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Mikhail Bulgakov's Master & the Margarita
yet another rad book out of russia. aaahhhh.... russia....
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Vegas Die, Interactive Mystery Novel
An innovative writer but is his latest novel up to snuff? With his recently released book he is taking reading to the next level. Stephen Grogan's recent work is a mystery novel that keeps people on the edge of their seat. In this book, the author gives clues to the reader to find a silver dagger that is worth $25,000. The catch... its hidden somewhere in Las Vegas. But the hard part is figuring out where in Sin City to begin your search. This innovative idea of an interactive book could mark the beginning of a new approach to literature or a new wave of entertainment. An innovative writer but is his latest novel up to snuff? With his recently released book he is taking reading to the next level. Step... more
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The Cluetrain Manifesto - markets are conversations
We are not "seats" or "eyeballs" or "end users" or "consumers." We are human beings - and our reach exceeds your grasp.
A powerful global conversation has begun. Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed. As a direct result, markets are getting smarter—and getting smarter faster than most companies.
These markets are conversations. Their members communicate in language that is natural, open, honest, direct, funny and often shocking. Whether explaining or complaining, joking or serious, the human voice is unmistakably genuine. It can't be faked.
Most corporations, on the other hand, only know how to talk in the soothing, humorless monotone of the mission statement, marketing brochure, and your-call-is-important-to-us busy signal. Same old tone, same old lies. No wonder networked markets have no respect for companies unable or unwilling to speak as they do.
But learning to speak in a human voice is not some trick, nor will corporations convince us they are human with lip service about "listening to customers." They will only sound human when they empower real human beings to speak on their behalf.
While many such people already work for companies today, most companies ignore their ability to deliver genuine knowledge, opting instead to crank out sterile happytalk that insults the intelligence of markets literally too smart to buy it.
However, employees are getting hyperlinked even as markets are. Companies need to listen carefully to both. Mostly, they need to get out of the way so intranetworked employees can converse directly with internetworked markets.
Corporate firewalls have kept smart employees in and smart markets out. It's going to cause real pain to tear those walls down. But the result will be a new kind of conversation. And it will be the most exciting conversation business has ever engaged in. We are not "seats" or "eyeballs" or "end users" or "consumers." We are human beings - and our ... more -
Read Any Good Books Lately?
Looking for the next good book to read, a gift for someone, or some kindling to recreate a musical rendition of 'Fahrenheit 451'? Looking for the next good book to read, a gift for someone, or some kindling to recreate a musical rendition of 'Fahrenheit 451&#... more
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The Royal Nonesuch by Glasgow Phillips
Glasgow Phillips published his debut novel Tuscaloosa at the tender age of twenty-four. The results were disastrous: encouraging reviews, translations, a paperback sale, a film option, and a Stegner Fellowship at Stanford. But over the next two years, as Phillips's second novel unraveled and freelance journalism assignments ended in humiliation, a horrible, secret thought took hold in him: perhaps, just possibly, whatever talent he had was of the kind that would never be more than promise.
Washed up as a "real" writer before he was thirty, Phillips went to Los Angeles and formed a company with his best childhood friend Jason McHugh, independent producer of Cannibal! The Musical and Orgazmo. The Royal Nonesuch is the story of Phillips's rollercoaster ride through the twisted world of underground Hollywood and the funhouse of the Internet during the boom. Phillips builds a hilarious and poignant memoir, in the tradition of Augusten Burroughs and Sean Wilsey, from tales of promise and failure, family and madness, friendship and redemption, fame and infamy, and good old-fashioned hustling. It is a remarkable book; a brilliant portrait of a generation in all its foolish glory. Glasgow Phillips published his debut novel Tuscaloosa at the tender age of twenty-four. The results were disastrous: encouraging revie... more -
Pattern Recognition by William Gibson
Pattern Recognition is a novel by science fiction writer William Gibson published in 2003. Set in August-September 2002 the story is about Cayce Pollard, a 32 year old marketing consultant with a psychological sensitivity to corporate symbols. The action follows her from London to Tokyo to Moscow as she seeks the creators of film clips anonymously posted to the internet.
Written in 2001 and 2002 much of the novel was changed after the September 11, 2001 attacks because the main character's background, providing some of her motivation, was already set in New York City in 2001. The attacks are used as a motif representing a transition to the new century. The central theme examines the desire to detect patterns or meaning in life and the risks of apophenia, or finding patterns in meaningless data. Other themes include the cultural familiarity with brand names and the tensions between originality and monoculture, and between art and commercialization.
It is Gibson's eighth novel, but the first to be set in the contemporary world. Like his previous work, it has been classified as postmodern and science fiction, with the action unfolding as a thriller plot line. Reviewers compared this novel with Thomas Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49 as post-structuralist detective stories. The book peaked at #4 on the New York Times Best Seller list. Critics approved of the writing but found some of the language distracting and the plot unoriginal. Pattern Recognition is a novel by science fiction writer William Gibson published in 2003. Set in August-September 2002 the story is a... more -
La Femme Rompue
by Simone de Beauvoir-- excellent in French. Also good in English.
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The Language Instinct
great intro to linguistic theory, by steven pinkler
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Born Standing Up
I loved this book. Wonderful insights into what makes comedy work, and how to deal with the insecurities of being a performer. I particularly loved the early sections that dealt with his career as a magician in Disneyland. I loved this book. Wonderful insights into what makes comedy work, and how to deal with the insecurities of being a performer. I par... more
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Hard Case Crime
I am addicted to this publisher "Hard case Crime"
They are sort of like a criterion collection for pulp fiction/ hard boiled crime novels.
They get the good out of print ones and release a new one in that genre every month. The 2 book a month subscription is reasonable. I am addicted to this publisher "Hard case Crime" ... more -
Thanatopsis by William Cullen Bryant
Not technically a book, but a very good poem about our inevitable death. Yup, it's true. we all die.
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Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
Not published in the US til 1962, at which point it set of an obscenity trial the likes of which had not been seen in the publishing world. In this day and ago, not so shocking anymore, but lucid, unstructured and the opposite of elegant. In other words, amazing. Not published in the US til 1962, at which point it set of an obscenity trial the likes of which had not been seen in the publishing w... more
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The Book of Absinthe!
Start with a poem by absintheur Raoul Ponchon (1848-1937) and then read this book. Cause it's legal now, in California.
[...]
Déridez-la toujours d'une première goutte...
Là... là... tout doucement.
Vous la verrez alors palpiter, vibrer toute,
Sourire ingénûment;
Il faut que l'eau lui soit ainsi qu'une rosée,
Tenez-vous-le pour dit :
N'éveillerez les sucs dont elle est composée
Que petit à petit.
Telle une jeune épouse hésite et s'effarouche
Quand, la première nuit,
Son mari brusquement l'envahit sur sa couche
En ne pensant qu'à lui...
[...]
Translation:
[...]
Always rouse her from the first drop ...
Like so ... and so ... very gently
Then behold her quiver, all vibrant
With an innocent smile;
Water must be for her like dew,
You must be certain about that:
Awaken the juices of which she is made
Only little by little.
Such as a young wife hesitates, startled
When, on her wedding night,
Her husband brusquely invades her bed
Thinking only of himself...
[...] Start with a poem by absintheur Raoul Ponchon (1848-1937) and then read this book. Cause it's legal now, in California. ... more -
The Yiddish Policemen's Union, by Michael Chabon.
Still kicking yourself for never getting through "The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay"? Still wishing that Chabon could combine his brilliantly evocative writing style presented in books like "Wonder Boys" with the genre-bending alternate history elements of "Kavalier & Clay," in under 500 pages? Well, wait no longer! This snappy and literate detective story is equal parts intellectual exercise and visceral thrill. What would have happened if the Jews of the world had been resettled in Alaska instead of the Holy Land? This seems as plausible a story as any, and it makes for a great read. Buy it! Still kicking yourself for never getting through "The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay"? Still wishing that Chabon could co... more
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Herzog on Herzog
Best book I've read about filmmaking. Ever:
Years ago I was searching for the biggest rooster I could find and heard about a guy in Petaluma, California, who had owned a rooster called Weirdo that weighed thirty pounds. Sadly Weirdo had passed away, but his offspring were alive, and guess what? They were even bigger. I went out there and found Ralph, son of Weirdo, who weighed an amazing thirty-two pounds! Then I found Frank, a special breed of miniature horse that stood less than two feet high. I told Frank's owner I wanted to film Ralph chasing Frank--- with a midget riding him--- around the biggest sequoia tree in the world, thirty metres in circumference. It would have been amazing because the horse and the midget together were still smaller than Ralph, the rooster. But unfortunately Frank's owner refused. He said it would make Frank look stupid.
-Werner Herzog Best book I've read about filmmaking. Ever: ... more -
Rad book #4
Buy this, then buy the movie--a synergistic holiday present.
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Rad book #3
Give this to your loved ones who want to diet during the holiday's...seriously I can't eat anything now without reading the label. Give this to your loved ones who want to diet during the holiday's...seriously I can't eat anything now without reading the ... more
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