tim_ohearn's reviews
382 reviews

A collection of already-published essays that feels like an incessant money-grab. A few diamonds in the rough but not worth the read.

If you watched enough Andy Rooney to be able to read using his voice and narration style, this book is a treasure. Rooney is a giant of a bygone era. He was a man of great moral character and integrity who both pioneered and perfected a style of writing. Although his analysis is on-point, at times it can be mundane. He wasn't an entertainer, he was a writer, and that always took precedence.

This is an incredible book that is worth reading twice. Ben's insights into his life and his life's work are interesting and inspiring. Probably the best book I've read this year.

John is an exceptional writer whose prose oscillates between boring and brilliant. He's had an awesome life and this essay collection reads somewhat like an adventure novel, albeit an adventure novel recounted by a grandfather focusing 50% of his brain power on diction and another 25% on trying to make the wrong parts of the story seem charming.

The only essay I would recommend to a general audience (e.g. my mom) is Violence of the Lambs. it is really something special. Most other essays I found interesting only for the sheer amount of research the author was willing to trudge through. While John demonstrates wide range as an essayist, his coverage of current pop culture (specifically in #5, #6, #8, and even #14) strikes me as forced, while his out-of-left-field pieces mostly strike me as uninteresting. This combination contributes to the collection being more objectively disposable than it should be.

Widely considered the most timeless, helpful self-help book, How to Win Friends and Influence People is deserving of praise. However, I am skeptical of the book's reliance on anecdotes as a teaching tool. While Dale's points are all valid, doing anything other than gradually adopting these methods of interaction will probably make you look and feel like a bozo. Generally, the argumentative grump who hits the ground running after reading the book is going to seem manipulative, the "unlikeable" guy who doesn't bring anything to the table still isn't going to have many friends, and the salesman is still just trying to close. The author touches on this, but you can't become "genuine" by just flipping a switch inside your brain.

While easy to criticize eighty years later, it's a wonderful guide. The "begin with praise..." advice is similar to Ben Horowitz's "Sh*t sandwich," as well as countless other pieces of wisdom that have also been adapted into undergraduate and MBA courses for decades. Say what you want, it's the bible of human interaction.

This is a good book. The explanation of the history of the game and breakdown of rules and situations added to the flow and accessibility of the book and thus my enjoyment of it. Character development, especially considering how many players appeared in just several-hundred pages, was exceptional.

The first flaw is that the book suffers from bouts of redundancy. Some interesting anecdotes are repeated without much more context except the passage of time. This happened on about five occasions. The other thing that bothered me is that the "action" was actually quite boring. It just flowed really well. By the last quarter of the book, your reaction will be "Eh, okay, they raised the stakes," "Eh, okay, Doyle Brunson did something"- the story would have lost all momentum if not for the defibrillation on account of the fact that the poker world was blowing up at the time these events transpired. The story has no climax, it just fizzles out.

I'm a casual poker player, and I recommend the book, but there were times where I would rather have been reading an Andy Beal biography.

Nothing less than a masterpiece. It has had a profound effect on me.

Though it's lost some relevance to the sands of time, it's still a worthwhile read. The book is about as fun as any book in this genre could possibly be. The research is thorough and broad while the accompanying case studies are memorable. By design, the book will have you rethinking your own discipline while more carefully analyzing the lives of those whose lifestyles seem unsustainable. Is the message clear from the get-go? Yes, but the backing facts, figures, and stories make for a wholesome read.