Skip to contentSuggestions by Ralph Nader for Your Late Summer Reading
1. The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism by the legendary founder of the Vanguard mutual funds — John C. Bogle (Yale University Press, 2006). Hurling honesty and insight against the fraud and greed of mutual funds and the financial industry in general. He wants reforms.
2. The People’s Business — Controlling Corporations and Restoring Democracy by Lee Drutman and Charlie Cray (Berrett — Koehler, 2004). This is the most comprehensive blueprint for corporate reform, in many years, before out of control corporatism takes down our democracy.
3. Losing our Democracy by Mark Green (Sourcebooks, Inc., 2006). You want evidence of how corporate tyranny and Bush-type politicians are degrading our democracy faster and faster, this is your sprightly written brief for the prosecution.
4. Six Arguments for a Greener Diet by Dr. Michael Jacobson (Center for Science in the Public Interest, 2006). Want more years of healthy living? Want a clean environment in the process? Read this compelling and beautifully designed book by the leading nutrition advocate in America for over three decades.
5. Mavericks at Work by William C. Taylor and Polly LaBarre (William Morrow, 2006). Sure to be a best seller when this book hits the bookstores at the beginning of October. It covers the question of “Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win” with examples of numerous companies.
6. The Art of Civilized Conversation by Margaret Shepherd (Broadway Books, 2005). This is, in the author’s words, “a guide to expressing yourself with style and grace.”
7. Upton Sinclair and the Other American Century by Kevin Mattson (Wiley, 2006). This is the biography of the author of The Jungle and many other exposes of social injustice in corporate arenas. Sinclair was a publisher, political candidate for Governor of California,in the Nineteen Thirties, and general agitator for justice.
8. Armed Madhouse by Greg Palast (Dutton, 2006). A raucous journey through Bushland, election fraud, the disaster in Iraq, corporate crime and the politicians who wheel and deal with Big Money and Power. He’ll make you laugh with indignation.