How Ignorance Drives Creativity
[In the countdown to the release of The Dance of the Possible: the mostly honest completely irreverent guide to…
Category: Book reviews
The Real World of Technology (Book Review)
Despite our cultural obsession with new technology, we forget that the idea of new technology is old. We also…
The Real Reasons Why We Vote The Way We Do
We all tend to think our own political views are sound, but that it’s “the others” that are crazy,…
The Night of The Gun, Review
“We all remember the parts of the past that help us connect with the future.” – David Carr, The…
Book Review: The True Believer – Thoughts on The Nature of Mass Movements
Somewhere back in college I became familiar with The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements. It…
Book Review: Smarter Than You Think
It’s wise to read books with points of view you don’t share. It’s the only way you get exposed…
(Book Review) The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success
I read a prerelease copy of The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success from Viking…
Book Review: Writing On the Wall – The First 2000 Years of Social Media
I’m a fan of Tom Standage‘s earlier works, particularly The Victorian Internet, which explored the parallels between the rise…
The 3 best books I read in 2013
It’s common in December to see lists of “best of the year” for books and films. I read 20…
Book Review: Remote: Office Not Required, by 37Signals
In writing The Year Without Pants, about my year working for the 100% remote organization at WordPress.com, I deliberately avoided…
Book Review: Jung’s Man and His Symbols
I’d heard of the work of Carl Jung by reference, and despite never reading anything he wrote I knew…
Book review: Your First 1000 copies – a guide to marketing books
Last night I read Your First 1000 copies: The step by step guide to marketing your book by Tim Grahl…
Book Review: Designing Together
I was honored to write the forward for Dan Brown’s new book, Designing Together, because I thought it was excellent.…
Book Review: Good Prose – The Art of Non Fiction
I gave a talk at WordCamp Seattle recently about writing. One point I made was the limitations for improving…
Book Review: Microinteractions
They say the devil is in the details, but the angels are in there too. That is, if you…
Don’t Go Back to School: Book Review
I wrote recently about whether a college degree is worth the expense, and when I heard about Kio Stark’s…
The Great Gatsby: Book Review
I’ve read the Great Gatsby more than a dozen times. It’s a reference book for me, in that I…
Why We Love Sociopaths: Interview
Last week I reviewed the book Why We Love Sociopaths: a guide to late capitalist television and I enjoyed it…
Why We Love Sociopaths: Book Review
The other day I saw some high school students in a coffeeshop, and on the table was a book…
The Great Big Book of Horrible Things: Book Review
This book, The Great Big Book of Horrible Things, by Matthew White, is a masterpiece. We think the world…