It’s quite easy to get sucked into Mike Daisey’s ‘21 Dog Years: Doing Time At Amazon.Com‘ as he moves from dilettante to corporate business development guy. On the journey, we learn he is one of the (mythological?) freaks that Amazon initially wanted to help launch and then staff its growing customer service division. We learn about the training, the call-time targets, the lack of windows, the Chicken Orzo Salad and Jeff’s obsessions.

Unlike Robert Spector’s ‘Amazon.Com: Get Big Fast‘, this is a tale from the inside, but how much is exaggerated for comic effect is unclear. For sure, life in an under-staffed call centre – where if you don’t work all hours you’re seen as letting the team down – is not the glamorous side of any business, and the world of fast-growing online booksellers can be no exception. The dreams that all would be multi-millionaires on the back of huge stock rises are also not unusual to any tale of this era. Perhaps the thought of sending the free books to customers on the database isn’t typical of the dot-com boom, but the frenzied ‘1-click Christmas’ period will be familiar to many in a start-up venture.

Daisy’s book is flagged as a comic tale, but it takes a while for the comedy to warm up. In fact, it’s only towards the end that I felt there were some laugh-out-loud moments, but don’t let that put you off. ’21 Dogs Years’ in well written and compelling. You really do want to know what Mike’s going to do at the end. Don’t look for an insight into business strategies of that time, but you will get a view of the craziness of life in the trenches of rapidly growing business.

On this day…

2005: Admonished By A Snack Food Wrapper
2004: Wet London 20
2002: Everything Taboo

Ethan Hawke’s Hottest State is a tale of obsessive love set in New York (and Paris) when William (’20 sexy, confident’) meets Sarah and they embark on a relationship which really is roller-coaster-like. Through it we explore William’s relationship with his mother, absent father, and with himself. It’s clever yet not distant, sensitive but not sentimental, but, ironically given the title, left this reader a little cold. The Hottest State is entertaining and well-written, but capturing that painful, gut-wrenching emotion that is obsessive first love must be hard for any novelist, and Hawke doesn’t quite pull the reader in. As a reader, you will observe William, but you will not become emotionally attached, and Sarah’s quirkiness – which initially seems endearing – eventually distances you from her, leaving William’s obsessive feelings a mystery. Despite those reservations, Ethan Hawke’s first novel suggests a promising career as a novelist.

On this day…

2005: Let’s Google Talk
2004: Get Yer Kit Off …
2003: Summer Music
2002: Around The World

Following on from reading Rory Cellan-Jones’ ‘Dot Bomb’, which focused on the ‘dot com’ bubble in the UK, I’ve read Po Bronson’s ‘The Nudist on the Late Shift‘, which looks at a similar time from Silicon Valley. Also reviewed on Amazon.

Po Bronson has produced a very well-written and extremely readable insight into the craziness of ‘dot com’ fever in Silicon Valley. Clearly spending a great deal of time with both the entrepreneurs and employees involved, ‘The Nudist on the Late Shift’ gets behind the ideas, the passion and the money.

The madness that meant people spent every waking hour in the office (some even sleeping under their desks) and meant that companies provided on-site laundry facilities for workers without the time to do their washing is reflected well in the stories of the individuals involved.

The book tells of a time of optimism where the future can be changed by technology and wealth can be earned on the back of an unproven idea. Bronson concludes the book by questioning whether it’s too late to join the party. Reading it now, with the benefit of hindsight and the knowledge of the crash that came, makes the book all the more entertaining. The reader is drawn into the individual stories and wants to warn the visionaries that it’s all about to go wrong for them.

A recommended insight into a unique time in business history.

Available at Amazon.

On this day…

2005: Catherine Tate
2002: Not Hilarious or Surprising

Tim Smit provides insight into the group vision that resulted in one of the more successful Millennium projects – Eden. And the fact that it is the work of a committed “group” of people is not lost on the reader. Smit regularly repeats the mantra that Eden was only developed thanks to the work of a wide range of individuals, from contractors to councils, and not forgetting the plant-men.

If you want to understand some details behind the way such projects are developed, then this is a book you should read. When the project was floundering, while all the funding partners came together, Tim Smit was there, and he relives it in the book. Sometimes you wonder how it all came together.

On the other hand, if you are a plant-lover, gardener or horticulturalist, then this is also a book you should read. Smit tells the fascinating story of the development of the biome concepts and the plants they chose to grow. More importantly, he discusses the relationship between man and the natural surroundings we inhabit, debating our fragile relationship with a range of environments along the way.

However, what you take from this book is a mixture of all of the above. Landscaping, plant husbandry and environmental considerations sit alongside planning, funding, road building and visitor education projects. It’s one man’s personal account rather than a definitive history, and the cast of characters seems endless and, sometimes, confusing. However, the determination and vision that drove the project; the commitment and enthusiasm of all the people; and the role Eden believes it should be playing on the world stage are all presented in an accessible, very readable account of what seems to have been a long but successful process. If this book doesn’t inspire you to aim higher and better, then nothing will.

Buy Eden at Amazon.co.uk

On this day…

2004: Down With Love
2004: Links for 2004-10-23
2004: Lucky Man: A Memoir
2003: Celebrities And The Media
2002: New Look

It did not come as much of a surprise to find that so-called fast food is not the healthiest food in the world. It was certainly no surprise to discover that the fast food chains are not the greatest employers in the world. It wasn’t unexpected to read that the big brands employ so many people that they wield great economic power.

What did, however, surprise and alarm me was the sheer influence Eric Schlosser claims the fast food companies have over the whole food chain and related economies. Is it really in the consumer’s best interests for the large food giants to have such a firm grip on the production of the raw materials that make up their final products? It is suggested that this power has knock-on effects on the health of (not only) consumers but on the shape of the entire economy.

Schlosser’s book is disturbing reading. It’s unashamedly populist in its approach, suggesting that economic gain and corporate profit matter more than consumers’ well-being. However, regardless of the author’s standpoint, much of the evidence he presents is damning, which makes it a compelling read. If you’ve ever eaten fast food, you should read it. It has certainly made me think harder about ordering anything “with fries to go”.

On this day…

2006: There Can’t Be A Winner In Football Unless There’s A Loser
2004: Weekend In Britain’s Smallest County
2003: Gay Teens Right To Privacy

My latest book review!!

When Love Comes To Town
Tom Lennon

There are many fictional coming-out tales to choose from, so why this read Lennons?

Firstly, there aren’t that many set in contemporary Dublin. Secondly, there aren’t many told with the humour and compassion of When Love Comes To Town. Finally, there are not that many that are such a good read.

Let me also be honest. There are few new takes on the coming-out dilemma, so don’t expect total originality.

Neil Byrne is a top-class student who has realised he isn’t like all his coupled-up (straight) friends. The story takes us through Neil’s tentative steps into Dublin’s gay nightlife and his introduction to the characters of The Scene. Neil’s first love and family’s reaction are all covered, and his confusion, pain, hopes & desires are well described.

The family’s response is not a model reaction, so don’t read this book if you are looking for a reassuring, positive take on the acceptance of loved ones to the news that one of their own is gay.

The book’s climax is certainly one of the more surprising aspects of the tale. In a dark moment, Neil realises what he needs to do to survive the next few years of his life in an intolerant community. This ending results in a fine piece of writing that conveys the emotion of the final scene remarkably well and, I suspect, brings a lump to the throat of many readers.

Given a less positive ending than many similar books, I found this to be a refreshingly honest story. It is certainly a welcome addition to the genre.

Click here to but it at Amazon | Click here to see this review at Amazon

On this day…

2007: Presentation Porn
2005: Memories Of The Walkman
2004: Digital Download Chart
2003: Silly Pop Stars
2003: Beep Beep To Profit