The Revenge of the Analog

Subtitled "Real Things and Why They Matter," David Sax's book argues for the superiority of physical, analog artifacts over their digital counterparts in several areas: for example, Moleskine notebooks, vinyl records, classroom teaching, and print newspapers. It is a necessary argument and, when dovetailed with a book like Tom Hodgkinson's How to be Idle, could form a useful philosophy of turning one's back on the digital world.

Zero Zero Zero

Roberto Saviano caught my attention with Gomorrah, an account of how Naples was fouled by drugs, crime, and pollution, and here he widens his lens to explain international cocaine trafficking. Widens, and helpfully focuses: for example, with microscopic detail on the ways in which drug gangs disguise and ship their product. His form of using traditional explanatory journalism woven with a personal narrative takes some getting used to, but ultimately it succeeds.