Choice: The Best of Reason (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A political magazine of a different sort, Reason’s refusal to carry water for either Democrats or Republicans is deeply refreshing." -- Folio

"Astute and illuminating." -- Chicago Reader

"Choice offers a temperate, rant-free overview of some of our most enduring social controversies . . . [this is] a book you need." -- Kurt Loder

"Reason is sharp writing and sensible political discourse . . . for those weary of the screams from the left and the right." -- Joe Garden, The Onion

"[Ned Sublette] leaves his predecessors . . . in the dust." -- The Village Voice --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description

Known for its libertarian mix of investigative reporting, trend-setting essays, and caustic wit, Reason magazine has received kudos from both Rush Limbaugh and the president of the ACLU, Nadine Strossen. In this anthology of some of its best articles, hot-button topics such as biotechnology, the coming war on fatty foods, gay marriage, legalization of drugs, and the war on terrorism are addressed by contributors including maverick journalist Christopher Hitchens, Nobel Prize–winning economist Milton Friedman, and 20/20 coanchor John Stossel.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Benbella Books (August 11, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932100407
• ISBN-13: 978-1932100402
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #388,122 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Giving the (Often) Voiceless a Voice!, November 7, 2004

By	Kevin Currie-Knight "Education Grad Student" (Newark, Delaware) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Choice: The Best of Reason (Hardcover)

Being a libertarian, I am often in a position of feeling quite equally distant from both the 'right' and the 'left.' The 'right' seeems to champion free-market principles and less government, but will defend regulation at the drop of a hat when freedom produces results it feels are immoral. By comparison, the 'left' champions such freedoms as that of speech and press and the rights of criminal defendants to due process, but argues for government incursion into most every area of the free market. What is a poor libertarian (believing in all of these freedoms at once) to do?

The answer: we turn to magazines like "Reason." This book consists of a good number of articles that Reason has published in recent years in defense of all that is liberty. As with any collection of disperate articles written over a span of many years, some articles are better than others (and, yes, I skipped a few of the worse ones). All in all, though, this book deserves four stars for writing forcefully and soundly on issues that concern the libertarian position (a position sorely lacking from dialogue dominated by the orthodox "left" and "right").

The book starts off with a bang - an article called "In Praise of Vulgarity" which argues that the role of entertainers pushing the envelope has done more than anything to break the traditionalistic strangle-hold on the culture(s) of the middle east. From there, we move to articles which argue that the commercialization of culture is a good thing, that anti-immigration policies hurt all involved, that the drug war is a cure worse than the disease, etc.

Perhaps most engaging, though, were the various interviews contained in these pages. Reason has interviewed the likes of John Stossel, Christopher Hitchens, Milton Friedman, Dave Barry, and even a few key characters involved in the war on drugs who now oppose that effort. So engaging were these interviews that I began wishing either that this volume had, or a future one will, focus EXCLUSIVELY on interviews done by the magazine.

The only other observation I had was that at least to me, that the articles seemed to decline in quality the later their placement in the book. Most of my favorite articles (described tow paragraphs up) appeared within the first 150 pages. The second half of the book contains such duds as an examination of the QWERTY keyboard (and its relation to market principles), a profile of an early 19th century "exploitation" film to do with sex, and some other seemingly trivial essays. Other than that, the book is still quite solid.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Collection of Rational Articles, February 22, 2005

By	Andrew Olmsted (Colorado Springs, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I should probably disclose at the outset that I received a copy of _Choice_ gratis, presumably because of my weblog. However, I've been a Reason subscriber for several years and I am generally favorably disposed to a magazine whose tag line is free minds and free markets.

_Choice_ collects some of the best articles from Reason from recent years and packages them with a pair of introductions from Drew Carey and Chris Hitchens. The editors did a great job of collecting articles, as this collection gathers a number of favorites I recalled from my own subscription alongside older articles I was quite pleased to have the chance to read. The philosophy of each article is generally consistent in favoring a more libertarian view of government, laying out the case in generally calm and reasoned tones that pursue argument rather than simple shouting. The various authors have their own roads to this goal, making the book a quick read even at 300+ pages.

_Choice_ is a great read regardless of political persuasion because the articles do a good job of following the facts to a conclusion rather than cherry-picking facts to support a conclusion. Liberals and conservatives will each find things to support and decry here, and they will all be challenged. _Choice_ also includes a number of interviews with luminaries like Norman Borlaug and Milton Friedman (and even Drew Carey).

If you're looking for something to support your point of view, _Choice_ may not be for you. But if you're looking for a collection of articles that will challenge you, this is the place to start.