Popular North American Philosophical Books
Find philosophical books written by authors from North America for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (17)
1.
Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis EN
Country: North America / 
United States of America
United States of America
Description:
With her characteristic brilliance, grace and radical audacity, Angela Y. Davis has put the case for the latest abolition movement in American life: the abolition of the prison. As she quite correctly notes, American life is replete with abolition movements, and when they were engaged in these struggles, their chances of success seemed almost unthinkable. For generations of Americans, the abolition of slavery was sheerest illusion. Similarly,the entrenched system of racial segregation seemed to last forever, and generations lived in the midst of the practice, with few predicting its passage fr... continue
2.
Colonel Lágrimas by Carlos Fonseca Suárez EN
Country: North America / 
Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Description:
“Beware, reader, in these pages you will experience vertigo, anxiety and joy. You will become a ghostly presence in a Borgesian world, a camera obscura, where mathematics is a secret weapon, and memory the object of an archaeological pursuit. Loosely inspired by the eventful life of the French mathematician Alexander Grothendieck, Fonseca has created a gorgeous opera prima.” —Valerie Miles, The New York Times Book Review Holed away in a cabin in the Pyrenees, the world-famous and enigmatic mathematician Alexander Grothendieck is working furiously on a final project. But what exactly is this mo... continue
3.
Conscious : A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind by Annaka Harris EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
As concise and enlightening as Seven Brief Lessons on Physics and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, this mind-expanding dive into the mystery of consciousness is an illuminating meditation on the self, free will, and felt experience. What is consciousness? How does it arise? And why does it exist? We take our experience of being in the world for granted. But the very existence of consciousness raises profound questions: Why would any collection of matter in the universe be conscious? How are we able to think about this? And why should we? In this wonderfully accessible book, Annaka Harris gu... continue
4.
Death Interrupted : How Modern Medicine Is Complicating the Way We Die by Blair Bigham EN
Country: North America / 
Canada
Canada
Description:
In Death Interrupted, ICU doctor Blair Bigham shares his first-hand experiences of how medicine has complicated the way we die and offers a road map for dying in the modern era. Doctors today can call on previously unimaginable technologies to help keep our bodies alive. In this new era, most organs can be kept from dying almost indefinitely by machines. But this unprecedented shift in end-of-life care has created a major crisis. In the widening grey zone between life and death, doctors fight with doctors, families feel pressured to make tough decisions about their loved ones, and lawyers are ... continue
5.
East of Eden by John Steinbeck EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
The biblical account of Cain and Abel is echoed in the history of two generations of the Trask family in California.
6.
Embers : One Ojibway's Meditations by Richard Wagamese EN
Country: North America / Canada
Canada
Description:
"Life sometimes is hard. There are challenges. There are difficulties. There is pain. As a younger man I sought to avoid them and only ever caused myself more of the same. These days I choose to face life head on--and I have become a comet. I arc across the sky of my life and the harder times are the friction that lets the worn and tired bits drop away. It's a good way to travel; eventually I will wear away all resistance until all there is left of me is light. I can live towards that end." --Richard Wagamese, Embers In this carefully curated selection of everyday reflections, Richard Wagamese... continue
7.
Ethics : An Early American Handbook by Jacob Abbott EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
Much attention has recently been focused on re-instituting ethics and character education. Yet, what is being taught today is simply a re-teaching of traits taught for centuries - traits such as industry, honesty, politeness, gratitude, purity, and duty to God. Because such qualities are timeless in their application, an early 1890 work (based on works from the 1840s) is here reprinted for contemporary use. This work will inspire citizens of all ages to a greater elevation of their own character and therefore of the nation's character.
8.
Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis EN
Country: North America / 
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Description:
Winner of the 2015 Scotiabank Giller Prize Finalist for the 2015 Toronto Book Awards Winner of the 2015 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize "[Alexis] devises an inventive romp through the nature of humanity in this beautiful, entertaining read … A clever exploration of our essence, communication, and how our societies are organized." – Kirkus Reviews "This might be the best set-up of the spring." – The Globe & Mail "André Alexis has established himself as one of our preeminent voices." – Toronto Star — I wonder, said Hermes, what it would be like if animals had human intelligence. — I'll wager... continue
9.
Country: North America / Canada
Canada
Description:
Can we ever be wholly free? In this book of breathtaking imaginary leaps that conjure dystopias and magical islands, Margaret Atwood holds a mirror up to our own world. The reflection we are faced with, of men and women in prisons literal and metaphorical, is frightening, but it is also a call to arms to speak and to act to preserve our freedom while we still can. And in that, there is hope. Selected from The Handmaid's Tale and Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood. VINTAGE MINIS- GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS. A series of short books by the world's greatest writers on the experiences that make ... continue
10.
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace EN
Country: North America / United States of America
United States of America
Description:
The story of an intelligent but zany dysfunctional family is set in a drug-and-alcohol addicts' halfway house and a tennis academy and follows such themes as heartbreak, philosophy, and advertising.