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    Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics
    Unavailable
    Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics
    Unavailable
    Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics
    Audiobook12 hours

    Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics

    Published by Penguin Random House Audio

    Narrated by George Newbern

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    From America's preeminent columnist, named by the Financial Times the most influential commentator in the nation, the long-awaited collection of Charles Krauthammer's essential, timeless writings.

    A brilliant stylist known for an uncompromising honesty that challenges conventional wisdom at every turn, Krauthammer has for decades daz­zled readers with his keen insight into politics and government. His weekly column is a must-read in Washington and across the country. Now, finally, the best of Krauthammer's intelligence, erudition and wit are collected in one volume.

    Readers will find here not only the country's leading conservative thinker offering a pas­sionate defense of limited government, but also a highly independent mind whose views-on feminism, evolution and the death penalty, for example-defy ideological convention. Things That Matter also features several of Krautham­mer's major path-breaking essays-on bioeth­ics, on Jewish destiny and on America's role as the world's superpower-that have pro­foundly influenced the nation's thoughts and policies. And finally, the collection presents a trove of always penetrating, often bemused re­flections on everything from border collies to Halley's Comet, from Woody Allen to Win­ston Churchill, from the punishing pleasures of speed chess to the elegance of the perfectly thrown outfield assist.

    With a special, highly autobiographical in­troduction in which Krauthammer reflects on the events that shaped his career and political philosophy, this indispensible chronicle takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the fashions and follies, the tragedies and triumphs, of the last three decades of American life.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateDec 10, 2013
    ISBN9780553398304
    Unavailable
    Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics

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    Reviews for Things That Matter

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    • 5/5
      A handpicked compilation of Krauthammer's columns and essays on 'things that matter' whether baseball and what it means to be a fan, takes on various political administrations from Carter through Obama years, to perspectives on defense spending, foreign policy, current political climate and sociopolitical issues. Krauthammer is an interesting, thoughtful, well-educated, well-read, and deeply intelligent man. Classically liberal in his younger years, he became more politically conservative as he aged (a perspective shift for which he explains his rationale). He's also got a wry sense of humor which is threaded through many of his essays. He's not a fan of democratic socialism and sounds the alarm about how it will change the course and trajectory of America from the inside out if we continue in that direction.Whether you agree with Krauthammer's perspectives on issues or not, it's well worth the read, will hone and sharpen your own perspective, and improve your ability to think critically and independently. What's fascinating and gave me a sense of relief is how well his observances about politics and political issues in columns written decades prior still hold up well today. Nothing in the devolving sphere of political civility that we're seeing today is new per se...it's just magnified through social media. Several times I read a column or essay that could have been published yesterday, only to find it was published 10-20 years prior.Reading this book is the closest I can come to knowing and learning from him and was time well spent. Highly recommended to anyone and everyone who values a well-rounded and reasoned perspective and an ability to think independently.
    • 4/5
      The late Charles Krauthammer had originally intended this collection of columns and articles to focus on the things that mattered most to him, things other than politics, things like baseball, chess, science, medicine and family. Then he realized that ultimately everything that mattered most to him depended on politics. Consider how the political change that created Nazi Germany affected every aspect of life in Germany, and the rest of Europe as well.So Krauthammer did include political commentary in “Things That Matter,” although these essays now seem the most dated, at least those that relate specifically to issues that were hot topics during the Clinton years or either of the Bush administrations. Obama discussions seem a bit more topical. The book predates the Trump administration.When writing about politics in general terms, however, it sounds like it could have first appeared in print yesterday. One example is when he writes, “Conservatives think liberals are stupid. Liberals think conservatives are evil.” Krauthammer wrote this in 2002, but today conservatives are ranting about the stupidity of the open borders and Medicare-for-all advocated by left-wing politicians, while liberals use any excuse to call conservatives Nazis or racists.Still he is at his best when writing about subjects more dear to his heart — why religion should be taught in the schools (“A healthy country would teach its children evolution — and the Ten Commandments.”), why Winston Churchill was the most important figure in the 20th century, why turning the border collie into a show dog is likely to ruin its most important quality — its intelligence, and so on.This is good stuff, stuff that will matter to most readers as it mattered to Charles Krauthammer.
    • 4/5
      Kudos to Charles Krauthammer for the "Personal" (Part I) description of the Things that Matter in this collection of essays. The challenges he overcame, and the support of Dr. Hermann Lisco, Associate Dean of Students at Harvard Medical School are stunningly and gratefully told in a laudatory essay in the middle of the "Personal" section, and brings any reader a glow of gratitude to the Professor and a touch of appreciation for the hard-working Dr. Charles Krauthammer , who took advantage of every grain of talent.Within this collection, there is much to elucidate the animating spirit of the largest historical trends from an erudite, serious writer who has closely observed the history of the political landscape over the years. "Global," (Part 4), brings critique and a long-sighted perspective that overcomes the pettifoggery that sometimes arises when the opinionated but unrealistic leader meets the exceptionally convenient way out of making strategies. And so, "Isolationism" as a Global strategy is dismissed. "Liberal Internationalism" is disposed of as a "moral suasion... farce" that weakens the ability of the nation to operate in an efficient way in the Global theatre. After describing the twists and turns of 5 strategic approaches employed by the American Executive branch over the years before 2004, Charles Krauthammer then stalls and presents an argument for bolstering the power of the United States as this country's most important strategic tool as it faces an "enemy that does not draw back." But, he warns, we are losing that power as the dollar's value falls.The book was engaging, but, although it succeeded in acutely analyzing "Poli Sci" strategies, it gave little mention to the financial frauds that have set fires at the feet of a forest of the supportive tree trunks of businesses that used to generate the green leaves of financial GNP in this "come-back" economic system. In doing so, the tone of the book remains above the raw depiction of today's wasteland of the bankrupt and looted, government-supported business ventures, but perhaps thereby calls the fate of the future un oeuvre accompli
    • 5/5
      This is a wonderful collection of Krauthammer articles and writings from the past three decades from the Washington Post, The Weekly Standard, and others. I really admire Krauthammer's ability to cut through all the bull and hit the issue right on the head. He delivers things that are sorely lacking in this nation right now, common sense and the truth. From this, I will seek out more Krauthammer books and I recommend this book to all.
    • 4/5
      This book is a collection of short opinion pieces previously published in a syndicated column. The author stands almost alone as an intelligent, well-read opinionator on the Right-Wing flank of political discourse. Charles Krauthammer provides moving autobiographical notes about his family, and many valuable insights into baseball, chess, Zionism (a term sadly missing from the Index), Islamism, and current political history. His "style" is gifted and unlike virtually all other GOP-subsidized Fox "News" commenators, he seems to know what a "synedoche" is. And he conveys a touching attachment to a dog in a memoriam: "Should we not be moved when it [nature] produces a vision--a creature--of the purest sweetness?" [60]However, when Krauthammer gets "political", he gets twisted in his own examples. Critical analysis of the Obama Administration is sadly wanting. Instead, he indulges in personal attacks and assumptions about what Liberals are intending or thinking. For example, out of the blue, without actual equivalence or citation, he compares and misstates the Dred Scott Decision (a 5-4 Supreme Court opinion depriving a freed slave of any right of contract) to a position Liberals do not actually have concerning the informed choice of a woman to have a Constitutionally-protected abortion. He seems to defend an undefined "individualism" while joining the GOP assault on individual choices -- legislating against the grace of medical relief for abortion, painful end-of-life care, and gay marriage. (Although he claims on the latter issue he is "ambivalent", because of gay friendships. The disgrace of legislative prohibitions remain with us.)Krauthammer suggests that "voters loath politicians" [147] because of negative campaigns in which all candidates are accusing each other of being liars and frauds, so that the next Congress will be seated with the "most vilified persons in every American community". Yet the author fails to show or explore any differences between being a liar--such as in making false accusations--and being the victim of lies. He still works for Fox "News" which successfully sued for the right to lie to their viewers -- and they still claim they broadcast "news" in spite of their own admission that they publish known misstatements of fact. His devotion is unexplained, and made inexplicable by his confusing assertion that even the slightest concern about the near-monopoly of Murdock/Ailes over American media is some sort of medical "syndrome". [74-75]. To his credit, when he attacks Liberal positions, he does admit the fact that its advocates are extraordinarily gifted, bright, and experienced practitioners of informed professions -- Dr Howard Dean, Bill Moyers, and Paul Krugman. The author never challenges their facts.On most of the political issues, save Zionism, we are spared even the most cursory review of facts. As an opinionator, Krauthammer provides useful labels, memorable turns of phrase, and some historical facts for place-saving reference. There is almost no "analysis". Again, ....
    • 4/5
      This book surprised me in that it is a collection of Charles' articles covering more than 20 years. Many of his articles are witty, most are pithy, and all are well done. Interestingly, there doesn't appear to be in growth, that is, his earliest articles are fully thought-out conservatism. This is especially interesting when it is recalled he started as a self-admitted conservative. Leaders of the GOP could do well to study this book as they prepare for the 2014 and 2016 elections.
    • 4/5
      More than a memoir type of book, this read is actually a collection of columns Krauthammer's written for a number of news agencies, particularly The Washington Post, Time and The New Republic. Through these columns, the reader discovers what is most important to him; people in his life, his love of the Washington Nationals, Chester his dog, chess and politics. His columns are sometimes very personal and other times controversial but always concise and with heartfelt common sense. After listening to his columns I would certainly consider him one of the great thinkers of our age.The audio, however, was a major disappointment. Part One, was great. No problem with Krauthammer's columns read by Krauthammer. For some unexplained reason, the narrator changes for the remainder of the book and sounds like a robot reading the newspaper and lacks Krauthammer's unmistakably droll delivery.
    • 3/5
      Like many collections there is great variation among the various entries and that is certainly true of the essays in Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics by Charles Krauthammer. Some are short others rather long. I liked least the early shorter essays which were often about not much important. As the book evolves there are longer more serious essays that I quite enjoyed. I like Krauthammer as a thinker and I like his political views so I did look forward to his sharing those thoughts with me in his collection of essays. Overall I was rewarded for my effort.
    • 5/5
      Great! Krauthammer cuts to the core and makes things appear simple. A great selection of past columns on everything from daily life to politics. A real vocabulary builder too!
    • 5/5
      Charles Krauthammer is living proof that life is not fair. This because, for the vast majority of people, no amount of study or practice would ever enable them to write so lucidly with such command of reason, history, and words. As a writer and a thinker, Krauthammer is quite simply magnificent. This is not a political book. It is certainly about politics. And culture. And history. But it is not political in the sense that it will have a short shelf life, being only concerned with the issues of the moment. Nor is it written as an (almost) election year call to arms. Rather, it is a collection of Krauthammer's writing over the last 30 years from varied publications such as The National Journal, Washington Post, and Weekly Standard.When I heard the book was not new material I was a bit disappointed--having read other "columns" books before and thinking them too fleeting. I couldn't have been more wrong. Krauthammer culled his vast material to choose writings, which are timeless. There was only one chapter that referenced an event with which I was unfamiliar (Bitburg Cemetery controversy), and most of these writings are from the 20 years before I was an adult and paying attention to such matters. The chapters are arranged in sections such as "Heaven & Earth", "Manners", and "Body & Soul." The section "Memory and Monuments", with articles on The Holocaust Museum and the Martin Luther King, Jr. monument, was particularly affecting. There are now dozens of sticky tabs protruding from my copy's pages as passage after passage deserved marking.In his introduction he tells of his passage from liberalism to conservatism. While in college he witnessed an event that triggered a change which now meant, "viewing certainty with suspicion and acknowledging, with both regret and resolve, the imperfectability of man, the fallibility of institutions, and the tragic--rather than redemptive--nature of history." Conservatism in a nutshell. And yet, the idea America was founded on still prevails and, for all America's faults, "What eventually grew on this bloodied soil? The answer is, The great modern civilizations of the Americas--a new world of individual rights, an ever-expanding circle of liberty and, twice, a savior of the world from totalitarian barbarism." That is not nothing. And is worth remembering and defending.If every conservative were as wise, measured, and persuasive as Krauthammer the Left would never win another election. It's to its benefit that this is not the case.Read this book. You'll be moved by, and smarter for it.
    • 4/5
      You don't need to share Krauthammer's conservative politics to enjoy these thought-provoking essays.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      All shades of conservative in my political leanings are thanks to columnists like David Brooks, George Will and Charles Krauthammer. Where Will and Brooks deliver a more measured rhetoric, Krauthammer's arguments carry a subtle, yet fiery anger.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Across three decades, this medically trained, erudite journalist and Fox news consultant, has educated and informed millions of readers with his essays on every conceivable major issue confronting the country, but he is not one-dimensional, he wrote also on more mundane subjects like baseball and chess. His essays fly across the page because of his eloquence, intellect and wit.His essays are reasoned and well written to inform a public thirsty for knowledge. Regardless of which side of the political spectrum the reader is on, his essays on such varied subjects as immigration, civil rights, the Supreme Court, marathons, pets, curse words, Einstein, Churchill, Machiavelli, Adams, Jefferson, bioterrorism, 9/11, radical Islam, psychotherapy, Halley’s Comet, Israel, domestic terrorism, drug wars, bleeding hearts that create guidebooks for life, euthanasia, affirmative action, the rights of women, stem cell research, and so much more, will effortlessly enrich and enlighten. Keep an open mind and be prepared to learn a great deal.His analysis of politics, its dangers and its burdens, its accomplishments and its failures, is thorough. He quotes famous philosophers and historic figures. One interesting quote is from John Adams who said that “there never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide”.Charles Krauthammer began his career as a Democrat, working for the party, but as a scientist, after learning from empirical evidence that their policies for a “Great Society” were flawed and had failed, he moved more to the right. One of the interesting concepts he explores is the prevailing belief that “liberals are stupid and, conservatives are evil; liberals have no head and conservatives have no heart”. Following the completion of this eye-opening series of articles, the readers will be introduced to both sides of many issues and will make their own decisions about controversial subjects.
    • 4/5
      Things That Matter:Charles Krauthammer’s “Things that Matter” is a compilation of articles and essays he’s written over several decades, so some of the material seems somewhat dated. Nevertheless, it is interesting to read what Dr. Krauthammer thought prior to some event and then compare his notions and predictions to the actual outcome. But to read Charles Krauthammer is know erudition.As you would expect, the level of writing is high, but the scope and depth of his knowledge is astounding. Agree or disagree, Krauthammer presents and defends his positions with knowledge, humor and a literary wit rarely found in contemporary punditry. In out-and-out humor and political sarcasm, he’s no Mark Steyn but is otherwise the very definition of “A Man of Letters.” An intellectual heavyweight in the mold of William F. Buckley and Dr. Thomas Sowell, he plays speed chess once a week just to unwind. Their games last between five and ten minutes so as to immediately avenge a loss. Waiting a week just won’t do.Even the debilitating accident that put him in a wheelchair didn’t keep him from earning his doctorate on time. Nor did it keep him from casting his doctorate aside to pursue his passions in journalism and politics. A good read, and one that can be sipped in small doses, chapter-by-chapter and essay-by-essay according to taste and interest. Three and a half stars from this intellectual mediocrity.
    • 5/5
      The Leading Thinker of Our AgeBrilliant compilation of previously published columns, articles and essays. The author is learned, thoughtful and articulate. I liked some chapters better than others but found Dr. Krauthammer to be witty, incisive and intelligent throughout.