Wow it’s been almost 3 months since my last review of books. Problem is, I make time to read, but I don’t give myself time to type out a review.
Anyway, I’m really excited about this list, as all the books in this list are MUST-READS!!
Okay, I lied. Not all the books here are must-reads, but certainly some of them are, including this one, if you’re into marketing.
All Marketers Are Liars by Seth Godin
The title of this book is also a lie, a way to grab your attention, as it did mine. It helps that I happen to like Seth Godin’s writings already, and I follow his blog. Anyway, the main idea of this book is that effective marketers tell stories (”lies”), and consumers want to believe stories that have been framed to fit their worldview.
Take SUVs for example.
Instead of buying a car that makes sense, more people choose to buy an SUV. They believe the story, not the facts. SUVs get lousy mileage. They are more dangerous to the driver, to her passengers and to other vehicles than minivans. They create more than their share of pollution. They create more wear and tear on the roads and take up extra space on parking lots and highways. But they make people feel good.
It’s the story that changes people’s feelings about the SUV. Although SUVs aren’t safer than other cars, they certainly feel that way because they are bigger and higher, and their wheels have bigger and mean-looking flares.
Creative’s Sim Wong Hoo should read this book - then he’ll better understand why his mp3 players aren’t selling like hot ipods. One of the best marketing books I’ve read.
Speaking of lies, there are plenty of them (or inaccuracies, to use a less emotionally-laden term) in Da Vinci Code.
Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code by Bart D. Ehrman
There must be already at least a dozen books out there pointing out the historical errors in Dan Brown’s bestseller, and in fact I was about to read one of them when I found out that Bart Ehrman was working on this book, so I decided to wait for Ehrman’s instead. You see, Ehrman is a well-known scholar specialising in early Christian history, and if anyone was qualified to comment on Dan Brown’s claims on Christian history, it would be Bart Ehrman.
Ehrman gives very comprehensive and detailed arguments, with substantial background information to back up his arguments. The book isn’t terribly readable - it reads slightly better than an academic paper, but if you’re determined enough to find the best arguments against Dan Brown’s claims (which are probably disturbing to you), this would be the book.
Be forewarned though, if you’re a conservative Christian: Ehrman is an agnostic, and he does not give the Bible any special treatment and assume that it’s inerrant and inspired etc. But then again, that makes his arguments stronger since his position is very neutral.
Go for this book if you want the background, the history, and the facts, but you’re suspicious of anti-da vinci code books by Christians.
Let’s go into fiction now…
The Mouse And His Child by Russell Hoban
If you think this sounds like a children’s book, it is. But it’s not merely a children’s book - in fact, I wonder if it’s really one, since it’s so profound that I suspect many adult readers don’t get it.
Sure, it’s about this father-son windup toy mouse pair that goes through a series of mostly unfortunate and even violent events and finally have a happily-ever-after ending, but look a little deeper, and you’ll see philosophical explorations, even mathematics - far too deep for the typical kid. Or adult.
Here’s the reply of the Muskrat when the mouse child asked him to make the father-child pair self-winding:
‘I’m afraid that’s a little out of my line,’ said Muskrat. ‘Oh, I’ve tinkered with clockwork now and then, but I have long since gone beyond the limits of mere mechanical invention. That’s applied thought, you see, and my real work is in the realm of pure thought. There is nothing quite like the purity of pure thought. It’s the cleanest work there is, you might say.’
Don’t tell me a child understands that.
Awesome book, but not for everyone. Read slowly, think deeply.
Since we’re talking about stories, here’s another storybook…
The Paradox of Excellence by David Mosby, Michael Weissman
Now it doesn’t look like a storybook, nor does the title resemble one, but it uses a fictional narrative to convey the main points of the book.
So yes, this is really a business-related book, about companies which provide an excellent service, easily better than their competitors, but are under-appreciated by their customers, because their customers have gotten used to their excellence and have come to take them for granted. Thus any deviation or mistake made by the company may result in an overreaction by the customer (e.g. moving to a competitor), even though the company is still outperforming everyone in the whole scheme of things - the “paradox of excellence”.
As mentioned earlier, this book uses a fictional story to illustrate learning points, so it’s extremely easy to read (can be finished in one or two sittings), quite memorable, and thus is very effective.
A great book to check out if you’re facing (or about to face) the paradox of excellence.
Everything Bad Is Good for You by Steven Johnson
Some of you already know that I don’t watch TV, and if I have kids of my own, they won’t get to watch TV either.
Then I come across this book that makes the bold claim that just about everything that is widely believed to be bad, including TV, may actually be good, plus it’s by an author I like, so I figure I have to check it out, and perhaps, rethink my opinion on TV.
Johnson’s main argument is that the “bad” things in popular culture like TV, computer games, etc. are getting more complex, and thus require more cognitive effort. For instance, many of today’s most popular TV sitcoms (of which I have little knowledge) portray complex social webs which require and develops mental muscle, something missing in older TV shows.
His argument, seems pretty sound. But the question that kept crawling back into my consciousness was: yeah, keeping track of all those complex relationships in the TV shows does require more effort now, but doesn’t it still fall short of real life? Aren’t real-life relationships even more complex? (Well, mine are.)
The same goes with his take on computer games - sure they’re requiring more brainpower than ever. But I’d choose real-life offline interaction anytime, if I had the choice.
For those with no choice and no social life, perhaps everything bad might be good for you. Otherwise, I wouldn’t recommend this book.
But now for some books that I really recommend…
Self-Made Man by Norah Vincent
The author of this book, a woman, disguised herself as a man and lived as a man for over a year. This book is about her experiences and reflections on the whole experience, comparing and contrasting the male and female psyche.
Here’s just one of the experiences: When she walks down the street as a woman, men have no qualms about staring at her, undressing her with their eyes. I suppose this is something most women or girls face, and most guys don’t realise.
Now when she disguised herself as a man, she discovered that no man would stare at her - there’s a sense of mutual respect between men, an understanding that if a man stares at another, it means that they want to either “fight or fuck”. Many young women find this completely foreign.
Norah Vincent brings out many other little things that we take for granted as a member of our own sex but is unknown to members of the opposite sex, in areas of work, friendship, dating, etc.
An awesome and mind-expanding read. I’ve been raving about this book to too many friends already.
Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon MacKenzie
I probably wouldn’t have bothered with this book if it wasn’t recommended (and raved about) by an insightful CEO of some architecture firm in the US.
And when I first held it in my hand at Borders, I was somewhat doubtful, because many of the pages had whimsical and juvenile drawings, and some of the text were floating all over the page like some pretentious modern poetry that tries too hard.
But I ordered it anyway.
And once I started actually reading it, I was completely hooked.
The book is just a whole series of stories and incidents that happened to Gordon MacKenzie, who was working at Hallmark. By the time he was at Hallmark, it had already turned into a bureaucracy (a “giant hairball”), and he talks about how he stayed creative (and sane) in the organisation without getting sucked into the system - he calls “orbiting”.
Many of the stories are crazy and hilarious (like how he got the new position of “Creative Paradox” at his company - what kinda position is that?), but contain lessons and insights for cubicle-dwellers like me who are trying not to lose the creative spirit. Oh, it’s tremendously easy to read too.
This book was so radical that MacKenzie initially had to self-publish it. Now it’s a cult classic in the business/management world.
When I finished this book, I cradled it in my hands for far too long, wishing that it had many more pages. I hate to use the word “inspirational” (it sounds too sissy), but darn, it really did inspire me. *Wistful sigh*
Photoshop LAB Color by Dan Margulis
Since my last few reviews included a Photoshop book, I shall, for the sake of tradition, add in this one, even though I didn’t have time to read much of it.
This book is about using the LAB colorspace in Photoshop to do image editing. It doesn’t sound like much, but it really is. Oh, if you don’t know what’s the LAB colorspace, or if you don’t know what’s colorspace, this book might prove rather difficult. Then again, if you’re already a pro and you know a lot about colorspaces, some parts of this book might prove difficult as well.
What I love about this book is that it frequently goes against the grain of conventional wisdom, yet the techniques work better than the conventional - exactly my type. And his instructional style is erudite and witty. My type again.
So, if you’re already a Photoshop pro and you want your skills to take a quantum leap, devour this book. Dan Margulis is simply the very absolute best author of Photoshop books out there. I’m not exaggerating.
