Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs
by Walter Isaacson

I am not sure exactly why I put "Steve Jobs" on my wish list of reading but I did.  When I received my Nook at Christmas it became the first book I bought. Not the first I downloaded but the first one that wasn't free.

Walter Isaacson wasn't particularly receptive to Steve's pitch to write his biography in the beginning.  He is well known for his biographies of Einstein, Kissinger, and Benjamin Franklin.  Was Steve Jobs looking to be accepted in that group of men by approaching Isaacson, or was he simply looking for a biographer that could do his story honestly and with integrity?  Isaacson gives Steve the final word ("and one more thing...") in the book which I think best answers the question.  Steve's biography is an authorized, no holds barred book, and is a legacy to who he was.  Isaacson agreed to write the biography and Steve's terms were that he was to interview everyone, friend or foe, and write the truth.  Steve would have no control over content and even suggested Isaacson interview people he knew would only have unkind things to say about him. His only control over the book became the cover photo.

I found the story very intriguing from Steve's young life through his young death at age 56. The book starts off with a list of characters, the key players in the story, that encompasses several pages.  I read through them not even considering committing them to memory.  In the course of the book, the ones that became more memorable to me than others were the people of his personal life.

My perception of Steve is someone very narcissistic.  He demanded complete control over everything and was not a man to use social niceties or even common courtesy to make his point.  In business that may be one thing, but I was so astounded how anyone can bring it to their entire world.  In deed many of his personal relationships were strained and/or estranged because of his manner.  I highly respect the people who could work within the scope of his personality and make it work.

Much of the story centers around the Apple company, of course, since it is Steve's legacy and what he is known for.  Like Steve, his company demands full control, which is why Apple products don't work with other products.  I'm still a bit mystified that we have iTunes available to PCs after reading the book.  In the end I am not sure whether to hate Apple or love Apple.  One integrated product controlled from source to end user seems to make sense and definitely has become a superior product.  But I am not sure how I feel about how some things came about.  Although the products are indisputably good, is it good that there seems to be little or no competition in areas such as the iTunes store?

Although Steve refers to any other products as "shitty" and "crap," there are other products that can compete with Apple, although they are continually losing market share to Apple as Apple integrates all it's products in seeming perfect synchronization.

I don't feel I can adequately comment on Steve's personal business style (if you can call it that).  But I am left to wonder, based on Apple's own history, if the company can continue to maintain such a complete control on product design and development.  Through all phases I felt Steve had to constantly demand things done his way to his standards. Although there are others at Apple who appreciate that, I am not sure it's a culture that can be maintained without him.  His way is great products before profit which is not the common way of thinking in our world.  Can his genius be carried on without him?

Warm Springs: Traces of a Childhood at FDR's Polio Haven

Warm Springs: Traces of a Childhood at FDR's Polio Haven
by Susan Richards Shreve

Somewhat disappointed by this memoir. The author writes of her experience at FDR's Polio facility at the age of 11 through 13. It was interesting enough to learn about the facility and the disease and the types of surgeries and such, but the story itself was rather flat and disjointed.

Near the beginning of the book Shreve tells her story of racing wheelchairs down a hill with a close friend from the facility. Before finishing the story she goes back and starts at the "beginning." Of course this is a common way to tell a story but I felt Shreve did so very poorly.

Telling her anecdotes and of the child she was and strove to be, was a journey of disjointed and often confusing paths. Often a story would stray a bit off the path apparently to interject some small, insignificant information that seemed to have nothing to do with anything, other than Shreve's desire to share it. Too often I found myself wondering why am I reading this when I thought I was reading about that? And often confused at to the time line since Shreve didn't make the reference.

I give the book 3 of 5 shots, but only because the subject was of interest to me even though poorly presented.

90 Minutes in Heaven

90 Minutes in Heaven
by Don Piper with Cecil Murphy

I thought I'd follow up "Heaven is for Real" with this book, sort of as a compare and contrast project for myself. However, this book gave me a bit of a different focus than I was expecting. If I could re-title this book, I'd call it "90 Minutes in Heaven and 2 Years in Hell."

Don Piper is a pastor in a Baptist church and after an out of town conference he is involved in a fatal accident. Pronounced dead at the scene by several people he returns to life 90 minutes later after an on scene prayer vigil by another pastor.

Mr. Piper's description of visiting heaven for those 90 minutes is pretty flat and one dimensional. He spends a few pages telling of his experience but I found it less revealing than other experiences I have read about. The remainder of the book details his excruciating pain and road to recovery. He questions God over and over why he had to return to earth and gives us a lot of insight into the terrible condition he was in, how no one expected him to live or recover, and what a hellish patient he was for the months and months of his recovery. The final portion of the book deals with how God has used him and his experience to witness to others.

I had no problem getting through the book, it was an interesting read, but really not what I was expecting. And now I will tell you right up front that I am going to be petty with this review.

One thing that particularly sticks out for me is Mr. Piper's whining about how he let his twin sons down, how he wasn't there for them to take them camping or fishing or to teach them team sports. He never recovered full use of his body and many activities became impossible for him. I grew weary of these laments for several reasons. One is that many young boys never have those experiences with their fathers. Was he really lamenting about his sons or himself? He was a pastor, and as such, I think he could have called on many fathers in the congregation to step up for him and offer those experiences to his sons. Who wouldn't happily taken them camping or fishing? He could have never recovered from the accident and not been there for them at all, in any form. What he was able to give his sons was a loving father who was there to cheer them on through all their activities whether he was able to participate or not. This whining was really annoying to me. Especially since one of his stories in the book was about a man blinded in an accident who was encouraged to focus on what he could still do, and not what he had lost.

Many near death experiences I have read about recently leave the survivor with extreme peace and calm. I realize that Mr. Piper had incredible pain to endure and lives in constant pain to this day and that could be a factor, but I didn't get his sense of peace and calm from knowing heaven.

As with "Heaven is for Real" I don't doubt any of his story and I do feel that Mr. Piper has been fulfilling his mission on earth through his experience and witnessing. Unfortunately, I am just not as impressed with his book as I thought I would be.

I give it three shots of four.

Same Kind of Different as Me

Same Kind of Different as Me
By Ron Hall and Denver Moore

*This is my previous review from Visual Bookshelf

This book is wonderful. I picked it up shortly after it was published when I was working at B&N. I noticed it in the biography section and was drawn to it from the first time I saw it. Interestingly, when I finished the book this evening I noticed the back cover listed the genre as religion/spirituality, not the "simple" biography I expected to read.

The authors of the book are two men from very different American cultures. They tell the stories of their lives, chapter by chapter in their own voices, and how their relationship came to be, including Ron Hall's wife's major role in the tale. Indeed the story revolves around her faith, not only in God, but in people no matter who they are or where they come from. The story is full of Christian faith, yet is not preachy. It's presented simply as part of who these people are.

I would recommend this book to everyone whether you have God in your life or not, whether you are Christian or of another faith. The story is incredibly powerful and shares a message for all people whether they share the authors' perspective of God or not. Prepare to be amazed at what you can find when you ignore the obvious and look to the being within.

Night by Elie Wiesel

Night by Elie Wiesel

There is not a lot I can say about this book. It's a holocaust survivor story from a man who was 16 when he was liberated from the camps.

It's horrific. It's terrifying. It's simply stated.

The fact that any man, woman or child had to endure such atrocities is beyond comprehension and probably explains more than anything why the book was written.

It's required reading in many high schools now and I highly recommend it. It seems more pertinent in today's world than ever. Where there is so much hatred toward groups of people, it's so very frightening to see what can happen.

This story differs somewhat from others I have read in that Wiesel expresses more hopeful thinking toward the beginning of his town's eventual evacuation of Jews. If it was reality or his youthful opinion, at each step of narrowing down their world, from complete freedom to living in ghettos, he talks about the Jews thinking things weren't so bad. They had heard and had been warned, but in the beginning they more or less accepted the German invasion and their moves as signs of protection.

There are a few places in the story where Wiesel and his family or father can make some choices. It's particularly heartbreaking when the realization hits of how differently things could have turned out if only the other choice had been made.

The book ends with Wiesel's liberation, leaving me with questions about the females of his family, if his mother or sisters made it through the camps or if he ever heard of their fate.

Eat Pray Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

I finished this book over a week ago and I just couldn't bring myself to review it. I loved the book, much more than I ever anticipated I would, but I don't know how to share it.

Gilbert shares a year of her life and whatever background necessary to understand it. The year is spend in Italy, India and Indonesia. The months in Italy are about pleasure, her love of all things Italian and especially the language and food. In India she lives in an Ashram searching for her inner peace. Indonesia, Bali in particular, she "studies" with a medicine man and falls in love.

That's the simple version.

My reluctance to ever start this book was that it just didn't sound interesting. Not only that, but I was a little worried about it being preachy as well.

Not to worry.

The book is completely and totally about Gilbert and her experience. And Gilbert writes in a totally entertaining manner.

What I came away with instead was a desire to travel and immerse myself in another culture. She writes so easily and humorously about her experiences, I wanted to be there, or at least in the country of my own desire having my own experiences.

Each section of her book has it's own personality. "Eat" is about letting herself follow her nose and enjoy everything around her, each and every experience. "Pray" becomes more somber as Gilbert faces her own demons and tries to get herself out of her own way to overcome her life's obstacles. I have to say there were many times in this part of the book I simply wanted to shake her. But I also wanted to experience real mediation and what it could bring to me. "Pray" was so much more informational than "Eat" and I loved the education she gave me. "Love" I have to describe as the afterglow. Gilbert had come a long ways personally when she arrived in Bali and her story was more relaxed. Different from "Eat" in that she didn't seem to be pursuing pleasure as much as just letting her life and her learning be pleasurable.

This book is truly a vicarious pleasure. It left me wanting more in my own life, particularly spiritually. My only peeve about the book? The chapter breaks.

This is going to sound silly and petty but....

Each chapter has a big black dot at the beginning of it, representing a bead. There is a particular symbolism to this and I understand the meaning, it's explained at the beginning of the book. However, where the chapters are particularly short there may be as many as 3 of these "beads" on a page and they jump around.

Seriously.

Maybe it's my astigmatism, or not. But those "beads" flashed at me, black & white and jumped all over the pages. I had to physically cover them with my hand to continue reading.

And that is my only complaint.

Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity

Loose Girl: A Memoir of Promiscuity by Kerry Cohen.

The title pretty much says it all. I had briefly looked at this book at Target a while back and rejected it. Soon after that a friend of mine sent it to me and at a time that I was having difficulty picking out my next book, I found myself starting it.

Reading Ms. Cohen's story is rather like reading someone's personal diary... you know you shouldn't and you really want to put it down but you keep on reading. Even so, you feel a little tainted and disturbed with yourself as much as the author.

Ms. Cohen dives right in with her first tentative experiences with sex. She continues with her adolescent views of her dysfunctional family: a distant mother, both literally and figuratively, an emo uncommunicative suicidal sister, and a 'hip, I do drugs and party along with my daughter' father. Her young life is consumed with drugs, parties, finding boys and having no rules.

Not much changes through her high school years, college years and post grad years. When she does find men who love her she eventually destroys the relationship.

Probably the most disappointing thing about reading this memoir was Ms. Cohen's apparent decision that she was simply done with it. Not just the book, but the lifestyle as well. Although she participated in counselling for many years, she seems to just one day decide that she doesn't need men to define her or complete her any longer and she stops. Somehow she figures it all out, gets married and..... The End. Epilogue: Mom & sister weren't the evil people she always thought they were and Dad is actually pretty pathetic.

It was an easy, unsettling read and I was compelled keep reading, but my final feeling was simply that this book lacked real substance. It pretty clearly outlined a troubled life, but the happy ending came rather suddenly and unexpectedly.

The River of Doubt by Candice Millard

"The River of Doubt Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey" by Candice Millard

I absolutely loved this book. It is well written and riveting.

The author brings the characters to life with histories and background information on each throughout the book, allowing us to get to know each of them as if we were travelling the River of Doubt along with them.

This glimpse into Roosevelt's life has inspired me to pick up "Mornings on Horseback" by David McCullough to learn more. He is a fascinating central character in this book, but is portrayed as a man who was truly liked and loved by most all who met him. Although full of self confidence and bigger than life, he did not hold himself up as someone who is unapproachable or above those he travelled with.

The Amazon was described in fantastic detail, bringing the vegetation and it's human & animal inhabitants to life in beautiful and terrifying vividness. Steven King could not have imagined or created more terrifying scenes or creatures. The river full of flesh eating fish & cayman, millions of insects and flies carrying untold potential for disease, the jungle of millions of species of floral & fauna that seems to exist as a single organism. Descriptions and truths that make the readers' skin crawl.

The story is told beginning with the failed run for a 3rd term as President, presenting Roosevelt's frame of mind as the trip to South America presents itself and the potential for adventure and exploration. We are introduced to the main characters and the serious flaws in planning. After the trip down the River of Doubt the author continues with short synopsis of each main character quite nicely wrapping it all up with a bow.

I highly recommend this book. It's a good read taking you to a place you may never had been before.

The Zookeeper's Wife, A War Story by Diane Ackerman

Originally published on MySpace, Mar 4, 2009

This is a biographical story of Antonina Zabinski, a polish woman and the wife of a zookeeper in Warsaw, Poland. The story is told of their life and activities during WWII. The author tells the story through other biographies and journals kept by Antonina, and therein lies the 'problem' with this book.

For my tastes this is written much too much like a text book. Instead of creating the story around the events of their lives, the author is overly concerned with keeping to exact truth in her story and often uses quotes from the source or journal to be sure the reader knows how accurate it is. I found this disturbing and distracting from the tale.

The Zabinskis were active in helping many Polish Jews escape the Nazis by providing their villa and zoo as part of the underground resources. Mr. Zabinski battled and fought with the Polish Resistance and was, toward the end of the war, held prisoner. The story should be fascinating and exciting, but told in such a way that I never felt too concerned or frightened for those involved.

I can tolerate some author priviledge in embellishment as long as the basic facts of the story hold true. If the author would have chosen to expand on the horrors or emotions that were being experienced at that time, I would have forgiven her. But she tells only what she is absolutely sure of and I feel she missed making me feel all the empathy and passion I would otherwise have felt.

I give it a C. The content was excellent but the story telling lacked far too much.

1:09 PM

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My Lobotomy

That's a title that should receive alot of attention!     Actually, it's a book title and now is time for another book review.  I have read so many that I haven't reviewed in a long while - 'bout time I start to catch up.  

My Lobotomy
by Howard Dully

"My Lobotomy" is the biography of Howard Dully who actually had a lobotomy at age 12. The subject of this book seemed quite intriguing to me but the book itself is rather tedious.  Mr. Duffy doesn't present himself as an accomplished writer and the writing of this book felt more like I was reading someone's highschool report. I was tempted to put the book down and call it quits, but the best was saved for last and I was happy that I stuck it out.

In mid-life Howard Dully finally decided to delve into the reasons he'd been lobotomized at such a young age. His operation was a transorbital lobotomy in which the doctor inserted an "ice-pick" into each eyesocket and "scrambled" his brains behind. The entire procedure took about 10 minutes once they subdued him through electroshock. Barbaric! Whether he thinks so or not, Howard was one of the lucky ones that survived the procedure pretty much intact. Many others  became functional zombies, non-functional zombies or lost their lives entirely. 

Much of the book tells of his life as a boy before and after the operation. Although he always felt different because of it, I believe the real issue was not so much the lobotomy but the lack of love and nurturing he received as a child. From his description of himself, he appeared to be a child that would have been diagnosed as ADHD today. Unfortunately, he had a stepmother full of anger that targeted him and him alone of the five boys in the family. She was full of hate and anger and Howard became her whipping post and the recipient of her abuse. She went shopping for a doctor who could "change" Howard. Most of the doctors she saw said she was the problem, not Howard, but she finally found a doctor she could manipulate with lies and eventually got her way. Howard was diagnosed as schizophrenic and removed from the family to be lobotomized. 

After the lobotomy, Howard never lived with his family again. He spent time in JV, half-way houses, and sanitoriums simply because his stepmother would not allow him back in her world and the "system" kept trying to find a place for him. His father never stood up to his stepmother, but in his defense, he was a regular visitor to Howard. It would take an incredible strong person to survive what Howard survived unscathed with or without the lobotomy, and I believe that is where the real issues are - not the lobotomy. I'd refer to the operation as an ill consequence of the issues, not the actual problem itself. In his adult years, Howard was in and out of trouble and had no self discipline or direction and blamed that on his past, saying he had no instruction in day to day living, grooming, working, or being responsible. I won't argue that point but he did eventually pull it together and became a respectable citizen. Some people manage to do that despite the odds and many never do. I give him kudos for that. 

Why am I glad I finished the book?  Because it's not until that last quarter of the book that it becomes clear that the book is the result of an NPR program that Howard became the subject of while seeking answers to his own lobotomy. If you are interested in this subject and this man's experience, I suggest you forgo the book and visit the NPR program. You can listen to the broadcast and read more about Howard in much less time in a much more interesting format. Check it out here:

NPR: Howard Dully talks about 'My Lobotomy'

Lucky Man, a Memoir

Lucky Man, a Memoir

by Michael J. Fox

Audio: 5 CDs, read by Michael J. Fox

"If you were to rush into this room right now and announce that you had struck a deal - with God, Allah, Buddha, Christ, Krishna, Bill Gates, whomever - in which the ten years since my diagnosis could magically be taken away, traded in for ten more years as the person I was before, I would, without a moment's hesitation, tell you to take a hike." ~ Michael J. Fox  

From his youth, through his celebrity, his Parkinson's disease and revealing his illness to the world, Michael J. Fox is candid and honest about himself and his feelings.  As a young man he is arrogant enough to think he can conquer the world, and does precisely that as an unknown in a new sitcom. He works hard and parties hard. 

We follow his career through his movies and marriage and into fatherhood.  Michael takes us on his journey as he begins to experience the first signs of Parkinson's and his denial and mis-handling of managing the disease.  He shares his life with us including his fears, marital problems, alcoholism.  

The disease, although horrible, is what forces him to mature, realize his priorities and really appreciate his family.

 
Perhaps part of why I liked this book so much is that I grew up close to where Michael spent his teen years and I couldn't help but wonder if our paths may have ever crossed.  But aside from that and the disease, I enjoyed a look into his private life and coming to realize that his celebrity is really just a job to him. If you are a fan of Michael J. Fox don't miss this read!

(from my former MySpace blog)

The Unusual Suspect

"The Unusual Suspect" 

by Stephen Baldwin

Hardcover, 281 pages

 Pages read: 102
 

Yes, this book is by Steve Baldwin of the famous Baldwin brothers. It is his account of finding God, Christ and creation of his Christian ministry. The title is of course, a take off of the title of one of his more famous movies.
 

I hate to start books and not finish them. This sometimes causes me to quit reading for months, because if I don't finish what I am reading I can't start another book and therefore come to a reading stalemate. In the case of this book, since starting it I've read two other books and cannot seem to force myself to pick it back up again and finish it.
 

I've heard good reviews on this book and I do commend Mr. Baldwin for his enthusiasm and giving his life to God, but I found reading about it tedious. The book is too full of Stephen Baldwin who is too full of himself. He constantly reminds the reader that we should be so amazed that someone like "little Stevie B" has found God and a purpose in life. 

I'm happy for you Mr. Baldwin, but perhaps this book wasn't one of your better ventures.