Perhaps not his best work, but still a lovely Nicholson read, and a pleasure to return to the protagonist from The Anthologist - now displacing Julie Perhaps not his best work, but still a lovely Nicholson read, and a pleasure to return to the protagonist from The Anthologist - now displacing Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke in "Before Sunrise" as the fictional character receiving a sequel least likely to get a sequel.
Planet Fitness, recording music in Logic on your Mac, poetry, Brahms and Stravinsky, Obama and Drones, and a simple, tender love story lurking beneath it all. As so often with Baker, nothing happens, but you find yourself not minding. The plot is rarely the point with Baker.
If you've not read him, this is not the place to start. If you have, you will be rewarded per usual. ...more
An amazing, gripping, terrifying and thrilling history of the United States' nuclear arsenal. Basically, it's totally amazing that we didn't blow oursAn amazing, gripping, terrifying and thrilling history of the United States' nuclear arsenal. Basically, it's totally amazing that we didn't blow ourselves up, and we came very, very close many, many times. There was that time when we accidentally lost a nuclear bomb in North Carolina. Or that time we accidentally dropped one off the coast of Spain. Or that time a B 52 caught fire with a bunch of nukes on it while sitting on a runway in North Dakota and almost blew up. Or that time a titan missile silo caught fire and exploded. Or that time someone flew SIX live nuclear bombs across the country without even realizing it. The most terrifying part is correlating this book to the modern news and realizing that things are probably even worse now.
One can't help but assume someone like Dr. Who is actually real, running around the past and saving humanity from destruction, because honestly, it's a miracle we're even alive.
This is also a testament to the scientists and military men who fought relentlessly against the tide to work to make our nuclear arsenal safer.
And a depressing story of how every president from Eisenhower on tried to do the same, only to make minor progress thanks to bureaucratic intransigence, only to have the cycle start all over again with the next president. Eleven separate presidents have been elected, realized the danger of our arsenal, attempted to make it safer, and broadly failed in the face of military non-cooperation. Democracy in action, I suppose.
This is also the book I made the most highlights in, ever. But they are too terrifying to re-read. ...more
This is the book that invented brainstorming. The examples and diction are showing their age, and some aspects of brainstorming have been refuted, butThis is the book that invented brainstorming. The examples and diction are showing their age, and some aspects of brainstorming have been refuted, but its still a worthy read. Caution, though, the whole part with brainstorming is really just a small part towards the end of the book. The rest is a rather boring paen to "good ideas" and "creativity in business," which have become obvious and pat by now. ...more
Great telling of the story of Amazon. No idea why Jeff Bezos' wife is unhappy with the book, it's really quite fair. Bezos himself is less than 100% aGreat telling of the story of Amazon. No idea why Jeff Bezos' wife is unhappy with the book, it's really quite fair. Bezos himself is less than 100% accurate in his lectures and talks on the past of the company and the book starts out with the author and Bezos talking about the inherent difficulty of nonfiction narrative. I would never work there, personally - those meetings sound ridiculous, and I believe in a work-life balance. But i love the company, am a huge customer, and though some of Bezos' business tactics seem hard-charging, that's business. A good read. ...more
Having this book exist is sort of like discovering the rosetta stone. It's hard to remember before the internet, when 4AD was this mysterious thing, aHaving this book exist is sort of like discovering the rosetta stone. It's hard to remember before the internet, when 4AD was this mysterious thing, along with the bands and 23 envelope. I grew up in the middle of nowhere, in central Alaska, and I can remember the first time I ever saw a 4AD record - This Mortal Coil's "16 days" single and the Cocteau Twins' Victorialand, at a local Comic Book Store of all places. 1986? 1987? It was like finding an artifact from another world. Through the years, I collected as much as I could find. They got bigger, of course - Pixies and Throwing Muses and Belly and even the Cocteau Twins got big. I knew of a man named Ivo behind it all, but you knew very little about him. I witnessed him once, at a 4AD showcase in New York in 1992, and I thought I had seen the most important man on the planet.
You couldn't help but notice the label changed through the years - it got kinda boring, and then it got good again, but in a different way. Somewhere in the late 90's I lost track of 4AD, but then in the 2010's I kept noticing that their name was on records I was buying again - Blonde Redhead, Bon Iver, The National, Deerhunter. What was going on? I never really knew. I suppose at that point, I could have looked it up on the internet - since it existed now. But it never occured to me. 4AD was always mysterious, it was hard to imagine that would ever stop. Even later in life, when I was friends with some members of some of the bands on 4AD, Ivo still seemed mythical.
Then along comes "Facing the Other Way,' with the full story not just of 4AD, and of Ivo, but of his partners and coworkers, of Vaughan Oliver, Nigel Grierson, Chris Bigg, 23 Envelope - names you saw on sleeves but never really knew the full story of (though I HAD seen Vaughan Oliver give a lecture somewhere in the mid 90's). And the BANDS. The ones you loved, the ones you never knew anything about. Everything. And in the end, it turns out that Ivo is living in the New Mexican desert? My mind is blown. My childhood is being re-written.
There's SO MUCH in here. Some people give it fewer stars for its thorough completedness. There are bands one doesn't particularly care for personally, and then perhaps you don't want to read about them. And the competedness does cause a bit of wear on the narrative. But I don't care. This label was one of the most important things in my life in my teenage years, and now, 25 years later, I ate every page of it up. Things I thought were impossible to know as a child.
The woman on the cover of the TMC albums is real. That Ivo was a partner in Too Pure and signing PJ Harvey. David Lynch's obsession with "Song to the Siren." Kelly Deal worked at Hughes Aircraft. SO MUCH RANDOMNESS. 4AD not signing Low!
Robin Guthrie comes out the worst, and it's sad Liz Frasier's voice isn't heard in this book, but otherwise, it's a true gem. ...more
Wayyy too much time on gear and not enough time on actually helping beginners. The table in the end was the most useful - outlining how much to run eaWayyy too much time on gear and not enough time on actually helping beginners. The table in the end was the most useful - outlining how much to run each day. Not a bad book, but not the book I was looking for. ...more
**spoiler alert** Who comes out best? Biz, with Ev #2.
Who comes out worst? Bill Campbell. Jack a close #2.
What can a budding young tech CEO take awa**spoiler alert** Who comes out best? Biz, with Ev #2.
Who comes out worst? Bill Campbell. Jack a close #2.
What can a budding young tech CEO take away from this book? Never, ever hire Bill Campbell to be your CEO coach.
Honestly, if there were a licensing committee for CEO coaches, if the tale in this book is true, Bill Campbell should be disbarred. It's a minor part of the book, but as someone who knew much of this while it was going on, it is by far the most shocking thing in the book.
The rest of the book is solid. I would have loved more of the later days - Dick's monetization tactics, the board reshuffle, Jack's less-than-stellar return. But still. This is a book that needed to be written, and I thank Nick Bilton for doing it. Brilliant move. Way more of a story here than with Facebook. ...more
Loved reading it. The plot wasn't quite as nonsensical or absurdist as Inherent Vice, but similar. Got a little Gravity's Rainbow esque towards the enLoved reading it. The plot wasn't quite as nonsensical or absurdist as Inherent Vice, but similar. Got a little Gravity's Rainbow esque towards the end. Liked the last third a lot, actually, when things got pretty surreal.
The thing about paranoia is you never know what's paranoia and what's truth, and Pynchon drives this home. At first you think it's gonna be a mystery that will have a set answer, but instead it goes off the rails into the paranoia, which I rather like.
Pynchon's got a pun a minute in this book, and it's wildly erudite - you're never quite sure if he's making a thing up or it's something obscure. Because it's set in the recent dot com past, it feels a little more wikipedia-y than his books set in a more distant time. Indeed, using the Kindle's Wikipedia lookup was actually insanely useful.
There were moments of geniune emotion, moments when I felt moved, but they are rare. I suppose it's pointless hoping for a pynchon with a coherent, straightforward plot, but if I had one disappointment with this book, the lack of a proper "ending" would be it. ...more
There's a reason this is out of print. But hey, it takes an hour to read, and read as a historical document it isn't terrible. If you ever wondered whThere's a reason this is out of print. But hey, it takes an hour to read, and read as a historical document it isn't terrible. If you ever wondered where task forces and kickoff meetings and phased consulting deliverables and discovery phases and whatnot came from, here you go. A culmination of a bunch of 80's management zeitgeist mixed with a smidge of Max Weber and Alvin Toffler (but not near enough). Long on examples from companies, some of whom are no longer existent. It's hard to imagine what this was received like at the time, but basically everyone these days knows all of this. ...more
You're reading this book and you just think the whole time "man this guy is so awesome and so smart he rules." And you mention it to someone that you'You're reading this book and you just think the whole time "man this guy is so awesome and so smart he rules." And you mention it to someone that you're reading it and they say "he was an anti-semite." And you think "oh he couldn't have been. He goes on and on about the worth of all people and he genuinely seems to care about everyone.' And then there's this one random passage in the last chapter where he basically says something like "I know we get a lot of guff for the jew thing but honestly it's not that big of a deal when one group of people are so different than everyone else you have to blah blah blah" and you go "wait what?" And that one random passage totally bums you out about Henry Ford because you had convinced yourself he wasn't that bad. And who knows. Maybe he was a product of his time. Read the rest of the book, though, it's spectacular.
Also there's all this stuff where he's like "and what's the deal with hospitals they are run so dumb. It's not that hard, I started a hospital and it works great" and you think "uh huh sure" so you google it and yes, in fact, his hospital is still going, and was and STILL IS a great hospital, pioneering in medical care. Weird. This was true with schools too. And railroads. What a ridiculously smart human being.
If you watch enterprise, pretend Demons and Terra Prime are the end of the season. Then watch the last episode, and then IMMEDIATELY pick up this bookIf you watch enterprise, pretend Demons and Terra Prime are the end of the season. Then watch the last episode, and then IMMEDIATELY pick up this book and read it. It makes things better. It is a better ending. This should have been that episode. Even the frame story characters would have been more awesome. A proper re-telling that makes everything work. ...more