We didn't read any books published in the year 2000, and so will recommend the books of the year chosen by the Economist. They seem to be very smart, and we believe these are all good books.

Hitler, 1936-1945: Nemesis
By Ian Kernshaw
Try as you might, it is difficult not to be fascinated by Hitler. And the Economist says this is a good book about him.

When We Were Orphans
By Kazuo Ishiguro
Anthony Hopkins played one of Kazuo Ishiguro's characters in the film The Remains of the Day, and now he's starring in Hannibal. Apparently he does that people-eating thing again. Hannibal's a real civilized guy, though, outside of his cannibalism. He's educated and all. I mean, he listens to classical music while having dinner, and if he drinks wine he can always think of something witty to say about its taste.

Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community
By Robert Putnam
We love this title because it so aptly captures the subject of the book. And bowling is so unfailingly whimsical. Like that new TV show Ed, about a lovable group of small-town eccentrics and their bowling alley. But on the other hand, isn't this book about not just the collapse but also the revival of American Community? So shouldn't it be called Bowling Alone and then, later on, Bowling in a Group? To be thoroughly accurate, though, we believe the book should be called Bowling Alone after a period of having Bowled in a Group, and then returning once again to Bowling in a Group: the Collapse and Revival of American Community, as illustrated by, among other things, the Habits of Bowlers.

One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw
By Witold Rybczynski
"Were it not disloyal to its subject to do so, we would call this book 'riveting'". That's not what the Economist wrote, but doesn't it sound like them? They put their punctuation outside the quotation marks just like that too, which looks funny at first but really is more logical than the way we do it.

Errol Flynn: Satan's Angel
By David Bret
You know the expression, "in like Flynn"? Supposedly this is a reference to Errol Flynn's ability to get laid anytime he wanted. This book is about Flynn's dark side. Like Hannibal, he was apparently a pretty wild guy. But should the book have been called Satan's Angel? We all know that Satan himself is an angel--can an angel have an angel, even if the first angel is a fallen angel? Elmo on Sesame Street deals with this kind of problem all the time. "Can a little boy eat a banana?" he may ask rhetorically, to which a chorus of unseen children supply an affirmative answer (duh). Elmo will continue, "Can a monkey eat a banana?" Again, the answer is given, yes. "Can a banana eat a banana?" "No," Elmo says, "but you can eat a banana." Other issues disposed of by Elmo include "Can a birthday cake have a birthday cake?" and "Does a bus have a mommy?" To the Satan/angel question, I believe Elmo would answer, "An angel cannot have an angel, but that doesn't mean we want to read about Errol Flynn getting the clap."

Call Me If You Need Me: The Uncollected Fiction and Prose
By Raymond Carver
In one of the poems written while he was dying of tobacco-induced cancer, Raymond Carver described a photograph of himself holding a cigarette at a jaunty angle. His widow pointed out that this showed the restraint Carver exercised in making use of his own imminent death as source material for literature. She wrote, "A lesser writer would have carved out for himself an edgy empire of such images," or something like that. She didn't add, "and Raymond did no such carving even though his name was Carver." Because that would have been dumb, and she's not dumb. She's an author in her own right, with her own books out that have her name on the covers and everything.

Bellow: A Biography
By James Atlas
There's some sex in Saul Bellow's books, but if you really want a sex-filled novel, try The Tenant by Barnard Malamud. As I recall, there's a whole truckload o'fuckin' in that book. But it's been awhile since I read it.

Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman
This book wasn't published in 2000, and is not on the Economist's list, but it's certainly at least as good as any of their books. In one of the strips collected here, Ignatz Mouse and his mouse friends are pirates on a ship who spot Krazy Kat on another boat. Krazy is just chilling out, singing songs and gazing at the sky. Ignatz and his pirates attack Krazy and make him walk the plank. Krazy Kat maintains his good mood even as he falls bound and blindfolded into the ocean, and is soon spotted by Kat Fish, who brings him to the underwater door of Mr Platypus. "Oh Mr Platypus," Kat Fish says, "will you take my cousin 'Krazy Kat' back on land through your land entrance--I fear an accident has happened to him." Mr Platypus deposits Krazy on the land where he encounters Ignatz and his band of pirates singing celebratory pirate songs around a campfire. When they spot Krazy, they flee in terror, believing him to be a ghost. This makes Krazy sad, for he does love Ignatz so.