Customer Reviews

Controversial Essays (HOOVER INST PRESS PUBLICATION)

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The book is a collection of columns, which barely qualifies as a book of "essays", which I normally consider lengthier and more complex. I have read many of Sowell's books and was quite familiar with his ideas, but had never seen most of these columns. Thus, I wanted to see his thoughts on various topics of recent years. No real surprises there, and he demonstrates the ability to pack a punch in a column.

The columns are organized into six parts: Economic, Racial, Political, Educational, Legal, and Social. My favorites tend to be on his core subjects of economics and race, especially those positions with libertarian orientation instead of straight conservatism. Familiar topics, such as affirmative action, slavery, and heavy-handed government, are all here. The author is also ready to take on hypocrites with little prompting.

I recommend the columns as an introduction to and summary of the ideas and breadth of Mr. Sowell. Personally, I actually prefer his books, where the scholarship has more opportunity to shine.

The only drawback to a collection of newspaper columns like the present volume is that, as is usually the case with good writers, the quality of their writing is not quite as high as it is in their other books. Having said that, I must say this book is still good enough.

I think the best article is "Another Outrage," detailing Bill Clinton's unpatriotic speech at Georgetown University in the wake of the events of 9/11/01. Like Sowell, I am sick and tired of people who think present-day Americans are "paying the price" for having owned slaves and killed Indians. Those who think America is the cause of all the world's problems find kindred spirits in Bill and Hillary. Thomas Sowell isn't fooled.

I highly recommend anyone interested in politics pick up this nice collection of editorials, along with a few other Sowell books. "Vision of the Annointed" is classic, and a true nightmare to leftist elites. Walter Williams also has some excellent books similar to this one.

I believe Thomas Sowell is the best current OP-ED writer. His columns are consistently outstanding. As a black man and one who grew up in Harlem, he can make some of the candid comments needed on race without the "racist" protests from Yo-Yos like Jesse Jackson & Al Sharpton. His sage economic and political observations are excellent. I have several of his books, and am now "gifting" them to my children and grandchildren.

Sowell's ability to explain things clearly and logically will cause many people to rethink their positions on many societal issues. He is a brilliant guy, this book is a must for rethinking social issues. Anything by him is a great read.....

CONTROVERSIAL ESSAYS
by Thomas Sowell

This is a collection of articles by the famed economist Thomas Sowell, only the majority of the texts aren't about economics. Rather they're about racial, political, educational, legal and social issues. I would say that they are controversial not because of the positions taken, but from the short and to the point fashion that they are delivered without regard for political correctness. The final chapter is made up of aphorisms and soundbites which are even more "short and the the point" than the essays.

If you're familiar with Sowell, then you can probably predict what most of his thoughts would be on these subjects. Of course he is against minimum wage laws, for example, and has written several huge books that are filled with statistics and footnotes supporting his position. But his gift is that he is able to make his point in a brief and direct manner as well. Indeed few of the essays in this book are over three pages long. If you've never read any Sowell before, this book would be a great crash course.

Sowell takes on everything from antitrust laws to Major League Baseball to telemarketers. He is known for being a staunch free market advocate and socially conservative on several issues, putting him at odds with some of his more libertarian readers. Nevertheless there is a lot to enjoy here for the limited government enthusiast. I'd say that the overall thrust of the book is against a collectivist mentality which Sowell views as being pervasive in modern America. Highlights include "Reparations for Slavery?", "perennial economic fallacies", "Access to Responsibility", "Lying Statistics", "Do Facts Matter Part II", "Racial Profiling of Authors" and "Barry and the Babe". "Sweeping Success Under the Rug" is a great look at the achievements of black Americans who worked hard and became financially independent during tumultuous times, but are unheard of in Black History programs. Many of these articles are available at Jewish World Review and Townhall.

There are a few things I disagree with here. One that comes to mind is "Law on Trial", Sowell's assessment of the Amadou Diallo shooting which he terms a "tragedy of errors". One specific mistake that Sowell makes is in the article titled "Loving Enemies". On page 111, Sowell states that David Koresh led his followers to their death. In fact the ATF escalated their rhetoric when Koresh was most likely to compromise, as detailed in From the Ashes, edited by James R. Lewis. Also, the federal government out and out lied to the Davidians about their lethal actions during the course of the standoff, making it especially difficult to trust the terms of their negotiations. You can hear the phone conversations yourself in the Oscar-nominated documentary Waco: the Rules of Engagement. Saying that Koresh "led" them to a situation where they would be lied to and shot at is like saying that a law abiding pedestrian crossing the street was "led to his death" by a drunk driver. Of course, the standoff incident isn't even the focal point of the essay in question.

This is a worthwhile book that makes a lot of good points. I would recommend this book to someone looking for a "light reading" Sowell book. Even if you disagree with his positions, you will probably still get something out of this book.

Throughout the chapters, Sowell recommends a few books, including:
India Unbound by Gurcharan Das
Losing the Race by James McWhorter
More Guns, Less Crime by John Lott
Hot Talk Cold Science by Dr. S. Fred Singer
No Excuses Samuel Casey Carter
The War Against Boys by Christina Hoff Sommers
Left Behind by Diane Ravitch
Life at the Bottom by Theodore Dalrymple
Coloring the News by William McGowan

This book continues in the themes of Sowell's earlier newspaper article collections:
1981 - Pink and Brown People and Other Controversial Essays
1987 - Compassion versus guilt, and other essays
1993 - Is Reality Optional?: And Other Essays
1999 - Barbarians Inside the Gates: And Other Controversial Essays

The next book in this "series" would be:
2006 - Ever Wonder Why? And Other Controversial Essays

A wonderful collection of essays that clearly demonstrate why acclaimed economist Thomas Sowell is also one of the foremost philosophers of our time. Sowell writes with a clarity of thought and precision of language seldom seen or appreciated these days and his wry humor and insightful observations reveal the truth and depths of the difficult issues he covers. No hyperbole, no cant, no preconceived or superficial notions. His work, as always, gently exposes such mental laziness and the excuses that prop it up.

This book is five-star dining for the brain: Sowell skillfully crafts a refreshing, stimulating, satisfying, surprising and delightful experience not soon forgotten.

Sowell is a better scholar than journalist. He should stick to his scholarly writing and leave the journalism to people who write with more grace, wit, and charm than he does. I stress that I respect the man's scholarship and I have learned a tremendous amount from him (I've read four or five of his books). But I would avoid those books of his that--like this one--are collections of his newspaper and magazine columns. (It really seems as if he doesn't have much respect for journalism; his journalistic writing is sometimes downright sloppy, which is a surprise for a man whose scholarly work is anything but sloppy.)

I am a Republican working as a civil servant in Washington. Having read some of his previous writings, I thought that this collection of Sowell's essays would be interesting and a valuable reference work - but I'm extremely disappointed. Another reviewer has stated that this book should appeal to everyone 'except liberals, who don't like to hear the truth'. And therein lies the problem - what's the point in writing an essay if your only going to be preaching to the converted, epsecially if they are equally as narrow minded as you? Surely an essay of any merit would put both sides of the case and show clearly and scientifically why Sowell's is the right one? Not here - this is nothing more than a series of wild assertions and flimsy arguments with little purpose and often less merit.

Anyway, who gave us conservatives a monopoly on the truth? Conservatives are equally capable of confounding, confusing and ignoring the facts, to the point of complete arrogance, as are all human beings. Having read some of his other writings, I assumed that Sowell would have a balanced, fair and open-minded view of politics, economics and society, but that just aint so. He seems to think that anyone who is not a conservative capitalist has no concept of reality and deserves little of the benefits that society has to offer. He pushes his anti-liberal stance to the point of fascism, and it is actually quite disturbing. Not one of these essays acknowledges that any other stance could possibly have merit, and that in itself is so un-American and undemocratic that its sinful and ultimately self-defeating.

Having said that, his writing is often eloquent, clear, sharp and sometimes witty, even if it is misguided, ill-informed (which is suprising for someone with his credentials) and frequently arrogant. Conservatives who publish ignorant rantings such as these are a liability to their own cause, and an ally for liberals who find it all to easy to point out the moral and factual flaws in their ridiculous arguments. If you're a conservative, you would be better off reading someone like Robert Kuttner and understanding how others see us and how we need to change; if you're a liberal, read Sowell and you will be well armed.

Thomas Sowell is a concise bore. He manages to show his reader one thing in this collection of short ramblings - that he has a chip on his shoulder. Sowell seems angry, angry at a fictionalized type of liberal - and he tries to use modern economic thought to do so. But everything he writes is blurry. In one essay, he calls environmentalists 'bigots', and although he presents his arguments as rational-based; his understanding of economics seems dim. He also makes generalizations about science that completely destroys his arguments about ecology. In the funniest part of the book; he attempts to discredit science's ability to distinguish between species.

I was also trained in Friedman-style economics, the course of which I agree with. But to take it, oversimplify it and use it for a chip-on-the-shoulder political agenda is a yawn. I got nothing of value out of this book, and in fact his purported 'controversial issues' are not controversial at all - in fact all of his basic issues were the overgeneralized stuff we used to talk about 10 years before this book was written.