Beauty In Truth June 12, 2006
Posted by Dustin in Books.3 comments
"The adolescents of my generation, greedy for life, forgot in body and soul about their hopes for the future until reality taught them that tomorrow was not what they had dreamed, and they discovered nostalgia."
-Gabriel Garcia Marquez
from Memories of My Melancholy Whores
I Am An Addict June 5, 2006
Posted by Dustin in Books.5 comments
It all starts innocently enough as you pass by the akward section in Barnes and Noble. Before you know it, you are going on three day binges that teeter on the brink of insanity. My friends, I have fallen prey to that narcotic of genres: the self-help title. I am averaging just over four "delights" (as they are called in dedicated circles) a week and my appetite shows no signs of relenting. I refuse casual sex in the hope that I can discover inner peace inked in a manual. I eat with only one hand so I can grasp the "secrets" of success in the other. I think it may be time for an intervention.
The Little Book That Beats The Market February 16, 2006
Posted by Dustin in Books.9 comments
I just finished reading this little gem of a book. In The Little Book That Beats The Market, Joel Greenblatt, an adjunct Columbia University professor explicates the inherent virtues of value-oriented investing. Essentially, Greenblatt championss using a distilled set of principles (affectionately referred to as the magic formula) to screen and purchase companies with bargain share prices and high prifitability. This outstanding investment primer epitomizes simplicity and can be read in a single afternoon. If you are curious and would like to see the magic formula in action, you can test it here.
The Game February 7, 2006
Posted by Dustin in Books.8 comments
I recently finished reading The Game by Neil Strauss. The book, which resembles a Bible is subtitled Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists. Strauss, a former Rolling Stone writer and New York Times bestselling author undergoes a transformation from average frustrated chump (afc for short) to the master pickup artist (mpua) known as Style. As part narrative and part instruction manual, The Game is a fascinating read. In addition to many other topics, Strauss masterfully weaves accounts of sarging (or picking up) Paris Hilton and Britney Spears with comprehensive instructions on deflecting the let’s-just-be-friends speech. However, the book’s utility goes far beyond getting numbers or even kiss-closing. The details and observations about social dynamics and social evolution (in all its myriad forms) are as intriguing as they are useful. Since it won’t be on Oprah any time soon, I hereby deem it the first selection of Dustin’s Book Club.
