mwanderson2 San Francisco, CA, USA

Well, this book has me torn. I think the productivity tips are really useful, offering guidance and structures for organizing one's workflow on multiple time horizons (daily, weekly, etc.). I subscribe to a number of RSS feeds regarding productivity "hacks" that use Allen's book as a foundation for their tips and tricks, and GTD delivered on providing my own framework for implementing those tips. In fact, I was able to arrange my Outlook and bust through my inbox right after reading the book.

However, the two-bit moralizing about 'relaxed control' got in the way of otherwise useful information. The last two chapters are absolute malarkey, and should be disregarded. Additionally, and this might be a time-saving boon, much of the book can be skimmed for the juicier morsels. ... (continue)

the so-so rating probably isn't fair. there are certain articles/essays within the book that are really great. reading the book straight-through, however, is a bit tedious, and i found myself skipping around to topics of interest, with no desire for the satisfaction that comes when a book is put down having been read from cover to cover.

however, the book does function as enjoyable, highly interesting occasional reading. i will most likely, in the future, leaf through it.

articles to check out: the one on how long it takes the sun's rays to reach us (something like a million years), and the namesake article on what happens as you near and cross an event horizon (death by black hole). ... (continue)

i really enjoyed this book, and i will recommend it to everyone i know.

the only thing that kept the book from receiving an "i LOVE it!" is that wilson oftentimes slips into personal description of his life and colleagues about whom he's writing. i wouldn't have minded an occasional parenthetical on his personal history, how he and his wife lived in this place and how the light reflected off the blades of grass on a hill, but the long-winded ruminations on these things subtracted from the excellence of the book.

overall, though, book rocks!: cool vignettes about bee, beetle, ape and human behaviors; well-structured survey of the major topics within evolution and its methodology; and a cogent application of evolutionary principles to multiple disciplines.

things i really liked: beetles (i forget the type) and explanation for infanticide, and the dancing of bees and the architecture of larger "societal" structures. ... (continue)