In The Six-Point Inspection, Zócalo takes a quick look at new books that are changing the way we see our world.
Brave Dragons: A Chinese Basketball Team, an American Coach, and Two Cultures Clashing by Jim Yardley
The nutshell: What happens when an ex-NBA coach lands at the helm of one of the worst teams in the Chinese Basketball Association? The New York Times’ Yardley followed the Shanxi Brave Dragons for a season to find out.
Literary lovechild of: H.G. Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, and a Dream and Peter Hessler’s Country Driving: A Journey Through China From Farm to Factory.
You’ll find it on your bookshelf if: You own a Yao Ming jersey.
Cocktail party fodder: Basketball has been the sport of the Chinese military for over 60 years. Perennial CBA frontrunners the Bayi Rockets were founded as the elite team of the People’s Liberation Army.
For optimal benefit: Get a preview of the culture clash to come by watching this brawl between the Bayi Rockets and the Georgetown Hoyas.
Snap judgment: How many sports books name-check Henry Kissinger and Mao in the prologue? This story is about much more than basketball, and the Brave Dragons’ rabid fans and meddling owner—who’s fired an average of three coaches a year—will amuse you.
Thinking Small: The Long, Strange Trip of the Volkswagen Beetle by Andrea Hiott
The nutshell: Jewish advertising executive Bill Bernbach, Austrian automotive engineer Ferdinand Porsche, German businessman Heinrich Nordhoff, and Adolf Hitler had one thing in common: the Volkswagen Beetle. Pulse editor-in-chief Andrea Hiott’s cultural history explores the birth of the Beetle and the rise of a small, German car in think-big, post-World War II America.
Literary lovechild of: Douglas Brinkley’s Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His Company, and a Century of Progress and Peter Watson’s The German Genius: Europe’s Third Renaissance, the Second Scientific Revolution, and the Twentieth Century.
You’ll find it on your bookshelf if: You still play “Punch Buggy,” even though you see a Beetle every two to three minutes.
Cocktail party fodder: The original Beetle engine powered the Zamboni ice resurfacer. Yes, it was that powerful.
For optimal benefit: Read before launching into the next book on your list: a cultural history of the VW Phaeton.
Snap judgment: Hiott’s glee about the Beetle is infectious, but Thinking Small is best appreciated by those who venerate the Bug already.
Rebel Rulers: Insurgent Governance and Civilian Life During War by Zachariah Cherian Mampilly
The nutshell: Insurgent organizations govern civilians more effectively than we might imagine, says Vassar College political scientist Mampilly. He makes his case based on on-the-ground fieldwork in war-torn Sri Lanka, Congo, and Sudan.
Literary lovechild of: Victoria Bruce and Karin Hayes’ Hostage Nation: Colombia’s Guerrilla Army and the Failed War on Drugs and Francis Fukuyama’s Nation-Building: Beyond Afghanistan and Iraq.
You’ll find it on your bookshelf if: You’re hoping, after graduation, to consolidate the dictatorship of the proletariat.
Cocktail party fodder: Education suffers less than you might expect in conflict-ridden areas under rebel rule. From 1993 to 2003, during civil war, school enrollment increased in eastern Congo.
For optimal benefit: Read while listening to the new album by Tamil Sri Lankan M.I.A.—or with her hit single “Paper Planes” on repeat.
Snap judgment: As the Middle East searches for stability, Rebel Rulers is a necessary, nuanced investigation into the operations and effectiveness of rebel governments.
