44
votes
Recommend a nonfiction book accessible to outsiders that makes your interest seem awesome
Inspired by this thread about the "bible" of your activity or hobby - What's a book that you would recommend to someone who has a vague interest in an activity or subject of your interest that you think will make them find it super interesting and/or impart a good surface-level understanding of your field?
The Way Hollywood Tells It, by David Bordwell, is a wonderful book on historical formal trends in American cinema. It is likely to make the reader excited about film history and analyses, as well as renew their appreciation for American film.
The Philosophy of Horror, by Noël Carroll, is likely to refine the reader's appreciation for philosophy and the horror genre as a whole.
The Philosophy of Film Noir and The Philosophy of Neo-Noir, by Mark T. Conard, would have the same effect as Carroll's book, but for film noir.
Hitchcock/Truffaut is a book where two masters converse about the craft. They go through all Hitchcock's films up to that point. If that book doesn't get you excited about film, I don't know what will.
Sculpting in Time, by Andrei Tarkovsky, is a particular, otherworldly, and hauntingly beautiful autobiographical account of how film and life go hand in hand. It is hard to define this book, it is at once film theory, autobiography, poetry, and philosophy.
Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics, by Michael Rabiger, is a very practical book full of clearly explained terminology and techniques. I didn't read it from start to finish because I already knew a lot of it, but it is the best, most complete, and most didactic book on directing I ever encountered. This book will teach you so much, it's incredible.
I am hesitant to recommend any screenwriting manuals because there is a tendency for readers to overestimate the importance of structure to the detriment of everything else that makes a screenplay good. Act structure is often viewed as a kind of shortcut, a holy grail that will magically create an engaging story. Writing is a lot more complicated than that, and there are plenty of examples of great movies with an odd act structure, and bad ones with a "perfect" structure.
This reminds me of when people glorified Dan Harmon's structure for Rick & Morty episodes, completely ignoring that that structure would be nothing without magnific worldbuilding, cool sci-fi concepts, interesting characters, and a constant flow of knockout jokes. And the structure itself was not that innovative for anyone with previous knowledge of screenwriting manuals.
I'd recommend The Tools of Screenwriting, by David Howard and Edward Marbley, because it is a less formulaic, less self-help book presenting discussions on several topics relating to screenplays. Also, look for a good commented version of Aristotle's Poetics. Seriously. You want principles, not rules.
Other than that, David Trottier's The Screenwriter's Bible is a good summary of a lot of well-known guidelines. But please, for the love of god, don't get hung up on rules and structure. View them as helpful tools to understand stories, not as something you must follow like a gospel. And read a lot of actual scripts. Not transcripts, screenplays. The ones they use in production.
I'm pretty sure Trottier's book teaches formatting, in practice a lot of it is done by software nowadays. When in doubt, John August is a great reference.
@BashCrandiboot.
I haven't read the particular book you recommended of David Bordwell, but I've read his writing quite a bit. He passed away yesterday, may he rest in peace. If anyone's interested in about the art of cinema, you can't not read him. His website is a great way to start.
Sad to hear about David Bordwell. He was quite influential. His approach to formal analysis is, in my view, useful and sane. In a time where everything is interpreted in search of hidden real world meanings and connections, it was always reassuring to learn from him that it is okay to comprehend film through the study of its own inner workings.
If you haven't yet read Mel Brooks' autobiography, it has some cool interactions within Hollywood, for example with Hitchcock. Also Mel Brooks writes very very well.
What a blessing! This list is amazing THANK YOU.
Sleepwalkers: How Europe went to war in 1914
A fantastic history nonfiction book which tells you in detail how Europe transformed from 1870 on in such a way that it culminated in world war over something inconsequential. It's fantastic because it is still dense, but much more approachable because it focuses on the people and gives you background on them on why they did what they did. It feels much more personal and it toes the line between being wordy and being too short.
It tells you in a wonderful way how a war that no one wanted (and everyone was trying to prevent along the way) happened.
Teaming with Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels. Gardening is cool, but once you realize soil is alive, it is even cooler. If you nurture your soil, and design your soil, it takes care of the plants for you! No more miracle grow :)
This is exactly what I was looking for. My neighborhood has atrocious soil quality and last season went pretty well after we rehabilitated the area. And by rehabilitate, I mean going to the garden center and asking for a dozen bags of "the good stuff".
It was a band aid fix so it'd be nice to build a more lively ecosystem.
There is an overlap on profession and interest here but I find anything related to tech history very fascinating.
Masters of Doom by David Kushner. The full history of iD Software - the makers of Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake. A fascinating tale on how the very different skills of John Carmack and John Romero came together to revolutionize the PC game industry.
Just for fun by Linus Torvalds. The autobiography from the maker of Linux.
The Innovators By Walter Isaacson. A more traditional but very thorough history book on people that "invented" the tech we all use today. From Ada Lovelace to Larry Page.
One of the books that really influenced me as a teenager figuring out that I was into programming was "Close To The Machine" by Ellen Ullman. It's a memoir of the author's experiences with tech in the 90s as a networking consultant. It's partly about technology, but a lot about where technology meets humans.
Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language in the Amazonian Jungle
Christian missionary and linguist seeks out a tribe with his family and lives with them in the Amazonian jungle. Surprising, touching and interesting.
I have really really enjoyed Immune from the head writer of kurzgesagt. Provides an awesome entrance into the immune system.
https://www.philippdettmer.net/immune
We (my spouse, really) have kept a
vehiclebeehive for a few years. I like to recommend Honeybee Democracy, about the mechanisms that a hive uses to make major decisions. It's written in accessible language (with pictures! And graphs!) by a PhD summarizing years of his research. It's mostly about how the hive splits and relocates, including some of the author's tests and methodology. Absolutely fascinating.is 'vehicle' an autocorrect error for something else? Or does this have some bee-related meaning?
I'm guessing "beehive".
LOL Yes, autocorrect really did a number on that, it's supposed to be "beehive".
This only somewhat fits the "your interest" requirement, but I will suggest it anyway.
The Introvert Advantage: How Quiet People Can Thrive in an Extrovert World by Marti Olsen Laney Psy.D.
If you think you might be an introvert, read this book. If you think you know someone who might be an introvert, read this book. If you just want to have more understanding for 1/3 of the human population, read this book. If you have a coworker or subordinate that might be an introvert, please oh please read this book.
I think introversion is extremely misunderstood. The biggest misconception is that liking to socialize means you must be an extrovert and not liking social activity means you must be an introvert. A close second is that being shy means you are an introvert. An extrovert can be shy, and an introvert can be outgoing. In fact, most of the shy people you have interacted with were likely extroverts. I have met people that claim to be introverts, even though I am almost positive they are not.
Laney describes introversion much better than I could, so I will let the book stand for itself, but if you harbor any of the above misconceptions, please read this book.
I've been enjoying many "history of X" books and am always looking for more; in particular, I'd like to find a culinary, musical or a linguistic world history next.
My faves, from most general to most specific:
The Perfectionists only looks at the world from the lens of increasingly precise machining- every chapter is labeled with the tightest tolerance of that era. A fascinating slice of the world of engineering.
The American Book of the Dead
A science fiction ish, hip ish, paraphrase of The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Great understanding of psychology, mental function, especially if you have a psychedelic bent.
The Emperor of Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
One of the best introductions to oncology ever.
Kingbird Highway: The Story of a Natural Obsession That Got a Little Out of Hand
There's many such birding-big-year books now but this one still stands out.
Subjects in Poetry by Daniel Brown
This book is readable, interesting and doesn't get bogged down in technique/craft or too much theory. He discusses how poems illuminate human life and share human experience. He points to and discusses some great example poems, many of which I hadn't heard of before reading the book.
Fate is the Hunter is a memoir of a pilot who started flying commercial aviation in the 30s, though WWII, and during the start of "modern" commercial aviation in the 50s. He does an amazing job of portraying how, sorry, fly-by-night a lot of early operations were. And how luck/experience based everything was before GPS / in the early days of radio navigation aids.