A real review, if written to be published, would cite examples from the text. I didn’t do that, but I could insert some from my lengthy notes. If I weren’t trying to compartmentalize my various online identities, I would polish this and post it on 2+2 or Twitter or somewhere it might be seen. I am not averse to someone doing a cut-and-paste job and spreading it in an appropriate spot.
Thanks for your service, before you started I half thought I’d buy it myself for a laugh.
I have tried to get through this thing multiple times and feel like bruce is downplaying how bad it is. The amount of hate that must have been involved in that hate read is staggering.
Thanks for doing it, I found it very entertaining.
If it can motivate me to write a book, just to prove I can do better, it will have been worth the cost.
I actually found this book an easy read. If I hadn’t been taking notes, I could have zipped through it in one night.
But it’s easy for me because there’s little substance. I don’t have to think a lot to digest the information, partly because much of it involves things I’ve already read about. If you’re not a reader like me, someone who actually used to read reference books for fun, then this is a very uninteresting book. It’s history stories told by a boring storyteller plus some uninteresting commentary. It would have been improved by lifting paragraphs straight from Wikipedia without trying to paraphrase anything. If you hate reading and prefer to learn things by watching video, this book will suck (even more). For most people, it will be easier to listen to Mason talk about the book on a podcast than to actually read the book.
That’s a scary thought.
At the moment the Amazon page has no customer reviews. Just putting that out there.
For the hate readers, did MM cite Gladwell in his book. Sounds like he’s been telling the story with the Goliath acromegaly angle for some time.
“By the way, these ideas are not original with us. They can be found in many places on the Internet and elsewhere.”
Did he cite at least one specific source? Even wikipedia?
Of course not.
lol
Lawnmower man thinks Postle didn’t cheat?
terrible read
Should note that Gladwell could maybe stand to do some more Wikipedia checking himself. In the few areas I have extended knowledge in that he’s written about, he seems to muck up the details. Acromegaly is an adult disorder that occurs after the growth plates are fused and does not lead to gigantism. It most commonly occurs in middle-aged adults and can have rather slow-developing clinical signs (coarsening of facial features, large hands / feet, gaps between teeth). The condition that leads to gigantism is a pediatric disorder called gigantism and occurs before the growth plates have fused. The key distinction is when it occurs, but there are some subtle differences like the genetics, aggressiveness, prevalence, etc.
From Wikipedia:
Gigantism should not be confused with acromegaly, the adult form of the disorder, characterized by somatic enlargement specifically in the extremities and face.
Anyway, seems like they are reading way too much into a work of fiction that has been translated a thousand times. I mean c’mon, speculating that “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” points to double vision, specifically diplopia caused by a mass effect on cranial nerves from a pituitary macroadenoma? That’s what I call a reach. Also, while acromegaly is rare, gigantism is extremely^2 rare with only a couple hundred known cases. Dude wasn’t 8 feet tall; he was 6’6" country strong all-county linebacker. Big sumbitch but not a National Geographic Mystery Diagnosis episode.
sup bro?
David knew that the Philistines’ champion warrior was actually a feeble man with a genetic condition, so he used a self-weighting strategy of chucking a rock at him.
Since he didn’t use a slingshot I suppose the demand on rocks as weapons remained inelastic.
Was it 10 tackles in his own backfield that year? One of my all time favorite threads on the site that shall not be named.
Was sup bro a gimmick account? If so, who created it?