Social science

Billy Sim: An Essay from Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs

by Chuck Klosterman

Originally collected in Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs and now available both as a stand-alone essay and in the ebook collection Chuck Klosterman on Living and Society, this essay is about The Sims.

Band on the Couch: An Essay from Chuck Klosterman IV

by Chuck Klosterman

Originally collected in Chuck Klosterman IV and now available both as a stand-alone essay and in the ebook collection Chuck Klosterman on Rock, this essay is about Metallica.

She's Not the Man I Married: My Life with a Transgender Husband

by Helen Boyd

Helen Boyd's husband, who had long been open about being a cross-dresser, was considering living as a woman full time. Suddenly, Boyd was confronted with the reality of what it would mean if her husband were...

Counterplay: An Anthropologist at the Chessboard

by Robert R. Desjarlais

"Chess gets a hold of some people, like a virus or a drug," writes Robert Desjarlais in this absorbing book. Drawing on his lifelong fascination with the game, Desjarlais guides readers into the world of twenty-first-century...

The Great Coverup: Nixon and the Scandal of Watergate

by Barry Sussman

No American history, government, or journalism collection is complete without this new edition of "The Great Coverup: Nixon and the Scandal of Watergate," by Barry Sussman, the best account of the fall of Richard...

Hung: A Meditation on the Measure of Black Men in America

by Scott Poulson-Bryant

Following in the footsteps of such bestselling, taboo-breaking books as Randall Kennedy’s Nigger and J. L. King’s On the Down Low, Hung brings a topic previously discussed only in intimate settings out into...

Angels, Mobsters and Narco-Terrorists: The Rising Menace of Global Criminal Empires

by Antonio Nicaso & Lee Lamothe

In this ground-breaking book, Antonio Nicaso, an internationally renowned expert on organized crime groups, and Lee Lamothe, a veteran investigative journalist specializing in criminal conspiracies, present...

The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff Is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health-And a Vision for Change

by Annie Leonard

We have a problem with Stuff. With just 5 percent of the world’s population, we’re consuming 30 percent of the world’s resources and creating 30 percent of the world’s waste. If everyone consumed at...

Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche

by Ethan Watters

It is well known that American culture is a dominant force at home and abroad; our exportation of everything from movies to junk food is a well-documented phenomenon. But is it possible America's most troubling...

For colored girls who have considered suicide/When the rainbow is enuf

by Ntozake Shange

From its inception in California in 1974 to its highly acclaimed critical success at Joseph Papp’s Public Theater and on Broadway, the Obie Award–winning for colored girls who have considered suicide/when...

Bowling Alone

by Robert D. Putnam

Once we bowled in leagues, usually after work -- but no longer. This seemingly small phenomenon symbolizes a significant social change that Robert Putnam has identified in this brilliant volume, Bowling Alone...

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto

by Chuck Klosterman

From the kid who brought you Fargo Rock City -- the first book in history to garner the praise of Stephen King, David Byrne, Donna Gaines, Sebastian Bach, Jonathan Lethem, and Rivers Cuomo -- comes Sex, Drugs,...

Live to Ride: The Rumbling, Roaring World of Speed, Escape, and Adventure on Two Wheels

by Wayne Johnson

Live to Ride is pure adrenaline—a full-throttle exploration of motorcycles that pushes to the limit, with heart-pounding accounts of riding the greatest bikes of all time, all over the world.

“Live to...

How Israel Lost: The Four Questions

by Richard Ben Cramer

Once in a great while, a book comes along that not only discusses a topic of interest, it changes the boundaries of that discussion forever. This is such a book. In How Israel Lost Richard Ben Cramer analyzes...

Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion

by Gregory Boyle

How do you fight despair and learn to meet the world with a loving heart? How do you overcome shame? Stay faithful in spite of failure? No matter where people live or what their circumstances may be, everyone...

Secrets Can Be Murder: What America's Most Sensational Crimes Tell Us About Ourselves

by Jane Velez-Mitchell & Nancy Grace

Respected television news journalist Jane Velez-Mitchell asks a probing, disturbing question: Are killers like Scott Peterson and Andrea Yates all that different from the rest of us?

What kind of monster would...

What Women Want: The Global Market Turns Female Friendly

by Paco Underhill

PACO UNDERHILL, the author of the hugely successful Why We Buy and The Call of the Mall, reports on the growing importance of women in everybody’s marketplace—what makes a package, product, space, or service...

Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled--and More Miserable Than Ever Before

by Jean M. Twenge Ph.D.

The Associated Press calls them "The Entitlement Generation," and they are storming into schools, colleges, and businesses all over the country. They are today's young people, a new generation with sky-high...

Life As We Know It: A Collection of Personal Essays from Salon.com

by Jennifer Foote Sweeney

"...these essays are jewels of the unexpected, and in introducing them, I don't want to steal any of their surprise. Suffice it to say that family life...is alive and well, but it is not like anything you ever...

The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values

by Sam Harris

Sam Harris’s first book, The End of Faith, ignited a worldwide debate about the validity of religion. In the aftermath, Harris discovered that most people—from religious fundamentalists to nonbelieving scientists—agree...