Best books and films of 2023. For 2022, here. For 2021 and earlier, here.
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First Prize:
HISTORY, POLITICS, HEALTHCARE
Disorder [history of AMA & health politics] (Peter Swenson)
HISTORY OF SCIENCE/MEDICINE
Alzheimer's Disease Research (History; Christian Behl)
POLITICS
Prequel (Rachel Maddow)
BUSINESS
How Big Projects Get Done (Bent Flyvbjerg, Dan Gardner)
How Data Happened (Chris Wiggins, Mathew Jones)
BIOGRAPHY
Every Man For Himself, and God Against All (Werner Herzog)
Sure, I'll Join Your Cult (Maria Bamford)
- - - FILM & PODCASTS - - -
Lucky Hank (Bob Odenkirk)
Schwarzenegger (DocuSeries & Book)
Turn Every Page (Robert Caro)
Jamie Loftus (Several podcast series, book)
Lucy Worsley (BBC, anything by)
WACO (PBS)
Past Lives (Korea)
The Perfect Candidate (Saudi)
Honorable Mention:
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F-- (Mark Manson)
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SOCIETY, HISTORY
DISORDER (Peter Swenson)
First prize, a 100-year-plus history of the AMA, used as a vehicle for a century-plus of American healthcare politics and issues. For example, FDA reform is here, through the lens of the AMA's position on FDA reform (from 1890s forward). Take home lesson: Every single decade was brimming with crazy stuff. Crazy stuff is not new. (See also: London Rising (1600-1699), showing that in the 17th century, every decade was full of crazy stuff.)
ALZHEIMER DISEASE RESEARCH (Christian Behl)
Author not to be confused with actor Christian Bale...
This is a kind of book that isn't supposed to exist: a credible and well-known Alzheimer research stops and writes a massive and intricately-footnoted tome on the history of biomedical research in his field and openly discuss wrong turns and premature obsessions. Many worry about the over-use of "amyloid hypothesis" x 30 years, and this is a go-to archive for that kind of issue.
PREQUEL (Rachel Maddow)
Easily the best-known book I'm citing, you can alternately listen to her detailed podcast series from a couple years ago. "Ultra." About Nazi agents and American media and politicians in the 1930s. Lots and lots of stuff that is long forgotten. (We may forget, for example, that 30% or more of Americans thought FDR was the worst president in history.)
HOW BIG PROJECTS GET DONE (Bent Flyvbjerg, Dan Gardner)
For 20 years we've heard the summary remark, 90% of projects fail to come in on budget, or on time, or meet goals, or even hit one of those. Now read the book: from the world experts on the topic. Plenty of case studies and well-organized "lessons learned." Shortest summary: Measure twice, cut once.
HOW DATA HAPPENED (Chris Wiggins, Matthew Jones)
How world today, whether science or society, is awash in data. Was it always this way? How did this happen? An excellent history with interesting case studies.
BIOGRAPHY
EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF (AND GOD AGAINST ALL) (Werner Herzog)
The eccentric German director, a cult hero since the 1970s, is now 80 and reviews his life. See some of his new interviews on YouTube. I took this in as the audiobook; most enjoyed the second half (once he's past age 25). In his grave dense slow German accent: "We knew we were trappt by zee blizzard and our chances of surfifal were almostt nil.")
SURE I'LL JOIN YOUR CULT (Maria Bamford)
Maria Bamford has been a beloved favorite comedian of mine, for a decade, and I've had the chance to see here a few times in person. Her take on life, from career to aging parents, from marriage to unsteady mental health (hospitals). I loved her YouTube series, "Ask My Mom."
FILMS, PODCASTS
(Can't forget: A cartoon in New Yorker this fall, seven or eight friends and relatives sit around one guy, staging an Intervention: "Bob, we all love you very much, but you've got to stop recommending podcasts.")
LUCKY HANK. Comedy/Satire/Action, Bob Odenkirk plays an ex-CIA battleship in a cardigan, whom the wrong bad guys pick on.
ARNOLD, a three-part limited series, biography, on Netflix, pair with his new book BE USEFUL which mixes biography and life lessons.
TURN EVERY PAGE, a joint documentary about biographer Robert Caro and his also-over-80-years-old editor, the late Robert Gottlieb. Video on demand.
And anything by: JAMIE LOFTUS. She's a stand up comedian, a journalist, a tireless podcast documentarian, and a book author (see Raw Dog, 2023, about hot dogs, life, and Americana). Her podcast series are edited documentaries about a spiritualist village in Florida, about the movie Lolita, about her year in MENSA. See my own YouTube mini video, Who is Jamie Loftus and Why Is She So Good.
And anything by: LUCY WORSLEY, a British historian who's produced prolific and diverse history series for a decade.
Paired Techno "Based on Real Life" movies. TETRIS, a rollicking retelling of how the TETRIS game was licensed through crazy international shenanigans. AppleTV BLACKBERRY, a Canadian film telling the A to Z story of the rise and fall of Blackberry. Multiple video on demand.
The 3-part, Netflix documtary series WACO American Apocalypse was far more complex and multi-faceted than I expected.
Two Small Foreign Films
Each of these indie films had something special and memorable. THE PERFECT CANDIDATE (2020) is about a young woman Saudi doctor in a small clinic in a small city who ends up running for city council. I loved it as much for the inside views of daily Saudi life in home and workplaces. PAST LIVES is a top-rated Korean film. It's a first-time director (Celine Song) who's a playwright. The story is simple, and told slowly (something like boy meets girl, boy loses girl), but the film-making style and detail are just awesome. Both films have multiple video on demand. (Check YouTube, Actors on Actors, interview between actors Greta Lee [this film] and Andrew Scott [from Sherlock and others).
Honorable Mention: "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F--" by Mark Manson. This was a quasi best seller I ignored a few years ago. I stumbled across the film version this year and found it hard to get out of my head. The title actually means, there are a limited number of things to really care about, and lots and lots of other distractions to care about a lot less. Multiple video on demand.
Hobby: My Mini-Videos
I run a YouTube channel, "Bruce Quinn Playground," with a couple new two or three minute films each month - parodies, tiny documentaries, occasional film reviews.
AI Corner
An AI review of this book list.
https://tinyurl.com/BQBOOK2023 or https://brucedocumentblog.blogspot.com/2023/12/ai-invents-journalist-who-reviews-quinn.html
