Catcher In The Rye – Cover Art
Jan 29, 2010 Art, Image based
Newsweek has an overview of Catcher In The Rye cover styles over the last several decades. Check it out here.
Largest Book In The World On Show For The First Time
Jan 29, 2010 History, Unusual Releases
I, for one, plan to go and see this ASAP:
“It takes six people to lift it and has been recorded as the largest book in the world, yet the splendid Klencke Atlas, presented to Charles II on his restoration and now 350 years old, has never been publicly displayed with its pages open. That glaring omission is to be rectified, it was announced by the British Library today, when it will be displayed as one of the stars of its big summer exhibition about maps.
The summer show will feature about 100 maps, considered some of the greatest in the world, with three-quarters of them going on display for the first time.”
Wildwood: A Journey Through Trees
Jan 26, 2010 Uncategorized
This is quite unlike most of the books I’ve reviewed here before. It has no clear narrative, it contains science but doesn’t focus on it and it’s hard to even describe what it’s about.
The book is a written tribute to and celebration of trees, and what we get from them – wood that is put to both utilitarian and artistic uses, walnut harvests in distant mountain ranges, firewood, hedges. Written as a journey that is sometimes continuous and sometimes resumes after an apparent gap of many years (or millions of miles), the naturalist author rambles all over the world and in doing so shares his knowledge about the natural world, art and social history. Reading this book is like a strange, somehow very moving, experience. Recommended.
Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior
Jan 24, 2010 Learning and Knowledge, Philosophy & Thinking, Self Help & Personal Training, Skeptical books
This fun book leans towards irrationality in economics and politics, presenting examples of poorly thought-out decisions and then using science to explain the psychological mechanisms behind them. Probably the most interesting section looks at en masse diagnosis of bipolar disorder, why it became such a common diagnosis, and the effects that such a diagnosis can have on a developing child.
It’s not a thick book, and if you’ve read several things in the same sort of area then you might feel a little cheated to find it repeats information you already know. On the other hand, if you want a light refresher or you’re just delving into this area, this is a good one to pick up.
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
Jan 20, 2010 Biography, History, Image based, Women's Literature
Moving without being sentimental or cliched, painfully honest to the point of brutality without being gratuitous, this book is basically perfect. The artwork is simple but somehow very, very expressive and this is a side of Iranian life you never get to see – it’s easy to be sort of informed if you keep up with news sources, but it’s usually in the aftermath of violence that anyone stops to ask regular Iranians what they think, and what their lives are like. The answers might surprise you.
Synopsis: Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis is an exemplary autobiographical graphic novel, in the tradition of Art Spiegelman’s classic Maus. Set in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, it follows the young Satrapi, six-year-old daughter of two committed and well-to-do Marxists. As she grows up, she witnesses first-hand the effects that the revolution and the war with Iraq have on her home, family and school.
Saucy Jack: The Elusive Ripper
Jan 18, 2010 History, Specialist Subjects, Uncategorized
No serial killer has left a legacy like that of Jack the Ripper. Conspiracy theories abound as to who carried out a series of murders in 1888 Whitechapel, but why? Brutal crimes abounded in East London, and society didn’t care deeply about the fate of working girls, who often met violent ends.
Saucy Jack examines how these specific murders became famous, what his tells us about 1888 attitudes and social life, and how one murderer became a horror movie archetype for centuries to come. It describes the victims and facts surrounding the attacks, as well as discussing the evolution of the Ripper archetype, its presence in the media, from early newspaper accounts to modern video games and rock music, takes a close look at the “ripperologists” who spend their spare time agonising over the case, and has a skeptical look at the various conspiracy theories floating around, and why they attract people.
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Jan 13, 2010 Learning and Knowledge, Philosophy & Thinking, Self Help & Personal Training
This book is a massive eye-opener. It explains the fundamental mechanisms behind suggestion and influence as used in sales tactics and to establish authority. This is a far cry form those cheesy NLP-style influence technique books, and Cialdini makes no assertions that he cannot back up through scientific research and experimentation, unlike some of the cringeworthy trash out there. It’s not at all dry, though, and the author’s self-deprecating humour lightens the mood of the entire book.
Synopsis: “Influence”, the classic book on persuasion, explains the psychology of why people say “yes” – and how to apply these understandings. Dr. Robert Cialdini is the seminal expert in the rapidly expanding field of influence and persuasion. His thirty-five years of rigorous, evidence-based research along with a three-year program of study on what moves people to change behavior has resulted in this highly acclaimed book. You’ll learn the six universal principles, how to use them to become a skilled persuader – and how to defend yourself against them. Perfect for people in all walks of life, the principles of “Influence” will move you toward profound personal change and act as a driving force for your success.
The East End Chronicles – Ed Glinert
Jan 11, 2010 History, Specialist Subjects
This is a very entertaining account of the history of East End London, although it does get repetitive at times – the same information appears multiple times throughout the book under different headings. Jack the Ripper, of course, is discussed at some length, but the book also gives a good overview of East End London up until the present day, including immigration patterns, some local legends and various non-Ripper grisly tales. Some of it may need to be taken with a large pinch of salt, but if you want to know more about the area then it’s a good, if perhaps sensationalised, start.
Synopsis: The East End: Roman burial ground, medieval rubbish tip, Victorian hell hole, WW2 bombing target, 21st century gentrification template. Always a rum place, the industrial revolution replaced the rose bushes and hedgerows with metallic roads and iron railways, the mud banks gave way to deep-water docks and sweatshops. East End Chronicles will tell the story of this part of London that has always enthralled writers and readers through the bizarre, the unusual, the arcane and the mysterious. Chapters on the Silk Weavers of Spitalfields; Docks, Dockers and River Pirates; Murder and Mayhem on the Radcliffe Highway; Mystics and Myth-Makers; The Blitz and Bombs; The Jewish Ghetto and more reveal the underbelly of the history of the East End.
