Books

As a podcast lover and as Editor of Yale1969.org, I notice when a classmate creates a podcast. There was no surprise when we heard  that Michael Medved had a podcast.  Michael is a pro, of course … someone who has successfully navigated the modern media landscape for decades. But what about us ordinary mortals?  Did…

In October 1856, Herman Melville left the tinted hills of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, for a lengthy excursion to Europe and the Holy Land. Just thirty-seven years old, Melville was a half-broken man. He suffered from headaches, sciatica, eyestrain, crushed hopes — in a word, burnout. His epic Moby-Dick had failed to catch on in 1851, and his next novel, Pierre: or, The Ambiguities, was head-scratching at best, a laughing stock at worst. Subsequent […]

Editor’s Note: This report describes a podcast series created by a classmate.
I’ve been listening to this podcast for a few months now. I’ll do a full review next month, but I can tell you already that it is very rich, deeply researched and seriously worth your time, especially if you enjoy new integrations of history and science toward a theory that explains both the current dysfunctions and a promising path ahead. Click through to read a more complete description.

“An erudite retiree enters this facility in the isolated atmosphere of the White Mountains with hopes of finding personal revelations in the relatively structured and tranquil existence at Arcadia Estates. As soon as he enters, with the intent of reading his prized, classic books by his recliner, his life takes an unexpected […]

Editor’s Note: In 2020, we’d like to keep up the “Books By Classmates” section.  This article profiles two recent Best Sellers, but we want to list ALL books authored by classmates.  If you have a book that is not listed in Books By Classmates, please contact us.

I counted about 160 books, written by our classmates, listed on the class website.  Alas, only 48 submitted books for the Library display.  Many classmates have written multiple books, as there are many professional writers in our class.  And George Effinger seems to have …

Perhaps the most remarkable book I have read in recent years is the one that is the main subject of this  superb review by Yale’s own David Gelernter (one of my heroes). Below is an excerpt but, (as they say) read the whole thing. I wish Clement Markert were still here to discuss this. The…

As the organizer of the Reunion Book Exhibit in Sterling, I had an epiphany: Yale trained us to write. Some of us write as a career. Some write only for the love of it. These days, we’re at a point in life where we SHOULD be using our writing skills to advance our life’s loves. Here are some examples that will inspire you.

I have assembled many materials and commentaries on the Halloween affair and debated about publishing it here.  Although the “Halloween affair” is complicated and has three sides to the story,** there is no doubt that it is an ugly chapter in recent Yale history, a chapter that makes NO ONE proud.
But despite that depressing display of human nature, Professor Christakis has produced a work of both laudable scholarship and material accessible by the general reader.  Relying on his expertise in social networks and evolutionary biology, he concludes …

The title of Reed Hundt’s recently published book comes from what one of Barack Obama’s advisors was saying in the fall of 2008.  A crisis is a terrible thing to waste because it provides the opportunity for accomplishments which would otherwise be impossible.  The thesis of Reed’s book is that Obama …

When Random House first published Charles Reich’s The Greening of America in 1970, they thought so little of the radical manuscript that just 5,000 copies were printed. The New Yorker followed the book’s publication with the longest excerpt in the magazine’s history, prodding the publisher to issue a dozen reprints—eventually selling some 2 million copies.  The debate about American political culture that the book unleashed has been compared to the impacts of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and the Kinsey Report.

“The most talented, driven Americans chased the American dream — and won it for themselves.  Then, in a way unprecedented in history, they were able to consolidate their winnings, outsmart and co-opt the government that might have reined them in, and pull up the ladder so more could not share in their success or challenge their primacy.”

I went to the Harvard game often as an elementary student. We lived in Boston, but were a Yale family. At Dexter, the boys’ school I attended, all my classmates’ fathers were Harvard graduates (no one mentioned where, or whether, his mother had gone to college). So I was the odd member of the class, sufficient cause to be bullied at recess.

Editor’s Note: Doug reviews this book, just published, in time for our celebration of the 50th anniversary of The Game in Boston, Nov. 16-17
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This book relates the experience of Harvard and Yale football players of privileged campus life, Ivy football and the campus and national turmoil triggered by THE WAR. As a forever thankful, albeit passive, participant in the Yale 1968 football miracle, I must admit being more than slightly off-put by the near-exclusive focus on Harvard for the first two chapters.  However, Chapter III (“God Plays Quarterback for Yale”) brought back …

According to the Class Survey, 49 percent of us have published a book or an article in a scholarly journal. So, to showcase our work, Yale1969.org hosts are section called Books By Classmates, a searchable and sortable library showing ALL the books we’ve authored or edited.  Check it out! 

Send us information about YOUR books by using the contact form or emailing support@Yale1969.org   Send only the ISBN or ASIN number OR links to the books on any website, and we will …