Bernard Douthit

Great Insights and Depth

Reviewed: 05-23-24

As with his book about Steve Jobs, this book is exhaustively researched and detailed. It brings out all the complexities and the story of one othe most brilliant, influential and flawed people in today’s world.

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Very Solid.

Reviewed: 08-06-21

This is a solid book to get to make you rethink what you thought. Adam Grant does a nice job of narrating this book. The only thing I wish Adam would leave out is his numerous references to his life as a professor and his students. We don’t need to know that much detail.

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A Great Story

Reviewed: 02-02-21

This is a rich and thorough biography of a great man that also is a history of many key events in the 1970's.

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A fantastic book that everyone should read.

Reviewed: 09-03-20

This book is a masterpiece of thoughtful research that everyone should read. Our economy and our democracy is at risk as industry consolidation is widespread. Consolidation not only causes inequality, it also reduces innovation because markets are less competitive. We need anitrust enforcement now and new laws passed reducing the use of arbitration.

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One of the best books I’ve ever read. Everyone should read or listen to this.

Reviewed: 08-29-20

This is a masterpiece that everyone should read, regardless of their political leanings.

This book/audiobook is one of the best I’ve ever listened to. Even with a background in economics and a deep understanding of history, I found the historical insights in this book new and very useful. The author also does a great job tying them to the current Gig economy.

The Gig economy isn’t a sharing economy, it is really more akin to feudalism.

As Nathan says, joint stock owned companies / corporations are a relatively new invention, only about 150 years old in their current C Corp form. Cooperatives on the other hand have been around for thousands of years. We need to reset our culture to favor starting long-term cooperatives versus short term Venture Capital-backed get rich quick schemes.

If we want to fix American democracy, we need to make capitalism more democratic.

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Insightful and valuable tidbits. Male narrator is a bit annoying at times.

Reviewed: 08-29-20

Overall this audiobook was worth the 1 credit I spent on it. I had not heard of Tim Ferriss before this, and he sounds a bit full of himself in the introduction. I came to learn from a Ted Talk video that he has Bipolar Disorder and has battles major depression dozens of times. This makes him much more human.
The insights are great - especially from Amelia Boone, Scott Adams and others.
The male narrator who reads passages is a bit annoying - sounds too macho and pompous sometimes. He detracts from overall good content.

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A Must Read For Everyone! Brilliant!

Reviewed: 05-02-17

Would you consider the audio edition of A Fine Mess to be better than the print version?
T.R. Reid does a terrific job of narrating this brilliant book he has so thoroughly researched and authored. It is really a gift when an author narrates his own book, and that is never more true than here. The author's passion, knowledge, energy and humor come through so vividly in this audio edition.

What did you like best about this story?
Tax policy is rarely seen as an entertaining and intriguing subject, but this book makes it exactly that.

Reid brings to life the history and rationale of the income tax and other taxes by citing historical examples from Ancient Rome to the Bible along with more current ones. He asks all of the good questions that we all should be asking including: Why and how are taxes necessary?What is the right level of taxation to promote economic growth and equity? Should the rich be taxed more than the poor? Why don't we just move to a flat tax? Why is the current tax code such a disaster and are there historical patterns for it that we can learn from? American spend roughly 6 billion hours doing taxes each year. Does it really have to be this way?

What about T.R. Reid’s performance did you like?
His humor, passion, expertise and enthusiasm comes through so vividly in his narration of this brilliant book.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
I thought Reid's citation of the Biblical story of the Widow's Mite was really moving. It is a great story and lesson about the fundamental idea of taxes and that each of us should pay our fair share.

To summarize the story here:

"Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

Any additional comments?
As someone with a background in Economics and Finance, I should admit that I am probably a bit more of a nerd about this type of subject that many people. Still, I think this book should be required reading for every American as taxes and tax policy affect our lives every single day. T.R. shows us how we can follow what other countries have done to make taxes much simpler and easier.

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This may be Gladwell's best book to date

Reviewed: 02-02-14

Would you consider the audio edition of David and Goliath to be better than the print version?

Yes. Because the author reads this book himself, you really get the true tone and context of what he is trying to convey.

What did you like best about this story?

That adversity may very often be much more than an obstacle, but also an advantage. This book includes some wonderful history about the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, Northern Ireland, and a doctor's quest to cure Leukemia.

Have you listened to any of Malcolm Gladwell’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listened to The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers and I think this may be his best book yet.

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A good story and a great listen!!

Reviewed: 01-09-13

Would you listen to Proof of Heaven again? Why?

Yes, I thought it was well laid out and was a very memorable listen. I also may pick up some additional details if I were to listen to it again.

I have a number of doctors in my family and many skeptics about Near Death Experiences and I think they all should listen to this book. I think this is an outstanding book and that Eben Alexander is sincere. I purchased this book as a Christmas present for a good friend of mine. I highly recommend it.

My only concern is what Eben Alexander is doing with the proceeds of sales of this book. As a Neurosurgeon he must be fairly wealthy already. I would think that the proceeds should be donated to charity or NDE research.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I would say Eben, the author - but he's really the only character.

What about Eben Alexander’s performance did you like?

It seemed genuine and personal.

Any additional comments?

Eben Alexander goes into a little bit too much detail about his personal history and life. While I think this might help the story a bit, it was more detail than was probably needed.

Overall though I thought this was a great book.

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