Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Daniel Libeskind's six favorite inspiring books

Daniel Libeskind is an international figure in architectural practice and urban design. His practice extends from museums and concert halls to convention centers, universities, hotels, shopping centers, and residential projects. Born in Lodz, Poland in 1946, Libeskind was a virtuoso accordion player at a young age before giving up music to become an architect. Today he is universally known for introducing a new critical discourse into architecture and for his multidisciplinary approach. Libeskind has taught and lectured at universities all over the world, received numerous awards, and designed world-renowned projects, including the master plan for the World Trade Center in New York and the Jewish Museum in Berlin, among others. His new book is Edge of Order.

One of his favorite inspiring books, as shared at The Week magazine:
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth (2004).

Roth's novel is not just an alternative history. It is also a novel analysis of what the dark winds of fascism and anti-Semitism, unleashed, would do to the America we know. It reveals the vulnerability of a democracy. Democracies are very delicate and can easily drift toward something unwholesome and oppressive.
Read about another entry on the list.

The Plot Against America is on A.G. Lombardo's top ten list of novels about riots, Tara Sonin's list of twenty-five notable fictional presidents, James Miller's top ten list of conspiracy theories in fiction, Jeff Somers's six best list of insane presidents, D.J. Taylor's top ten list of counter-factual novelsKatharine Trendacosta and Charlie Jane Anders's top ten list of epic power struggles, Steven Amsterdam's list of five top books on worry, Stephen L. Carter's list of five top presidential thrillers, and David Daw's list of five American presidents in alternate history.

--Marshal Zeringue