Everything of value is said in the original Wired article. I just felt like I needed to read the book to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

Seth Godin is brilliant and I love his blog. It’s full of big picture insight into the way the economy is changing. He’s a marketing guy – but he went to school for philosophy and computer science – so I completely relate to him.

This book – The Dip: A little book that teaches you when to stick and when to quit – weighs in at 80 pages. In truth, it’s about 70 pages too long. You can glean all the information you need from this great interview with Guy Kawasaki.

I sincerely have no idea what happened in this book. But the pictures were very nice.

Erin recommended I read this book when we started working on Birthday Girl. Every line is honest and informative. Wonderful insight into the whole film-making process.

Now, I feel like I should watch a bunch of Lumet films. Daniel, Prince of the City, and of course Dog Day Afternoon again.

Calvin Trillin’s bio at the back of the book only says one thing – that he’s a staff writer at the New Yorker. And that’s pretty much all I needed to know.

About Alice is a simple, sweet tribute of life with his late wife – and not surprisingly, it’s very well-written.

This week, I listened to an audio book called China and the Chinese. The book, which was recommended to me by Librivox-founder, Hugh McGuire, was actually a series of lectures delivered by Herbert Allen Giles, a professor of Chinese at Cambridge University, 1902.

The lectures provide an overview of Chinese culture and politics and, as Hugh noted, are as relevant today as they were then. I was utterly riveted from beginning to end. Lots of great anecdotes and cultural observations.

The audio book was read by David Barnes, who reads articulately with a northern English accent.

My first audio book. Cool. I’m converted.

Related stuff:

Alison Bechdel’s critically acclaimed memoir, Fun Home, was named Book of Year by Time magazine last year. It’s an excellent comic. Poignant, occasionally funny, but ultimately tragic. I think I need some time to digest this one before I have anything useful to say about it. But, if you haven’t read it already, I definitely recommend it. It is very much a crossover graphic novel, like Persepolis or Maus, which can be used to lure non-comic readers into the medium.

Alex Robinson is a wonderful character writer. Karl lent me Box Office Poison years ago and I couldn’t put it down. When the story gets rolling, you have the feeling of being immersed in the characters’ worlds, and they’re as close to you as your own friends.

I don’t know if I was expecting something different, but Tricked wasn’t quite as satisfying as BOP. Six different characters; six different lives; six different stories all tie together… eventually. The story was good, but it felt a little more contrived – and harder to get into. I was 100 pages in before I had that same Box Office Poison feeling of submersion.

Top Shelf is having an anniversary sale, where you can pick Tricked up for THREE bucks. Go for it.