's heyday was made possible by cheap train fares, and the tourist trade. As other options opened up to American tourists (especially with the rise of the personal automobile), Atlantic City found it increasingly hard to attract tourists, who form the city's lifeblood. Unfortunately, the book is dry (despite a thrilling history) and I found it theoretically lacking (it was mostly about just saying here's what happened without much of a framework). Fans of the HBO show will find the 1920s heyday of Atlantic City evoked much more convincingly and excitingly on television.

The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World by Vijay Prashad

This book is organized geographically and covers a remarkable range of Third World history. Prashad argues that the Third World, in its attempts to organize itself, offered, at least temporarily, a viable alternative to the standoff between First World capitalism and Second World socialism. While he argues that this potential was lost through exploitative lending practices and other pitfalls, he suggests that what's needed is for some people to take up the banner of the Third World. This book is an impressive collection and analysis of history. It looks with equal clarity and criticism at the both United States and the First World and the USSR and the Second World. Nor does it romanticize the goals of the Third World. I learned a lot about a period of history that was not very well covered in my education.

The Rise and Fall of the American Century: The United States from 1890-2009 by William H. Chafe

This book presents a fairly cogent overview of American history from 1890 to 2009 (barely--it saves two pages for the recession and President Obama's election). The point of view is fairly liberal (especially in the latter chapters), and while it covers a variety of social, economic, political, and military history, if there's one aspect of American history it focuses on, it's the presidency. It reads a bit like a textbook, and is thus a little dry, but it would be a good and quick overview for anyone who wants to catch up on modern, American history.

Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History by Sidney W. Mintz

This book presents a history of sugar. While in some ways I found it to be somewhat Anglo-centric, it was a really fascinating account of the rise of sugar as a form of food. It's Mintz's contention that sugar and the patterns of consumption that surround it are not accidental or arbitrary, but instead the result of larger economic patterns. I found the production and eating and being chapters particularly helpful--Mintz talks about the way that sugar's chemical properties (especially in preserving food) and its historical circumstances have changed the way we eat--and thus the way that we relate to each other. This book is really remarkable.