Chomsky For Beginners

Noam Chomsky has written over 30 books, he is the most-quoted author on earth, the New York Times calls him “arguably the most important intellectual alive” — yet most people have no idea who he is or what he’s about. Chomsky For Beginners tells you what he’s about: Chomsky is known for his work in two distinct areas — Linguistics and… “gadflying.” (“Gadfly,” the word applied to Socrates. comes closest to the constant social irritant that Chomsky has become.) It is Chomsky’s work as Political Gadfly and Media Critic that has given passion and hope to the general public — and alienated the Major Media — which, of course, is why you don’t know more about him.

 The clarity of David Cogswell’s text and the wit of Paul Gordon’s illustrations make Chomsky as easy to understand as the genius next door. Words and art combine to clarify (but not oversimplify) the work and to “humorize” the man who may very well be what one savvy interviewer called him — “the smartest man on earth.”

David Cogswell is a writer based in Hoboken, N.J. He has written thousands of articles on business, travel, politics, and the arts for various print and online publications, including Online Journal, Democratic Underground, Bushwatch, Indymedia.org, Fortune.com, Travel Weekly, the Hudson Current and the Jersey Journal. He’s the author of Existentialism For Beginners, and has contributed pieces to a number of political books, including Fortunate Son: The Making of an American President, by J.H. Hatfield; Ambushed: The Hidden History of the Bush Family by Toby Rogers; and America’s Autopsy Report, by John Kaminski.