First timer

Interesting life; narrative a struggle

Revisado: 11-27-22

David Goggins lived an eventful life. His biography is soaked in self gratifying “Ra Ra” self talk that enabled him to achieve impressive physical feats. It’s a struggle getting through the story for much of the book.

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A winner for those searching for validation

Revisado: 05-06-20

This book is a collection of the author’s musings about her life. It reads like a podcast as the author shifts from the personal devastation of not being selected in a dance team as a 12-year-old to gun control to America’s political crisis to the joy of sharing a Harry Potter film with strangers.

Scientific findings are surprisingly absent given the author’s promotion of her academic qualifications. The author uses catchphrases and vague language to construct inarguable propositions that are obvious, unhelpful, and, in the worst light, an insulting panacea to legitimate problems. For instance, the author concludes that, having reviewed thousands of data points, she has never encountered courage that did not involve risk. An analogy would be a doctor declaring “I have never encountered breathing that did not involve air.”

You will enjoy this book if you feel aggrieved by social slights or experiences which many may consider trivial, like the devastation of not being comforted by your parents after failing to make a dance team as a 12-year-old. The author’s core message is that these problems are important and that you deserve support as part of a concept of “true belonging.” For my part, I found the author’s deeply selfish and entitled rhetoric to be highly offensive to people with actual problems.

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Exceptional

Revisado: 10-29-19

An exceptional piece punctuated by the author’s wit and insightful observations. I could barely put it down.

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Missed the mark

Revisado: 11-30-18

Pass on this book. The underlying premise is that a person’s ability and life span are almost solely determined by genes and people are wasting their time trying to change that.

The author glosses over complex topics and cherry picks details to support his views. It’s like your annoying neighbour arguing that they knew someone that smoked for 70 years and therefore smoking doesn’t cause cancer. It’s almost like the author completely disregarded his extensive scientific training.

The structure of the book is also irritating. The author interviews people who he believes have a special talent (chess, ultra running, writing etc), asks them to self report on why they are better than other people and then supplements that self justifying logic with his own opinions and a handful of curated academic findings. Many conclusions are bland, if not useless. For example, one conclusion from an interview with an F1 team is: ‘Hewett says “an f1 driver’s working memory can hold more discrete items than that of an untrained driver.”’ A PhD in biology is hardly necessary to reach that conclusion. The same can be said about cabdrivers who, unlike F1 drivers, have been the subject of numerous brain studies.

It’s a shame the author botched this book because the concept has merit. Let’s hope that he is wrong about K Andres Ericsson so as to give his writing a fighting chance of improving.

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Poor and unhelpful text

Revisado: 08-14-18

This book contains very little, if any, scientific findings. It is largely the author’s anecdotes. I recommend readers give it a pass.

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Helpful book

Revisado: 04-22-18

This is a good book. The authors’ desire to assist the reader to improve is evident throughout the narrative. I found the subjective observations to be superfluous. One of the studies was not accurately attributed, which left me wondering about the authors’ ability to accurately convey the findings of other studies I had not read. Overall a solid piece.

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Sound ideas. Author lacks credibility

Revisado: 01-28-18

The book is Manson’s view on how people should behave and live. Many of his ideas are sound, but he lacks real experience or scientific data to support his claims. He is content to make a series of witty arguments and bold unverifiable statements about “most people”. The narrator is excellent.

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Do not buy

Revisado: 08-26-17

The author is a well intentioned third rate Tony Robbins. He rambles on chapter after chapter with no evidence to support any of his claims. It's essentially an 8 hour self justified sermon.

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A fascinating read

Revisado: 06-28-17

I have always been fascinated by Mike Tyson's life. It is characterized by the highest highs and the lowest lows. Tyson has a distinctly human touch when it comes to grappling with his strengths, abilities, and shortcomings. This book gives a great insight into his life and the life of his trainer, D'Mato. I definitely recommend it to fight fans and those intrigued by Mike Tyson.

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