i would love to provide lengthy and interesting reviews of my last three reads, but i really don't have it in me right now. Nonetheless, I would encourage you to profit from Steve Jobs, Wolf Hall, and The Better Angels of our Nature.
Walter Isaacson reveals Jobs as genius and asshole, with everthing i wanted to learn about the game changing advances of my formative years (including Sony's reaction to the Walkman's extinction - how excruciating to see the iPod take it all away). Lots of useful stuff about navigatng a business that's part art and part science, a subject close to my own heart.
Hilary Mantel turns the Thomas Cromwell mythos on its head, and the murky Tudor villan emerges as the hero of the piece:
"It is said he knows by heart the entire New Testament in Latin, and so as a servant of the cardinal is apt – ready with a text if abbots flounder. His speech is low and rapid, his manner assured; he is at home in courtroom or waterfront, bishop’s palace or inn yard. he can draft a contract, train a falcon, draw a map, stop a street fight, furnish a house and fix a jury. He will quote you a nice point in the old authors, from Plato to Plautus and back again. He knows new poetry, and can say it in Italian. He works all hours, first up and last to bed. He makes money and he spends it. He will take a bet on anything."
Finally Steven Pinker explains why violence is declining, our ancestors inhabited a strange and savage world, and offers useful thoughts on how we can keep the good times rolling. one of many solid reviews here.
Read'em all.
now on to Doc Savage
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