Saturday, January 5, 2008


On the coffee table -- I'm reading ...

I just got done reading "Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia," by John Gray, a British political science professor. Fascinating look at how utopianism has moved from politics to religion in the modern West, including with the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Has a great thumbnail sketch of the philosophical roots of the neocons, different nonreligious strains of utopianism in modern Western thought, critics of Western exportation of democracy, and other Western social ideas, blindly.

Also calls Blair a British neocon.

Just started Valerie Plame's autobio. I like the way all the CIA-redacted stuff is blacked out on page. The Spook Shack looks awfully anal at times.

So, to riff on MBNA, what's on your coffee table?