Warner Bros by David Thompson

Book review: Warner Bros by David Thompson This interesting biography of the Warner Brothers, and the studio they founded, is mostly about Jack Warner. He was the youngest of the brothers, and this is of course the story of the movie industry. Warners were the ones who brought sound to the movies, and they became an iconographic symbol of the american movie industry and helped establish the studio system. An interesting jumping off point for the history of the movies.

Captain Fantastic by Tom Doyle

Book Review: Captain Fantastic by Tom Doyle This great biography of Elton John is another nostalgic trip of a read. The meteoric rise of Elton and his amazing production of songs in the 70s and early 80s is really something to look back on and marvel. Considering their legendary status it is amazing to read about Bernie and Elton’s early years, and the fact that they worked on songs together before they even met, with their agents getting Bernie Taupin’s lyrics to Elton so her could put them to music. Since we all know the songs of these two so well, it’s a great vehicle to read about what was happening in their lives when they create specific songs and albums, and what many of the songs are really about. As pointed out in this book, many people gave deep and mystical meanings to their songs, when they were really just about more personal things happening to them at the time.

Born Standing Up by Steve Martin

Book review: Born Standing Up by Steve Martin This autobiography provides a great overview of Steve’s early life and his life in stand up comedy, and an interesting treatise on why he stopped doing stand up. It also provides some history of comedy transitioning from vaudeville to the modern era, and how comedy has evolved from the 1950s until now. Following his career development from the 60s through to the 80s, we are given the evolution of a comedian who was so much a part of the pop culture of the day. I found it interesting to read about the foundation of so many things that were a part of my younger life, phrases like “a wild and crazy guy!” that became catch phrases seemingly overnight. You can definitely hear Steve’s voice when reading this book. Pairing this with the biography of Elton John, “Captain Fantastic” you get a real sense of the pop culture of the 70s and 80s and so much that pervaded out lives. The one major difference of course being that Steve’s is an autobiography and the Elton book a biography. Elton’s autobiography is slated to come out in 2019.

The Boy Who Loved Too Much by Jennifer Latson

Book Review: The Boy Who Loved Too Much by Jennifer Latson This chronicles the life of a boy from his a couple years old through his graduation to eighth grade. The boy, Eli, is diagnosed with Williams Syndrome when he is a couple years old. A rare genetic disorder, people with Williams Syndrome are over affectionate and hug everyone, friends and stranger alike, and randomly tell people they love them a few minutes after meeting them. Sometimes referred to as the opposite of autism, the lack of self control can be very unsettling for people around them. There are several traits to this disorder, sometimes they are referred to as having ‘elvin’ features, they usually do not grow too tall and typically are over weight. They also can have associated heart problems and other internal organ issues. This book follows one boy and his mother over a 13 year period, illustrating the anxiety of the mother, the support systems she puts in place, and the trials of the boy who is physically growing but who mental state is that of a much younger person. This is a very interesting contrast to the story of the Stranger in the Woods, which chronicles a person who didn’t see or speak to another human being for 27 years. These are two ends of a social interaction spectrum that raises more questions than are answered. I think these examples also illustrate how much of our make up in genetic, and how our behaviors so many times are attempts to deal with how are genetics are pushing us.

The End of Advertising by Andrew Essex

Book review: The End of Advertising by Andrew Essex A former Madison Avenue ad exec, the author chronicles how the changing digital age has put the advertising world in a spin that it has not figured out how to get out of. With the digital age growing bigger and print basically being dead, he argues that the present digital ad market is a bubble waiting to burst. He goes into the history of modern advertising also. Basically Misters Proctor and Gamble looking to sell soap, and it just grew from there. Since modern advertising has only been around for about 100 years, it does not have a strong foundation to fall back on. This is a good book to pair with the One Device book, since in essence the iPhone is one of the reasons that print is dead and the digital keeps growing. When he is writing about branding, here is a list of items he included that I thought was great: Mr. Clean; Mrs. Olson; Mr. Whipple; Charlie the Tuna; Aunt Jemima; Tony the Tiger; Betty Crocker; The Quicker Picker-Upper; It’s Miller Time; Finger-Lickin’ Good; Have It Your Way; The Antidote for Civilization; Mmm, Mmm, Good; We Try Harder; You’re in Good Hands; Reach Out and Touch Someone; Plop-Plop, Fizz-Fizz; Breakfast of Champions; the Ultimate Driving Machine; Don’t Leave Home Without It; The Real Thing; The Pause that Refreshes; Sometimes You Feel like a Nut; Think Different; Just Do It; Where’s the Beef?; Fly the Friendly Skies; A Diamond Is Forever; A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste; When It Absolutely Positively Has to Be There Overnight; Got Milk?; The Uncola; I Want My MTV; Takes a Lickin’ and Keeps on Tickin’; Look, Ma, No Cavities; Let Your Fingers Do the Walking; I’d Walk a Mile for a Camel; Give a Hoot, Don’t Pollute…The list goes on and on.

The One Device by Brian Merchant

Book review: The One Device by Brian Merchant This is the history of the iPhone, and this tech reporter just a great job of getting behind the secrecy of Apple to outline the amazing story of how this device came to be. He goes into every aspect of the iPhone, what exactly is the phone made of, and I mean every element that is included in the phone. He travels the world to track down where the raw materials come from, Peru, Kentucky. He also travels to China to see where the phones are made. He then goes into the culture of Apple and the drive that it took to bring this altogether. But most interestingly he brings up the point that Apple really didn’t invent the technologies in the phone’ multitouch, Google Maps, GPS, the Corning glass. But it did put it altogether in a brilliant way that changed the world. One complaint is that there are a lot of typos in this book, not sure if it was rushed to market.

The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan

Rook review: This is a very thorough exploration of the history, biology and politics of the Great Lakes, the largest body of fresh water in the world. The Lakes have been such an integral part of the history of North America, its easy to take them for granted. The point of this book, I think, is to point out the mess that things are in, and how global climate change is just going to make it worse. But at the same time the resiliency of the Lakes comes through with a hope of optimism. I like these sweeping comprehensive kinds of narratives. He illustrates well how the impact of the Lakes goes far beyond the watershed that feeds the lakes as what happens in and on the lakes has national repercussions.