Eswar Prasad, Kristen Ghodsee, and more for PS Read More

The Books of Jacob, by Olga Tokarczuk; The Overstory, by Richard Powers; and more The PS Say More Newsletter | [View this message in a web browser]( [PS Read More]( Welcome to PS Read More, a bi-weekly feature dedicated to enriching your bookshelf, with Project Syndicate contributors' help. In this week's edition, we share recommendations from Eswar Prasad, Professor of Economics at the Dyson School at Cornell University. We also highlight a forthcoming work by Kristen Ghodsee, Professor of Russian and East European Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and bring suggestions from Anya Schiffrin, Director of the Media and Communications Program at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and Anatole Kaletsky, Chief Economist and Co-Chairman of Gavekal Dragonomics. Eswar Prasad Recommends... [Ka: Stories of the Mind and Gods of India]( By Roberto Calasso This extraordinary book offers a rich and wonderfully textured narrative, which weaves in many threads of Indian mythology, but casts them in an entirely new light. As is typical of a book by Calasso – a favorite author of mine, who sadly passed away last year – Ka stretches the mind with rich metaphors and cross-cultural associations that leave the reader awestruck and delighted in equal measure. Whether or not you have any knowledge of Indian mythology, this book will draw you in and hold you riveted. [The Overstory]( By Richard Powers This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel will make you look at trees in an entirely new way. Through a sweeping narrative that interweaves the experiences and perspectives of various human characters, Powers gets the reader to care about the book’s real main characters: trees. I suspect that, by the time you reach the final page, you will feel, as I did, a strange mixture of optimism and deep pessimism about the future of humanity. [The Books of Jacob]( By Olga Tokarczuk Often called the Nobel laureate Tokarczuk’s magnum opus, The Books of Jakob is an expansive and layered novel exploring the complex connections among religions, cultures, nationalities, and more. Despite being a work of fiction, it offers new perspectives on elements of Polish (and European) history, with the characters and events embodying both levity and darkness. The Books of Jakob provides an interesting contrast with the epic historical novels of Henryk Sienkiewicz, another Polish Nobel laureate, whose work tends to cast earlier Polish history in a (mostly) positive light. As with (translations of) Tokarczuk’s other books, this is not an easy page-turner; it requires focused effort, because there is so much to absorb. But the payoff makes it worthwhile. Don't miss Prasad's recent [Say More interview]( in which he assesses challenges to the US dollar’s global preeminence, explains how cryptocurrencies could hurt Russia during the Ukraine war, highlights emerging blockchain-based financial products, and more. [Read more](. By a PS Contributor [Red Valkyries: Feminist Lessons From Five Revolutionary Women]( By [Kristen Ghodsee]( Ghodsee says: "In Red Valkyries, I explore the history of socialist feminism by examining the revolutionary careers of five prominent socialist women active in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Always walking a fine line between the need for class solidarity and the desire to force their sometimes-callous male colleagues to take women’s issues seriously, these women fought doggedly for social change, despite major obstacles. Writing the book during pandemic lockdowns, I was inspired by the fact that, even as they endured wars, famines, and even pandemics, these women remained committed to building a better world." Read Ghodsee's recent [Say More interview]( in which she offers readers a glimpse into the book (now available for preorder), considers social factors that may have made Ukraine seem vulnerable to Russia, and more. [Read more](. More Contributor Recommendations From Anya Schiffrin: [Democracy Without Journalism?: Confronting the Misinformation Society]( By Victor Pickard Upon finishing this book, I felt encouraged by Pickard’s sensible and feasible recommendations for ensuring the survival of quality journalism. Pickard, who has spent much of his career thinking about this question and observing what works, makes a compelling case for publicly-funded journalism. [Read more](. --------------------------------------------------------------- From Anatole Kaletsky: [The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes]( By Zachary D. Carter Unlike [Robert Skidelsky]( definitive three-volume intellectual biography of Keynes – and, indeed, the many other [excellent Keynes biographies]( out there – this book is the work of a professional writer, rather than a professional economist. Carter shows as much interest in Keynes’s astonishing literary eloquence, his passion for the arts, and his general enjoyment of life, as in his economic theories and his political activities. As such, he provides a more complex picture of the motivations behind Keynesian economics: to move away from the mean-spirited obsession with the supposedly immutable “iron laws” of impersonal market forces – scarce resources, fiscal austerity, “no free lunches” – and focus on political interventions that enable people fully to enjoy life. That means ensuring that a market economy provides maximum opportunities for growth, employment, and consumption. The discrediting of neoliberalism in 2008, which the policy response to COVID-19 has confirmed, may mean that the world is again ready for Keynes’s optimistic vision of what economic policy could achieve. This eminently readable book is thus an obvious and important recommendation. [Read more](. [Spring Sale, Save 50%.]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( Project Syndicate publishes and provides, on a not-for-profit basis, original commentary by the world's leading thinkers to more than 500 media outlets in over 150 countries. This newsletter is a service of [Project Syndicate](. [Change your newsletter preferences](. Follow us on [Facebook]( [Twitter]( and [YouTube](. © Project Syndicate, all rights reserved. [Unsubscribe from all newsletters](.