James Garside
Never have I read such a beautiful book. Profound beyond words. Which is funny really as I am using words to say this. As an Innie it has given meaning to my days at work. Someone scrawled on a toilet wall that it's a cynical TV tie-in and clever marketing ploy. But it's not. It's a great book. And you'd be a liar and a communist for suggesting otherwise. I hope my Outie likes it.
If I wrote a review of this book it would begin with the words “Bill Perkins can go fuck himself” and end with the words “Bill Perkins probably saved my life.” My CliffsNotes description of the book is: “Rich People solutions to Poor People problems.” But when I write about things like that I usually get responses like: “Why don't you tell the world what you really think, James?” Ok, I will.
Bill Perkins can go fuck himself.
Bill Perkins is a millionaire. Bill Perkins is a hedge fund manager, a film producer, and a poker player. One thing that Bill Perkins isn't? A writer. The internet is awash with a glut of YouTube videos and podcast appearances where people tell Bill Perkins that he wrote a great book. But he didn't write the book. He paid a writer to do it for him. Why? Because that's how Rich People write books. Apparently.
I've listened to this book three times on audiobook and plan to read it through again as an ebook. On the second listen I caught this in the acknowledgments: “Having well-thought-out ideas is one thing, but converting those ideas into a convincing, easy-to-read book is another. For that I would need to work with a writer who could take my words, stories, and explanations and shape them into a flowing, easy-to-read text while retaining my voice, style, and passion. That writer was Marina Krakovsky. I was really lucky to have a writer who was familiar with the relevant ideas from economics and who had the ability to support these ideas with relevant academic research. She also knew my agent as well as Kay-Yut Chen, a brilliant economist whom I went on to hire for work on this book. I want to thank Marina not only for all this, but also for pushing me through the long, unfamiliar, and sometimes painful process of turning a complex series of ideas into a book anyone can understand.”
He didn't write the book. He didn't write the book. He didn't. Write. The book. Got that? Good.
Don't get me wrong, there's no great conspiracy here. The book is based on Bill Perkins' ideas. It's his work. Ghostwriting is a common practice. And more to the point the writer is named and credited in the acknowledgments. But it grinds my gears that in all the promotion I've seen for the book no-one ever seems to mention the elephant in the room. Bill Perkins made some offhand remark about how the experience of writing the book was a bit of a blur. I'll bet it was. You didn't write the book. You paid someone else to do it. Rich People solution to the book writing problem.
As for the book itself? Die With Zero is a well-written book with an article's worth of ideas in it. Marina Krakovsky did an excellent job of turning those ideas into a book. The book is not the problem. The ideas are the problem. Are you ready for some Rich People wisdom? Are you sitting comfortably? Here we go: Life is short. BOOM! You should spend as much of your life as possible having experiences. CYMBAL CRASH And it's better to spend all your money on facilitating those experiences than to let it go to waste when you're dead. MIC DROP
Are. You. Fucking. Joking? That's not a book. You could have written it on a post-it note.
I found this book difficult to love but I still listened to the audiobook three times and plan to read the ebook and take notes. When I have mixed emotions about a book, and say so, it gets on my tits to receive comments like: “Thanks for expressing my thoughts!” Or “Saved me from reading it!” I'm not sure these people understand how books work. You're supposed to read them. You're supposed to make your own mind up about them. You don't have to like a book to get something out of it.
I didn't like this book. But am I still glad I read this book? YES. And do I think you should read this book? YES.
You see, I agree wholeheartedly with the basic premise of the book. But as someone who is decidedly not a ‘Rich People' person I often balked at how divorced from reality its advice seems to me: Young people should spend all their money because they will earn more as they get older. How do I guarantee I won't run out of money before I'm dead? Buy an annuity. How do I cover unexpected expenses? Buy insurance. What if I want to travel but can't afford to? Take out a loan. What if I want to leave money to charity when I die? Give it to charity whilst you're alive. But what about my kids? Give them their inheritance when they're younger. And on and on. Rich People solutions. I've got Poor People problems over here thank you very much.
Die With Zero is dismissive of the FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early). In FIRE the basic idea is that you save up 25 times your annual expenses and invest it somewhere such as Index Funds. Once you've done that you can live indefinitely off your portfolio by withdrawing about 4% per year. You have a guaranteed income for life. The math checks out. And this is great if you earn enough to nail it when you're young. However, it takes on average about 15 years to achieve and is out of reach for most people unless they have a high enough income.
Bill acknowledges that the FIRE movement understands the concept of ‘enough' but suggests that they're solving for the wrong problem. His criticisms are persuasive but he lost me when he said you should spend 500k on an annuity instead. How is that better than investing the money yourself? If you buy an annuity your money is gone. You're trusting a company to give you an income but they can pull the rug from under you at any time. If you invest it yourself it generates an income for as long as you keep it invested. Then if you want you still have the option of spending down the principal at some later date.
Die With Zero says that the point of life is to have experiences. I agree. Die With Zero says that the purpose of money is to pay for those experiences. I disagree. You can use money any way you want but your most valuable resource is time. Reading this book irritated me on so many levels but it's good to wrestle with ideas that challenge your assumptions. A little poison does you good. I realised that instead of keeping my nose to the grindstone, in the hope of future retirement, I'd be better off trying to make the most of the time that I've got left.
Bill Perkins probably saved my life.
McKeown's first book Essentialism was all about how to cut down to the essential things and focus on what really matters. Effortless is about how to make working on those essential things as effortless as possible. Specifically how to structure your work with this end in mind. As such the book is far more practical andwill have a greater impact on my approach to my work than its predecessor. Highly recommended.
I have a secret servant
(My rivals knew I must!)
A loyal thing, and fervent,
A daemon I can trust.
He sits upon my shoulder,
Has sat there many a year,
With age, he grows much bolder,
And whispers in my ear.
And oftentime he's jolly,
Though if at all ignored
He urges me to folly
To keep from growing bored.
And sometimes he's indignant,
Pretending then to weep,
And twice he's grown malignant;
More often, he's asleep.
But when he senses danger,
Or fancies easy meat,
God help the hapless stranger
Who feigns to trick or treat!
He'll take a prince's ransom,
And dice it — lose or win!
He's small and dark and handsome;
(He bid me put that in!)
His motto: ‘Faster, faster!
No! Take the other door!'
But which of us is master,
I've never quite been sure.
Yet I'd not be without him,
(Though daemons know no friend);
He tells me, (I don't doubt him),
He'll be there — til the end.
The above poem by Felix Dennis keeps circling in my head whenever I think about this book.
I've been a voice hearer since childhood but this isn't something I tend to talk about with other people.
I hesitate to even write this review — lest my voices pay too much attention and start to get ideas above their own station.
Needless to say I'm personally invested in the subject matter of this book and wanted it to deliver the goods.
Scratch beneath the glossy surface of the “turns out” journalism, wipe away all the scientific reasearch, and what you're left with is a powerful message about how to deal with the voices in your head.
Too often we're told to shut these voices up, to deny them, or to explain them away and pretend they're not real.
But what if you decided to listen to them instead?
I'm not talking about when they say that you should wear your neighbour's face like a mask. Don't listen to that. Pretty sure those voices don't belong to your subconscious!
We all have voices in our heads — some of us more than others — but usually it's a hypercritical judgy-pants, manic distraction monkey, or one of the characters of Inside Out like Sadness or Joy.
So why not set them to work for you instead of against you? Transform your inner critic into your inner coach.
This is easier said than done, of course, but it starts with listening objectively to what your voices have to say.
Ethan Kross is a psychologist who has studied this self-talk phenonemon for more than twenty years.
Chatter explores the latest science and scientific thinking about voice hearing, with real world examples about how people live with their voices, and ultimately puts a positive and practical spin on what you can do about the voices in your own head.
Also read ‘The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind' by Julian Jaynes if you want an eye-opening and controversial historical perspective on the same subject.
I can't stand it, I know you planned it. I'm gonna set it straight, this Watergate... Sorry, wrong meeting.
Emma Gannon's Sabotage isn't as catchy as the Beastie Boys but it's a good kick up the arse for anyone who needs it.
An exploration of self-sabotage, how to knock it off, and how to get out of your own way.
All good stuff!
I'm the sort of person who buys food in bulk, always checks the price per unit, and calculates the cost per meal that I get for every weekly shop. My average is about £1 per meal.
So the idea of batch cooking is right up my street. It's also something, strangely, that I've never had time for. I understand that it is supposed to save me time but it seems like a lot of upfront work.
This book is exactly what I was looking for. A quick introduction to the idea of bach cooking with a handful of poultry, meat, fish and vegetable dishes as your mainstay.
I've no idea how it stacks up against other cooking books because cooking books are the one type of book that I hardly ever read.
It remains to be seen whether or not this will revolutionarise my culinary life. But I plan to give batch cooking a shot and now, thanks to this book, I have a good idea what to do.
Writers don't need anyone else's permission or validation. They only need to write. Mahevash Shaikh is a millennial writer and mental health advocate. Her first book of poems is full of exactly the preoccupations that you might expect a young person to be preoccupied with but this is a good thing. If you want to save the world then you have to start with yourself. Mahevash Shaikh is unflinchingly honest and I think that's their greatest strength. This book of poems is startling and beautiful in its honesty and frankness. Too many people make the mistake of trying to make their work sound poetic. Instead, these poems speak from the heart about things that need to be said. Be that about the world at large or the even larger inner landscape of someone trying to figure out their place in the world. Anyone advocating for mental health and suicide prevention is a force for good. This is a subject dear to my heart. Mahevash Shaikh also fights for a better world and for social change. It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. I hope that this writer continues to be a source of light in the world.
I made my first attempt at reading Katherine Mansfield. Sweet Jesus. After one short story, The Daughters of the Late Colonel, I've already had enough. NOTHING HAPPENS. SLOWLY. TO ANNOYING POSH PEOPLE. It's modernist but nowhere near as cool, creative, or interesting as Virginia Woolf's stuff. As annoying, pompous, and stuffy as Evelyn Waugh. I'm so bored!
Make a Living Living is something of an odd bird. A beautiful coffee table book that showcases the alternative lifestyles of several people who have made a living from living their best creative life. At first blush I was immediately cynical about it — counter culture being turned into over-the-counter culture — but upon reflection and further reading I realised that this was a cheap shot and unfair. Not only is the book beautiful — with photographs and illustrations aplenty — but it also really does showcase a wide range of creative people who have found a way to live their lives beyond the nine to five. This book isn't just for hipsters; it's an antidote to the fake lifestyle content of Instagram influencers. The people in this book are actually living their lives and each person's success looks different to the next. So, yes, it is still a coffee table book. But hopefully one that will inspire you to get up and go do something. What would your best creative life look like? Start today.
An interesting study of Digital Nomads and nomad life. Sometimes it comes across as unbearably smug but it's still worth reading. Trust millennials to make something complicated out of basic stuff that people have been doing quietly for years. They form a clique, give each other silly names, and expect a participation trophy for every little thing because adulting is hard. People used to bum their way around the world with very little money. They were called Hobos not Nomads. People used to work in different countries because they could make more money abroad and then use it to support their families back home. They called it Immigration not Geo-arbitrage. Just because you have a laptop and an Instagram account it doesn't make you special. Most of the writing by and about Digital Nomads is lifestyle porn intended to be read by sad sacks still stuck in their cubicles. This book at least attempts to look more objectively at what the lives of a selection of Digital Nomads is actually like.
I once tried to improve my life through gamification. Well, I took lots of pills and was chased by ghosts. This book is full of carbon-dated cultural references to The Matrix and Fight Club. You take the red pill or the blue pill. I am Jack's token cultural reference. In the case of Fight Club it clearly references the film and reads like it was written by someone who never read the book. You keep using that token cultural reference, I do not think it means what you think it means. Once you get beyond that, there is something worth exploring. The basic self-help setup is obvious enough. There is a system. You need to escape it. But for all it's talk about escaping the system this book isn't really about that. It's about how to escape the shackles of the system whilst still operating within it. Be in the world but not of it. That sort of thing. Which is actually much more useful and thought-provoking. You can't really escape the system but you don't need to. You only need to realise that the system is irrelevant. “Do not try and bend the spoon, that's impossible. Instead, only try to realise the truth... There is no spoon... Then you'll see that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.”
Paul Rodriguez was a sufferer of severe obstructive sleep apnoea but is now a sleep trainer. He teaches a Mindful Buteyko Breathing Course and also offers one-to-one consultations.
Sleep apnoea is a sleep disorder where you repeatedly stop breathing for short periods whilst asleep. It has devastating long-term health effects including greatly increased risk of mortality, heart attack, cancer and stroke.
‘Breathless Sleep...no more' is an interesting account of Paul's personal journey back to health, and his discovery of and experiences with the Buteyko Method, but make no mistake this book is intended to promote Buteyko Breathing.
According to the Learn To Sleep Well website following the initial publication of the book in 2014 Paul became a Fellow of Buteyko Professionals International.
In 2016 he trained with Patrick McKeown, whose book The Oxygen Advantage he recommends several times, and was certified as a Practitioner in the Buteyko Breathing Method by Buteyko Clinic International.
In 2017 he undertook further training with Paul O'Connell in the Buteyko Institute Method of Breathing and was certified as an Associate Practitioner by the Buteyko Institute of Breathing & Health.
The book has been revised and expanded for a 2nd edition and is now in 2020 an audiobook. It's the audiobook version of this book that I listened to.
As a sufferer of sleep apnoea myself I found the account of his personal journey engaging. I'm desperate for answers, literally dying in my sleep, and anything that helps would be a lifeline.
To be diagnosed with this condition is a pretty dire situation to find yourself in. The gold standard treatment option is Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) where you have to wear a sleep mask to keep you breathing.
I tried CPAP for a month but was unable to tolerate it. So now I wear a mouthguard rather than use CPAP for my sleep apnoea.
To date the mouthguard has broken one tooth, fractured another, and put many of the rest of my teeth on my dentist's watchlist, but I still prefer it to CPAP.
I'm willing to try anything at this point but remain sceptical about the Buteyko Method.
The Buteyko Method or Buteyko Breathing Technique was devised by Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko, a Soviet doctor, in the 1950s.
It proposes breathing exercises and retraining of one's breathing as treatment for asthma and other respiratory conditions. It was never originally intended for use with sleep apnoea.
The basic idea is that you should always breathe through your nose and try to limit your breathing. The assumption being that certain diseases and conditions are caused or made worse by breathing too fast or breathing too much.
To say that the Buteyko Method is somewhat controversial and hasn't exactly been embraced by the medical establishment would be something of an understatement.
All credit to Paul if he found something that works for him. And of course it makes sense that he went on to become a teacher and practitioner if the Buteyko Method saved his life.
But ultimately it felt like I was reading a case study that was little more than advertising copy and a commercial endorsement of the Buteyko Method.
I'm pretty sure that I could work in a joke here regarding reading a ‘puff piece' about breathing but I'm not sure that you'd thank me for it.
As a sufferer of severe sleep apnoea I cannot advocate a book that recommends breathing exercises over other forms of treatment. Sleep apnea is life-threatening and life-shortening.
By all means try these breathing exercises and see if they work for you. But do so only as an adjunct to other forms of treatment such as CPAP or wearing a sleep device mouthguard. Get referred to a specialist.
With sleep apnoea you stop breathing whilst you're asleep. How can breathing exercises possibly help with that? They just can't. You don't need help breathing whilst you're awake. You stop breathing when you're asleep.
Do I believe in the Buteyko Method? No. Will that stop me from taping my mouth shut and trying to breathe through my nose whilst I'm asleep? Of course not.
This book made me curious to look further into the Buteyko Method. But I absolutely don't endorse using breathing exercises by themselves over other forms of therapy.
All I actually want to say is that I read the book, I loved it, and you should read it.
There. I said it. Can I go play outside now?
How to Be Everything by Emilie Wapnick is excellent. It struck a chord with me on a deep personal level.
I listened to the audiobook whilst traipsing through snow and came back all inspired.
Multipotentialites of the world unite!
I wrote an article about it here.
A Brooklynite Author Who Gives Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett a Run for Their MoneyA review of The Devil and the Wolf by Richard L Pastore
I'm delighted to have read The Devil and the Wolf — a dark comedy fantasy by Richard L Pastore.
It's worth a read if you love Christopher Moore, Neil Gaiman, or the late Terry Pratchett — and who doesn't love them?
Demons. That's who.
To be honest demons are most likely rather fond of these writers, and of comedy fantasy in general, but I digress.
If it feels like I'm stalling that's because I am. What's more I've got a horrible confession to make.
Are you ready?
I've had this review to write for over a year. A year. I'm going to Hell; please excuse me whilst I pack.
At least the fact that I've been thinking about the book for over a year tells you something good about it.
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the book. But there's definitely something wrong with me as a writer and with the idea of book reviews in general.
What's the purpose of a book review? I mean it. What's the point? I realise that's not the best opening gambit for a book review but please bear with me.
For the past year I've tried and failed to describe why you'll get a kick out of this book — even though I know you will.
Every time I sat down to write I'd see the mental image of someone carrying a flaming torch and casting light in the dark. You know, real Indiana Jones type stuff.
And that's the point to me — as hokey as it sounds — to shine a light on books that are worth reading. To say: “You there, come here, read this.”
What good's a book review except as a torch to lead readers to discover a book they wouldn't have otherwise found?
That's why I'm reviewing this book. I want to shine a light on it. But dark things tend towards darkness. And the funny thing about this book is that it seems to prefer hanging out in the shadows.
Judging by the other reviews that I've read The Devil and the Wolf is dear to the hearts of everyone who reads it. And it's easy to understand why once you meet and fall in love with the characters.
But it's not meant for everyone. It's something of a well-kept secret. And, like all good secrets, only a select few seem to know about it.
It's the sort of book that has a coterie of devoted fans and gets passed from person to person in secret. Those that are in the know read it and pass it on to their friends.
You see the only thing I want you to get out of reading this review is that you buy the book and read it. So go do that. Right now. I'll wait.
If you're not into this kind of stuff? That's ok. You can read it too. I won't judge you. That was the sound of me not judging you. But it's not for you.
Oh, I know, writers want everyone to read them.
What I'm saying is that this book deserves to find its way into the hands of the right readers. The passionate fans of this particular genre.
The right type of reader, left to their own devices, will devour this book in one sitting.
Christopher Moore, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett. If your bookshelves are full of these writers — their books, I mean, not their corpses — then buy this book. If you covet the bones of Roger Zelazny you should definitely check it out too.
Especially if you read and adore most everything by them that you can get your grubby little hands on. Because then you're the right kind of reader. You're one of the ones who will get it.
The ones who will recognise the names of demons. The ones who will talk at length about the metaphysics of the book. The ones who will appreciate it's clever take on the world of demons and angels.
The ones who will laugh at all the jokes.
The Devil and the Wolf is the debut novel of Richard L Pastore, a Brooklynite, currently based in New Jersey.
Pastore has a kaleidoscopic imagination. a devilish sense of humour, and an encyclopedic knowledge of the arcane. I mean that in a good way.
To call his first novel ambitious is an understatement.
The devil Mephistopheles is one of the Princes of Hell. Lucifer is his boss but he's the right hand man; the one who gets things done.
Heaven and Hell used to be at war with each other but have reached a sort of uneasy peace. They spend most of their time bickering instead of trying to destroy each other.
There's a lot of bad blood between demons and angels; none more so than when it comes to the issue of humans.
They squabble over trivial details like the meaning of human life. What is the true nature of man's soul and what does it mean to have free will?
How come God loved humans more than angels? After all they're little more than talking monkeys.
Why did he give them free will?
It's such a contentious issue that Heaven and Hell must always hold humans to account. It's the only way they could agree upon to keep the peace down through the ages.
This is why Mephistopheles has to perform a Humanity Test. It's his job to put the talking monkeys through their paces.
Mephistopheles picks a person and offers to fulfil their wishes. They must make a deal with the devil in exchange for what they want.
Heaven and Hell kick back and watch how things play out. Then a panel of demons and angels debate about whether humanity is good or evil based on the outcome.
The Humanity Test never ends because Heaven and Hell never seem to reach a consensus.
Mephistopheles picks the candidates. They judge them. And the wheels on the bus go round and round.
Needless to say Mephistopheles is sick to the back teeth of this.
He doesn't like the Humanity Test. The angels put him up to it in the first place and it doesn't sit right with him.
He resents the imposition of Heaven telling him what to do and thinks it's unfair to the humans.
He's even started to feel a strange sort of affection for humanity. This is something that his boss would be none too pleased about should he ever find out.
So the devil comes up with a plan that will throw a spanner in the works and stop the Humanity Test once and for all.
Mephistopheles decides to turn a wolf into a human. If Heaven and Hell can't tell the difference then the Humanity Test falls apart.
The novel begins as the devil finds a wolf in the wilds of Montana and cuts the deal.
The wolf becomes JR Wolfe — yes, he knows how that sounds — but it turns out the devil has bitten off more than he can chew.
That's an excellent pun and you know it.
JR is so much more than the devil had bargained for. All dogs are good dogs but, now that he's human, this wolf aims to misbehave.
Before you know it JR is a businessman, getting up to mischief, and chewing on the devil's furniture.
I hope that's enough about the plot to whet your appetite. As for what happens next you'll have to read the book to find out.
The devil is in the details. Do you see what I did there?
Suffice to say this might be one of the few places where it's actually permissible to say “And then all Hell broke loose.”
I used to teach Creative Writing to young people on residential courses — I swear to god this is relevant.
One time I confessed to my students that I'd never managed to get into reading Terry Pratchett.
They said: “We forgive you” but gave me Good Omens to read as homework.
They chose Good Omens because it was co-written by Neil Gaiman who they knew I already liked.
So I read Good Omens and I loved it. The angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley are my favourite ‘mismatched buddy' characters.
I mention this because Good Omens was my touchstone when reading Pastore's novel. There are a lot of similarities between these books and what I like about them.
The devil the wolf remind me of the demon and the angel even though they're different characters. That's how fond of them I am.
The friendship between ‘Meph' and ‘JR' is central to the success of the book. Their comical interactions are, hands down, my favourite bits.
Among a large supporting cast of demons and angels the standout, for me, is Lilith. She's a notorious demon, thought by many to be the first woman, and as smart and sexy as Hell.
She understands Mephistopheles, flirts with the wolf, and can run rings round both of them.
There are also some human characters. The most notable are Delia, Jenna, Levi, and Rob, who serve much the same function as a Greek chorus.
They're not there to make up the numbers, so much as stand-ins for humankind, but they do tend to play second fiddle. Mephistopheles even dubs them the Scooby Gang.
The book also presents an interesting theology. The war between Heaven and Hell ended in a stalemate. Demons and angels are two sides of the same coin.
Heaven and Hell are in a shambles. Their bureaucracy is more like the European Union than what you'd find reading Dante, Milton or the Bible.
Today this vision of Heaven and Hell seems like a prescient and damning critique of Brexit. This was no doubt unintentional.
If anything I wanted the book to have more of a satirical edge.
The best fantasy and science fiction usually acts as a commentary on the present. But the fictional world has to correlate to the real world for that to work.
The books is not without some minor flaws. This is little more than nit-picking on my part. Or should that be flea-picking?
It's a sprawling work that contains enough great ideas to fuel a full comedy fantasy trilogy. So much so that I would have rather seen them played out over three books.
Things go a little too according to plan to be suspenseful all the way through. Mephistopheles is so cunning that he always appears to be in control and one step ahead of everyone else.
For all the promise of fire and brimstone the world is more likely to end in an argument than armageddon. But that's because demons and angels are a fickle bunch.
If this book was the first of a trilogy — as it stands — I'd read the rest in a heartbeat. I'd love the excuse to hang out with these characters again. It's also very funny. Did I mention that it's funny?
A good time will be had by anyone who reads The Devil and the Wolf. A wolf makes a deal with the Devil. What more do you want?!
The book includes a fascinating postscript about its origins, development, and literary influences.
For all my talk about Neil Gaiman Pastore's biggest influence is Christopher Moore.
I like that Pastore is a careful writer. He respects the craft. This level of care and attention is evident on every page.
The Devil and the Wolf was a long time coming. Pastore developed the characters of Meph and JR over several years. He even wrote vignettes about them for his friends.
Good Omens and American Gods have both recently made it to the small screen after many years.
I hope that this book will now find a larger audience than it did when it was first published.
I also hope that Richard forgives me for taking so long to write this review.
I'd find it much easier to review books if I didn't read them first. Especially books that I enjoy reading. My head gets so full of thoughts about what I loved that I don't know what to say.
Sorry about that.
No doubt by the time you read this you'll be able to read his next book; which I do have it on good authority that he's working on.
Good things come to those who wait.
Pastore has a loyal circle of readers. You can buy the book here or visit his website if you want to join the pack.
Do you have one of those annoying friends? You know the type — they get up at four in the morning to go running. They run marathons in their spare time for fun. Then they sit there in judgment of you whilst they drink their cucumber water and you drink — oh my god is that coffee? Caffeine is so bad for you. Yeah, you should just get high on life and get your energy from running at four in the morning. Well, now you can have that friend without the messiness of an actual relationship. Just subscribe to Adrienne's podcast and read the book. Power Hour, which gets its name from the podcast, is all about how you should get up an hour early to work on your dreams. Your annoying friend is probably right — that's what makes them so annoying — but at least they have their uses. They hold you to account, call you out on your bs, and try to keep you motivated. It's amazing what you can achieve in one hour per day when you set your mind to it. Even if you would prefer to spend that hour sleeping.
It's ironic that self-love is a euphemism for masturbation. ‘Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It' is one of the most masturbatory books I've ever read and I don't mean that in a good way.
Self-indulgent, self-involved, and selfish. The only impressive thing about it is that they had the chutzpah to call it a book when it's shorter than most blog posts.
Kamal Ravikant's premise is a simple one: repeatedly say to yourself ‘I love myself' and your life will be transformed. It worked for them so it will also work for you.
Of course it helps to have the likes of James Altucher and Tim Ferriss to call your friends and promote your book for you.
The book isn't a book, or even a blog post, so much as an exercise in extreme narcissism.
My favourite line because it's also the line that filled me with the most bile:
“I love myself, I love myself, I don't give a damn about anything else, I love myself.”
Yeah. Good luck with that.
Once upon a time there was a much rumoured and long-awaited book called Pop Magic! by Grant Morrison — an expanded version of his essay in Disinformation's ‘Book of Lies' which any chaos magician worth their salt should check out.
Sadly this is not that book.
Pop Magic! the book never happened. I got my hopes up when I saw that Pop Magick had endorsements from Richard Metzger, the Grand Poohbah of Disinformation, and Fiona Horne who wrote the Disinformation classic ‘Pop! Goes The Witch.'
Disinformation were an American media and publishing company and over-the-counter counterculteral phenonemon in the 1990s. If you ever saw the Disinformation TV show (called Disinfo Nation when it aired in the UK) then we're probably already friends.
So what is Pop Magick by Alex Kazemi? Magick for Millennials as far as this gnarly old chaos magician is concerned. It's the first phrase that popped into my head when I started reading the book and, no matter how much I enjoyed reading it, it did nothing to disavow me of this notion.
It is exactly what you'd expect a Millennial to come up with.
Billed as the one book all you cool kids need to read so that you can skip reading all those dusty old occult books you bought to make your bookshelves look cool.
It reads like it was written by someone who couldn't be bothered to read Crowley, let alone any other books about the occult, but has decided to start a YouTube channel about it anyway.
Vaccuous, celebrity obsessed, and full of contradiction. It defines magick in a hand-wavy way that suggests a lack of even a basic understanding about what magick is.
Want to know how to use Instagram for Glamour Magic? It's all in here. Want to understand magick? Picky a dusty old tome at random and actually read the damned thing.
My favourite bit is Kazemi's anecdote about how he used magick to get in touch with his hero Marilyn Manson.
Get this, right? Kazemi knew a girl who knew Marilyn Manson, So, after performing all the relevant rituals and all that, he asked her for Marilyn Manson's phone number and sent him a text message.
Guess what, people? The magick worked. All hail the powerful wizard!
To be fair, despite my reservations, I enjoyed this book a lot more than I'm letting on. It is exactly what you'd expect Magick For Millennials to look like, but so what? At least it's interesting.
I'm a grumpy old man. What do I know about anything? You kids have fun.
A short, sharp, kick up the arse for creatives who are just about ready to fly the nest and need a nudge in the right direction. It was exactly what I needed to read and exactly when I needed to read it.
For all the bravado of the title, Not F*ing Around isn't judgmental or preachy. The advice is familiar but its tone is friendly and encouraging. I came away from it feeling inspired. Like I'd just had a creative coaching session with a like-minded friend who had totally got my back.
The book is essay length, so you can read it in one sitting, with large print and lots of illustrations. As someone who used to teach creative writing to gifted kids I could see it being especially inspiring to young people.
Sometimes all you need is a push.
Like Guillaume Apollinaire said:
“Come to the edge,” he said.
“We can't, we're afraid!” they responded.
“Come to the edge,” he said.
“We can't, We will fall!” they responded.
“Come to the edge,” he said.
And so they came.
And he pushed them.
And they flew.”
This is a review of ‘Make Money on Medium: Build Your Audience & Grow Your Income' by Nicole Akers, the founder of Publishous — a well-established and popular independent publication on Medium that has become a thing in its own right.
I've a lot of respect for Nicole Akers, am impressed by the success she's achieved on Medium, and think Publishous is a wonderful publication. It's genuinely one of my favourites to write for on Medium. So I was excited to read this book.
That said, I feel like I must have misunderstood the title. I'd hoped that a book called ‘Make Money on Medium' would give you detailed information on how to, you know, make money on Medium. But it doesn't really do that at all.
What you get instead is a straightforward, gentle, and accessible introduction to Medium. It's positive and optimistic about the earning prospects of writers on Medium. It tells you how to get started on the Medium Partner Program, and thus how to start to make money, but it doesn't dig into the details.
It would be perfect for someone who has never written on Medium before and isn't sure where to start. The book will hold your hand as you set up your account, make your profile, write your first few posts, and submit your work to publications.
You'll come away with a foundational sense of how to deal with publications on Medium like a professional, how to write a good blog post, and an idea of how to promote your work both on and off the platform.
You'll learn how to gain followers, the importance of community, and be encouraged to engage with and support other writers. You'll also hear from a veteran editor of a successful publication their perspective on the do's and don'ts of what to do, when you want to write for them, and what they're looking for.
Beyond that? Nothing much. No content strategy. No mindset shift. No reality check. Just write as well as you can as often as you can and trust that people will read it. No mention of how to get into Medium's own publications, as opposed to independent publications, or why that's important. No hard truths for people who write fiction or poetry and hope to find an audience. No consideration of how Medium's algorithm works, which subjects do best, or just how hard it is to earn money from writing on the platform.
There is brief coverage of things like tagging and curation but very little in the way of nuts-and-bolts practical advice or advanced techniques. According to the book: “It doesn't matter what you write about; every topic has a home on Medium. Medium is the place for anyone to write about anything.”
After writing on the Medium Partner Program for over nine months I have to say that I don't think this is the case. Not if you want people to read your work. Not if you want Medium to curate your work. Not if you want to make any money.
Maybe I got my hopes up because of the book blurb's ringing endorsement by Ayodeji Awosika who is a very successful writer on Medium: “I can tell you the process Nicole lays out is pretty much my entire recipe for making 4-5 figures on Medium every single month. I owe a large portion of my success to Nicole and her publication, Publishous. Put one hundred percent of your trust in her because she knows exactly what she's talking about.”
The fact is that only about 7-10% of all active writers in the Medium Partner Program earn over $100 per month. More than 99% will never earn $1,000 on the platform — let alone four to five figures every single month. You could earn a lot of money on Medium. But you probably won't. That doesn't meant you shouldn't try, of course, but you ought to go into it with your eyes open.
I was hoping for detailed advice on how to make money on the Medium Partner Program but that's because after writing there for over nine months for peanuts I've lost heart. I'm a qualified journalist. I managed to figure out how to pass the $100 per month threshold — which sounds impressive if you say you're ‘in the top 7% of earners on the platform' but is barely even pizza money. But after recent changes to Medium's algorithm my earnings have plummeted to next-to-nothing.
Please don't let my disenchantment with writing on Medium put you off trying your hand there or reading this book. There are plenty of good reasons to write on Medium other than making money. The book is perfectly fine for what it is — it just stopped short of teaching me anything that I hadn't already learned the hard way. It's a good introduction for people who are getting started on Medium.
If you want a light and breezy pep-talk and some encouragement when you're just getting started on Medium then this book is your new best friend. Once you're settled in be sure to read Medium's help pages and detailed advice. Also check out ‘3 min Read' — Medium's own publication where they often do a deep dive on best practice for writers on the platform.
Then pour yourself a stiff drink, roll up your sleeves, and prepare to get your hands dirty. Writing is a bloody business after all.
I should probably write a review to explain my contempt for this book but I lack the time, energy and inclination to do so. I found it pretty hateful to be honest. Badly written and badly researched, like a lot of self-help, filled with wild ‘turns out' type assertions that aren't actually backed up by the research that it cites. Add to this a central message that will appeal to every capitalist shit bag who wants to hijack people's attention to make a quick buck. Tech-bros will love it. I read it as a precursor to reading the author's follow-up book which is about reclaiming your attention. So I was pretty disappointed. It isn't necessarily the author's fault, of course, because all they've done is gather the research about products and strategies that already exist. But I hate the basic assumption that making your products more addictive is a good thing.
I never really cared for Jewel's music. It's not that it's bad, it's just not my kind of thing, and I don't really have the ears to hear it. I came away from listening to the audiobook version of this book still feeling pretty much the same about her music. But I also came away massively impressed by her as a human being. They say it takes 10 years to become an overnight success. Jewel went to hell and back several times over in that time. This book is a heartfelt memoir that chronicles her early years. It's also a testament to what can be achieved through sheer force of will and dedication to your craft. And a love letter to artists telling them to never give up on their dreams.