W. David Marx
Tokyo-based American writer; author of Ametora (2015), Status and Culture (2022) and Blank Space (2025).
Everything I Need I Get From You by Kaitlyn Tiffany
Related to this is something I learned from Kaitlyn Tiffany’s excellent book Everything I Need I get From You
on culture.ghost.io · 12 Dec 2023 · Report
Gödel Escher Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter
Two really long books ate up a lot of my reading this year: Gaddis’ The Recognitions and Hofstadter’s Gödel, Escher, Bach. I would not casually recommend either, but as my friend Nick said, “I’m glad they exist.”
on culture.ghost.io · 12 Dec 2023 · Report
The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition by Michael Tomasello
The most meaningful book I read this year was Michael Tomasello’s The Cultural Origins of Human Cognition (2001), which ties together evolutionary theory and social theory in a much, much more compelling way than the ape-brain people.
on culture.ghost.io · 12 Dec 2023 · Report
The Recognitions by William Gaddis
Two really long books ate up a lot of my reading this year: Gaddis’ The Recognitions and Hofstadter’s Gödel, Escher, Bach. I would not casually recommend either, but as my friend Nick said, “I’m glad they exist.”
on culture.ghost.io · 12 Dec 2023 · Report
Fat: A Cultural History of the Stuff of Life by Christopher Forth
I just read Christopher Forth’s Fat: A Cultural History of the Stuff of Life, which I recommend for its very nuanced take on how girth has been valued and devalued over the centuries.
on culture.ghost.io · 29 Mar 2023 · Report
Rap Capital: An Atlanta Story by Joe Coscarelli
Joe Coscarelli's new book is essential reading on Atlanta's emergence as a major force in contemporary cultural production.
on culture.ghost.io · 14 Dec 2022 · Report
Everything W. David Marx recommends — not just books — on rcmnd →