LAM X LUU

extremely interesting and informative read on genders, science, and society

Revisado: 02-12-25

the book is one of my most interesting read/listening for the last 12 months. It debunked the whole supposed scientific proofs of today gender inequality. also gives me much to think about for family and child rearing.

it also has lots of interesting and fun tidbits, like monkey society and pink v blue.

lovely book overall

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Economic romanticizing, not economic thinking

Revisado: 04-05-18

This book is not a true economic book. This is more of a "let's diss the current economics major, then try and fail to write a novel about how it should be." Its promises are big, but its solutions are inadequate at best.

First, the book brought up quite a few good points about the current politics of Economics. Economics is not really wrong (it's like "is Physics wrong?"), but its applications and moods can be. The book, though, makes no difference. Which, IMHO as an engineer, invalidates about 98% of the content. Look, if a person drives carelessly and causes accident, do you go and sue the car maker? That's idiotic!

Second, the premise of the book is non-scientific, non-mathematical. The author was correct: the economic diagrams are powerful because they are intuitive. But that conclusion is incomplete. The economic diagrams are powerful because they are intuitive MATH. They have real numbers to back up their intuition. The "doughnut," on the other hand, is pure hunch. I mean, nothing wrong with that, but you can't solve (economic) issues merely with hunches. You need NUMBERS to back it up.

For example, the doughnut implies 2 dimensions. What are these? None. It's pure fantasy! Furthermore, the dimensions applicable to the inner circles (of human needs) are not directly related to dimensions applicable to outer circles (of natural limits). For example, carbon emission impacts nature, but humans don't cloth or eat carbon emission! You can't put them on the same graph, for Newton's sake! (another criticism: it's not that we are in the inside space or out of the doughnut; we are in both; that's the problem; the doughnut does nothing to show that).

Thirdly, the books don't flow. Look above for the doughnut stupidity (seriously; don't pretend you are doing economics/math when you are writing novels). The whole thing about cast in the economy also doesn't flow. For example, "the nature is life-giving, so respect its boundaries." Huh? According to Christianity, God is life giving, and God has no such things as limit. Life-giving is unrelated to boundaries! Similarly, the "market is powerful, so embed it wisely" makes no sense. Power has nothing to do with embedding! I mean, King Kong is powerful, where do you embed it?

I mean, the author clearly has good intentions. She may or may not have good solutions. If she does, though, this book is clearly not it.

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esto le resultó útil a 10 personas

Nice if slightly cheesy book

Revisado: 01-25-17

For the most part, quite decent book. all 4 agreements are agreeable and excellent suggestion. that said, I feel like there are 2 hidden currents and an overall cheesy tone.

the first hidden current is the very modern Western, individualist, natural-worshipping, war-over-analogy, youth-adoring perspective. the book keeps encouraging people to "be yourself" and "be wild." If you are in that mindset, it reassures your belief and struggle. I am not, and I find that current to be a bit peachy, childish, and slightly dated.

the second hidden current is Christianity.

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A hauting but beautiful book

Revisado: 10-01-14

What did you like best about this story?

The stories are hauntingly beautiful. They, at once, remind me of my blessing and of my country's still very shaky social and economic challenges. They should be listened/read by all Americans at least a few times.

Which scene was your favorite?

Too many to count, but when one of the young men returned from prison educated rather than hardened, it truly gave me hope.

Any additional comments?

The narrator's voice was beautiful. It warms and grounds the stories, giving even the most unhappy story a soft, resilient glow. That said, his mimicking of most people all sounds like Southern women. Kinda funny.

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A consultant-style book: useless with bad examples

Revisado: 09-09-14

What would have made Essentialism better?

Frankly, something original and new. Also better anecdotes. This is a terrible book that exemplifies why consultants are terrible for our economies.

Has Essentialism turned you off from other books in this genre?

Frankly, the best aspect of this book is the list of citations, all of which are excellent writers and books.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Extremely disappointed. This book reminds me of an episode in "How I Met Your Mother," where one character described how to make a "winning" video resume: look like you are innovator and action-oriented (eg. riding horse and motorbike, says) and spill out big-sounding words, but don't actually do anything, because actually doing things gets you fired.

This book is exactly that. It spills big sounding words at you, like "essentialism" and "protect your assets" and "play" etc., but it actually does not say anything new. In fact, for a book about Essentialism with a writer who proclaims that he lives what he teaches, it is not very essentialist. An "essentialist" starts out as someone who deliberately chooses to focus on something. Sounds good? Then, that definition starts to grow hair and tentacles: an "essentialist" acquires properties like acknowledging trade-off, sleeping a lot, having boundaries, playing, planning ahead, etc. Meanwhile, essential issues are not addressed: how do you know what to focus on? how to see all trade-off? etc.

Any additional comments?

This book contains many very disturbing anecdotes, but they are told in such a casual tone that I can't decide between disgust, anger, or just pity.

For example, to demonstrate his "deliberation," the author recounted how he decided his life direction; one would expects (remember, deliberation) hours or days of analysis over pros and cons, or months of consideration and trying things out; instead, the story is about 5 minutes of writing out what he happened to want (at that point, of course). He then quit his school, uprooted from his country, and remade his life, based on a 5-minute decision. Frankly, this story should have been told this way: a guy made an impulsive decision, got lucky, and stuck with it. Deliberation? I think not.

Similarly, in an age when internal drive is highly value, the author cheerfully recounted how he decreased his kids' screen time by paying for them. Oh, and he encouraged the readers to do the same. Really?

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esto le resultó útil a 40 personas

A good, but unfocused book

Revisado: 07-29-13

What did you like best about Wait? What did you like least?

The content of the book is excellent. It also poses extremely good questions to ponder on.

However, it sounds really unfocused, with each chapter seems to go around and around different, sometimes seemingly unrelated matters. Most disturbingly, the last few chapters seem to break away totally from the first few.

What does Sean Runnette bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His slow reading and frequent pauses are very interesting, especially in a book entitled Wait. It also help me slow down to appreciate the book a bout slowing down.

Did Wait inspire you to do anything?

Yes, lots. Slowing down.

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A Superb Book and Performance

Revisado: 09-15-12

Where does Extra Virginity rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Among the best

Who was your favorite character and why?

This is not fiction

What does Peter Ganim bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Characters to voices of various people interviewed for the book.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It introduces me to Extra Virgin oil, which is awesome

Any additional comments?

A very good book, both content and voice wise.

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