Book Review Mondays

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Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates Worldclass Performers from Everybody Else
by Geoff Colvin

Book Review by Richard L. Weaver II, PhD.

The question Colvin chases in this book is, “What does great performance require?” This is what one reviewer said of this book: “...Colvin does make a powerful case that hard MINDFUL work can make up for what you might lack in the genes department and leaves little excuse, except laziness and self choice, for not being the person you want to be and for that alone its worth reading.” Colvin’s final paragraph of the book reads: “[The evidence] shows that the price of top-level achievement is extraordinarily high. Perhaps it’s inevitable that not many people will choose to pay it. But the evidence shows also that by understanding how a few become great, anyone can become better. Above all, what the evidence shouts most loudly is striking, liberating news; that great performance is not reserved for a preordained few. It is available to you and to everyone.” Colvin offers 10 pages of notes. A music teacher reviewed the book and said this: “A must read for parents AND students or anyone who wants the truth told about how to be excellent in any field!! WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL!! Buy this book!!!” Colvin and Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers, make the same point (and use much of the same evidence) “That it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become a master in any field.”

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P.S.: Further thoughts from a lifetime of listening
by Studs Terkel

Book Review by Richard L. Weaver II, PhD.

If you like Studs Terkel, you will like this 226-page book which reveals pages of previously unpublished writings — interviews, short essays, and the transcript of his 1962 Prix Italia award-winning documentary, Born to Live. Fourteen percent of the book is a fascinating interview with James Baldwin. Also, that transcript just mentioned takes up another 12% of the book. If you have previously read one of his 16 previously published works, then you know exactly what to expect, and you won’t be disappointed. Although the book is an easy, comfortable read, and with the exception of the James Baldwin interview, the book doesn’t have the same edge as his books: Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, or Will the Circle be Unbroken? Reflections on Death, Rebirth, and Hunger for a Faith, Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression, or The Great Divide: Second Thoughts on the American Dream. This book is an easy read (a couple of days), and it is Terkel through-and-through, but (with the exception of the Baldwin interview) I didn’t find it nearly as interesting or engaging as some of his previous books.

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Through our reading, researching, and writing, And Then Some Publishing (and our extended family of readers) mine volumes of books representing a wide variety of tastes. We use the books in our writing, test and try suggested techniques, and we read for enjoyment as well. We wouldn't spend the time reviewing the books if we didn't get something out of it. Read more reviews on other fantastic books at our BookWorksRules.com website.