Understanding Power is the book that convinced me that I needed to start reading again. It’s just a bunch of transcripts taken from Noam Chomsky Q/A sessions, but man, I’m glad that I was convinced to sit down and read through it.

Noam Chomsky has eidetic memory (more commonly known as photographic memory) and so you can ask him about anything and he’ll be able to perfectly recall everything he’s read and written about the subject. So, even transcripts of his Q/A sessions can be just as informative and important as anything else you’ve read in your life.

The book covers many important topics relating to “Power” but it mainly focuses on the US, and the many atrocities its leaders have played a part in, across the world.

Reading this book was difficult. It challenged me to reevaluate many of my preconceived notions about how the world works and I’m better for it.

It’s also a book that I recommended to many people, and half a year later, not a single person has taken the time to read it…

I probably didn’t give them a good pitch for it (maybe this isn’t a good pitch either?) but in the new year I’m looking forward to improving my ability to retain information about the books I read and give better pitches for them!

If you decide to read one book I mention here, it should probably be this one, but honestly you would probably have more fun reading this next one.