A new Bill Bryson book came out and nobody told me!!!

[Duer 157099]

So I'm telling you so that you don't suffer the same injustice!

OK, granted, it just came out this month, but STILL! I had no idea he had a new book coming, so this was an utter and complete surprise!

Did I read any reviews at all before buying it? NO! Not ONE. No need.

How exciting!

http://www.amazon.com/At-Home-Short-History-Private/dp/0767919386/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287442146&sr=8-1

edit: hey, how come it says it was published on Oct 5th but yet the reviews on Amazon (yes, now I'm looking at them) show reviews from at least June? :shrug: what's that about?

[Just One Woman]

1. C-span

He has been on C-span a few times lately. Yesterday was about the new book. Maybe you can catch it on their site. It was very good. He is always so enlightening.

[Catshrink]

2. I'm looking forward to Nov. 2

I found out before though that if I pre-order a book on Amazon I get it the day before it's released. Cool.

This book looks good, btw. I'm also going to order Steven Johnson's new book.

Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation



Review: The figure of the lone genius may captivate us, but we intuit that such geniuses’ creations don’t materialize in a vacuum. Johnson supported the intuition in his biography of eighteenth-century scientist Joseph Priestly (The Invention of Air, 2009) and here explores it from different angles using sets of anecdotes from science and art that underscore some social or informational interaction by an inventor or artist. Assuring readers that he is not engaged in “intellectual tourism,” Johnson recurs to the real-world effects of individuals and organizations operating in a fertile information environment. Citing the development of the Internet and its profusion of applications such as Twitter, the author ascribes its success to “exaptation” and “stacked platforms.” By which he means that curious people used extant stuff or ideas to produce a new bricolage and did so because of their immersion in open networks. With his own lively application of stories about Darwin’s theory of atolls, the failure to thwart 9/11, and musician Miles Davis, Johnson connects with readers promoting hunches and serendipity in themselves and their organizations. --Gilbert Taylor

http://www.amazon.com/Where-Good-Ideas-Come-Innovation/dp/1594487715/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1287442521&sr=1-1

Oh, and "Don't fuck with the thunderbolt kid!"

[Duer 157099]

3. That looks good. Reminds me of something Malcolm Gladwell would write

I really enjoy Gladwell's writing and the topics he writes about. This sounds similar, thanks! :thumbsup:

[Catshrink]

4. I enjoyed Johnson's "Invention of Air"

about Joseph Priestly. I love that stuff, nerd that I am.

[applegrove]

5. I'm looking forward to it.

[ramapo]

6. I loved Thunderbolt Kid

Read this summer on vacation. I howled through it. So many of experiences were right out of my memory bank. I felt like he spent time inside my head.

I've enjoyed some of his other books too. Always good for some laughs and you usually laugh something too.

I'll put this new one on my to-read list.

[lazarus]

7. started it a few days ago

very good book so far. I heard about it on Colbert.

[lazarus]

8. finished it a couple of days ago

it seemed to wander from the thesis a bit, and was more focused on England that I thought it would be. Still an interesting read, though.

[hamerfan]

9. A Walk In The Woods

Is on my Top 10 list, without a doubt. I'll need to check this one out. Thanks for the heads-up!