I'm happy to report that Fentanyl, Inc. has been included on many "best book of the year" lists, including from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Buzzfeed, Kirkus, Daily Telegraph, and Tyler Cowen. If you celebrate Christmas, or another holidays with gifts, please consider Fentanyl, Inc. for a loved one. You can get it here. If you want to buy a signed copy email me at ben.westhoff@gmail.com, and I'll tell you how to make it happen by the 25th.
Here are my favorite books I read this year. Some of them came out in previous years -- and one hasn't come out yet -- but they're all great.
Non-fiction
Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration by Bryan Caplan
Better than a million hours of cable news! I didn't begin this book believing in open borders, but by the end I did. Immigration is complicated, but Caplan explains the potential ramifications of each policy possibility. He advocates for his position but also expresses opposing views in good faith. The illustrations are fantastic; surprisingly, a graphic novel is the perfect format for this message.
American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West by Nate Blakeslee
American Wolf has perhaps the smoothest narrative I've ever read. From the first pages I was riveted by these wolves romping around Yellowstone and its surroundings, even though they aren't so much as given a name; the park rangers must be apolitical about laws relating to wolves, and so as not to overly endear the animals to the public only refer to them by numbers. American Wolf goes down so damn easy, like mousse, yet you also learn stuff about conservation law, western politics, evolution, and, you know, how mother wolves gorge themselves on elk carcass and then hobble back to the den, whereupon they vomit up a bit for their pups.
Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir by Linda Ronstadt
I didn't grow up a Linda Ronstadt fan. I probably just knew her from "Don't Know Much" with Aaron Neville, and somehow didn't realize she was a superstar. The Beyonce of her time, as she's called. Simple Dreams isn't a tell-all; she's very discreet, and in fact barely mentions her relationship with California governor Jerry Brown. But the lack of dish doesn't detract; she focuses on craft, in a readable way. (Believe me this is difficult to do.) Her message is inspiring -- that by following her musical bliss, even to the chagrin of her record labels, she found huge success and artistic fulfillment across genres, from country and mariachi to old standards.
Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine by Joe Hagan
Hagan had full access to Wenner, Wenner's celebrity friends (Jagger, Springsteen, Dylan, Yoko Ono), and to every shard of ephemera tracing the magazine's history, which Wenner himself squirreled away over the years for just such an occasion. Unfortunately for the Rolling Stone founder, the portrait is mostly unflattering, as Sticky Fingers portrays him as a starfucker desperate for celebrity affirmation, squandering the magazine's profits on drugs and home luxuries in an attempt to fill a hole inside himself. I've always wanted to be famous, and assumed everyone did, despite the fact that fame ruins many lives that it touches. Hagan gives the reader permission to blame Wenner for this condition, pegging him as the creator of our celebrity worship culture. Stick Fingers is a bleak portrait; it's hard to imagine writing 500+ pages with such little sympathy for one's subject. But the book is hard to put down because it contains such incredible gossip. Each page features Wenner interacting with famous music stars, and in many cases trying to sleep with them.
The Dawn of Eurasia: On the Trail of the New World Order by Bruno Macaes
As with Open Borders and many of my favorite published pieces this year, I was introduced to The Dawn of Eurasia through Tyler Cowen's blog, and this book in particular has changed my life, opening up my understanding of (and interest in) geopolitics, in a way that The New York Times and The Economist has never done. The author is a former cabinet member of the Portuguese government, and knows what's actually happening behind the scenes in governments all over the world -- what, say, Russia's actions towards Turkey, or China, or Ukraine really mean. There's lots about China, Europe, India, and Central Asia, but the most interesting stuff (and, really, the bulk of the book) is about Russia. I'd long thought of Russia as a fallen power, but The Dawn of Eurasia shows just how central the country will be in determining the new world order. You don't have to be a policy wonk to appreciate this book, which makes me want to travel the world, learn about distant cultures, and soak up life.
Fiction
Your Duck Is My Duck by Deborah Eisenberg
You don't always know what's happening when these stories begin; critical information is withheld, the dialogue is opaque. Eisenberg's writing is like an alluring stranger who walks into the room -- you want to know more, you want to understand. Eventually, all is revealed, and all six stories in Your Duck Is My Duck are home runs. They contemplate what's beyond and what's right in front of you. From one sentence to the next they're hilarious and devastating, modern-feeling and timeless. Thanks to my good friend Kai Flanders, who recommended this book and the next one.
Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
A joy! It's deep, but accessible, and feels at times like a non-fiction history of the logging of the Pacific Northwest woods. Most of it takes place in the Idaho panhandle, in the not-so-distant past (the first half of the 20th century) when there was little technology, connectivity, healthcare, or other conveniences we take for granted. It wasn't so long ago -- our grandparents were in their heydays -- and yet life could hardly be more different. It was also miserable, at least for loggers. What Johnson has done is imagine a world, the real world that once was, and filled it with life. It's as impressive as a science fiction world, or perhaps more so because Johnson's characters and their emotions ring true.
Fire Sermon by Jamie Quatro
This is one of my favorite novels of the past few years, along with Euphoria by Lily King and History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund. Coincidentally (or, rather, not!) they are all edited by the same person, Elisabeth Schmitz of Grove Atlantic. Not to downplay the efforts of Quatro, or writers generally, but the art of editing is rarely talked about, perhaps equivalent to that of a producer in music. I'd listen to any Jack Antonoff or Ariel Rechtshaid album, no matter who is singing, and the same is true with Schmitz's novels; something about how she balances straight-ahead, white-knuckle story-telling with inner monologues. In any case, Fire Sermon is like 40 Shades of Gray for the Christian intellectual, though you don't have to be either of those things.
Writers & Lovers by Lily King
As mentioned above, King's previous novel Euphoria is one of favorites, and while this one is less grand in scope -- swapping a glamorous, game-changing anthropologist's life across continents for that of a writer-slash-waitress across a few months in Boston -- it also resonates. King's heroine betrays herself and others, often without fulling understanding why, but her journey is relatable. It's also fun because it's set in the 1990s. We were such a mess!
Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
A book about what happens when you've done bad things, and then you're caught. The main character isn't exactly a villain, he isn't exactly an everyman, he doesn't entirely repent, and he certainly isn't much forgiven. And yet the story works much better than more straightforward, good-vs.-evil tracts. They should give this guy a Nobel prize! Oh, wait.
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