As outlined in my previous post, a change in my employment status has meant that I have had to stop blogging on politics.
However, for those of you who have failed to update their RSS feed or are slow learners about the lack of posting around here, you might be interested in following my new, non-political […]
A good preview from Peter Martin of the new Keating quasi-biography, “The Unfinished Revolution” here
Any author who is described as Keating’s Boswell gets my attention:
In Unfinished Business, David Love, a veteran economic and financial observer, becomes Keating’s modern-day Boswell, reporting fascinating and frank conversations with the former prime minister both before and after his political demise.
Writing with great verve and insight, David Love explores the story of Paul Keating’s […]
It’s been a long time coming, but in the vein of ToKblog reviews of influential political campaigning texts like Frank Luntz’s “It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear” and Joe Trippi’s “The Revolution Will Not be Televised”, I’ve finally got around to blogging Drew Westen’s more recent book “The Political Brain: The Role […]
I finally got around to reading Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande during my India trip and it was just as good as his work at The New Yorker.
Insightful, clearly expressed and entertaining, it’s a very enjoyable read.
Here’s a tip for becoming what he calls a “positive deviant” ie someone whose performance […]
Yep, I’m still on holidays. More reviews for you:
The Girl Who Played Go, Shan Sa
Synopsis: Chinese teenager and Japanese soldier develop a bond while playing Go in a small town in occupied Manchuria.
My Take: A common theme in the ex-pat Chinese authors I’ve read to date (eg Ha Jin, Yiyun Li) is melodrama and The […]
[Note ToK Blog is still on auto-pilot while I’m on holidays in India. Back to scheduled programming in about a week.]
More reviews of some of the better books I’ve read this year:
The Crazed, Ha Jin
Synopsis: Set against the backdrop of the Tiananmen Square uprising, a Chinese literature professor suffers a stroke and relives his suffering […]
Enough of Warnie, time for some more culture.
Confessions of a Mask, Yukio Mishima.
Background: Mishima is one of those authors (like Solzenitzen or Hemmingway) whose work is made even richer by their his extraordinary personal life. A militant Japanese ultra-conservative (fascist really) martial arts aficionado, Mishima isn’t your usual writer of fine literature. What makes him […]
We’re Still on Auto-Pilot here, so here’s some more stimulating book reviews for you.
The Guns of August 1914, Barbara Tuchman
Synopsis: Droll and erudite Pulitzer Prize winning account of the first month of the first World War.
My Take: I had wanted to read this book since reading RFK’s account of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Serendipitously, […]
Continuing with the non-time relevant, automated posting while I’m in India, another cross post of some reviews of some of the better books I’ve read this year:
The Long Tail, Chris Anderson
Synopsis: As search, storage and distribution costs trend towards zero in an increasingly digital world the economics of commerce are changing. While massively selling high-demand […]