Liz Selbst
Parts of this book read like very good science writing and I learned a lot about cancer that I probably never would have chanced to research otherwise.
I was annoyed by Johnson's constant “Look at me, I'm a cancer research outsider!” reminders. Nobody would show up at any scientific research conference in any field and expect it to be accessible to a lay audience.
The epilogue was abrupt and Johnson's subsequent divorce made me mistrust a lot of the narrative that was used to shape the book. I don't know, using your ex-wife's experience of cancer to shape your nonfiction investigation (memoir?) just seems kind of scuzzy.
Would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in stats and forecasting, especially as it relates to how we make policy. Silver's voice tracks his writing in 538 closely: thoughtful, smart, engaging, funny, etc...
I think it's an exceptionally clear and well-written book, especially given the dense topics involved. But this will probably still feel like it's too deep in the weeds for many readers who just aren't interested. On the other hand, in some chapters, I felt like Silver had room to come down with more math and less “here's a vague approximation of what the stats are doing.”
In general, the book's earlier topics (baseball, meteorology, financial crisis) felt a little tighter than the later wandering into climate change. In any case, I think this book is good evidence of why Silver is good at what he does - he thinks about complexity, draws from his background as a well-trained statistician, tries to analyze why his models fail, is reasonably skeptical of overly confident predictions, etc. Portions of the book are lengthy asides into seemingly minute trivia that end up playing a large role in a given prediction's variation – and that kind of attention to bad predictions is exactly why Silver does a better job than most.
Six word summary: Google fanboy writes fast-paced “bookstore mystery.”
Over the top in its descriptions of Google's “Big Box” and awe for the power of computing. It's somewhat ironic that this book draws attention to the cult-like secrecy of bibliophile societies but fails to demonstrate any similar awareness of the cult of Google. The scenes at Google read almost like a satire, but they're way too fawning for that.
Trying painfully too hard to make a statement about the future of digital books and libraries. The effort to tie in the protagonist's favorite fantasy series just made me cringe.
The characters seemed promising at first, but I grew tired of them quickly after they failed to develop with any depth. Two stars because the plot did keep me turning pages quickly.
SPOILER: The ultimate reveal of the codex seemed facile - it's just a little too convenient that the Gerritszoon punches end up unlocking the centuries-old message.
Distributed generation is a fine idea. Almost entirely misses the concept of how big data servers work with his analogy to the internet, uses a lot of poorly-informed math to make his point, and name drops his meetings with EU officials ad nauseaum. The material would have been better suited for pamphlet, but probably was not worthy of a book.
Good but not amazing. Could have been about 300 pages shorter (at least). I was disappointed Murakami only tied up one of many loose plot ends by the end of the book. The idea that post-modern novels don't have to follow old fashioned conventions is a recurring discussion point in the book (for example, M. deliberately mentions and then violates Chekhov's principle that once a gun is introduced, it must be fired), so I guess it's not that surprising. In the beginning, the tightly packaged plot lines drew me in, but Murakami seemed comfortable with mere suggestions by the book's end. Even though I liked it, I'd be hard pressed to recommend it to others just because the page-length investment doesn't entirely seem worth the payoff.
Pretty solid. Veers a little into self help/ pop psychology territory, but mostly does a good job reporting the neuroscience of introversion.
It's affirming to hear other people need to recharge after lots of people time, but it's hard to imagine this book will really find an audience with extroverts.
Overhyped. The construct of the river journey is both gimmicky and over-exploited, and his extended rant against Shellenberger and Nordhouse borders on the obsessive. I'm not sure if Gessner thinks of himself as a modern day Twain, but this book feels styled after 19th century American comedies. Enough osprey talk to bore even a dedicated birder. Still probably remains an important book in contemporary environmental philosophy, though.
The facts of this book are not a huge surprise, particularly if you're at all familiar with factory farming. But as Foer points out, straightforward and clear statistics are the basis of any rational discussion about global food production, so he thinks they are worth laying out again.
Probably the most interesting discussion in this book (to me) is about what kind of food systems conscientious consumers should support– Foer is rightly concerned that simply opting out of eating factory-farmed meat does nothing to alter how the rest of the world eats.
