Writing book reviews

Being a self-involved kind of a person, I do enjoy my own views on things; one of the things I spend most of my free time doing is reading, so why not write book reviews?  Here's one: Puritan Gift, The: Reclaiming the American Dream Amidst Global Financial Chaos by Kenneth Hopper
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is two books effectively.

One is a vague socio-cultural history book which expounds the values of the puritan settlers and endows upon them everything good which was later to come from the growth of the United States. This part of the book is absolute guff, conflating topics and coming up with blanket assertions (puritans made America, Puritans are all cooperative and perfectly adjusted, Puritans accept all others in the community) without any evidence. As to the virtues of the puritans it enormously flatters their society (without any reference to their witch burning, sexist, racist, exploitative and divisive failings) and attributes negative things to "others" in the US. It's borderline racist in it's language, it's definitely sexist and it's otherwise rubbish.

The second is a fascinating insight into the American business environment and business culture since the war of independence. This book is interesting, thought provoking, analytical but most importantly of all; dispassionate. I found it enormously helpful in understanding the American business culture but also fascinating in explaining the way in which American business culture has evolved to what it is today. It contains many indications and recommendations which a non-MBA educated individual will appreciate and challenges a number of widely held beliefs about the way business and our economy work today. It provides a fascinating critique, effectively from inside the tent, of what has led to the world economy evolving to the point which it has today. Useful for those with a social perspective in helping to understand what's happening, and for business people to understand what may be frustrating their longer term aims.

The first gets 1 star (I think this is written by one of the brothers) the second gets 5 stars. Therefore 3 is the average. Well worth reading though. Unfortunately the two books are effectively intertwined so there's no way of reading one without the other.

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