This week in the Great Books List

The Threepenny Opera. Berthold Brecht. 1928

German poet, playwright, and theatrical innovator, Bertolt Brecht was one of the most important figures in 20th-century theatre.
Brecht developed a new form of political theatre and was the foremost theatre reformer of the Weimar Republic. His left leaning politics also marked him for persecution once the Nazi’s took over Germany and Brecht and his longtime musical collaborator Kurt Weil were forced to move around the world in search or work and audiences. Read more here.

Book of the week

Ravens by George Dawes Green

A pick for Salon's Summer Reading list 'Ravens' by George Dawes Green, is a rivetting thriller. The Boatwright family of Brunswick, Ga. -- churchgoing Mitch, his boozy wife, Patsy, their striving, community college student daughter, Tara, and her kid brother, Jase -- are no sooner blessed by a $318 million lottery jackpot than they draw the attention of two losers passing through town. One, Shaw, is a charismatic sociopath and the other, Romeo, is Shaw's devoted, if intermittently ambivalent, Igor. In no time, the Boatwrights' phenomenal good fortune morphs into calamity., Shaw worms his way into the Boatwrights' home and alternately cows and seduces them into presenting him as a co-owner of the winning ticket. Romeo plays enforcer, prowling the streets and poised to slaughter their friends and relatives if they rebel. Then, carried away at a press conference, Shaw suddenly proclaims his intention to give his share to charity. Read more here.

Articles of note

200th Anniversary of the death of Paine marked around the world

Unique among radicals, the 200th anniversary of the death of Thomas Paine will be marked in England, in France and in the United States. This is a measure of the impact of Paine’s ideas both in his own country and in parts of the world that became the centre of revolutionary political change at the end of the 18th century. Paine was perhaps fortunate to live in such invigorating times and to be able to think about them so constructively. Yet what is remarkable is that his message has been capable of speaking with immediacy to each successive generation, providing radical inspiration and comfort in troubled times. Read more here.