Weaknesses of Collaborative Distributed Filtering, Espionage Novels, and the Trenton Train Station

Paul Krugman emails, apropos of Alan Furst:

I discovered Alan Furst at the Trenton train station, three or four years ago. And I think there's a lesson in that.

Background: Trenton station is a miserable, grimy little place that happens to be my gateway to the world, because many Amtrak trains stop there but not at Princeton Junction. The newsstand is tiny, selling at most 50 different books at any given time. But whoever decides on the book selection has eccentric, pretty good taste. And so there, circa 2002, was Dark Star, which wasn't even a new book.

The thing is that I would never have looked for Furst on my own - in fact, I wasn't even into spy thrillers at that point. And I would never ever have found him on Amazon, which only confirms your tastes, without broadening them.

Two lessons: randomize now and then, look for serendipity. And when in Trenton, do check out the train station newsstand. You'll probably be pleasantly surprised.

There's probably a connection here to sociologist Mark Granovetter's work on the strength of weak ties: Granovetter believes that you're unlikely to find out about a possible job from someone you know well--because, by and large, you know what they know and they know what you know. You're more likely to find out something useful from somebody who you know only casually, because the overlap in your respective domains of knowledge is relatively small.

Comments

[Kevin Donoghue]

Who is that we see, hastening to Trenton station? Surely it is Donald Luskin, off to count the books and nail another Krugman lie.

[Cal]

So Krugman is a casual friend whose interests in economics are different than your own?

[idook]

OK, now I have to go find me some Furst. Never heard of him before the esteemed plugs here.

(And I just happened to notice Ken MacLeod has a book out I haven't read: Newton's Wake, A Space Opera. Whee!)

[Cal]

So Krugman is a casual friend whose interests in economics are different than your own?

[matt]

Brad, you really should link your books to a different website.

I stopped shopping at amazon.com after I became aware of Bezos's proclivity for giving to Republican causes.

It's nice to have this great blog, but then to post your wishlist at amazon.com and linking book references to the same reactionary site is like self-defeating. How about powells.com, or alibris.com, or any other site except one that rah-rahs for the idiot-in-chief and that supports his agenda with YOUR money and, I might add, the money of those who read here and aren't aware of the politics and political contributions of the Amazon CEO.

How quickly do you think amazon.com would comply with a request from the thought police for your book purchases under the USA PATRIOT Act?

[Repoman]

As my wife reminds me every time a package comes from Amazon "think blue, Barns and Noble, please."

[JimPortlandOR]

Upon your recommendation of Furst's Dark Star (and those of other commenters), I read the book over the weekend - and it was SUPERB! I didn't have to suspend my disbelief more than a couple times, which is remarkable for a spy thriller-historical work. I certainly learned a lot about the background and actions of key players in the Soviet Union in the leadup to WWII.

I'm going today back to Powell's Books (in Portland) for some more Furst.

I agree that you should consider linking to Powell's since not only are they not Red, Powell's is deep and lasting Blue.

Powell's offers good service too via internet and mail, I've heard. Powell's also offers a daily email book review (copied from many sources) to broaden your interests. The bookstore itself is truly awesome - a full block set of buildings linked together into color-coded 'rooms'. It is the busiest place in Portland, and is considered a tourist attraction.

[modus potus]

Powell's is one of the wonders of the Western world. It's definitely worth visiting when in or near Portland. We need something like it in the SF Bay. In the mean time, my spouse and I can confirm the good service (they've even managed to dig up copies of some obscure and long-out-of-print titles for her).

[Barry]

"How quickly do you think amazon.com would comply with a request from the thought police for your book purchases under the USA PATRIOT Act? "

Posted by: matt

If there's one thing about Amazon that I've noticed, it's efficiency. Why should the thought police request data, instead of having it already compiled for them?

[Redshift]

"Granovetter believes that you're unlikely to find out about a possible job from someone you know well--because, by and large, you know what they know and they know what you know."

Is there something more to this, like is he specifically studying academic jobs or something? Because that doesn't describe my world at all. Even among people I know who do the same sort of work, job openings are generally information that isn't routinely passed around to friends unless you know they're looking. And that's not even counting jobs that aren't being recruited but where you get an "in" because you know someone inside whose judgement is trusted (which accounts for about half the jobs I've gotten.)

[howard]

Furst is superb, and i owe it all to the prof for recommending him in the first place.

The collection that Furst edited that the prof wrote about previously is also top-notch, although it excludes my favorite (not necessarily the best, simply my favorite) spy novel, Len Deighton's 1964 Funeral in Berlin.

[morinao]

I'd also like to thank the Professor for recommending Dark Star, which I read over the weekend. Outstanding.

[putnam]

Furst is great. My favorites include The Polish Officer and the two-novel series about the creation of the French resistance.

[Robert Waldmann]

I think part of Krugman's point is that the internet has liberated us (most of the time) from the Trenton train stations of the world. Now people can find the books, opinions and facts that they want. True freedom of the press turns out to be a great way for people to confirm their tastes (and opinions) without broadening them (I plead guilty guilty guilty).

Conciious randomization (active learning) is an investment (start a bunch of books you don't like to find a new author or genre you like). It takes discipline. Back in the day, kids ate what was put in front of them and read all the books around (see media matters for Moynihan's thoughts on small libraries http://mediamatters.org/items/200506060001)

[PaulC]

> Trenton station is a miserable, grimy little place

Well, what do you expect? This is isn't France you know. Grey Poupon will not be served on the collectivist wealth redistribution system known as Amtrak.

Sorry, I've been trying hard not to post that, but I just couldn't resist. Some weird need to get in touch with my inner Ann Coulter.

It's true about the Trenton station. Reminiscent of a Greyhound bus station as I remember it. I wonder what other luminaries pass through. It's a pretty small space, and unless they replaced the linoleum since the mid 90s (doubt it) my feet have probably trod the same tiles as Professor Krugman's.

I also have to wonder what kinds of economic thoughts go through his head reading the slogan "Trenton Makes The World Takes."

[J. Ellenberg]

The Trenton station is just a few steps from the excellent steakhouse Pete Lorenzo's, where the New Jersey legislators eat.

I got stuck for 40 mins. in Secaucus Junction last night, and I have to say I prefer mildly grimy Trenton to abandoned Blade Runnery Secaucus.

[Marshall]

I have to say I read one Furst and was distinctly unimpressed. I may be a bit thick, but half the time I didn't understand what was going on since the characters were all spy-like, endlessly subtle, big on the hints embedded in a couple of words. I grasped the basic plot and the fact that it didn't work out for the good guys, but the action switched from Istanbul to Paris to Serbia at the blink of an eye, and I couldn't recall the significance of this or that Hungarian count sliding into or out of the room.

[S.Anderson]

A comment above said: "I stopped shopping at amazon.com after I became aware of Bezos's proclivity for giving to Republican causes."

Jeff Bezos is one of those businessmen who butters both sides of the toast, just to be on the safe side. Although he has given a little money to Republicans, he gives more to Democrats.

Check www.newsmeat.com: Although Bezos gave $1,000 each to Slade Gorton (R) and Spencer Abraham (R), he also gave $2,000 each to Maria Cantwell (D), Patty Murray (D), and Patrick Leahy (D), and $1,000 to John Conyers (D).

Not exactly wingnut behavior. I have no use for Republicans, but I still buy at Amazon with a clear conscience. But even if Bezos gave exclusively to Republicans, I'd still buy at Amazon over Barnes and Noble, just because Amazon offers a much better web site. The product counts for more than what the CEO does with 1/100,000 of 1 per cent of his personal fortune.

It looks more or less as if Bezos, like a lot of businesspeople, gives to candidates, whether D or R, who may be likely to have some affect on his business. It has a distorting affect on the democratic process, since business people have a lot more scratch to give than most, but it's also not the most disturbing behavior. Now if Bezos were acting like Richard Scaife, giving a half million a year to right-wing think tanks and Republican candidates, I might begin to think differently.

[S.Anderson]

Urgh, I meant "effect", not "affect"!

[CK]

"Night Soldiers" by Furst- his best, but longest, and a lot to chew on. Start with "The Polish Officer" if you want something a little slimmer. Both excellent, and prepare yourself for reading them all. Not as addictive as Aubrey and Maturin by O'Brien (mainly because Nazis and Commies can get a little depressing), but almost.

[Tom]

I barely know you, Brad, in fact not at all, but I've been visiting your website for a long time. That's a pretty weak tie, but, thanks to you, I found Alan Furst, Harry Turtledove and a few others.

[Howard Weinberg]

I've read all the Fursts, also Graham Greene,Eric Ambler, Charles McCarry, Len Deighton, etc. Sure would like to hear reccomendations from others who liked Furst.