Editor’s comment:  Isaacson rides again, making a well-chronicled figure interesting in a different way, as he did with Einstein and Jobs.  His research is outstanding and it helps a non-artist like me that he accompanies most references with pencils, diagrams, notes, paintings and sculptures of the great master. 

Editor’s note:  I don’t know how I stumbled on this decade-old book but beyond Gaudiani’s ill-advised “independence declaration”, she riveted my interest.  Claire Gaudiani is a well-known student of philanthropy in the USA.  The history of American philanthropy (See Zinsmeister from earlier blogs) fascinates me.  The second value of this book is her argument in favor of a middle ground between too much government regulation of giving and leaving philanthropy entirely unbound.  It’s an endless but worthy concern since neither our government nor our wealthy can be entirely trusted. 

Editor’s Comment:  Bryson is well known for his variety of interests, from his ambitious “A Short History of Nearly Everything” to a delightful childhood memoir I read called “The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid”.  “The Body” fascinated me with startling details of how our body works.  Chapters are broken into parts: brain, heart, lungs as well as systems: immune, chemistry and skeleton.  Bryson adds a point of view, such as his concerns over the overuse of antibiotics.  (see excerpt)  I’m recommending this book with only two promises, it’s far more readable than your biology textbook and you will understand a lot more about the only body you’ll ever own when you’re done.