From the Inside

"To expect a bad person not to harm others is like expecting fig trees not to secrete juice, babies not to cry, horses not to neigh -- the inevitable not to happen. What else could they do -- with that sort of character?" Marcus Aurelius Linkin Park spent all of 2003 promoting their second album, … Continue reading From the Inside →

Gorbachev

Gorbachev: The Path to Power by Christian Schmidt-Hauer I.B. Taurus (11 July 1986) Where to find it What's it about?: Biography of Mikhail Gorbachev, former Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union, from 1985 until its dissolution in 1991. Looking at his life and career, it was published in 1986. … Continue reading Gorbachev →

Nostalgia

[Acknowledgement: I would like to thank my buddy Thanasi, since much of what went into this piece came from our conversations.] "A world in which stylistic innovation is no longer possible, all that's left is to imitate dead styles, to speak through the masks and with the voices of the styles in the imaginary museum." … Continue reading Nostalgia →

Four Tragedies

Four Tragedies: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth by William Shakespeare Penguin (27 October 1994) Publisher's link What's it about?: Four of Shakespeare's tragedies, with notes, introductions, background and sources, and other additional materials to accompany each text. My opinion: It's Shakespeare. How can one go wrong? Let's just leave it at that. Kidding... sort of. … Continue reading Four Tragedies →

Zero to One

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel (with Blake Masters) Virgin (1 June 2015) Publisher's Link What's It About?: Startups, at least as the word is currently defined in the Silicon Valley sense, and how to test ideas and get your company moving. It challenges readers to … Continue reading Zero to One →

History of the Peloponnesian War

History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides (translated by Rex Warner) Penguin (31 December 1963) Publisher's link What It's About?: Thucydides' historical account of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE), fought between the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) and the Delian League (led by Athens). The author served as an Athenian general during the war, a … Continue reading History of the Peloponnesian War →

My Pilgrim’s Progress

My Pilgrim's Progress: Media Studies, 1950-1998 by George W. S. Trow Vintage (2 May 2000) Publisher's link What It's About?: A study of the media culture of the United States, how television came to dominate media consumption in the 1950s, and how things continued to evolve towards the end of the twentieth-century. George W. S. … Continue reading My Pilgrim’s Progress →

Take a Look in the Mirror

"Someone asked the novelist how he was able to write so consistently and remain inspired and motivated. He replied, 'Two hundred crappy words per day, that's it.' The idea was that if he forced himself to write two hundred crappy words, more often than not the act of writing would inspire him; and before he … Continue reading Take a Look in the Mirror →

The Art of War

The Art of War: The Essential Translation of the Classic Book of Life by Sun-Tzu (translated by John Minford) Penguin Classics (14 July 2009) Publisher's link What's It About?: Sun-Tzu's classic treatise on military strategy, studied and widely applied by military, financial, business, and political leaders around the world. My opinion: This book is a … Continue reading The Art of War →

Winchell Exclusive

Winchell Exclusive: Things That Happened to Me - and Me to Them by Walter Winchell Prentice Hall (1975) National Library of Australia What's It About?: The autobiography of Walter Winchell (1897-1972), American tabloid journalist and radio news commentator, and unquestionably the most (in)famous media figure of the twentieth-century. This book was written and completed prior … Continue reading Winchell Exclusive →