A book of colorful tidbits to inspire creative thought.
In this debut business-advice book, a seasoned digital artist and entrepreneur offers his insights on fostering creativity.
Margolis has had a 20-year career working with creative teams and corporate clients in entertainment, media, advertising, publishing, and finance in London and New York. Those clients have included IMG’s television division Trans World International, advertising agency Burkitt DDB (now Adam & Eve DDB), property consultancy King Sturge (now Jones Lang LaSalle), Sky Sports, and communications company Energis (now Vodafone). In this first book of a planned series, the author focuses on the first 25 of a projected 250 principles, all focused on how to create the best conditions to nurture creativity in “an increasingly complex world.” In 25 chapters, he offers musings and often amusing discussions on starter concepts, such as committing to documenting one’s ideas; eating a healthy diet; varying one’s daily commute; allowing time for meditation and daydreaming; asking “what if” instead of open-ended questions; and maximizing brainstorming sessions. Margolis sees the modern, open-plan office as “a creativity killer,” noting that one should take short breaks and go on longer-term retreats as much as possible. He discusses the “pressure paradox,” in which deadlines create creativity-crushing stress but also galvanize people into action. He describes sharing ideas with others as a “triple-edged sword”: one would miss out on constructive feedback by staying silent, but one’s ego may be unduly inflated (or deflated) by others’ responses. Overall, Margolis provides an array of chatty, easy-to-read chapters, making this book a good tool for kick-starting personal creativity. However, readers may wish for more details on how the author applied his principles to his own apparently stellar career, and his tendency toward humor can be a bit tiresome and distracting. Still, the book does offer some effective, quick-shot motivational advice. (A related website showcases some attractive visual representations of the book’s chapter titles.)
A book of colorful tidbits to inspire creative thought.Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2014
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 175
Publisher: Pacific Night Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorkerstaff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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