Friday, June 25, 2010

College Required Reading Lists

The National Association of Scholars released a report on the books that colleges are requiring their incoming freshmen to read.  Leaving aside the usual liberal bias debate, their incontrovertible conclusion is that the list is pitched at an intellectual level well below what should be expected of college freshmen and it is hard to find anything on the list that poses even a modest intellectual challenge to the average reader.

Here's the list ... see for yourself ...

  1. A Good Fall Jin, Ha
  2. A Home on the Field: How One Championship Soccer Team Inspires Hope for the Revival of Small Town America Cuadros, Paul
  3. A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League Suskind, Ron
  4. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier Beah, Ishmael
  5. A Pearl in the Storm: How I Found My Heart in the Middle of the Ocean McClure, Tori Murden
  6. A Thousand Splendid Suns Hosseini, Khaled
  7. A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age Pink, Daniel
  8. A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge Neufeld, Josh
  9. Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation Patel, Eboo
  10. Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic De Graaf, John and David Wann and Thomas H. Naylor
  11. An Ordinary Man Rusesabagina, Paul
  12. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle Kingsolver, Barbara
  13. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress Sijie, Dai
  14. Blink: the Power of Thinking Without Thinking Gladwell, Malcolm
  15. Blonde Roots Evaristo, Bernardine
  16. Blue Hole Back Home Lake, Joy Jordan
  17. Bottlemania: How Water Went on Sale and Why We Bought It Royte, Elizabeth
  18. Brooklyn: A Novel Tóibín, Colm
  19. Brother, I'm Dying Danticat, Edwige
  20. Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam Pham, Andrew X.
  21. China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power Gifford, Rob
  22. China's Son: Growing Up in the Cultural Revolution Chen, Da
  23. Cion Mda, Zakes
  24. Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: Profits, People, Purpose--Doing Business by Respecting the Earth Anderson, Ray C.
  25. Copenhagen Frayn, Michael
  26. Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers Appiah, Kwame Anthony
  27. Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism Yunus, Muhammad
  28. Crossing into America: the New Literature of Immigration Mendoza, Louis and Subramanian Shankar, eds.
  29. Cry, the Beloved Country Paton, Alan
  30. Day of the Locust West, Nathanael
  31. Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account Of The Death Penalty In The United States Prejean, Helen
  32. Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future McKibben, Bill
  33. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Dick, Philip K.
  34. Dreams from My Father Obama, Barack
  35. Ecology of a Cracker Childhood Ray, Janisse
  36. Einstein's Dreams Lightman, Alan
  37. Enrique's Journey Nazario, Sonia
  38. Escape from Slavery: The True Story of My Ten Years in Captivity and My Journey to Freedom in America Bok, Francis
  39. Everything Matters Currie, Ron Jr.
  40. Farewell, My Subaru: An Epic Adventure in Local Living Fine, Doug
  41. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal Schlosser, Eric
  42. Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change Kolbert, Elizabeth
  43. Flight Alexie, Sherman
  44. Frankenstein Shelley, Mary
  45. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything Levitt, Steven D. and Stephen J. Dubner
  46. Freedom Writers Diary Gruwell, Erin
  47. Friday Night Lights Bissinger, H.G.
  48. Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America Dumas, Firoozeh
  49. Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage Rogers, Heather
  50. Half of a Yellow Sun Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi
  51. Half the Sky Kristof, Nicholas D. and Sheryl WuDunn
  52. Here, Bullet Turner, Brian
  53. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Ford, Jamie
  54. Hunger Chang, Lan Samantha
  55. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto Pollan, Michael
  56. Into the Wild Krakauer, John
  57. Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit Quinn, Daniel
  58. It's Kind of a Funny Story Vizzini, Ned
  59. Letters to a Young Brother: MANifest Your Destiny Harper, Hill
  60. Light and Darkness Anthology Anthology
  61. Listening is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project Isay, Dave
  62. Make the Impossible Possible: One Man's Crusade to Inspire Others to Dream Bigger and Achieve the Extraordinary Strickland, Bill
  63. Man, Controller of the Universe Rivera, Diego
  64. Maus Spiegelman, Art
  65. Me Talk Pretty One Day Sedaris, David
  66. Miracle in the Andes Parrado, Nando
  67. Mountains Beyond Mountains Kidder, Tracy
  68. Mudbound Jordan, Hillary
  69. Muskingum College (History Series) Giffen, Heather, William Kerrigan and R. Worbs
  70. My Own Country: A Doctor's Story Verghese, Abraham
  71. Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America Ehrenreich, Barbara
  72. No Impact Man Beavan, Colin
  73. Not for Sale: The Return of the Global Slave Trade--and How We Can Fight It Batstone, David
  74. Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, an American Town St. John, Warren
  75. Outliers: The Story of Success Gladwell, Malcolm
  76. Peace Like a River Enger, Leif
  77. Persepolis Satrapi, Marjane
  78. Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption Thompson-Cannino, Jennifer and Ronald Cotton and Erin Torneo
  79. Plenty Enough Suck to Go Around Wagner, Cheryl
  80. Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100-Mile Diet Mackinnon, James & Alisa Smith
  81. Regeneration Barker, Pat
  82. Reinventing Knowledge: From Alexandria to the Internet McNeely, Ian F. with Lisa Wolverton
  83. Rescue Warriors: The U.S. Coast Guard, America’s Forgotten Heroes Helvarg, David
  84. RFK In the Land of Apartheid Shore, Larry
  85. Rock, Paper, Scissors: Game Theory in Everyday Life Fisher, Len
  86. Rooftops of Tehran Seraji, Mahbod
  87. Scratch Beginnings: Me, $25, And The Search For The American Dream Shephard, Adam
  88. Searching for God Knows What Miller, Donald
  89. Secret Daughter, a Mixed-Race Daughter and the Mother Who Gave Her Away Cross, June
  90. Song Yet Sung McBride, James
  91. Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in a Cynical Time Loeb, Paul Rogat
  92. Sounds of the River Chen, Da
  93. Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan Mortenson, Greg
  94. Strange as This Weather Has Been Pancake, Ann
  95. Strength in What Remains Kidder, Tracy
  96. Telex from Cuba Kushner, Rachel
  97. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Alexie, Sherman
  98. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Twain, Mark
  99. The Alchemist Coelho, Paulo
  100. The Bean Trees Kingsolver, Barbara
  101. The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2009 Eggers, Dave
  102. The Bitter Sea: Coming of Age in a China Before Mao Li, Charles
  103. The Blue Sweater Novogratz, Jacqueline
  104. The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World Pollan, Michael
  105. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind Kamkwamba, William and Bryan Mealer
  106. The Brief History of the Dead Brockmeier, Kevin
  107. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Diaz, Junot
  108. The Cathedral Within Shore, Bill
  109. The Chris Farley Show: A Biography in Three Acts Farley, Tom Jr. and Tanner Colby
  110. The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother McBride, James
  111. The Colors of the Mountain Chen, Da
  112. The Communist Manifesto Marx, Karl
  113. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Haddon, Mark
  114. The Devil's Highway Urrea, Luis Alberto
  115. The Dew Breaker Danticat, Edwige
  116. The DNA Age Harmon, Amy
  117. The End of the Spear Saint, Steve
  118. The Family Bible Delbridge, Melissa
  119. The Geography of Bliss Weiner, Eric
  120. The Glass Castle Walls, Jeannette
  121. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Shaffer, Mary Ann and Annie Barrows
  122. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter McCullers, Carson
  123. The House on Mango Street Cisneros, Sandra
  124. The Housekeeper and the Professor: A Novel Ogawa, Yoko
  125. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Skloot, Rebecca
  126. The Kite Runner Hosseini, Khaled
  127. The Last Lecture Pausch, Randy & Jeffrey Zaslow
  128. The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir Yang, Kao Kalia
  129. The Learners Kidd, Chip
  130. The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil Zimbardo, Phillip
  131. The Maltese Falcon Hammett, Dashiell
  132. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals Pollan, Michael
  133. The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama Iyer, Pico
  134. The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream Davis, Sampson and George Jenkins and Rameck Hunt
  135. The Perks of Being a Wallflower Chbosky, Stephen
  136. The Poe Shadow Pearl, Matthew
  137. The Reluctant Fundamentalist Hamid, Mohsin
  138. The Road of Lost Innocence Mam, Somaly
  139. The Short Bus: A Journey Beyond Normal Mooney, Jonathan
  140. The Soloist Lopez, Steve
  141. The Sparrow Russell, Mary Doria
  142. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: a Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures Fadiman, Anne
  143. The Things They Carried O'Brien, Tim
  144. The Translator: A Tribesman’s Memoir of Darfur Hari, Daoud
  145. The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World’s Most Powerful Company Really Works – and How It’s Transforming the American Economy Fishman, Charles
  146. The White Tiger Adiga, Aravind
  147. The World Without Us Weisman, Alan
  148. The Young and the Digital: What the Migration to Social Network Sites, Games, and Anytime, Anywhere Media Means for Our Future Watkins, S. Craig
  149. These Shining Lives Marnich, Melanie
  150. This I Believe II: More Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women Allison, Jay and Dan Gediman
  151. This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women Allison, Jay and Dan Gediman
  152. Three Cups of Tea Mortenson, Greg and David Oliver Relin
  153. Tracking Desire: A Journey After Swallow-Tailed Kites Cerulean, Susan
  154. True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society Manjoo, Farhad
  155. Under a Papery Roof: A Memoir About Life in Post-Revolutionary Iran and Exile Sanati, Panteha
  156. Walden Thoreau, Henry David
  157. What is the What Eggers, Dave
  158. When the Emperor Was Divine Otsuka, Julie
  159. Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman Krakauer, John
  160. Where We Stand: Class Matters hooks, bell
  161. Who Controls the Internet? Illusions of a Borderless World Goldsmith, Jack and Tim Wu
  162. Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? Tatum, Beverly Daniel
  163. Will This Be on the Test? Anthology
  164. Wish You Well Baldacci, David
  165. Work Hard. Be Nice.: How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America Mathews, Jay
  166. You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto Lanier, Jaron
  167. Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body Shubin, Neil
  168. Zeitoun Eggers, Dave
  169. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
  170. 1 Dead in Attic: After Katrina Rose, Chris

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