Damon Young On The Mad Modern Quest For Authorship

Writing a book has many gains. You have the title of an "author", people respect you somewhat and that opens doors of opportunity.

Aside from personal benefits, there is no celebrity status attached to reading. It does not matter how voracious or well-read you are. No one cares. According to Damon Young, author of  The Art of Reading:

"Despite civilisation’s glut of signs, the virtues of reading are rarely celebrated. Reading well is treated as a rudimentary skill, not a lifelong ambition; not a creative talent to tenaciously enrich and enhance. This contrasts with the popular writing industry: degrees, short courses, workshops, masterclasses, centres, festival panels... Many promise not only technical know-how, but also tricks for convincing editors to publish and audiences to buy."

The information age has made everyone writers of some sort. Most of us want to get our ideas out there and be published by any means. Through the use of blogs and social media, we shout and scream at one another in other to get heard. However, a lot of people wanting to write books hardly have time to read them. Damon Young writes:

"One survey reported that, in the United States, eight out of ten people wanted to write a book—a startling figure, even if only half right. Yet for all their hankering after authorial identity, many are not bibliophiles. The Pew Research Center found that a quarter of Americans had not read a book in the previous year. As writer and translator Tim Parks noted, authorship has become a glamorous professional persona, rather than a craft."

This mad quest for authorship is evident for those who love to read. Many 200-page-book contains only 20 worth reading, the rest are rambles and fluff-talk. Sometimes it is plain to see that no love or joy is poured out on the pages, but ambition, haste, and cynicism. This does not bode well for the world of literature as a whole. It is essential that we respect the craft of writing for what it can do for us and others. But we must never forget that reading as a skill has the ability to elevate writing as well as enrich and enhance our lives.

To read more about the benefits of reading and how to get better at it, check out the Art of Reading by Damon Young. Many thanks to Scribe US for review copy.

Review: The Three Questions by Don Miguel Ruiz & Barbara Emrys

At the heart of The Three Questions is the theme of identity - how to know who you are, how to live true to what you find, and how to continually evolve while staying true to your discovery. This is a book that is meant to shake the foundations of whatever you think you believe in and look at the world with unique eyes - your eyes, free of superstition and limiting beliefs.

WHO WOULD ENJOY IT?

People who enjoyed the bestselling The Four Agreements would like this too, though I think this book does not hold a candle to the searing sentences of the four agreements. 

Even if you are not familiar with the author's past work, you can still enjoy this if you admire toltec traditions and love exploring different truths of different cultures.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT IT

The book itself is simple to read and straight-forward with its messages. There is a bit of repetition, but that does not get too unbearable.  There are good passages within that crystallises the essence of the book, but they are few and far in between. All in all, it is a good book, but a bit of a slog to get through.

MEMORABLE PASSAGE

Desire guides our passion and inspiration; inspiration leads to creativity. Desire can also drive us over a cliff—it can lead to obsession. Putting the full power of attention on one object of desire makes us fanatical—meaning we want something so much that we can’t see anything else. This goes way beyond a passion for football or a love for punk rock. Who hasn’t been enthralled by an idea, a philosophy, or a person? In time, nothing else matters. We could be desperately hooked on drugs or alcohol, ignoring countless warnings and offers to help. However we become fixated, we risk losing touch with the ones who love us—and our own power is squandered and misused.

How do we tell whether our desires are inspired or obsessive? Inspiration leads us to create new things and new realities; obsession leads to many types of destruction. When we’re obsessed, we can’t see clearly and we can’t react.

The Three Questions by Don Miguel Ruiz and Barbara Emrys is published by HarperOne.

Many thanks to HarperOne for review copy.

Review: Influencer - Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media by Brittany Hennessy

Influencer examines the volatile environment of social media content creation, how to master it, and make a living out of it.

WHO WOULD ENJOY IT?

Anyone looking to become an ethical "influencer" or grow their social media account. Because this book focuses on Instagram a lot, it is particularly useful for those who want to focus on growing their followers on that platform.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT IT

Due to rapid changes in technology and social media algorithms, there aren't many authors brave enough to write a book on how to build a followership on social media platforms. However, the author did a good job covering basic issues that are not hinged on changing technological fads like "How do you find your voice...?, "How do you stand out from the crowd?",  "How do you get sites and brands to notice you?", etc

I also love the sections where people with a large social media following give tips on what they think they did right to become successful. The book explicitly gives tips on what you must never do on social media, some of which many are guilty of.

MEMORABLE PASSAGE

Authenticity is the backbone of the content these women create, and their audiences look to them for expert advice. Celebs are paid to promote alcohol companies even though they don’t drink, or cars even though they don’t know how to drive. A good influencer, the type you will be after reading this book, would never promote something she wouldn’t organically share even if she’s being paid by a brand. I’ve seen creators turn down $25,000 because something wasn’t “on brand” for them. If that’s not putting your audience above yourself, I don’t know what is.

Influencer: Building Your Personal Brand in the Age of Social Media by Brittany Hennessy is published by Citadel Press. Many thanks to them for review copy.

Review: Angelic by Simon Spurrier and Caspar Wijngaard

Angelic is a post-apocalyptic tale about two warring communities. While one of the communities, called the Mans, is on a quest for an item that will make them more powerful, the other colony, the Monks, is satisfied with how things are and determined to keep it that way. However, the situation gets out of hand when two members of each community come together on a quest that will change what everyone knows about the past and the present.

WHY I LOVE THE BOOK
Though the authors were not subtle about the messages they want to pass across to the readers, it did not get in the way of my enjoyment of the story.

The art style is in no way unique but it does its job. The characters are quirky, yet relatable.


CHARACTER FOCUS - THE MANS
The Mans are a colony of what looks like a seal sitting in a pod-like machine. Their mobility and health deteriorate when separated from their machines, hence they tend to be seen sitting in the all the time. This pod machines also enable them to fly and seem to run on a combination of an unknown fuel and solar power.

The Mans are besothed with the beauty of logic, reasoning, and the use of artificial intelligence. They loathe anyone who is fixated on traditions and does not reason like they do. This inability to be logical and separate emotions from facts is one of the reasons they hate the Monks, a tribe of winged monkeys living nearby. Because the Monks rely on a fixed set of rules and absolute laws, the Mans see them as primitive and less-intelligent. This attitude informs the Mans' relationship with the Monks and the way they war with them, which is by sending pesky flying machines that are programmed to spout insulting words as they shoot at their targets.

Qora and Complainer

The Mans way of thinking does not just affect outsiders. it also affects the way they view one another too. A particular colony member is nicknamed "Complainer" due to displays disdain for the colony's fixation on their neighbours and their over-reliance on an artificial intelligence called AY. Because of Complainer's issues with the colony's lazy ways, the other members hate, deem him dangerous, and cannot wait to get rid of him. According to the leaders of the colony:

"He's (Complainer) perfectly suited, smaller than normal, more mobile. More inclined to... thinkinglaterally. He's... different. Never satisfied. Unpleasantly courageous. And therefore -  perhaps, yes-a little more... disposable than the rest of us."

War

Hence when the time comes for a dangerous mission that may result in death, they choose Complainer to go with a stray, rebellious Monk called Qora. More importantly, when the mission succeeds, the Mans prioritise the continuity of AY over the safety of few colony members they deemed not important enough. This decision would later cost them their lives, as the artificial intelligence, AY, prove to be an evil machine hibernating for centuries after its long battle with humans.

Angelic by Simon Spurrier and Caspar Wijngaard is published by Image Comics. It is available in all major online bookstores. Many thanks to Image comic for review copy.

Review: The Best Damn Answers to Life’s Hardest Questions - A Flowchart Book

The Best Damn Answers to Life’s Hardest Questions claims to offer witty solutions to common life problems and tries to do so in an illustrated form consisting of flow charts as well as lists of pros and cons.

WHO WOULD ENJOY IT?
I am not sure as I did not enjoy it and I am struggling to think of who might.

IS IT WORTH READING?
The Best Damn Answers to Life’s Hardest Questions is a book that does not know what it wants to be. Though its title sounds serious, the way the book went about fulfilling the message of its title seem confusing - the intent was clear, but it falls flat in its execution. Also, I am not sure using flowchart is the best tool for the topic and genre the authors are dealing with. Valiant effort, though.

SAMPLE PASSAGE

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The Best Damn Answers to Life’s Hardest Questions - A Flowchart Book by Tess Koman and Katie Vernon is available to buy on all major online bookstores from September 2018. Many thanks to Workman Publishing Group for review copy.

Review: Belong - Find Your People, Create Community, and Live a More Connected Life

Belong tries to tell us what we already know -  the sorry state of modern communication, a condition made worse by digitalisation of interaction. It also tries to tell us how to build friendships and communities that enrich us.

However, it becomes difficult to make use of these solutions because of the abundance of self-help cliches and secular spirituality troupes in the book. The core kernel of building a community, according to the author, goes thus: "The first step is GOING IN.  This includes determining what we want in a friend and community and what we offer, becoming intentional about our relationships, gauging the type of energy we emit and respond to, and understanding how we do—or don’t—show up for others. Then comes GOING OUT—how to find a few special friends who feed our soul; or how to find a fully engaged group with similar business, artistic, and social aims; or both."

Aside from the vagueness and impracticalities of this book, the cynical part of me cannot escape the feeling that this is a book using the decaying state of modern relationships to call attention to an online company the author has built.

Belong: Find Your People, Create Community, and Live a More Connected Life by Radha Agrawal is available to buy or pre-order in all major online bookstores. Many thanks to Workman Publishing Company for ARC.

Review: The Blind Spot Effect: How to Stop Missing What's Right in Front of You

The Blind Spot Effect is a book that essentially teaches how to pay attention to your thoughts and improve your observation of the world around you in order to find your blind spots. The end game of this is to enable you to make better decisions.

WHO WOULD ENJOY IT?
Anyone looking to improve their decision making.

IS IT WORTH READING?
There are a lot of real-life examples in this book, with quotations from experts that deal with the mind and brain. If you do not mind going through all this, then you will enjoy this book. The content is valuable and if you read carefully, could change the way you perceive things.

SAMPLE PASSAGE

Stories don’t always steer us in the right direction. Having a coherent narrative about something, no matter what it is, from “I’m fat” to “Immigrants are taking all our jobs” to “Our company is the best and will never be beat,” may all be easy on the brain, but are they true? We are generally accurate with our stories — at least enough to keep from bumping into walls while walking, to agree that a red light means stop, and to remember people’s names and the capital of Nebraska. So we tend to think all our stories are true. This is important to understand. Questioning our ideas and assumptions is hard. That’s why we dupe ourselves; we confirm our own ideas so quickly, based on the assumption that we are accurate, that we miss the chance to see whether we missed something. Our need to create coherent stories and have them feel believable (and hence unquestioned) leads us to form and protect blind spots.

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The Blind Spot Effect: How to Sto Missing What's Right in Front of You by Kelly Boys is available to buy on all major online bookstores from July 2018. Many thanks to Sounds True Publishing for review copy.

Review: The Dead Eye and the Deep Blue Sea

One of the luxuries of modern life is the growing distance between us and what we eat. As we throw down bits of fruits, grains, fluids, and flesh down our gullet, we hardly take a thought about who cultivated them and in what manner. Or maybe we are afraid of what we might find if we peer too long down that rabbit hole. Yet there is an ugly underbelly to food production today - from bee-killing chemicals, slavery, unethical genetic enhancement, cruel treatment of animals, and so on. 

The Dead Eye and the Deep Blue Sea is a true life story that explores all the above themes. It is a story of  Vannak Anan Prum, a man lured on a shipping boat where he, alongside other unfortunate souls, are forced to toil for years without pay, without seeing land, feeding on little food, getting maimed or killed by sea creatures and ship nets. Vannak is one of many people forced to work under inhumane conditions to feed others in different parts of the world.

WHO WOULD ENJOY READING IT?

Anyone with interest in the economic and social state of the present world.

IS IT WORTH READING?

The theme of slavery, cruelty, poverty, the state of the world's waterways, and the sad ways people with insane wealth keeps trying to accumulate more at the expense of others are very much at the forefront here. Though the story is written in a journal-like format (with pictures on most pages), it works well to engage the imagination. The narration is immersive and the emotional impact of the pictures is something readers have to experience for themselves. This is a book that will change your mind about few issues we face today.

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The Dead Eye and the Deep Blue Sea by Vannak Anan Prum is available to buy from all major online bookstores from June, 2018. Many thanks to Seven Stories Press for review copy.

Review: The Herball's Guide to Restorative Tonics, Delicious De-Stressors and Sleep Inducers - A Compendium of Plant-based Drinks to Make at Home

Contrary to decades ago when anyone carrying the title of a herbalist is viewed as a charlatan or a third-worlder, a large part of the western world has woken up to the realities of the magical power of plants around them.

The Herball's Guide to Restorative Tonics, Delicious De-Stressors and Sleep Inducers shows an array of herbs and the kind of power they wield when combined well.

WHO WOULD ENJOY IT?
Anyone with an interest in natural medicine.

IS IT WORTH READING?
It depends on the reader. The book itself is full of recipes, plant attributes and other information about the right brewing processes needed to make an effective drink. Most importantly, the book cautions against picking plants based on assumptions or any other part of a plant other than the one specified. In short, this is not a book for amateurs.

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The Herball's Guide to Restorative Tonics, Delicious De-Stressors and Sleep Inducers - A Compendium of Plant-based Drinks to Make at Home by Michael Isted is available to buy on all major online bookstores. Many thanks to Quarto Publishing Group for review copy.

Review: Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for the Simpsons

Springfield Confidential takes a broad look at the authors' working years as The Simpson's writers, examining what makes the show popular, its early behind-the-scenes feud, its weird cast of creators, and some answers to pertinent questions fans love to ask.

WHO WOULD ENJOY READING IT?
Fans of the show would love the answers and clues shown here. For example, did you know Moe and Chief Wiggum were allegedly modelled after animals? A gorilla and pig respectively.

Also, aspiring creatives would find solace and wisdom in the authors' depiction of the world of writing and comedy, what it takes to do a great work and the pitfalls littered across its landscape.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THE BOOK
The book confirmed my intuition about some creative issues that have troubled me for a while. The book reveals that a lot of great things about The Simpsons where not planned or strategised. For example, the "Moaning Lisa" episode cemented Lisa's personality as the conscience of the show. However, it was not planned to be that way and that episode almost ended up not being made.

Furthermore, the book teaches that there is no need to disrupt a good thing for the sake of change. The Simpsons has followed a specific formula since almost its beginning and it has worked a treat for them. More importantly, I learnt that bureaucracy is an enemy of good ideas.

MEMORABLE PASSAGE

In theory, The Simpsons is liberal to the point of anarchy, and Fox is conservative to the point of fascism. People always ask, why do they let us get away with it?

First off, The Simpsons came to Fox before there was a Fox News Channel. At the time, Fox’s reputation was daring and sexy. It was a perfect place for a show that could never have survived on any of the big three networks. Fox gave us immense freedom, and still does—they almost never question our content.

Why? Money. The people behind Fox are capitalists, and we bring in a lot of capital—$5 billion, by one estimate. (But no profit—I own 1 percent of The Simpsons’ profit, and to date I’ve never gotten a penny. Every fiscal quarter, Fox sends me a statement that reads, We’ve grossed five billion dollars, but our costs are five billion and eight dollars. You owe us eight cents. I am living proof that not all Jews have business savvy).

Springfield Confidential: Jokes, Secrets, and Outright Lies from a Lifetime Writing for the Simpsons by Mike Reiss and Mathew Kickstein is available in major online bookstores. Many thanks to Dey Street Books (HarperCollins) for review copy.

Review: Night's Dominion: Volume 1

"A thief, an assassin, a mage and a cleric walk into a tavern in the ancient city of Umber. Awaiting them is a mysterious bard with a dangerous scheme: to break into the dungeon of a powerful death cult in search of treasure. For these five desperate criminals, it's the last chance for hope in a city of corruption and despair. But what they find instead is an undead army preparing to conquer the world. Now, they must fight to protect the city that pushed their backs to the wall, or watch it burn."

A thief, an assassin, a mage and a cleric

WHO WOULD ENJOY READING IT?

Night's Dominion deals with political as well as religious themes. If you like fantasy stories set in a background of serious social topics then you will enjoy reading this one.

CHARACTER FOCUS

There is a lot to say about loving your country, but when the system is set up to tear you down, then humans are wired to ditch patriotism and don a garb of cynism and hatred of fellow countrymen.

Claude

Claude is a character who falls under the brutal axe of the system. He is taken by debt collectors when his father failed to pay up his debts and put into a disease-ravaged prison. When the debt isn't paid on time, thanks to the astronomical interest that doubles every year, the debt collectors sell him to priests of Uhlume who plans to turn Claude into one of their mindless war puppets. However, things go pear-shaped when Claude accidentally gained an enormous power with the potential to bring the kingdom he has come to hate to ruins.

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Night's Dominion by Ted Naifeh is available to buy from on all major online bookstores. Many thanks to Oni Press for review copy.