Nonfiction Reviews

I don't very often read non-fiction, but occasionally I'll pick something up, either for school or for pleasure, that isn't a novel. So here are some of the non-fiction things I've been reading recently.

Helping Teens Stop Violence, Build Community, and Stand for Justice edited by Creighton and Kivel
I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

As a future teacher with an interest in social justice, I got this book in the hopes of finding methods and exercises that I could use in my classroom to encourage social justice and youth activism among my students. This book had a lot of classroom exercises, but they were almost all variations on the same activity, focusing on making students aware of various kinds of privilege. While this is a very important goal (most adults I know still don't understand the concept I would have liked to see other things as well. I was really looking for advice on how to work social justice into the existing subject areas, while this focused on activities that would be better suited to an after-school program or dedicated class. I would have also liked practical advice on how to get kids active in social change, rather than just making them aware of prejudices. In short, this book is a great tool for explaining privilege to both students and adults, but it is only a starting point when it comes to social justice activism.
Rating: I would recommend this book, but only as one part of a larger social-justice library.

The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels

The Communist Manifesto is one of those cultural icons that is often talked about but seldom read. I read it for a class on literary theory and criticism, as an introduction to Marxist criticism. I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but I am happy to report that this is one political work that is easy, even enjoyable, to read. Based on the idea that changes in social structure follow changes in the methods of material production, Marx argues that wage-labor in factories and other low-skill jobs has turned the wage-laborer into just another material owned and used by the upper-class to produce and sell goods. His focus on personal growth and fulfillment in work might be surprising to those whose only conception of Marxist thought is the popular notion of communism. The work of Marx and Engels is important to the cultural landscape since their works were written, and because of this I think that every educated person interested in politics, social activism, or literary criticism should read something of theirs. The Communist Manifesto, being short and easy to read, is an obvious choice.
Rating: Recommended, if only because it's so important to modern thought.

An Outline of Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud

Like Marx, Freud had an incredible impact on modern thought and our perception of the world and of ourselves. Though fraught with problems, including some very sexist notions of the female psyche that have been discussed at length by later writers, Freud remains foundational in the fields of both psychology (even though most of his ideas are no longer accepted) and literary criticism. Freudian psychoanalysis, dealing as it does with symbolism in dreams, has many techniques that are useful in deciphering literary subtext. Psychoanalysis, the notion of the unconscious, Freud's stages of development, and the famous Oedipus Complex are now part of our cultural vocabulary, and as such Freud's writings are useful to read. This particular text gives a quick and easily understandable summary of the major points of psychoanalysis. If you want to read some Freud, this is the way to go.
Rating: Recommended, if only because it's so important to modern thought.