The following review is by Joe Toscano in the Anarchist Age Weekly Review No 389, 28 Feb - 5 March, 2000, Melbourne.

THE COMMON GOOD
Noam Chomsky interviewed by David Barsamian, Odonian Press 1998, Library of Congress Catalogue Number 98-36584

This book has been compiled as a result of seven interviews that David Barsamian of Alternative Radio did with Noam Chomsky in 1997. The Material has been compiled and edited by Arthur Naiman. The Common Good touches on a myriad of topics ranging from freedom to libraries, East Timor to Mexico, signs of progress to the magic answer.

Arthur Naiman has divided the book into five distinct sections, the Common Good, On the home front, Around the World, the U.S. left (and limitations thereof) and what you can do. If you're looking for some new gems or indepth analysis, don't waste your time on the Common Good. If you want lucid simple explanations about what's happening in the world around you, this book is the book for you. Chomsky, through Barsomian's questioning, is able to give a thumb nail sketch about corporate welfare, the media crime, the Middle East and many other topics.

The Common Good gives an insight into corners of society that people take for granted. It gives people who have begun questioning the cornerstones of the communities they live in the confidence to delve into what they have discovered. Chomsky is able, through his work, to begin the process of questioning that is necessary if people are to change. Anarchists will find little they didn't know in the Common Good, other people will have their eyes opened by the analysis that Chomskey offers in this book. Would I buy the Common Good? - No. Would I recommend that anarchist activists buy this book for their personal use? - No. Would I recommend that anarchists buy this book for people that are interested in social change and anarchist ideas - Yes.

This book's strength lies in Chomskey's ability to reduce complex concepts to simple truths that are accessible to anyone who cares to read this book.