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Mark

Dallas, TX, USA | Member Since 2005

106
HELPFUL VOTES
  • 7 reviews
  • 50 ratings
  • 178 titles in library
  • 0 purchased in 2013
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  • The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World

    • UNABRIDGED (20 hrs)
    • By Alan Greenspan
    • Narrated By Robertson Dean
    Overall
    (1027)
    Performance
    (136)
    Story
    (135)

    "This book is in part a detective story. After 9/11 I knew, if I needed further reinforcement, that we are living in a new world - the world of a global capitalist economy that is vastly more flexible, resilient, open, self-correcting, and fast-changing than it was even a quarter century earlier. It's a world that presents us with enormous new possibilities but also enormous new challenges. The Age of Turbulence is my attempt to understand the nature of this new world." (Alan Greenspan)

    Terry says: "Tripled my understanding of our economy"
    "Not worth the time"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    I like Greenspan, but unfortunately this book is not worth the time. It's really two books in one, the first being a banal but amusing autobiography and the second an eye-lid dropping overview of the current economic state of the world. As is typical of former public figures with friends still in high places, the book treads very carefully - even in ripping Bush AG takes no great risks. This book is liking watching a team with a 20 point lead play out the fourth quarter - we're all good, let's not do anything to lose our place in history. Boring and safe. The last part of the book is so stuffed full of econ-speak that it will make your eyes glaze over - I started to understand why they call it the dismal science, even though I enjoy the subject. Geez, I even made it through the Wealth of Nations but AoT makes WoN look like a bastion of clarity at times. I'm going to take my nominal rate of time return and invest it in another information growth vehicle since this one exceeded the net present value of my current patience balance.

    0 of 0 people found this review helpful
  • On the Origin of Species

    • ABRIDGED (5 hrs and 53 mins)
    • By Charles Darwin
    • Narrated By Richard Dawkins
    Overall
    (328)
    Performance
    (143)
    Story
    (136)

    Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion and a life-long committed Darwinist, abridges and reads this special audio version of Charles Darwin's famous book. A literally world-changing book, Darwin put forward the anti-religious and scientific idea that humans in fact evolved over millions of generations from animals, starting with fish, all the way up through the ranks to apes, then to our current form.

    M says: "A Perfect Abridgement"
    "Very interesting"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    I haven't read the unabridged version of Darwin's book, so I don't know what was left out, but this abridged version was extremely interesting. Given all the controversy surrounding this book, this was a great way to actually get through the thing without dedicating huge amounts of time to it - and, you'll be the only one in any given conversation that actually read it. That said, whatever your stance on the subject, this book will give you the distinct impression that an immense amount of work went into its writing. He lays out his observations along with the difficulties he had in interpreting the data in an interesting and engaging fashion. His writing style, which is not "I'm exactly right and here's why," is so different from the style of books today that I found it really refreshing. I'm tired of authors glancing over the difficulties in their arguments in their effort to convert you - this book, in contrast, provides reams of data, the problems associated it, and his conclusions as best he could articulate them, while still allowing for error. Good, solid work, regardless of your ideological bent.

    26 of 27 people found this review helpful
  • A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World

    • UNABRIDGED (17 hrs and 14 mins)
    • By William J. Bernstein
    • Narrated By Mel Foster
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (163)
    Performance
    (53)
    Story
    (58)

    In A Splendid Exchange, William J. Bernstein tells the extraordinary story of global commerce from its prehistoric origins to the myriad controversies surrounding it today. He transports listeners from ancient sailing ships that brought the silk trade from China to Rome in the second century to the rise and fall of the Portuguese monopoly in spices in the 16th.

    Mark says: "Very interesting and Germane to Today's World"
    "Very interesting and Germane to Today's World"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    This book provides exactly what it says it does - a history of world trade from ancient to modern times. It's well written and provides a great backdrop to today's arguments over globalization. No doubt it will help you out around the water cooler. I found it very interesting to hear how the same trade issues we're dealing with today have been around for quite a long time. I also thought it was interesting that protectionism is beneficial (overall) in some circumstances (particularly, for the U.S. in the early 1800's) but not others. He explains who wins and who loses from free trade in a very clear and convincing manner. It's nice to see a little of the complexity, beyond the usual political rhetoric, surrounding these loaded issues.

    The narration is good, but I recommend the audio version with a couple of caveats. First, unless you're an expert in ancient geography, I recommend that you get the book version also so you can see the maps or else look up a bunch of the names on Wikipedia. Otherwise you'll have no picture of the trade routes he's talking about. Second, it's better if you can take it in larger chunks so you don't lose track of what's going on (he goes on diversions from the main point occasionally that can be hard to track if you're listening in dribs and drabs). Overall, great book.

    11 of 11 people found this review helpful
  • The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness

    • UNABRIDGED (14 hrs and 19 mins)
    • By Stephen R. Covey
    • Narrated By Stephen R. Covey
    Overall
    (773)
    Performance
    (178)
    Story
    (182)

    The 8th Habit is the answer to the soul's yearning for greatness, the organization's imperative for significance and superior results, and humanity's search for its "voice". Profound, compelling, and stunningly timely, this groundbreaking new audiobook of next level thinking gives a clear way to finally tap the limitless value-creation promise of the Knowledge Worker Age.

    T.L. says: "It really does take it to the next level"
    "A Real Disappointment"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    I liked the Seven Habits so much that I listened to the audio book twice and read the book once, so I was really looking forward to the 8th Habit. Unfortunately, it was so bad that it hurt my respect for Covey. First off, as other's have noted, it's a watered down rehash of the 7 Habits coupled with lots of nebulous talk about "finding your voice". Second, half the time I had no idea what he was talking about as the book is so laden with meaningless business speak (working at a higher level, exercising true leadership, finding a new paradigm, coping with the knowledge worker age and on and on and on). By now, I have Covey's (preachy) formula down pat: 1. read a vignette (in an overly earnest fashion) about some mystery individual overcoming adversity, 2. talk about how it fits some numbered principle, 3. relate the principle to the teachings of the great books and minds of yesteryear and 4. invent a cute little word pneumonic to go with it (intimate means "look into me"). I would recommend sticking with 7 Habits and never touching this book. Another good book in this area that's high on substance and low on fluff-speak (as in zero fluff-speak) is Man's Search for Meaning, probably the best book I've read in the "learn about life" category. Actually, I've moved completely away from books written by self styled "leadership" teachers and into biographies about leaders handling difficult situations (The Last Lion (Churchill), Lincoln, Washington, etc.). I've learned about a hundred times more about life and humanity from Founding Brothers and Team of Rivals than I did from this book. Thumbs down.

    30 of 33 people found this review helpful
  • The Civil War: A Narrative, Volume I, Fort Sumter to Perryville

    • UNABRIDGED (39 hrs and 14 mins)
    • By Shelby Foote, Ken Burns (introduction)
    • Narrated By Grover Gardner
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (1435)
    Performance
    (557)
    Story
    (564)

    Here begins one of the most remarkable works of history ever fashioned. All the great battles are here, of course, from Bull Run through Shiloh, the Seven Days, Second Manassas to Antietam, and Perryville in the fall of 1862, but so are the smaller and often equally important engagements on both land and sea: Ball's Bluff, Fort Donelson, Pea Ridge, Island Ten, New Orleans, Monitor versus Merimac, and Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign, to mention only a few.

    Jeanne says: "The best"
    "One of the greatest works ever"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    If you've never read a civil war book before, I'd recommend reading another book that provides a short overview before delving into this series. It has so much detail that you can lose the forest for the trees if its your first foray into this subject. Its also possible to not understand the import of some of the events because Foote does such a solid job of just telling the story, without providing much commentary or characterization. So, in short, you'll get more out of this if its not your first introduction to the civil war. That said, the thing that surprised me about it was how well written it is and how refreshingly free from moral judgment it is. Some parts of it are also genuinely moving - especially Stonewall's death. The battle of Gettysburg is so well done it could be a book by itself. I hope other historical authors are taking a lesson from Foote - this is exactly how to do it.

    8 of 8 people found this review helpful
  • A History of Warfare

    • UNABRIDGED (19 hrs and 12 mins)
    • By John Keegan
    • Narrated By Frederick Davidson
    Overall
    (131)
    Performance
    (34)
    Story
    (33)

    Starting with the premise that all civilizations owe their origins to warmaking, Keegan probes the meanings, motivations, and methods underlying war in different societies over the course of more than two thousand years. Following the progress of human aggression in its full historical sweep, from the strangely ritualistic combat of Stone Age peoples to the warfare of mass destruction in the present age, his illuminating and lively narrative gives us all the world's great warrior cultures.

    Dan says: "Complete, Informative, and Insightful"
    "Not what I expected"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    I have mixed feelings about this book because its not a history of warfare as I expected it to be. First off, its not well structured. It meanders all over the place, challenging Clauswitz's notion that war is an extension of policy, delving into a history of the world in general (trashing various anthropologists along the way), and finally, after spending too much time on the ritualized warfare of primitive peoples, gets into some forms of fighting here and there. What I wanted (and expected) was to understand the evolution of warfare from the standpoint of technology, tactics, operations, and grand strategy. I hoped to walk away from the book with an understanding of how people fought in each era, the factors causing them to fight that way, and perhaps learn a little more about some famous battles along the way. I indeed did learn some of that from this book, and some of his meanderings are interesting, but I really had to wade through a lot of superfluous gibberish to get there. I also have to agree with another reviewer's comment that the book is pretentious. I like Keegan's work, but I have one suggestion for him: focus man.

    16 of 17 people found this review helpful
  • When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management

    • UNABRIDGED (9 hrs and 16 mins)
    • By Roger Lowenstein
    • Narrated By Roger Lowenstein
    • Whispersync for Voice-ready
    Overall
    (526)
    Performance
    (115)
    Story
    (113)

    When Genius Failed is the cautionary financial tale of our time, the gripping saga of what happened when an elite group of investors believed they could actually deconstruct risk and use virtually limitless leverage to create limitless wealth. In Roger Lowenstein's hands, it is a brilliant tale peppered with fast money, vivid characters, and high drama.

    Pankaj says: "Informative and interesting, full of suspense"
    "Almost...but not quite"
    Overall
    Performance
    Story

    This is a worthwhile book, and the only one I know of on LTCM, but there were two aspects I thought could have been much better. First, the author reads his own book, which is typically a bad idea and it is in this case as well. Second, the book is overly simplistic and a bit preachy. The author's thesis, that the LTCM managers underestimated the risk from fat tails, is implausible given their sophistication (I'm sure the former LTCM managers would think this explanation is simply ludicrous). I think that the author failed to distill and synthesize the numerous, complex, contributing factors that were actually behind the failure in an effort to have a nice neat bumper sticker rational for its cause.

    2 of 2 people found this review helpful

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