by Michael Graham ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 30, 2017
A meandering account that delivers some worthy business tips and entertaining anecdotes.
A debut memoir recounts running a restaurant in Brazil.
Graham begins his book with the opening of East, a restaurant in São Paulo that he describes as “Shanghai opium den meets London lounge.” Although he lived in Brazil as a child, he spent most of his career in the U.S. In his 20s, he opened Forklift, a restaurant at a Utah ski resort. Optimistic and impulsive, Graham knew little about business but outlined a seven-step plan, starting with “get inspired” and ending with “live the dream.” Forklift flourished but he soon grew bored: “Work was now drudgery...I needed change.” He became chief of staff for Utah Gov. Scott Matheson and then moved to Washington, D.C., and spent many years in advertising. In each of these jobs, he found success; he was the “new boss.” But again, he grew restless, and after visiting Brazil on business, he decided to open East. The second half of Graham’s memoir details the joys and challenges of operating a restaurant in a foreign country. Tellingly, he never learned to speak Portuguese and seemed constantly in awe of and frustrated by Brazilian life. He recognized inequality and discovered that his staff saw him as a “gringo conquistador.” He aspired to a unique menu and décor but found himself “caving in to Brazilian expectations, sushi,” and open seating so guests could “show off their latest botox treatment.” Through financial, staffing, and menu troubles, East thrived for four years. Graham returned to America to write his memoir yet his chatty book reads like a crowded fusion restaurant, as if he began talking over drinks and stopped only when the establishment closed. His chapter titles suggest a similar pace. His tone is casual and self-deprecating and he offers hard-won, useful advice to would-be entrepreneurs. But the work is unfocused and uneven. He spends several pages on his dog chasing a squirrel, for instance, but mentions his children in just a few words. The volume’s most enjoyable parts focus on East.
A meandering account that delivers some worthy business tips and entertaining anecdotes.Pub Date: June 30, 2017
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Chris Gardner with Quincy Troupe ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2006
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
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by Daniel Kahneman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2011
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
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