Any recc.s for non-fiction books that aren't just a biography, or a dull reference/history of x book?
Or any recent reads that fit this kind of category?
>>24948190it's a pretty broad request. are there any topics you're into specifically? some assorted non-fiction i read recently and found fun (not all fit your criteria):>My Tiny Life, by Julian Dibbell (essays on the early internet culture of the 90s)>Addiction by Design, by Natasha Schull (anthropologist writing about Las Vegas slot machines)>An Inland Voyage, by RL Stevenson (travelogue of his trip through France and Belgium by canoe)>The Origins of Monsters, by David Wengrow (study of the spread of images of hybrid creatures - griffons, minotaurs, etc - through the ancient world)>A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, by George Saunders (short-story writer breaks down classic Russian short stories and shows you how they work)cool thread pic btw. reminded me of the Herzog doc The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner.
>>24948190Interesting account of con-men around the 1930; basically "The Sting" but for real. (I think the film might have been based on the book, or DWM might have been employed as a consultant or something).A big part of the book is the criminal's argot which was a whole independent language. (Michael Crichton seems to have had a similar interest in "The Great Train Robbery".)
>>24948190
>>24948372ty for the selection, I appreciate it leaves a wide range of topics but hoped the fun part narrows each poster's view back down again - looking for books for me and books as presentsStevenson's Inland Voyage sounds like a fun adventureSaunder's looks interesting for me as well, probably not one to gift(used this pic as my phone background for a few years)>>24948376Nice, the lingo glossary in the back sounds fun as well - will have a flick through before gifting
>>24948190Immensely redpilling yet gripping book
Lot of great photos in the book.
Washington's Immortals
>>24948190Never miss a chance to recommend this book
>>24949422Holy shit, the guy from Minecraft and Jumanji??
Dodge City
>>24948190Athos, or the Mountain of the Monks by Athelstan Riley. An 1886 travelogue in which an uppercrust Englishman takes his Anglican bishop friend on a trip to Mount Athos and its orthodox community. The first 50 pages are competitively scamming his way through Europe (and he is defeated by Bulgarians) and then unending complaints about everything and being an awful person to everyone he meets. He has silver-pressed opium pills to give to annoying natives so they'll leave him alone, goes in great tirades about the 'natural indolence of the greek oriental', torments the weak and continually abuses his position. He even escapes Athos by lying and waving a letter around claiming the Ottoman Sultan gave it to him - he is duelling with Turks looking for bribes in this instance. I can take or leave his descriptions of the monasteries and the churches but just reading about him, his friend and his trip is hilarious. Genuinely funny. I read something similar from an 1830 source, a British lieutenant, who was polite, respectful and utterly unremembered. I think Athelstan is remembered on the peninsula to this day for being a dickhead.
>>24949420>>24949454>>24950235neat, will flick through on internetarchive, see if its worth getting a physical copy
A Night to Remember by Walter Lordhttps://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44107395-a-night-to-remember
