Ask HN: Can we make a list of obscure/unknown non-fiction books?

6 points by mezod 2y ago ↗ HN

I'm tired of seeing the same recommendations everywhere. What book can you recommend that you think no one else will know about that you enjoyed? Any topic is welcome!

I'll start: Thinking Fast and Slow - hahaha joking, I got you there ehhh!!!

what about hmm: Critical Path by Buckminster Fuller ?

7 comments

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pwinkeler 2y ago ↗

By definition such a list is impossible

sargstuff 2y ago ↗

Give dirth of publications, don't think there's enough time for even all of the Noone's[0] to review even a fraction of what's available.

In today's day & age more difficult for unpublished prints and/or pre-electronic distribution pre-prints to "be unknown" / "be obscure".

Claude Shannon references to unpublished works : https://findingaids.loc.gov/exist_collections/ead3pdf/mss/20...

[0] : Noone coat of arms : https://coadb.com/surnames/noone-arms.html

sys_prog 2y ago ↗

Kybalion, Reality transurfing, The illusion of money, The minimalist entrepreneur, Power vs Force, Psycho cybernetics, No self no problem

mezod 2y ago ↗

thanks for actually responding to the question!

wannabebarista 2y ago ↗

"Lost Continents" by L. Sprague de Camp (1954). Looks at Atlantis and other lost continents as rhetorical devices in ancient history and philosophy, 20th century pseudoscience/pseudohistory, and science fiction

ilaksh 2y ago ↗

This would actually just be a list of less well known but still popular books.

Probably 90+% of books published are "obscure" in the sense that they didn't become best sellers and won't be recognized by the average person or likely mentioned in a list like you requested. Most books just don't become popular enough to be well known. Which I think is a tough benchmark.

Desafinado 2y ago ↗

Anything by Merwin Crawford Young, early Zen Buddhist texts, Anthony Giddens, Peter Berger, the Tao te Ching, Max Weber, Norbert Elias, Nisargadatta Maharaj