SUGGESTED FICTION

Eric Ambler, The Mask of Dimitrios, Introduced by Simon Winder, Illustrated by Paul Blow (London: The Folio Society, 2011).

Cristina Henriquez, The Book of Unknown Americans: A Novel (New York: Knopf, 2014) (See Ana Castillo, "Americanos," NYT Book Review, Sunday, 7/6/2014.).

Sue Miller, The Arsonist: A Novel (New York: Knopf, 2014) (See Jean Hanff Korelitz, "Neighborhood Watch," NYT Book Review, Sunday, 6/29/2014.).

Joyce Carol Oates, The Accursed: A Novel (New York: Ecco, 2013) ("Why does humankind insist upon eating animals?--is it in lieu of eating one another?" Id. at 636.).

Lauren Owen, The Quick: A Novel (New York: Random House, 2014).

Tom Rachman, The Rise & Fall of Great Powers: A Novel (New York: The Dial Press, 2014) (From the bookcover" "[A] stunning novel that reveals the tale not just of one woman but of the past quarter-century as well, from the end of the Cold War to the dominance of American empire to the digital revolution of today. Leaping between decades, and from Bangkok to Brooklyn, this is a breathtaking novel about long-buried secrets and how we must choose to make our own place in the world.").

Edward St. Aubyn, Lost for Words: A Novel (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2014) (See Anne Enright, "By the Booker," NYT Book Review, Sunday, 5/25/2014.).

Judith Schalansky, The Giraffe's Neck: A Novel, translated from the German by Shaun Whiteside (New York: Bloomsbury, 2014).

Ben H. Winters, Countdown City (The Last Policeman Book II) (Philadelphia: Quirk Books, 2013).

Ben H. Winters, The Last Policeman (The Last Policeman Book I) (Philadelphia: Quirk Books, 2012).

Ben H. Winters, World of Trouble (The Last Policeman Book III) (Philadelphia: Quirk Books, 2014) (At a certain point you have to concede to yourself that it's just you out here." Id. at 194.).

Hanya Yanagihara, The People in the Trees: A Novel (New York: Doubleday, 2013) (From the bookjacket: "This riveting epic of brillance and destruction forces us to confront some disturbing questions: If a great man does does unspeakable things, is he still a great man? How do we reconcile a person's failings with his genius?").

JAPAN: HISTORY, CULTURE, ETC.

Winston L. King, Zen and the Way of the Sword: Arming the Samurai Psyche (New York& Oxford: Oxford U. Press, 1993, 1994) ("[T]he truth of Buddhism in the Zen mode was not in scriptures, ritual, or doctrine--all of which in any case lay outside the interest and capacities of the majority of the samurai. Truth and salvation in Zen lay within the person, in one's own self and capacities. Truth was existential, not intellectual; its realization and practice were visceral, not cerebral. This character of Zen then put it well within the range of samurai awareness and emotional compatibility; it was capable of making connection with the kind of life the samurai led. For this was a kind of truth that could be utilized and realized in action; it was not mere theory. It tended to free one to act according to one's own inward perceptions (or better, 'gut feeling') of what the immediate situation called for, apart from or beyond the strictures of rules and regulations and traditional fighting techniques." Id. at 163-164.).

George Sansom, A History of Japan to 1334 (Stanford, Ca: Stanford U. Press, 1959) ("Since the influence of Buddhism upon Japanese life is an important feature in Japanese history, it may be useful to give here a short account of Buddhist doctrine . . . " "From simple beginnings in the sermons of the Blessed One (the first being the Sermon at Benares) Buddhism in the course of time developed a vast canon and a most comprehensive range of metaphysics, but its fundamental doctrine is short and not very difficult to understand. The Buddha taught that all clinging to life involves suffering; that the cause of suffering is craving for pleasure and rebirth; that suffering can be ended because its cause is known and can be removed; and that the way to end suffering is to follow the Eightfold Path. These are the Four Holy Truths." "The Eightfold Path is right views, right aims, right speech, right action, right living, right effort, right mindfulness, and right rapture. These eight paths seem only to lead towards a simple morality, but taken together they are more than that; they are the necessary steps to complete enlightenment, since the last path, right rapture, means the ecstasy of perfect knowledge, from which comes the end of craving for pleasure and rebirth, and the fore deliverance from suffering. To these precepts are added the idea, which the Buddha described as the essence of his teaching, of the Chain of Causation, the inevitable sequence of events, 'If that is, this comes to pass. On account of that arising this arises. If that is not, this does not come to pass.'" "The metaphysical elaboration of this Law is difficult to understand, but it was not hard for the ordinary man to grasp the idea that the whole universe is a process of birth and death and rebirth, involving suffering from which he can escape by reaching a goal (called nirvana) which is not annihilation but the absence of all causes of suffering." "This goal cannot be reached so long as a man thinks in terms of his own identity. So long as he believes that he has a self he must continue through an indefinite series of reincarnations. In other terms this is the doctrine of Karma, of which the essence is that a life is not complete in itself, but is both a sequel and a prelude, conditioned by past lives and conditioning future lives. In this chain there may be existences of many kinds, animal, human, and godlike, so that a man's actions may raise him towards deliverance or lower him to incarnation as an unhappy human, or a beast, or a bird, or an insect." Id. at 60-61.).

George Sansom, A History of Japan1334-1615 (Stanford, Ca: Stanford U. Press, 1961).

George Sansom, A History of Japan 1615-1869 (Stanford, Ca: Stanford U. Press, 1963).

RACE AND THE MEDIA

Eric Deggans, Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012) ("One of the subtlest early warning signs of prejudice is the unearned, insulting cultural assumption." "If you're African American, it may be someone who uses street slang in speaking to you before they have heard you say a word; after all, if you're black, you must prefer being called 'bro' and 'homes.' For a Latino person, it's the knucklehead who casually tosses around curse words in Spanish or asks about street gang life." Id. at 72.).

MISS MARPLE'S INSIGHTS ON HUMAN NATURE

Agatha Christie, The Body in the Library, illustrated by Andrew Davidson (London: Folio Society, 2013).

Agatha Christie, The Complete Miss Marple Short Stories, Introduction by Stella Duffy, illustrated by Andrew Davidson (London: Folio Society, 2003) (From "The Tuesday Night Club": "'I mean'. said Miss Marple, puckering her brow a little as she counted the stitches in her knitting, 'that so many people seem to me not be be either bad of good but simply, you know, very silly.'" Id. at 1, 3.).

Agatha Christie, The Murder at the Vicar, introduced by Laura Thompson, illustrated by Andrew Davidson (London: Folio Society, 2013) ("The young people think the old people are fools, but the old people know the young people are fools." Id. at 221).

Agatha Christie, A Pocket Full of Rye, illustrated by Andrew Davidson (London: Folio Society, 2013) ("'Wherever there is a question of gain, one has to be very suspicious. The great thing to avoid is having in any way a trustful mind.'" "'Always think the worst, eh?' he asked" "'Oh yes' . . .  'I always believe the worst, What is sad is that one is usually justified in doing so.'" Id. at 166.).

Agatha Christie, Sleeping Murder (Miss Marple's Last Case), illustrated by Andrew Davidson (London: Folio Society, 2013).

OUR COMPLICITY IN AN UNJUST PUNISHMENT REGIME

Robert A. Ferguson, Inferno: An Anatomy of American Punishment (Cambridge, Massachusetts, & London, England: Harvard U. Press, 2014) (From the bookjacket: "Looking not only to court records but to works of philosophy, history, and literature for illumination, Robert Ferguson . . . diagnoses all parts of a now massive, out-of-control punishment regime. He reveals the veiled pleasure behind the impulse to punish (which confuses our thinking about the purpose of punishment), explains why over time all punishment regimes impose greater levels of punishment than originally intended, and traces a disturbing gap between out ability to quantify pain and the precision with which penalties are handed down." "Ferguson turns the spotlight from the debate over legal issues to the real plight of prisoners, addressing not law professionals but the American people. Do we want out prisons to be this way? Or are we unaware, or confused, or indifferent, or misinformed about what is happening? Acknowledging the suffering of prisoners and understanding what punishers do when they punish are the first steps toward a better, more just system.").

FAISAL I of IRAQ

Ali A. Allawi, Faisal I of Iraq (New Haven & London: Yale U. Press, 2014) (What might have been were not Americans so inconstant in their role as an international power and influence? Both radical and most moderate nationalists had despaired of achieving their ends through negotiations with Britain and France. The withdrawal of the U.S. from European and international entanglements was another contributory factor to the nationalists' anxieties, as the US was the originator of the principle of self-determination of nations and peoples." Id. at 271.).

WHEN AMERICANS LOSE FAITH IN THE NATION'S EXCEPTIONALISM

Dave Eggers, Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever: A Novel (New York: Knopf; San Francisco: McSweeney Books, 2014) ("If  you don't have something grand for men like us to be part of, we will take apart all the little things. Neighborhood by neighborhood. Building by building. Family by family. Don't you see that?" Id. at 211. "'---We're in here and we're safe.' '---Jesus Christ. That is the saddest thing I ever heard.'" Id. at 212. Without vision, the people die! Also, see Phil Klay, "Troubled Inquisitor," NYT Book Review, Sunday, 6/29/2014.).