Escape from Freedom or Angler

Escape from Freedom

Author: Erich Fromm

If humanity cannot live with the dangers and responsibilities inherent in freedom, it will probably turn to authoritarianism. This is the central idea of Escape from Freedom, a landmark work by one of the most distinguished thinkers of our time, and a book that is as timely now as when first published in 1941. Few books have thrown such light upon the forces that shape modern society or penetrated so deeply into the causes of authoritarian systems. If the rise of democracy set some people free, at the same time it gave birth to a society in which the individual feels alienated and dehumanized. Using the insights of psychoanalysis as probing agents, Fromm’s work analyzes the illness of contemporary civilization as witnessed by its willingness to submit to totalitarian rule.

Book review: Hats and Eyeglasses or HP Way

Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency

Author: Barton Gellman

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Barton Gellman's newsbreaking investigative journalism documents how Vice President Dick Cheney redefined the role of the American vice presidency, assuming unprecedented responsibilities and making it a post of historic power.

The Washington Post - James Mann

Until now, I assumed it would take decades, the eventual declassification of documents and considerably more historical perspective for an author (say, some future Robert Caro) to uncover and describe Cheney's secretive role. But Barton Gellman's outstanding new book, Angler, could well turn out to be the most revealing account of Cheney's activities as vice president that ever gets written…There will almost certainly be no vice president as powerful as Cheney for decades, and no account of what he has wrought that is as compelling as this book.

The New York Times - Michiko Kakutani

This book…draws a portrait of Mr. Cheney that will be highly familiar to most readers: that is, a portrait of the vice president as a steamrolling force for the war in Iraq and enhanced executive power; as a vigilant presidential filter who framed issues and information for "the Decider;" and as a shrewd, secretive operative who used his years of government service (as President Ford's chief of staff and the first President Bush's secretary of defense) to hone his skills at bureaucratic in-fighting. What Angler does most impressively is flesh out this portrait with new details, connecting the dots to give the reader a visceral understanding of just how Mr. Cheney maneuvered within the administration, frequently circumventing traditional policy-making channels and sidestepping potential dissenters to get what he wanted.

The New York Times Book Review - Jacob Heilbrunn

As governor of Texas, Bush hewed to a centrist course, working, as he often boasted, with the Democratic-led State Legislature. As a candidate for the presidency, he promised more of the same. But as president, he struck out on a more radical and polarizing course, one that Barton Gellman, in his engrossing and informative Angler, suggests he would not have followed absent Cheney. (Angler is Cheney's Secret Service code name.) Gellman, a reporter at The Washington Post, has interviewed numerous associates and antagonists of the vice president, offering the most penetrating portrait of him yet. The result is that Cheney doesn't seem as bad as you might think. He's even worse.