I just love having Thomas Sowell's reasoned opinions at my fingertips, mostly because I think he is an enormous gift to America (and the world). He brings together a huge number of disparate threads, all the way from (1) why we talk so freely about sex, but so guardedly about love, and (2) the meaninglessness of the word "equality" in any politician's mouth, all the way to the general meaninglessness of the word "relevance," especially in education.

I like this book because I agree with it. There are dozens of small, easy-to-digest essays and I find myself nodding my head when I read them. Sometimes there is a subtle bite to his thought, which I also agree with. For example (paraphrasing): "No matter how egalitarian our speech may be, it remains true that women in general make very bad men, and men cannot be women at all."

A fantastic compendium.

This is a collection of short articles that Dr. Sowell wrote, I believe for publication in various news media. The essays are well worth reading and cover a myriad of important issues including race, social and political issues, and ethics. I doubt, though, that anyone under age 50 or so will be able to identify with some of the ideas, given the current thorough indoctrination of the young against conservative ideas (which, curiously, is viewed as teaching "tolerance").

Everybody needs to read Sowell! He has so much to say that is logical and well researched and well thought out. He doesn't waste a single word and supports all that is said. He'll give you a different spin on a lot of concepts that the media takes for granted, give you the opportunity to step outside of the tide of all the one sided opinions we are assaulted with on a day to day basis. He is respectful of historical figures , offering some essays on people from Marx to George Washington Carver. He doesn't care what color someone's skin is and will criticize other blacks and praise non-blacks , or vice versa if it's fair, but he does so on merit rather than race. He seems very capitalist and encourages a free market, and he should know what he's talking about given his credentials and hard work ethic. His essays and ideas are a breath of fresh air in the smog infested tangled logic air of those with the blow horn nowadays.

This book contains selections from the following:

1. The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy
2. The Quest for Cosmic Justice
3. A Personal Odyssey
4. Applied Economics: Thinking Beyond Stage One
5. Affirmative Action Around the World: An Empirical Study (Yale Nota Bene)
6. Marxism: Philosophy and Economics
7. Basic Economics: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy
8. Migrations And Cultures: A World View/Conquests And Cultures: An International History
9. On Classical Economics
10.Intellectuals and Society: Revised and Expanded Edition

I've read all the aforementioned books of his (and then some). Some of the ("The Vision of the Anointed") were not his best work, and by putting them into this reader he took the best parts of what was the lesser among his vast catalogue of books. Migrations and Cultures was a book in which he talked about the geographic disadvantages of Africa as an explanation of why it remained poor. It happened that Jared Diamond came along a few years later and wrote a much better book about that same topic (Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies), but Sowell still did have some good things to say about it. But enough to occupy, say, 20 pages and not a whole book.

Whom might this book be for? I can see this as being good as a gift for people who have not read Sowell's work before and need an introduction thereto. It could also be for people who have a short attention span and who could use a bit of information on just what is "judicial activism" (but don't want to fish through a 500 page book for a definition of it). Sowell does it about 14 pages with emphasis on the often-overstretched-beyond-recognition Interstate Commerce Law. There's lots and lots of food for thought here.

Of the essays, one problem that I did have was that he didn't update "The Pattern of the Anointed" (which was excerpted from "Vision of the Anointed") to reflect Obama's stimulus. Sowell is such a prolific writer and has so many research assistants, that it would have been a single afternoon's work to add on a couple of pages about: 1) What the "crisis" was; 2) What the stimulus was supposed to do; 3) What it actually did; 4) How the goalposts were retrospectively moved.

A lot of these chapters are 2 single pages (articles that are taken from syndicated columns of Sowell's) and that you might have caught from reading his work on a semi-weekly basis. For people who are his fans, this book serves the purpose of having a lot of his best arguments in one place and easily reachable. (I sell books after I finish reading, and so I don't have any of the titles that I have read handy.) The articles are good to read over lunch breaks or between classes. And the book can be read out of order.

I don't regret this purchase. It was just about worth the new purchase price and is definitely worth the used purchase price as a gift.

A great book for a liberal to read...
Living in a town full of mainly liberals, this book and it's brilliant author, are relatively unknown. This man, once a former marxist in his earlier years, had become one of the brightest intellectuals in America. How can he be ignored in such a town, full of "intellectuals?"
Since I am exposed to liberal views, liberal ideas and liberal rhetoric EVERYDAY, I will tell you this book a wiff of fresh air. His views are fairly biased but coming from what a lot of liberals discuss about economics, he is spot on with them. All of his facts can be verified from the back of the book...
Well, his views which a great deal are crammed tightly into this book. If you have read his Basic Economics textbook, this will be nice supplement!
There is a bias to the book. It's Thomas Sowell! Although he can be biased, he makes a note of the opposing argument which is nice.
Keep in mind that Dr. Sowell chooses to let his intellectual cannon shoot down anybody.....left or right. Even in his Housing Boom and Bust he tore after a great deal of Republicans (but mostly democrats). As a moderate conservative, he argues his points nicely and gives you a great perspective of a myriad of issues we still face today in America.

For the love of (insert your favorite Deity here), tell your friends and family about this man and his books!

Unfortunately, many Democratic and Republicans follow Keynesian style economic policies and it's wrecking our economy.

I hope this man and his brilliant work and scholarship will bring a new chapter into American society.

Oh, and he's a Marine!