What to Get Me for Christmas

Katherine Mangu-Ward | December 14, 2006

From the book jacket of On the Wealth of Nations, by P.J. O'Rourke(!) :

P. J. O’Rourke reads Adam Smith’s revolutionary The Wealth of Nations so you don’t have to. Recognized almost instantly on its publication in 1776 as the fundamental work of economics, The Wealth of Nations was also recognized as really long: the original edition totaled over nine hundred pages in two volumes—including the blockbuster sixty-seven-page “digression concerning the variations in the value of silver during the course of the last four centuries,” which, “to those uninterested in the historiography of currency supply, is like reading Modern Maturity in Urdu.” Although daunting, Smith’s tome is still essential to understanding such current hot-topics as outsourcing, trade imbalances, and Angelina Jolie. In this hilarious, approachable, and insightful examination of Smith and his groundbreaking work, P. J. puts his trademark wit to good use, and shows us why Smith is still relevant, why what seems obvious now was once revolutionary, and why the pursuit of self-interest is so important.

Or buy the real thing--lovely pink and green pastel editions of Adam Smith's actual words from Liberty Fund (full disclosure of sincere but shameless plug: I'm sitting in a hotel room at a conference paid for by Liberty Fund right now, but they really are nice books).