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David Slayback

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  • 6
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Funny, honest, vulnerable. Left me wanting more

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 07-10-22

Bias up front, I listen to Tim Miller on The Bulwark and other interviews where he appears (not a follower on Twitter or TikTok) and generally find him funny and refreshingly clear-eyed.

This book is more of the same, in a good way. As a former GOP operative/researcher/hatchet man, Tim knows a ton of colleagues who never broke away from Trump and wants to know why. He starts by laying out the timeline of how he did it, his path of disillusionment with "the game" and the people he worked for competing with his ability to compartmentalize and desire to keep doing the thing he'd always known. After laying out his own reasons, he moves on to categorize the different reasons why others stayed on and gives examples of each. For him, it's viscerally personal; he knows all of these people to various degrees and gives anecdotes that really flesh out the character that he ascribes to them.

The book is well-written and tightly-paced. Tim is funny in both wordplay and blunt honesty. If it weren't an audiobook, I'd include some quotes; I really need to go back and write down some of the one-liners and turns of phrase. I also found this book very moving, particularly the vignettes about being an in (and then out-of-the-closet) gay man whose work was to publicly speak against his own desires and the interactions with some of the more sympathetic characters in the book.

My only complaint (which could also be seen as a good thing) was that it left me wanting more. It starts and ends with him reconnecting with one of his erstwhile connections, and the ending in particular is both sad and abrupt. Not everyone makes it out, and no one really does unscathed. But in some ways, that ending is the honest one, and this book was nothing if not honest and vulnerable.

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1 person found this helpful

Thrilling book, great narrator, marred by music

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-14-22

The actual book was well written and tightly paced. Mickey Haller is a sympathetic but realistic protagonist, and I really like how the story kept the tension by letting the reader in on just enough to be torn between plots. The narrator put in a strong performance too, particularly with some of the side characters.

My main complaint: please don't put random music beats into audiobooks! Especially early on, it was really distracting and poorly balanced, sometimes competing in volume with the narrator. The Thrawn trilogy on Audible is an example of good use of sound effects and music. This more like someone sprayed the contents of their free beats software over a track without listening

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1 person found this helpful

Well-performed, thought-provoking

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-01-22

I picked up this book on a whim because I wanted to understand a time in American history through the perspective of one of the influencers of the day. After reading it, I understand how Malcolm X held so much sway, even if I don't agree with a lot of his opinions.

Malcolm X makes a very powerful narrator. This book is told in the style of a true storyteller unafraid to voice his opinions. I was gripped by the stories of his life, from being a headstrong boy to a hustler in the ghetto to a new convert to a national voice. He doesn't waste words or time, he's very matter-of-fact with what he believes down to predicting his own death at the hands of the nation of Islam. Laurence Fishburn does an excellent job of bringing out the fiery character of those words.

The book doesn't shy away from highlighting X's flaws. Even when he offers explanations of being misunderstood or otherwise taken out of context, he still doesn't feel defensive. I came away feeling like I understood his worldview without feeling preached at or that I needed to take a side. I was undeniably turned off by some of what he believed (the chauvinism, some of the more radical prescriptions), but I can't blame the book for his character, and the honesty was refreshing.

Definitely worth reading, even (or especially) if you don't agree with him. It doesn't tell the reader what to do or think, it just gives insights.

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Interesting, but overly wordy and poetic

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
2 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-25-22

I really wanted to like this book. I listened to multiple interviews with the author, I think optogenetics is a cool approach to figuring out how our minds work, and I was looking forward to some in-depth tales of case studies and science.

There is definitely some of that here. The book is structured with 1 case study per chapter, covering a range of psychiatric ailments and patients that the author personally encountered. Usually at the end of each chapter is a tie-in to what science has shown us about the particular issue for that patient. Unfortunately, the tie-ins are a bit shallow for me; there really isn't much to them beyond the abstract of a paper here or there.

The other problem is that everything takes so long to get to the point. The author belabors each chapter with flowery language, poetry, and quotes. The author also makes a poor narrator, reading with a slow, choppy cadence. My favorite chapters were the ones where other narrators stepped in to play the patients.

It's hard to take anything away from the book. The case studies were interesting but not as well told as other books of case studies I've read. The science is sort of gestured it. The ending chapter tries to tie it together into a tale of how optogenetics shows that a lot of the disorders boil down to specific neuron firing, but I already believed that, and it didn't really say anything new. The book is not bad, but it doesn't offer a unique enough perspective to get over how dully written it is

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Pleasant Escapism

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-27-21

These aren't the best books I've ever read. The characters are somewhat flat and trite, and the plots are predictable. The story doesn't twist or invoke shades of gray or ever make you feel uncomfortable. Yet overall, I still enjoyed the set! Sometimes you're in the mood for some escapism, clear good and bad guys. The writing is tight, fast-paced, and easy to follow. The narrator's performance combined with the author's dialogue really sold me on the world he conveyed and the hopes of the people involved. If you're looking for a literary masterpiece or some gripping mystery, look elsewhere. But if you're a fan of action schlock or just generally want a pick-me-up kind of series that never wears out its welcome, Crash Dive (particularly in this audio form) is a great choice!

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1 person found this helpful

An enthusiast's history of nuclear science

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-27-21

Up front, I'm generally a fan of nuclear energy, and it's evident that the author (a former nuclear scientist himself) is too. That said, I think the book does a decent job of telling an unbiased factual history of the atomic age. Mahaffey does a great job breaking down the important advances along the way so that a layman can understand, weaving in humor and interesting life tidbits into a compelling narrative that kept me interested throughout. I particularly enjoyed the section on the immediate post-war era, which tells a string of crazy (brilliant and/or terrifying) experiments and ideas born out of a palpable excitement about the possibilities of this new invention! Despite being a bit out-of-date with current nuclear progress, the ending was also satisfyingly motivational.

Mahaffey doesn't necessarily have any grand predictions or particular prescriptions. He has a view, but it doesn't feel preachy. Mostly, it's a well-paced historical narrative tinged with the optimism and excitement he clearly has.

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Important subject, but a bit blandly told

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-26-21

Overall, I found this book a bit dull, but worth reading if you're curious about the filibuster and don't already have a detailed knowledge of how it works.

I came into this book already having a fairly strong opinion about the filibuster (abolish it), so I was biased in favor of agreeing with the author. He does a good job setting out the actual history behind the filibuster, how it arose unintentionally from a few oversights and rule changes and became what it is today. I find the case compelling, but the book never really moved me. The facts are there, but there's just something missing. The author admits his bias upfront, but then attempts to step back into fairly dispassionate prose that doesn't really pull the narrative together. I just don't feel like I came away with much that was both new to me and actually insightful or useful. The book is also not helped by the fairly stilted narrator

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2 people found this helpful

In 3 words: Buy index funds

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 07-14-20

Really, my summary above is the whole thesis of this book. Low cost index funds held over the long term outperform any form of active investing. There are some subtleties involved that the author goes into, particularly on the specifics of balancing risk to reward in your portfolio, but that's about it.

So why is this book 12 hours long? Honestly, for most people, it's overly repetitive. Most of the book takes the form of case studies, exploring different strategies people have taken to try to outperform the market. Malkiel is a surprisingly good storyteller, but when you already buy into the thesis, it's hard to stay engaged. You already know the ending. As someone already familiar with the subject, most of the useful stuff was in the last 2 chapters, which offered concrete plans. I also got a lot out of the chapter on modern portfolio theory.

All that said, I know why this book is so commonly recommended to new investors, and I recommend it for the same reason. It's like a long ice bath, systematically dismantling the delusions of grandeur that most new investors start with. For these readers, the repetitiveness is an advantage: it emphasizes that none of the ideas they might have are magic bullets. By exhaustively detailing each strategy, Malkeil increases the chance that he hits the particular one(s) that the reader believes in.

Overall, an interesting but limited book if you already believe the thesis, but excellent for new investors.

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Reads like the Arkady Renko series, but in real li

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-30-20

I bought this book as part of a 2-for-1 sale, knowing only some of the basics about Bill Browder and the Magnitsky Act. I'm glad I did!

The story starts off as an autobiography of Browder, explaining his origin and how he came to be so involved in Eastern Europe. I honestly hadn't expected this part to be as interesting as it was. Browder is a good POV narrator, and he was able to break down a lot of the economic concepts in an understandable and engaging way. He also just comes across as generally relatable, never seeming to talk down to the reader or holding himself up as any sort of paragon; he seems to get where he does via a combination of genuine interest, persistence, and luck. Finally, I loved getting some insight into the world of post USSR society, and how cynicism was almost an inevitable consequence in its people.

As the level of criminality in Russia begins to impact his business dealings, the story transitions to more of a thriller, and even though I knew the eventual outcome, I was still gripped by the pacing, always eager to hear what would happen next. Towards the end, when Russia is setting out to prosecute as many of his associates as it can (ultimately resulting in the death of Sergei Magnitsky), you can really feel the combination of panic, sorrow, and doubt; Browder (imo, wrongly) blames himself for Magnistky's death, and that self-blame is what drives him to push the Magnitsky Act through.

Overall, a satisfying book, even if you already know the gist of what happens. The ending is bittersweet, of course, but uplifting.

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Basic conversation through case study

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-27-20

Pretty good overall, but not groundbreaking. Most of what I read was stuff I already knew, but it was well told and motivated by the case study style the author uses. The general idea is to start approaching conversation with purpose and to understand the full context behind it.

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