Official book site, including the full text in PDF format Amazon link Solove is an associate professor of law at the George Washington University Law School who blogs at Concurring Opinions. Being involved in the blogosphere has given him a unique perspective on how new social technologies are pushing the boundaries of what existing law […]
Category: books
Here Comes Everybody, by Clay Shirky
[Disclaimer: I received a free advance copy of this book for review, but would happily have bought this book from Amazon.] I have been a fan of Clay Shirky since I first found his work. Several early posts on this blog were commentary on his articles covering topics such as process, situated software, and the […]
The 4-Hour Work Week, by Timothy Ferriss
Amazon link The idea that we can work less and free up time to pursue our own dreams is highly attractive for most people and this book is a guidebook on how to do it. The methods that Ferriss recommends to achieve that lifestyle provoked both admiration and disgust from people I know who read […]
Peak, by Chip Conley
Amazon link Subtitled “How Great Companies Get Their Mojo from Maslow”, this is a book applying the ideas of
The Origin of Wealth, by Eric D. Beinhocker
Amazon link Subtitled “Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of Economics”, this book is a weird mishmash of several subjects. It starts with a critique of neoclassical economics, moves on to a review of complexity theory and evolution, reframes economics as an evolutionary competition among business models, and then finishes by applying some of these […]
Chip Kidd: Book One: Work: 1986-2006, by Chip Kidd
Amazon link Do you recognize any of these book covers? Then you know of Chip Kidd’s work. I first became aware of Chip Kidd when I picked up a book with a striking cover at the library a few years ago. The book was The Cheese Monkeys, and I enjoyed the hilarious over-the-top antics of […]
Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations, by Robert D. Austin
Amazon link This book is recommended by Joel (mentioned in his post on “Econ 101 Management”) so we read it recently in our book club at work. The premise is that measuring employee performance is guaranteed to distort an organization’s desired results. This assertion contradicts management mantras everywhere, such as “You can’t improve what you […]
The Social Atom, by Mark Buchanan
Amazon link This book is based on the idea that complex organized behavior can emerge out of simple atomic behavior. In physics, simple atoms interact with each other and generate complex behavior like temperature. Such models were never thought to be applicable to humans because people are too complicated and have free will. Buchanan collects […]
Nonfiction Roundup June 2007
As usual, I’ve been reading lots of books, and haven’t been writing them up, so it’s time for another round of short reviews. The Creative Habit, by Twyla Tharp I’ve already mentioned Tharp’s ideas in my posts on discipline and laying the foundation, but this is a record that I did eventually finish the book. […]
Stumbling on Happiness, by Daniel Gilbert
Amazon link This wasn’t at all the book I was expecting when I ordered it, but ended up being much more satisfying. I thought it was going to be some tract on how and why the brain feels happiness, and what we can do to make ourselves happier. Instead Gilbert, a professor of psychology at […]
