Re: <nettime> what would be nettime's reading list?

[Alan Sondheim <sondheim@panix.com>]

There are so many books...

I would offer - definitely:

Koran, Bible, Analects - at the least. I don't think it's possible to
understand contemporary culture and fundamentalisms without them.

There's a series of Verso books - the No-Nonsense Guides - I've read the
one on Islam, which brilliantly summarizes a great deal of material. There
are others on globalization, terrorism, etc. I'd put all of them on the
list.

Anthologies such as the New Media Reader.

An updated version of Fiske's Television Culture.

Winograd and Flores - Understanding Computers and Cognition.

The analog/digital sections of Anthony Wilden's System and Structure.

Wittgenstein's Tractatus read in conjunction w/ Philosophical
Investigations.

But honestly - the real question is that of _canon._ I may not agree with
your choice - but the presidents' list was clearly canonic in every way.
It's useless. There's no point to it whatsoever.

So perhaps a book questioning three things: genre, canon, essentialism.
That would be tremendously useful.

By the way - not Male Fantasies, but male fantasies. I would include at
least one pornographic work. However defined, it's a critical discourse.
Read against Kathy Acker.

Flesh and Steel by Mishima and with and against any Heiner Muller.

- Alan

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