Review: Chances Are. . .

Chances Are. . . by Richard Russo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another Russo book, and after a long stretch without, I feel like I’m reading a book written by and for a grown up. I really enjoy the way Russo writes, and what struck me here was Russo drilling into the thoughts of the main characters. It’s almost like time slows down so that Russo can relate those inner thoughts which feel a lot like my own inner thoughts – often questioning my own actions and motives after the fact. I found these characters quite relatable. Russo plays around with time in this one with the story told in part in flashback to various times and characters, so that you really feel the passage of time and its impact on the players. I also enjoyed the story, and the slight twist at the end left this one with hope. I look forward to the next.

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Review: Unmasked: A Memoir

Unmasked: A Memoir by Andrew Lloyd Webber
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There are a lot of interesting tidbits that I learned from reading Lloyd Webber’s book. You understand somewhat the chronology of the music and the productions he has been involved in. I say “somewhat” because the author seems to have always been working on multiple projects at the same time, and each project had its own life, sometimes changing along the way (think “Evita”, with multiple production timelines around the world, movie considerations, prototype album, and changes in music as time goes on). The changes in a production over time were one of those things I never much thought of, but there are a lot of things going on. Lloyd Webber comes across as quite detail oriented when it came to his music, and I found it interesting to read what he found important in creating his work. I also found this book interesting in documenting the author as a young man, starting with many privileges based on his family and at times focusing on art, at times focusing on business, and at times focusing on his lovelife and his family life. He comes across as being even handed, telling good and bad in these areas of his life. At times, though, this feels forced, like the story is being changed. With many autobiographies that I’ve read, and I have read a large number of them, I feel I get a good opinion of the author, and can understand the subject and feel that he is familiar. I don’t feel that way after reading this. Lloyd Webber feels quite foreign. I can’t determine if it is the English upbringing he describes, his lucrative artistic career (isn’t that an oxymoron?), or his wives with the same name that felt exotic to me – probably everything. Mix in a healthy dollop of Thomas the Tank Engine and historic church architecture and you get this book. Note that it even ends strangely. On audio, Lloyd Webber himself introduces the book but lets a professional narrator read the text. Lloyd Webber comes back right at the end and warns the listener that he’s realized that he’s got more to tell, so he’ll continue in another, as-yet-unwritten book. It's kind of like going to a one hour talk about some fellow’s vacation and having him tell you after 2 hours that he’s only half way done. Overall, I feel I learned something, and was mildly entertained, but it wasn’t what I was expecting.

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Review: My Daddy Was a Pistol and I'm a Son of a Gun

My Daddy Was a Pistol and I'm a Son of a Gun by Lewis Grizzard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When I reviewed Grizzard’s later “Shoot Low Boys – They’re Ridin’ Shetland Ponies” I found that book was a collection of what appeared to be newspaper columns Grizzard had written earlier, then pasted together with some introductory material and a bit of loose thematic organization. I was expecting much the same from this effort, focused on his father and their relationship. This was different. Instead of a collection of columns, this appeared more an entire book written to the subject. This was good, and author Grizzard injected his humor along the way, playing up the strange character that was his father. Another thing I noticed about Grizzard’s writing is that he knows how to pull the heartstrings when he wants to. He does that here, judiciously. It had to be done judiciously, as Grizzard’s father was a flawed individual, with a past as a war hero and an ability to ingratiate himself with others, but with a knack for borrowing money and disappearing, and a weakness for drink. Grizzard’s father answered to his demons, making him not fully a character for pity. Everything we are told is through the author’s eyes. You feel more for poor young Louis than his father. Yet Grizzard is portrayed as a Southern character, with musical abilities that allowed him to wheedle free food from churches after singing some hymns, while calling himself “Major” even though he was discharged not honorably at a lower rank. In the end, you realize this was son Grizzard’s story of trying to understand his father. It shouldn’t surprise you that he’s not much closer by the end of the book. Major Grizzard was too overwhelming a character to understand. I liked the writing, I liked the descriptions of how Grizzard’s father lived (what a character), but I hoped to find growth beyond expected forgiveness and it wasn’t in the story.

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Review: Hadrian's Wall

Hadrian's Wall by Adrian Goldsworthy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I took this book on knowing nothing about Hadrian’s Wall. I found it interesting in the level of detail – not too much, not too little. There’s not a lot of detail known about the wall. There are the measurements and descriptions of the wall from current times. There are mentions of the wall in historical documents, as well as the soldiers that patrolled the wall and the townspeople that supported the soldiers. There is plenty of conjecture about the wall’s use – not so much a defense for battle but a way to slow down attackers and force traffic through toll gates. I enjoyed that story, as well as the descriptions of Legionnaires in the society at the time of the wall. I listened on audio. I believe reading the book, assuming it had good pictures, would be more worthwhile, but on audio you still get the descriptions.

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Review: Slow Travel: Escape the Grind and Explore the World

Slow Travel: Escape the Grind and Explore the World by Jennifer M. Sparks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This short travel book focused on the planning aspects of long-term travel. The author speaks from experience, having gone on a number of multi-month trips she relates here. If anything, her trip descriptions are just background here, as the focus is on the planning of extended trips. The author provides some useful ideas on deciding what you want to get out of travel, deciding where to go, affording extended trips, preparing your home and career for absence, packing, and more. The author provides short checklists here, but they are mostly quite high-level “did you think about” items and not the kind of checklist with details. Overall, a good overview of planning for extended trips, with a balance of example and how-to suggestions.

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Review: Forlorn River

Forlorn River by Zane Grey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked up Grey’s popular “Nevada”, but when I found it was a sequel to this book, I decided to read them in order. In “Forlorn River”, I was treated with a story about as I expected. Grey’s writing is more modern than I expected in this 1926 Western. Less of the flowery prose of some of Grey’s other stories, this seemed more direct. Grey did have a tendency to latch on to a word and re-use it to excess – the word of this book is “ejaculated”, in the non-porn sense. Listening to this on audio, I was glad I was using my headphones. The story was typical Western fare, with honor and coyboying along side romance with the rancher’s daughter, who in this book just got back from college. The characters were well written and acted their parts. It was disappointing to see the token Indian treated much like a minor character, doing things for unsatisfactorily explained reasons, and disappearing entirely while apparently on-stage and part of the action near the end. And the plot seemed too contrived at places – the hero conveniently does exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time here to generate the climax. I found the naivety unappealing for an otherwise winning character. The narrator in the version of the audiobook I listened to, Jack Sondericker, did a good job with the various voices, best with hero Ben and his group. All told, I found it an enjoyable story and I look forward to reading more from Grey.

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Review: The Transparency Sale: How Unexpected Honesty and Understanding the Buying Brain Can Transform Your Results

The Transparency Sale: How Unexpected Honesty and Understanding the Buying Brain Can Transform Your Results by Todd Caponi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’ve worked in technical sales for almost two decades now, and I’ve been involved in many sales cycles. I liked “The Transparency Sale” because it agrees with what I’ve seen, and takes the best practices a little farther than many other sales books I’ve read. The author suggests calling out early in the sales process your own product’s weaknesses. I’ve found this counterintuitive with most sales managers and account managers I’ve worked with, who hope to eliminate any discussion of perceived weaknesses. I buy the author’s tact of starting with this discussion to build trust. When I’ve been in talks that start this way, the sales process went much more smoothly. I also appreciate the author’s additional points, including getting in front of contract terms negotiations and using references. I’ve taken many classes on creating and giving good technical demonstrations, appealing to limbic thinking in our prospects, and I appreciate those learnings, but they often stand alone, unconnected with the bigger sales process orchestration. Caponi’s book makes a good companion to those demo processes in order to think about the overall sales and account management process in an integrated way. Good read.

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