Last year, in a pungent essay for Harper’s, Christian Lorentzen railed against the media’s obsession for bookish “Best Of” lists, which have in recent years “achieved a sort of mania”: “What is the utility — to anyone — of an item like ‘Hot Books for Cold Days’?” He has a point. At their worst, such lists are little better than advertising puffery.
This list is better — more like a conversation among friends than a boosterish emanation of the publishing industry. As every scholar knows, it can become all too easy to cease learning about ideas outside of one’s own field. If you’re craving recommendations for recent reading across disciplines, these essays — for which we’ve asked 11 scholars to discuss “the best scholarly book” of the last decade — are for you.
Is this list definitive? Of course not. But it is rich, surprising, and idiosyncratic. You’re probably stuck at home. Here’s what to read next.
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