by Thomas Sowell
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Product Description
A Man of Letters traces the life, career, and commentaries on controversial issues of Thomas Sowell over a period of more than four decades through his letters to and from family, friends, and public figures ranging from Milton Friedman to Clarence Thomas, David Riesman, Arthur Ashe, William Proxmire, Vernon Jordan, Charles Murray, Shelby Steele, and Condoleezza Rice. These letters begin with Sowell as a graduate student at the University of Chicago in 1960 and conclude with a reflective letter to his fellow economist and longtime friend Walter Williams in 2005.
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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 A view behind the scenes of an influential thinker's work, 2008-09-07
John McCarthy is credited with saying that "He who refuses to do arithmetic is doomed to talk nonsense." This suggests a corollary that is abundantly evident in reading the letters of Thomas Sowell.
As a trained economist, Sowell began his career dealing with the history of economic thought. A Man of Letters follows his correspondence through that five decades of that career and the life of which it is a part.
Sowell can be scathing.
"You may think that you have seen Kilson at his silliest and most pompous, but I can assure you from experience that you have not."
He can be unsparing in his judgment, as he was in a critique of a student's presentation. Ultimately, however, he is doing what a good educator does: challenges the student, allowing no room for ambiguity about whether the student is in fact demonstrating proficiency in the topic at hand.
"More profoundly disturbing than the lack of analytic thinking in your presentation was an apparent unawareness of any distinction between analysis and cursory conclusions. Even after analytic points were spelled out to you, your response was 'but didn't I just say the same things?' No. You did not say the same thing. Many people noted that apples fell off of tress long before Newton, but they did not say 'the same thing' as Newton. It is precisely the systematic development of whys and wherefores that constitutes physics--or economics.
"System, structure, logic, and definition are not mere traditions, like etiquette. They are the very guts of what reasoning is all about. They are what enable you to distinguish between some words that have a good ring to the ear and an idea that makes sense. That distinction is more than formalistic. It has a been mater of life and death in such places as Jonestown and Nazi Germany, and California abounds with little groups that prey on those who cannot make such distinctions."
He can be witty. I spent a fair bit of time chuckling as I read passages. For example, after he joined the Center for Advanced Study right near Stanford University, he wrote to a friend:
"The people at Stanford think that all we do is play volleyball at the Center, but I tell them it is 'gruelling' work: 'Nothing but profound thoughts all day long.'"
Another passage I found amusing was in a letter to an old friend of Sowell's from the Wharton School in Philadelphia. The excerpt concludes:
"The vigor of your disagreement with Walter [Williams], and the courtesy and friendship that went with it, were priceless (if a Chicago economist may use that word)."
Thomas Sowell is a powerful thinker, whose analytic talent and determined pursuit of answers to meaningful questions has done much to help us understand the world around us--often in ways that economists were not necessarily imagined to be most helpful. He is consequently a prolific author. A Man of Letters gives us a glimpse into his thinking behind the scenes. It's an easy read, one that Sowell fans will find rewarding.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Sowell at his best, 2007-12-24
Thomas Sowell is one of the best writers of modern day condition that I have read. From his columns in the local paper on occasion to his books, which I have all of his publications.... I just cannot get enough of this man's wisdom.
To have a full education in economics and the greater understanding of what potential we have Dr. Sowell is number one on my reading list.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
Sowell fan, 2007-07-18
I am a long time T Sowell fan. My rating would no doubt be prejudiced. This book shows him to be a regular guy. His letters are straight forward. No big words, everything easy to grasp
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
A way with words!, 2007-07-05
Thomas Sowell is a really great writer. This "auto-biography" told by his correspondence over the years was most enjoyable.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
A treasure from a treasure, 2007-07-03
Dr. Sowell continues his personal revelations through a series of letters sent and received. Because of Dr. Sowell's clear thinking and uncompromising honesty plus his sense of the ridiculous, these letters are a joy to read. However, they also offer a view of the evolvement of parts of society (i.e. the academic life) seldom examined so closely. Read this book! It will lead you to his other works which you will want to read. My favorites are "Conflict of Visions" and "Black Rednecks and White Liberals". I encourage everyone to read this book. It will awaken young people to new views and reassure the over 50 crowd that what they suspected was true.
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