Hello Mona,

> I would love to begin delving deeper into Chomsky's ideas.  I went to the
> bookstore a few days ago and found about a half dozen books authored or
> co-authored by him.  What's a good one to start with?  I'd appreciate any
> recommendations, not only which book, but why.

Congratulations, you are about to embark on a really spiritual and
intellectual journey! Chomsky has really changed my life, and undoubtedly
those of many many more people. You might suffer the same fate! :-)

I don't know much you have already read of Chomsky. Some people who
immediately delve headlong into his political writings think he's just
another raving "anti-American". Luckily, my path into his writings started
with his more philosophical books, like "Radical Priorities" and
"Language and Politics". There I realized the deep and essential humanity
of Noam the individual. When I then read his more direct political
analyses, I understood more readily his ferocious anger at US government
and military policy, and indeed those of the Western elite in general.

I guess my suggestion for what to read next would be his interviews with
David Barsamian in "Keeping the Rabble in Line", "Chronicles of Dissent",
"Class Warfare" etc.

His political writings are very diverse, but I found them slightly harder
to read due to his detailed style, but invaluable reference works.
He analyzes the media in "Manufacturing Consent" and "Necessary
Illusions". He gives a long historical perspective in "Year 501". "World
Orders, Old and New" analyzed the global situation in 1991 after the
Soviet Union collapsed and after the Gulf War. There are too many more to
even mention here.

A succint outline and introduction would probably be "The Chomsky Reader",
edited by James Peck.

A lot of his books are published by South End Press, a small independent
publisher in Boston, and the Barsamian interviews are published by Common
Courage Books, a small publisher in Maine. In case you wish to buy some of
his books, I would suggest you buy from them directly. You would be
supporting independent publishing!

South End Press:
http://www.lbbs.org/sep/sep.htm
617-547-4002

Common Courage Books:
http://www.commoncouragepress.com/
207-525-0900

Needless to say, I am only a very satisfied customer, and not affiliated
in any way with these entities. The older books like "Language and
Politics" are harder to find. Look in university libraries, else search
used bookstores. Good web based search services are
http://www.bookfinder.com and http://www.abebooks.com

Happy Reading!!

And more importantly, Take Action!!

Sincerely,

--prashanth.