Required Reading for Immigrants to the United States

From my nearly 50 years of discovery of some of the best authors the US has ever produced, I came up with a short list of books that would be at home on any immigrant's reading list. WARNING: Many, if not most Americans have yet to read these books. These are not easy reading. Some are trouble enough even if you speak English as your native language. Many have been translated. Track those down, if you need to! I chose 7 categories, and listed them in no particular order. In some cases, there is an historical selection and a current one. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.EconomicsWealth of Nationsby Adam SmithNo book ever written lays out the case for the free market like this one. Adam Smith is the father of the modern capitalist economic system. Whenever my college economics professor got a basic question, his confident and enthusiastic response was always "Read Adam Smith!" Enough said.Politics & The ConstitutionThe Federalist Papersby Alexander Hamilto
n, John Jay and James MadisonThe Federalist Papers is perhaps the most difficult read in this little group. And the most important if you give a rat's behind about what makes America tick. My advice? Once you get comfortable with the English language, tackle it. It's worth the effort.BusinessAmerica has historically been a businessperson's paradise. From the original "landed gentry" to the rum runners, the pirates, and the railroad and timber barons, America is about opportunity, and profit, and social climbing through the production of wealth.Historical Perspective:As I See Itby J. Paul GettyCurrent:The Art Of The Dealby Donald TrumpThe Secular MindsetDespite what the religious right would have you believe, it's a secular, critical-thinker society in the US. From the 17th century onward, people like Ben Franklin and Tom Paine pushed back the cobwebs of the old guard thought processes and began to think for themselves. "Outside The Box" is nothing new here.Historical P
erspective:The Age Of Reasonby Thomas PaineCurrent:The Blind Watchmakerby Richard DawkinsScienceAmerica is a boiling crucible of some of the most creative geniuses the planet has ever produced. From the likes of Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein has sprung a long line of inventors, teachers, scientists, industrialists and wild-eyed, crazy futurists.Historical Perspective:Edison, His Life & Inventionsby Frank Lewis DyerCurrent:Cosmosby Carl SaganA Cultural PerspectiveAmerica is the nursery for a genre of literature known as the "historical novel." Nobody embraced that concept like our very own James Michener. In some 70 years of writing, he sold over 75 million books. Why? Each novel lures the reader in like dime store pulp fiction, while educating them better than any boring, erudite non-fiction book ever could.Four books by James Michener, by region (and one abroad)Chesapeake - The bay and The Eastern SeaboardCentennial - The WestHawaii - The Islands and The Pacifi
cThe Drifters - Americans on The Grand Tour (of Europe)Choose one or read them all! Note: there are many more...they are ALL as amazing as these.Naturalist and PoetWhile America is a nation of scientists, it has had it's share of poets as well. Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. One man, though, combines his love of the natural world with a prose that is really more poetic than any writing I've ever seen.The Immense Journeyby Loren EiseleyIf you read JUST ONE book from the entire list, read this one. It's online. You'll find it at American Buddha. Just Google for it.And there you have it. Others will argue over the entries. It's just "one reporter's opinion"

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