TED Conversations

Seth Godin

Entrepreneur, Squidoo

TEDCRED 200+
TED SpeakerTED Attendee

This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »

What's the overlooked gem, the book I haven't read that I must?

Every reader has at least one, that book that never caught on, or is out of print, but that resonates so much with people that they can't forget it. I still remember reading "The Republic of Tea" on the Sunday it came out years ago. And of course, Steve Pressfield's "The War of Art" which I've purchased and handed out a dozen times so far...

+37
Share:
progress indicator

  • Bill Shackleton

    • +1
    Feb 26 2011: 'Time Enough for Love' by Robert Heinlein is another book I would add to my previous suggestion (Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance).

    Born in the early 20th century the protagonist, Lazarus Long, has just managed to live long enough to benefit from the invention of the rejuvenation machine which extends his life (or, as his various stories reveal, lives) to the point where we find him 2000 years later full of the tales, experiences and wisdom of a man who has seen it all. Through its telling Heinlein explores human nature, 'future history', culture, adventure, and other things. Included among his various novellas of experiences are two 'intermissions' filled with the 'Sayings from the Notebooks of Lazarus Long'. Some of my favorites:

    Always listen to experts. They’ll tell you what can’t be done and why. Then do it!

    Delusions are often functional. A mother’s opinions about her children’s beauty, intelligence, goodness, et cetera ad nauseam, keep her from drowning them at birth.

    Little girls, like butterflies, need no excuse.

    When a place gets crowded enough to require ID’s, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere

    A zygote is a gamete’s way of producing more gamete’s. This may be the purpose of the universe.

    People who go broke in a big way never miss any meals. It is the poor jerk who is shy half a slug who must tighten his belt.

    ...and my personal favourite:

    A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects!

  • James Ross

    • 0
    Feb 25 2011: The Music Lesson by Victor Wooten is a nice short read. I got the chance to speak with him for a while beforehand and I think he's more similar to me than anyone I've ever met, so it's probably a little better for me than others. Our books paralleled and I'd recommend speaking or reading about that perspective on life to everyone. :)

  • H. Gershen

    • 0
    Feb 25 2011: BTW, where is the consolidated list of books? Does it have a permanent home in the ether?

  • Craig Olson

    • 0
    Feb 25 2011: Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac - the original thinking on environmental philosophy and what it means to be human and live, interact, and change the environment.
  • thumb

    Daniel Epstein 50+

    • 0
    TED AttendeeAssociate
    Feb 25 2011: The Power of Unreasonable People, by John Elkington and Pamela Hartigan. I
  • thumb

    Maksim Katsnelson

    • 0
    Feb 25 2011: I have read Happy Something, its a very interesting book, I also recommend it.

  • Ann Lorenzen

    • +1
    Feb 25 2011: The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay--an unforgettable and frequently overlooked work.. So good, in fact, that he bowed to countless requests and put out a Young Adult edition. Charles Portis' do-not-die-before-reading books, including True Grit, Gringos, Norwood, etc.--totally and unexpectedly delightful w/a remarkable sense of place, time, and dialect. Superb! Little Heathens--an autobiographical jewel written by a retired English teacher about growing up in Depression-era Iowa--laugh-out-loud and marvel at the challenges, the adventures, the sheer wonderment of being a Little Kid and being responsible for the cleaning of the pig's head prior to the making of good, old-fashioned head cheese. Recipes included.

  • Dennis Muzza

    • 0
    Feb 25 2011: Parting with Illusions, by Vladimir Posner. An inside look at Soviet Russia from the unique perspective of a half-Jewish Russian, half-French journalist who was raised in America. It's out of print but you can easily get it second hand.
  • thumb

    clay blasdel

    • 0
    Feb 25 2011: "PISSING IN THE SNOW AND OTHER OZARK FOLKTALES" is "As ripe,raunchy,and unprintable as honest country humor could possibly be...", said Publishers Weekly. Folklorist Vance Randolph compiled this book of short stories that were handed down generation to generation, most are traced from the 1920's through the 1950's. Not for the faint of heart or politically correct. Ribald stories are hilarious. There are 101 stories. A few titles are: What Madeline Done, That Boy Needs Pants, Tom Burdick's Pecker, The Duck Hunter's Woman. It's laugh out loud stuff when read abound a campfire. Illini Books, University of Illinois Press. 1976.

  • Paul Calcagno

    • 0
    Feb 25 2011: Carl Sagan's Broca's Brain. Discusses the organization and evolution of the human brain with emphases on the complexity and storage capacity of this marvelous organ.
  • thumb

    Evangelina Cifliganec

    • 0
    Feb 25 2011: I don't mean to sound boastful here, but maybe you should try my book "Happy Something". It is about the meaning of life in a contemporary, philosophical and non religious manner. And truly a "novel" i.e. unlike anything, in terms of not only content but also structure. (Which can of course be good and bad, but to me originality was most important.) And I am not saying all this because it is my book, but it is my book because I was striving to write something most worthwhile, to me, a book about "everything".

    But if you don't maybe wait for the film version of it. :)

  • wc henwood

    • 0
    Feb 25 2011: So many great-sounding suggestions here - thank you!
    A couple of my own, off the top of my head: 'A Month in the Country' by J L Carr and 'A Door into Ocean' by Joan Slonczewski

  • James Robinson

    • +1
    Feb 24 2011: I realise this may be way out the box, but hey, this is TED and it's my first comment...

    I would challenge anyone who enjoys reading to get hold of 'The Incredible Book Eating Boy' by Oliver Jeffers - brilliantly illustrated, a simple children's book with an extraordinary underlying message.

    I'm heading off now to consider what tribe I want to lead.

    Peace.

    James

  • H. Gershen

    • 0
    Feb 24 2011: Limiting to works that may be out of print (but shouldn't be)...

    1) The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes
    2) Zen and the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel and Daisetz T. Suzuki
    3) Groucho, Harpo, Chico and Sometimes Zeppo by Joe Adamson
    4) anything by Robert Benchley
    5) most anything by Spike Milligan, but especially old Goon Show scripts
    6) The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart
    7) The Eudaemonic Pie by Thomas Bass
    8) Songlines by Bruce Chatwin
    9) The Starship and the Canoe by Kenneth Brower
    10) Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
    11) Blonde Roots by Bernardine Evaristo
    12) Stone Junction by Jim Dodge

    and...

    13) War Music by Christopher Logue (as well as the other works in the series)

    • Russell Mikel

      • 0
      Feb 25 2011: Thank you for reminding me of The Starship and the Canoe -- I always thought that Brower did a wonderful job of revealing the deeper similarities between Freeman Dyson and his son, George, who set out on a very different path from his father.

      • H. Gershen

        • 0
        Feb 25 2011: I read it during a recent trip to the Pacific Northwest and it was perfect for the location. However, George came off like he had Asperger's syndrome and Freeman came off like just didn't get it, any of it, yet I don't think either of those assessments is what truly is/was going on. There are some ways the narrator's role in the story resembles Bass' _The Eudaemonic Pie_, which is the story of how some of the original thinkers in Chaos Theory tried to break the bank playing roulette in Vegas. Very cool and a useful supplement to Gleick's _Chaos_.
  • thumb

    Maria Popova 200+

    • 0
    TED AttendeeTEDx OrganizerAssociate
    Feb 24 2011: Published a year after I was born, This Book Needs No Title: A Budget of Living Paradoxes is as timeless as the come: http://j.mp/hDJLl5

    And as a huge linguo-obsessive, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention these 5 essential books for language lovers and word geeks: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/02/10/5-must-read-books-about-language/

  • Benjamin Atkinson

    • 0
    Feb 24 2011: Let me echo the previous recommendation of Ernest Becker's 'The Denial of Death'. And, let me add 'Escape from Evil', the book Becker completed at the close of his short life.

    Since you've explored Marcel Mauss you may find some familiar material in Chapter 2 of 'Escape from Evil'. But, being the polymath that he was, Becker generates further insights into the social constructs of gifts and giving. I'd be interested in reading your thoughts on some of the conclusions Becker draws:

    *Giving was first directed to eternity (God, karma, nature) to achieve cosmic heroism (and deny finitude).
    *Original human moeity resulted from a need to compete with and give to...an 'other'.
    *Giving in primitive societies (more clearly than modern societies) demonstrated to self (and others) one's right to life.

    Best regards,

    Ben

  • Carolyn Ciccoritti

    • 0
    Feb 24 2011: Wow! Someone else who has read--and loved--One-Straw Revolution. It's been thirty years, but I remember being changed by it. Am currently re-reading Zen & Art of MM. The decades-long gap between readings has done nothing to diminish some of Pirsig's mind-blowing "maintainance". Fiction, however, is my true love. There's nothing like a good story beautifully told. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of my faves.
  • thumb

    Frances Schagen 500+

    • +1
    TED AttendeeTEDx Organizer
    Feb 24 2011: The Dune series by Frank Herbert. I read it many times over. One of the themes is overcoming fear and building personal capacity to take on challenges. The main theme is about power and control and the tools used to get them. It made me see the world with new eyes and to see the really big over riding reasons for the way things are. And I'm still an optimist!

    The Earth's Children series by Jean M Auel - Clan of the Cavebear, Valley of the Horses, Mammoth Hunters, Plains of Passage and Shelters of Stone. Everything I 'know' about 30,000 years ago I learned here. This series taught me to identify with other people. We all have the same feelings, motivations, desires and fears. I read this every time I need a big dose of woman power.
    • thumb

      Tobias Duncan 200+

      • 0
      Feb 24 2011: Just stumbled in here by accident to find someone taking about Dune! Sweet! I just started Chapterhouse this very day!
      A while back I started started a thread on the "website that dare not speak it's name" called: SCIENCE FICTION MADE ME A BETTER MAN.You would not believe how many people responded with comments like yours.

      Two more I more I would like to add

      Childhoods End by Aurthur C Clarke
      Brave New World by Aldus Huxley
  • thumb

    Dave Lim 500+

    • +1
    TED AttendeeTEDx OrganizerAssociate
    Feb 24 2011: Well, here's 5 gems from TED 2011 speakers !

    http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2011/02/24/5-must-read-books-by-ted-2011-speakers/

  • Kurt Liska

    • 0
    Feb 24 2011: "A History of Knowledge" by Charles Van Doren (1992)

    Rather than seeing history through the prism of generals, wars and epic events, this wonderful book traces humankind's advance through our ideas, discoveries and leaps of imagination.

    A wonderful primer for young minds.

  • damiano parolin

    • 0
    Feb 24 2011: The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming, Masanobu Fukuoka. Hope you read it, it will open your heart and re-connect you to the universe.

  • damiano parolin

    • 0
    Feb 24 2011: Future Scenarios: How Communities Can Adapt to Peak Oil and Climate Change by David Holmgren. “Scenario planning,” Holmgren explains, “allows us to use stories about the future as a reference point for imagining how particular strategies and structures might thrive, fail, or be transformed.” David Holmgren is best known as the co-originator with Bill Mollison of the permaculture concept following the publication of Permaculture One in 1978.

  • Ron Beland

    • 0
    Feb 23 2011: Another gem is "Go with Me" by Castle Freeman Jr. It is a damsel in distress story,current Vt style with wonderful greeek chorus style commentary chapters by local yokels. Not a word wasted and perfectly constructed..
  • thumb

    scott berry

    • 0
    Feb 23 2011: I cannot too strongly recommend nearly anything by Par Lagerkvist (Swedish, 1951 Nobel Prize) - but especially "the Dwarf" - ISBN 0-374-52135-2; a once-removed take on Cesare Borgia as told through his court homunculus - maybe.

    This brief book is so spectacularly good you will find yourself reading and re-reading favorite moments with a barely-suppressible joy constantly in the 19-straight hours I assure you you will spend non-stop powering through it. It is a very dark book, and it will go straight to the top eschelons of your list of favorites.
  • thumb

    Luci McKean 500+

    • 0
    TED AttendeeTEDx OrganizerAssociate
    Feb 23 2011: I'm digging Gever Tulley's new TEDBook -- Beware Dangerism! Smart analyses, easy to understand, quick read ... kinda reminds me of your books in those ways, Seth!
  • thumb

    Yara Shaban 50+

    • 0
    TED FellowAssociate
    Feb 23 2011: -For Bread Alone: Mohamed Choukri: http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Alone-Autobiography-OUT-PRINT/dp/0863561381

    -The Yacoubian Building: http://www.amazon.com/Yacoubian-Building-Alaa-Al-Aswany/dp/0060878134/ref=pd_sim_b_2
    is a timely book to read that gives you a glimpse of the modern Egyptian society.

    -Men in the Sun is a must read: http://www.amazon.com/Men-Sun-Other-Palestinian-Stories/dp/0894108573/ref=pd_sim_b_2

  • Rolland Sovarszki

    • 0
    Feb 23 2011: My favorite books:

    - George R.R. Martin - A song of Ice and Fire - It dwells a lot around human nature and what people can do for and with power. Not to mention that Martin has a unique way of "controlling" his characters, you mostly end up loving and hating all of them, no matter how they started out.

    - SF Need to Reads in my opinion:
    Dune - Herbert
    Mars trilogy - K. S. Robinson
    Asimov, Philip K. Dick and others....there are really a lot :)

  • theodore Altmeier

    • 0
    Feb 23 2011: King Leopolds Ghost

  • Jonathan Bercu

    • 0
    Feb 23 2011: I'm currently reading 'Mindset!' by John Naisbitt and find it to be a great read

  • Sendhil Kolandaivel

    • +1
    Feb 23 2011: Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Load more comments…