Michael

Great for 2/3rd then became too dense

Reviewed: 09-27-20

I found the initial third up to 2/3 of the book gripping and the author managed to tell a very good story. Towards the later half of the book the story degraded almost into a recitation of historical facts and was less tied to a certain character or a driver. I had less and less interest in the book as the book wound towards its conclusion.

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Creative/ innovative/ twists/ tied up loose ends

Reviewed: 02-19-20

Author was creative in envisioning what an alternative reality would look like if slavery was legal in America. Discusses the subversive plots. Main character had definite faults yet we saw his goodness and rooted for him to succeed. Great story with surprising yet reasonable twists and all of the ideas came to the end nicely.

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A must read for every parent, Gen Xer, and current employers.

Reviewed: 02-03-20

This book was fantastic. Very interesting data and did a wonderful job telling a story using data. Kept the information very interesting. Gave and provided very useful insights into the iGen. Highlighted why they have a focus on safety, concerns of financial uncertainty and the impact of social media on the outlook of this newest generation.
Beware... the introduction is terrible; I almost put the book down (I had to just skip it!!)....kept going because of how highly this book was recommended by a well respected professional colleague of mine.

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Written at an 8th grade reading level

Reviewed: 02-02-20

This reads like a book report from middle school. Interesting history about development of Ohio. Be ready for a regurgitation of facts. The story is not gripping. Nothing in this book challenged me or caused me to think or ponder. Overall this book felt like a slog to me. Erik Larson could have done a better job of telling the story through the eyes of one of the main characters.

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2 people found this helpful

Great approach to new Century organization

Reviewed: 08-26-18

Well written and easy to read. Resonates with my work in Emergency Medicine ops. Helped me understand the distinction between complexity and complicated and why approaching complex problems with newtonian answers is doomed to fail.

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How many times can one person say "the dip"?

Reviewed: 09-11-17

Perhaps I took the author's advice and quit the book before investing too much time. In 30 minutes I couldn't find anything substantive and I was finding his repeated statements of "the dip" to become just annoying because it was becoming self evident. It feels like this was a popular blog post that somehow got a book deal. I'll be asking for a refund for this book.

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1 person found this helpful

One of the best books I've ever read

Reviewed: 05-08-17

Fascinating approach to the concept of sapien. How myths and taboos can organize societies around concepts of religion, money, etc. this book has opened my mind to our interrelatedness and made me wonder where we are heading with our "progress".

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Could have been so much better

Reviewed: 11-23-12

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

This is such an interesting topic. I wanted to like the book so much. I deeply respect the brave soldiers whose ordeals were relayed in this book. The book needed to do them more justice. It seemed to drag. The part where the base was overrun with Taliban fighters was a great piece of story telling. I could not imagine what it would have been like to been there. I only wish that Mr. Tapper could have made this story tighter. Americans need to know about these episodes of success within failure as well. A better book would make this story better circulated. One day we will be speaking to our children and grandchildren about these wars and our decisions to send our children overseas to fight and die in them.

What do you think your next listen will be?

No Easy Day

What does Rob Shapiro bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

not sure

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Sadness at the loss of life. Unfortunate decisions that are not well grounded end up being defended with blood and life. I am in full support of the military. I would hope that their decisions would consider future implications. I would feel Angry if I had a son lose a life at this base, it seemed senseless. These soldiers are so brave, it makes me feel very proud to be an American.

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5 people found this helpful

Tight writing with a river as a main character

Reviewed: 09-30-12

Would you listen to Deliverance again? Why?

Yes. The story was written so well. The story moves and flows like the wild river it takes place on.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes. Characters were put in a very hard situation where initial choices played a huge role in later options. Leaving the normal workday to go into the wilderness with friends for some adventure. Too bad things did not turn out as expected.

Which character – as performed by Will Patton – was your favorite?

The protaganist.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Neither. This was one of those books that I had trouble putting down. The author did a terrific job with tying up loose ends. The entire story was great.

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1 person found this helpful