Points for books.

Roundheads and Peakheads Bertolt Brecht Points: 3 10/04/00	This play is about the rise of the Nazi party in pre-WWII Germany. Either it over emphasised the importance of the communist movement in that country at that time, or I just didn't know much about it, either way, plus one point. It also was more interesting than I thought it would be, which I guess means it was more than just a simple political allegory, plus one point. Good use of verse, plus one point. Probably better in the original German, plus one point. Overall not as good as his best plays, minus one point. -Mark Yokoyama
In My Father's House Kwane Anthony Appiah Points: 6 10/06/00	This is a book of essays about Africa and philosophy by an old professor of mine at Harvard (+1). I saw him on the street in Cambridge the other week and he pretended to recognize me (+1) and said he would sign the book if I came by his office (+2). The book starts out by dismissing race as viable basis for pan-africanism (+1). He ends the book with a story about his father's funeral in Ghana which involved African chiefs, curses and intense African politics. The book took me two years to read because it is very dense (-2). he does a great job of debunking race (+1). My favorite quote in the book is "You don't have to believe in race to know that racism exists. After all you don't have to believe in withcraft to know that women were persecuted in Salem as witches."(+2) I use that one all the time at cocktail parties when arguing that there is no such thing as race. -Matt Donarivers