http://www.mlarson.org/2006/08/10/everything-bad-is-good-for-you-review-45/ this what i like Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:55:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.mlarson.org/2006/08/10/everything-bad-is-good-for-you-review-45/comment-page-1/#comment-437 mlarson.org » The Ghost Map (review: 4/5) Tue, 28 Nov 2006 02:55:50 +0000 http://www.mlarson.org/?p=26#comment-437 [...] Compared with the other two Steven Johnson books I read, this one was my least favorite. I originally gave it a 3–but I’ve grown to like it more and more as I’ve thought about the ideas inside. [...] [...] Compared with the other two Steven Johnson books I read, this one was my least favorite. I originally gave it a 3–but I’ve grown to like it more and more as I’ve thought about the ideas inside. [...]

]]> http://www.mlarson.org/2006/08/10/everything-bad-is-good-for-you-review-45/comment-page-1/#comment-61 mlarson.org » Understanding Comics (review: 4.5/5) Mon, 23 Oct 2006 02:55:16 +0000 http://www.mlarson.org/?p=26#comment-61 [...] After the history, there’s an extended analysis of form and style and structural elements. It’s interesting to see McCloud use an argument that is revived in Steven Johnson’s Everything Good is Bad for You (my review). Namely, that comics are more demanding of the reader. The storyline isn’t completely spelled out for you. The selected elements of the story are presented together, but you have to fill in the gaps between frozen moments in time, to give them life. As McCloud says, the comics reader becomes a participant. [...] [...] After the history, there’s an extended analysis of form and style and structural elements. It’s interesting to see McCloud use an argument that is revived in Steven Johnson’s Everything Good is Bad for You (my review). Namely, that comics are more demanding of the reader. The storyline isn’t completely spelled out for you. The selected elements of the story are presented together, but you have to fill in the gaps between frozen moments in time, to give them life. As McCloud says, the comics reader becomes a participant. [...]

]]> http://www.mlarson.org/2006/08/10/everything-bad-is-good-for-you-review-45/comment-page-1/#comment-27 mlarson.org » The Wisdom of Crowds (review: 4/5) Mon, 09 Oct 2006 02:49:50 +0000 http://www.mlarson.org/?p=26#comment-27 [...] Like some other consilient books I’ve dabbled in, Surowiecki draws from a bunch of academic and popular work, and uses it to neatly package his ideas for human consumption. In his favor, I really like that he doesn’t stretch his research too far. The main idea seems more richly documented and better sculpted than in books like Blink and The Tipping Point. As an added bonus, his writing is more free from chummy background stories–i.e. not all research needs multi-paragraph introductions. Instead, we get a nice solid edifice of ideas–thank you, James. [...] [...] Like some other consilient books I’ve dabbled in, Surowiecki draws from a bunch of academic and popular work, and uses it to neatly package his ideas for human consumption. In his favor, I really like that he doesn’t stretch his research too far. The main idea seems more richly documented and better sculpted than in books like Blink and The Tipping Point. As an added bonus, his writing is more free from chummy background stories–i.e. not all research needs multi-paragraph introductions. Instead, we get a nice solid edifice of ideas–thank you, James. [...]

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