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A review by _walter_
Barbarians inside the Gates and Other Controversial Essays by Thomas Sowell, Thomas Sowell
3.0
Controversial, if not downright scandalous collection of essays from my favorite American Economist.
If this is your first Sowell book, just know that although he seems to have lost any/all measure of "chill" (as exemplified by some of the more ranty essays), he is in fact one of the most informed, unbiased, and even-keeled writers to have ever tackled the difficult issues that you'll find discussed here.
So this is perhaps not the best place to start if you are Sowell-curious; it is not a great representation of his body of work, IMHO. As mentioned previously, some of the essays display an uncharacteristic level of pontification not present in [b:Social Justice Fallacies|63092727|Social Justice Fallacies|Thomas Sowell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1688422611l/63092727._SY75_.jpg|98969730], or [b:Economic Facts and Fallacies|2064279|Economic Facts and Fallacies|Thomas Sowell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1322121883l/2064279._SX50_.jpg|3350358]. As he mentions in the introduction, his axe was coarse, and well, being the equal-opportunity (but not equal-outcome -- haha, Sowell pun...) iconoclast that he was, he most certainly delivered...
The other thing you ought to know about this collection is that it is a tad repetitive, even more so if you have read some of his other work elsewhere. One almost gets the sense that some of these essays were written as first-drafts, with the sanitized and editorialized versions making it into his more academic work. As they say, "write with your heart, re-write with your head".
At any rate, even though the delivery is not what I am accustomed to, the content is no less important or thought-provoking. Although I don't necessarily agree with Sowell's views in all subjects, I appreciate his candor in this collection.
Recommended with the above caveats.
If this is your first Sowell book, just know that although he seems to have lost any/all measure of "chill" (as exemplified by some of the more ranty essays), he is in fact one of the most informed, unbiased, and even-keeled writers to have ever tackled the difficult issues that you'll find discussed here.
So this is perhaps not the best place to start if you are Sowell-curious; it is not a great representation of his body of work, IMHO. As mentioned previously, some of the essays display an uncharacteristic level of pontification not present in [b:Social Justice Fallacies|63092727|Social Justice Fallacies|Thomas Sowell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1688422611l/63092727._SY75_.jpg|98969730], or [b:Economic Facts and Fallacies|2064279|Economic Facts and Fallacies|Thomas Sowell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1322121883l/2064279._SX50_.jpg|3350358]. As he mentions in the introduction, his axe was coarse, and well, being the equal-opportunity (but not equal-outcome -- haha, Sowell pun...) iconoclast that he was, he most certainly delivered...
The other thing you ought to know about this collection is that it is a tad repetitive, even more so if you have read some of his other work elsewhere. One almost gets the sense that some of these essays were written as first-drafts, with the sanitized and editorialized versions making it into his more academic work. As they say, "write with your heart, re-write with your head".
At any rate, even though the delivery is not what I am accustomed to, the content is no less important or thought-provoking. Although I don't necessarily agree with Sowell's views in all subjects, I appreciate his candor in this collection.
Recommended with the above caveats.