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Blogs by Bill Brent
book reviews in brief 6/9/2005 1:14:45 PM
STORY, by Robert McKee (screenwriting)
ILLUSIONS, by Richard Bach (philosophy, spirituality, self-help, novel)
THE CULTURAL CREATIVES, by Paul H. Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson (sociology, contemporary cultural studies)
EIGHT KEYS TO GREATNESS, by Robert Landrum (self-help, self-improvement, biography, leadership studies)
THE TAO OF POOH, by Benjamin Hoff (philosophy, humor, Taoism) Lately I am reading STORY, by Robert McKee, which many consider fundamental to learning the craft of screenwriting. The first 110 pages are great. I just took a break at the end of a chapter to check email. :-) I am attending a seminar by McKee on Thursday night, so I have been absorbing as much of his text as possible in advance of that.
I've also finished ILLUSIONS, by Richard Bach, for maybe the fourth time, after my brother nearly bought the farm a few weeks ago (alcohol poisoning, liver failure). An easy yet deep read. I reread it every five or ten years when I'm stressed. It helps.
Worth a look but both too repetitive, IMO, are
(1) THE CULTURAL CREATIVES, by Paul H. Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson, who seem to have a few Clues(tm) about an impending cultural revolution in America, if only we Creatives could all find each other and form stronger coalitions; and
(2) EIGHT KEYS TO GREATNESS, by Robert Landrum, which is a survey of truly exceptional achievers who have changed the world -- a real range of movers and shakers over the past 300 years of world history. A decent enough overview of maybe 50 greats who each deserve more in-depth study than this book could possibly provide. Some (mostly sound) suggestions on how to foster greatness in one's own life, mostly: become an NT* with variety. (If you're introverted, learn to extrovert. If you're extro, learn to introspect. And so on.)
I just read The Tao of Pooh, too. Fun little book.
* = (Google on "Myers-Briggs" or "Promethean Temperament" if you're unsure what I mean here.)
