aaronj21's Reviews (912)

Read this book if you want a human picture of the real people behind the historic Obergefell v. Hodges case (and /or if you want to sob audibly). If you're looking solely for a dense, academic breakdown of the Supreme Court's ruling you'll be disappointed. This is an accessible, riveting account of a piece of recent American history and it exemplifies the best of what a non fiction book can be, a tool to educate while also compelling and entertaining like a good novel.

This is a great book with a great message, that there isn’t a ton of evidence that “human nature” is evil or that humans are inherently greedy or bad. From the Stanford Prison experiment to war to the Broken Windows theory, the author tackles these and many other pieces of evidence that are often pointed to as proof that people are basically garbage. Instead Bregman argues humans are basically cooperative, social, and good. He argues that we’ve achieved our top of the food chain status today not through our superior intellect or cunning but through our unique ability to be highly, highly social creatures. Additionally the author claims many of modern society’s social ills come from the simple principle that people behave how you expect them to. If you’re raised in a world that sees humans as basically shellfish and one bad day away from a “Purge” movie, you’re going to treat them that way and even develop those behaviors yourself.

While I don’t fully support everything Rutger Bregman has to say in this book (we’ll have to agree to disagree about his stance on punching Nazi’s), I do endorse his overall premise and can’t wait to read some of the works he’s cited. Overall this was a fascinating, read-able work and a bit of much needed hope in a difficult year.

I very, very, very seldom re-read books. I generally think it's a waste of time when there's so much out there I want to read. However, this was my absolute favorite book when I first read it years ago so I wanted to read it again and see if it still holds up.

It does. This is still probably my favorite book (for now) and I firmly believe it's the best thing Steinbeck ever wrote. In my opinion East of Eden can hold its head up high as an American Les Misérables or Anna Karenina, sweeping in scope and incisively personal with its characters. Worth a re-read.