Ask HN: Biographies recommendations – both Westerner and Non-westerner • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Biographies recommendations – both Westerner and Non-westerner

#61

Post by amarghose » Thu, May 23, 2019, 1:07 AM UTC

elliekelly wrote: post #34

The Fish Who Ate The Whale. If you think Bezos and Zuckerberg are cunning & determined entrepreneurs Sam the Banana Man will blow your mind. To give you a taste: His opponents (a large, well-funded and established competitor) stymied his attempt to get permission to build a bridge across a river. Undeterred, Sam built two piers. One from each side of the river. They told him he couldn’t build a bridge. No one ever to…

My favorite entrepreneurial book to recommend to others because so few have read or heard of it ... absolutely epic

Re: Ask HN: Biographies recommendations – both Westerner and Non-westerner

#62

Post by amarghose » Thu, May 23, 2019, 1:12 AM UTC

nestorherre wrote: post #54

Elon Musk - Ashlee Vance. Hands down one of the most inspiring and motivating biographies I've read.

Agreed - after reading this one I really stepped up my reading game (Audible helps a lot!) and it's helped my creativity and problem solving a lot :-)

Re: Ask HN: Biographies recommendations – both Westerner and Non-westerner

#63

Post by samblr » Thu, May 23, 2019, 4:50 PM UTC

My Life and Work - Henry Ford

A true engineer at heart. His comeback in life is very similar to that of Steve Jobs. Man was a true genius.

Re: Ask HN: Biographies recommendations – both Westerner and Non-westerner

#64

Post by Spooky23 » Fri, May 24, 2019, 1:09 AM UTC

ctchocula wrote: post #31

The Power Broker - the story of how an idealist turned into Darth Vader The Years of Lyndon Johnson - the story of how LBJ rigged the 1948 election for Senate and rose to power Here's an excerpt from an interview with the author of both books: > During all these years I did come to understand stuff about power that I wanted people to know. You read in every textbook that cliché: Power corrupts. In my opinion, I’ve le…

I read the Power Broker whenever I get promoted or things go really well. That transformation is tale worth reflecting on.

Re: Ask HN: Biographies recommendations – both Westerner and Non-westerner

#65

Post by ahmaman » Fri, May 24, 2019, 1:19 PM UTC

Now I have a large list of biographies to read! thanks a lot to everyone's recommendation I really appreciate it! :)

Re: Ask HN: Biographies recommendations – both Westerner and Non-westerner

#66

Post by jkeat » Tue, May 28, 2019, 1:43 AM UTC

fsloth wrote: post #32

jkeat wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've enjoyed some of Walter Isaacson's books but always worried an internet-intellectual would roast me for that. I think those biographies are more pop than his fans like to think and more academic than his detractors might imagine.

I don't think there is anything wrong in 'pop' when the work is intended to be popular. I expect the biographer to verify her sources but as a reader I'm not going to go out (generally) to verify them. Things that happened, happened. Most of all when reading popular biographies I want to be introduced to real things that happened, and if some of that draws my interest, I can then dig in to more academic sources. The…

Yeah, I just think 'pop' is a good word to take down something seen as a comprehensive work when it's more of a '100 foot overview.'

That's a rare thing, though. The adjective should probably be used neutrally way more often than derogatorily.