Blue Latitudes by Tony Horwitz

Blue Latitudes by Tony Horwitz, (New York: Picador; 2002), 480 pages.

These days, international travel is relatively easy. All one needs to travel across the world is a bit of money, a passport, and an airplane ticket. The traveller is moved quickly and safely around the globe with relatively little exertion. Today's traveler neither know of  or experience the challengers faced by the voyagers and discoverers of the past. Horowitz acquaints us with these difficulties in this book where he retraces the voyages of perhaps the greatest of England's navigator and explorer, James Cook. Horwitz recaptures the magnificence of Cook's achievements by retracing cooks voyages. He traces his rise from his lowly status as an impoverished farm laborer to his rise through the ranks of the Royal Navy, his voyages pf exploration, and his veneration as a great navigator. To convey the magnitude of Cook's achievements, he joins the crew of a replica of Cook's famous ship Endeavor to show the limited equipment Cook had to achieve what he did. He travels to many of the places discovered by cook, and armed with Cook's log book and other references, sees what Cook saw. Horwitz also tries to put into himself into Cook's position and tries to assess Cook's legacy, particularly in the island nations he discovered in the South Pacific.

This book is written by a fan of Cook. He likens Cook to a real-life "olden day" equivalent of Star Trek's Captain Kirk; he went where no one had gone before. The book demonstrates Cook greatness by giving a contemporary storytelling of Cook's achievements. By travelling to the major places Cook visited, Horwitz conveys to the modern reader the magnitude of Cook's achievements.

This book succeeds in conveying Cook's greatness, without slipping into iconography. Horwitz uses the right balance of reverence, balance, reflection and humour to made Cook's achievements accessible to the modern reader. This book is an entertaining and enjoyable read; its so good that you should read it more than once so you can double your enjoyment.

Jacks and Jokers by Matthew Condon

Matthew Condon, Jacks and Jokers (St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press; Kindle edition, 2014), 466 pages.

Jacks and Jokers is the second book in a three book series about police corruption in Queensland, Australia from the 1960s through the late 1980s. This book covers the mid 1970s through the mid 1980s. It provides exquisitely detailed accounts of various illegal and criminal activities in Queensland during that time and the manner in which some of these activities proceeded without police or State government interference. The numerous stories of illegal and criminal behavior demonstrated various degrees of police (and at time government) complicity, co-operation, approval and involvement. The author goes beyond explaining the scope of the crimes and the level of police corruption to show how elements of the Queensland became a law unto themselves, having changed from being a tool in the administration of justice to being a political arm of government and an organizer or overseer of various protection rackets involving narcotics, prostitution and illegal gaming.

Crime has been around for a long time, since the times of Cain and Abel, or if you prefer, Romulus and Remus. Baring some dramatic shift in human nature, its likely to continue. We shouldn't be surprised then to read of it in its various forms, including murder, bribery, corruption, prostitution, drugs and gambling. THis book covers a lot of these sorts of crimes. What surprises this reader is the scale of these activities the in one region of Australia, and the extent of police involvement and government blindness to the police force's involvement in its operation, control and management. This book does very well in documenting these activities. Some of these crimes have been reported in other book and publications, and others have come to light by involved persons disclosing them to the author following the publication of the author's first book in this series. This second book by Condon shines a light on these troubled time in Queensland, Australia. Its well written, but readers should be cautioned that after a while they may tire of continuos chapters of illegal and criminal activities with no opportunity for catharsis of the emergence of an heroic figure. For this, we will have to wait for the third book in the series to be published.

Payroll Accounting by Bernard Bieg and Judith Toland

Bernard Bieg and Judith Toland, Payroll Accounting (Cengage Learning; Independence, KY; 2014) 496 pages.

This is a college textbook for students of payroll accounting. It covers all of the topics related to the subject of payroll accounting, as it applies in the United States. The topics covered include:

• Social Security taxes
• Medicare taxes
• Federal and State unemployment taxes, and
• Federal individual income tax withholding.

Also included with this book is a CD-ROM with payroll templates, and the relevant templates students can use to complete a payroll project. Some editions of this book come with an electronic key for on-line assignments and graded quizzes. Be careful if you buy this book to ensure that the electron key is included, and if your particular course requires it. In short, this is a good example of a comprehensive textbook on United States payroll accounting..

A virtue of this book is that all chapters are of a similar length with each devoted to a specific topic. All topics are covered in sufficient detail for a college level payroll accounting class. He explanations of concepts are clear. Each chapter has a useful review section. The on-line grading and assessment consisted of weekly quizzes, plus med-term and end of term exams. The quizzes were straight forward application of material covered in the text. Quiz and exam format comprised true/false questions and multiple choice questions. Some of these questions used imprecise language that are likely to confuse students who struggle with English grammar, or have a first language other than English. The exams can be a source of frustration confuse due to their reliance on grammar, double-negatives and deliberately imprecise language.

Overall, this is an adequate entry-level payroll accounting textbook, even if it is somewhat expensive. But what textbook isn't expensive these days?

On the Beach by Nevil Shute

Nevil Shute, On the Beach (New York: Vintage Ed. , reprint of original published 1957; 2010). 320 pages.

This story is set in 1963 around Melbourne, Australia's southern-most major city. World War Three has devastated the nations of the northern hemisphere. Global air currents carried the nuclear fallout over the northern hemisphere killing all animal and human life. The fallout moves slowly across the equator and starts to cover the rest of the world. The only inhabitable parts of the world are the southern parts of Africa, South America, Australia, and New Zealand. Life in Melbourne continues while the invisible radiation moves towards them. An American submarine survived the devastation and now bases itself in Melbourne. The Australian government detects a Morse code signal coming from Seattle. With the hope that someone survived, the American submarine performs a mission to inspect the damage to the cities on the  west coast of the United States, investigate the source of the Morse code signal, and examine the levels of radiation to determine if the levels are falling. The submarine crew examines the cities on the west coast of the United States from the safety of their vessel. They discover that the radiation levels have not fallen, and that the mystery Morse code signal is caused by an object swinging in the breeze and hitting the Morse code key. Upon completion of their mission, the submarine returns to Melbourne, where the crew face their fate along with the rest of the world - death by radiation poisoning. The Australian government distributes suicide pills for those wishing to end things quickly. In their last weeks with the radiation approaching, the people carry on their lives until the radiation sickness emerged. Most of the characters choose to suicide, while the submarine captain leaves port with his remaining crew to scuttle his boat.

This is a bleak and morose book. Don't expect it to cheer you up. After reading it, I have doubts about the authenticity of the characters. The major characters are hardy souls. Some of them are military men. I found it difficult to believe that none of the characters headed to the hills or caves with years of provisions and protective supplies in order to ride out the years of radioactive fallout until it was safe to emerge. I find it hard to believe that the author did not include in his story what we now call "survivalists."  The characters in his book put their faith in the government, waited for the inevitable, and then committed suicide. Maybe that is his point: putting your faith in the government results is suicide.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was bleak and morose, but that is the intention. I always wanted to read this book after hearing the story (false though it was) that Ava Gardner, the star of the film adaptation of the book, said that Melbourne was the perfect place to make a film about the end of the world. I'm pleased I read this book, but could not say that joy or happiness can be found within it's pages. Caveat emptor!

Notes from a Big Country by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson, Notes from A Big Country (New York: Doubleday; 1998), 318 pages.

In 1996 or thereabouts, Bryson relocated with his family from England to a small college town in New Hampshire. Soon after his arrival, he was convinced by a colleague at an English newspaper (The Mail on Sunday Night and Day Magazine) to write a weekly column about America. This book is a collection of these articles that were written between October 1996 and May 1998. The articles are printed chronologically and cover a wide range of topics of potential interest to English readers. The book’s chapters include articles on baseball (written during the time of the World Series), the intellectual poverty of American television programs, the pervasiveness of drugs, advertising, congress, food, politics, obesity (how could there be a book on America without this topic being broached), the unique American holidays and how Americans celebrate them, and the rituals of fare welling a child going off to college. Bryson’s articles also contain a few articles on the oppressive bureaucracies one encounters in America (no doubted more oppressive these days), as well as numerous articles on the strangeness of returning to America after being away for a long time and finding that many things have changed and are not as they once were.

Bryson’s books are known for containing generous portions of smart-arse comments, complaints about stupidity and stupid people, and cruel humor often directed towards people simply doing their job. This book does not disappoint those Bryson fans expecting that kind of writing. You have to give credit to the man: he knows his audience. Nonetheless, this humor is at times forced, especially in articles dealing with new technology and having to file income taxes. Bryson complains a lot – he even quotes his wife who accuses him of writing columns that bitch, moan and complain. She is correct, partly. We should be mindful that these articles were written for an English newspaper and Bryson does well to pick the low hanging fruits of complaining about America in a way that appeals to English superiority and their apparent repulsion of American vulgarity. These are easy targets. Where Bryson really excels is in his descriptions of aspects of America that delight and surprise him. These articles are where Bryson’s writing excels. Smart-arse complainers are common: writers that can convey delight wonder and enthusiasm are rare. This is where Bryson’s real talents lie. In this book he shows glimpses of this special talent. As we now know, it took Bryson a few more years and a few more books for him to develop this talent and leave behind completely the callow smart-arse humor that appears here. This book is enjoyable nonetheless. The short chapters make it an ideal book for commuters looking for something to make their daily journeys quickly pass, as well as for men who like to do their reading in the smallest room in the house. Time has dated a few of the chapters, but on balance, this is an enjoyable book that has something for all adults.

Roads to Quoz: An American Mosey by William Least Heat-Moon

William Least Heat-Moon, Roads to Quoz: An American Mosey, (New York: Little, Brown and Company; 2008),  581 pages.

When William Least Heat-Moon published Blue Highways, he established a reputation as a writer who knew that off the beaten track places offer big surprises. In this book, the author again chronicles his road travels in and around the small towns of the United States of America in search of "Quoz," things strange, incongruous, or peculiar. To Heat-Moon, "Quoz" can be history, hereditary stories retold or invented, or places and locations with a past often in danger of being forgotten or destroyed. The author travelled far and wide with an anonymous attorney friend in search of "Quoz." Within the continental United States, he travelled to the Southeast, Southwest, Northeast, the Northwest and numerous places in between. He did not take one single journey, but a series of journeys over an indeterminate period of time. He traveled to swamps in Florida, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, along an abandoned railway in Idaho on a bicycle adapted for riding on rails, engaged interesting characters in Wyoming, and investigated the so-called mysterious Quapaw Ghost Light of Oklahoma. He re-examined an old cold blooded murder in Joplin Missouri. He also traveled down an old waterway along the east costs of the United States, and to my surprise and enjoyment, wrote in great detail about the Starrucca Viaduct in Lanesboro Pennsylvania, a disused elevated masonry railway bridge of considerable size.

Heat-Moon is a skilled writer. The dust cover to this book does not exaggerate when it describes him as being a chronicler of rare genius and empathy. He has an ear for a good story, the personality to engage  strangers to extract information, and the ability to share it with others in writing. But sharing is too bland a description. Heat-Moon thoroughly investigated backgrounds and facts. He conveys to the reader some real gems of stories. He breathes life into forgotten facts, scandals and history. He makes the ordinary seem exciting. The author should be commended for making the "Quoz" the subject of his book. He avoids the habit so often seen in travel books of making himself and his reaction to his new environment the subject. Rather, Heat-Moon stands in the background highlighting the "Quoz" and by doing so, enriching our lives.

I've read two of the author's other works, Blue Highways and River-Horse, and like those books, I enjoyed this book immensely. I didn't want this book to end. I wanted Heat-Hoon to continue his travels and telling interesting and fascinating stories about the forgotten and overlooked parts of the United States of America. At times slow-paced and detailed, readers should be cautioned to not expect a "rollicking good read." This book is a mosey, a slow-paced and thoughtful examination of interesting and mostly forgotten places and discarded stories. I think this is a wonderful book, and expect many others will think the same after they read it.

The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly, The Gods of Guilt (New York: Little, Brown and Company; 2013), 400 pages.

  

Gods of Guilt is a Michael Connelly crime novel. The story is based around a Los Angeles based criminal defense attorney called Michael Haller, a recurring character in Connelly’s Lincoln Lawyer series. This book is about Haller defending a man accused of killing one of his former clients, a prostitute that Haller tried to reform or help leave the business. Haller’s defense investigation reveals that his new client was set up, and that the victim may have been killed because of her role as a witness in another case, an appeal against a conviction by an incarcerated drug cartel member. The deceased prostitute was a witness in a case that could free the cartel member if she acknowledged her role as an informant to the Federal Government’s Drug Enforcement Agency (“D.E.A.”). Her testimony could reveal criminal activity by a corrupt D.E.A. agent, including planting evidence that led to the conviction of the cartel member. For Haller to free his new client, he has to show in court the part played by his deceased former prostitute client in assisting the corrupt D.E.A agent commit a crime. This act would introduce to his defense the element of reasonable doubt through the identification of an alternate killer with both opportunity and motive.

This book is a typical Connelly book. It is a fast moving story that maintains the reader’s interest with generous doses of court room drama, suspense, official corruption and troubled relationships. As seems to be the case with most Connelly books, the principal characters are less than perfect and have paid a high price for their success, namely, marriage failures and alienation from their children. Gods of Guilt is an interesting book that would be enjoyed by Connelly’s regular readers, or persons that enjoy realistic crime fiction that accurately portrays the prosecution of crimes in Los Angeles. If the story is truly realistic, Connelly seems to be warning the reader, though his main character Haller, to never talk to police when they are investigating a murder without having a lawyer present because the police will most likely try to pin it on you.

The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson, "The Lost Continent: Travels in Small Town America," (London: Abacus Books; 1990), 293 pages.

In the late 1908s, Bill Bryson, an England-based American writer, returned to the United States to retrace the travels taken on family vacations during his youth. The travels he took were the material for this book. Bryson wanted to visit what he called the magical places of his youth, or perhaps more accurately, the places he visited on family vacations of his youth that formed magical memories for him. Motivated by the recent passing of his father, a semi-famous baseball writer, and looming middle-age, Bryson returned to his home town, borrowed a car, and set out to see small town America. His journey was not just a retracing footsteps of old trips, it also took on a quest to find the dreamy small town of the movie of his youth, a timeless place where Bing Crosby would be the priest, Jimmy Stewart the major, Fred Macmurray the high school principal, and Henry Fonda the owner of the gas station. Bryson called this fictional town Amalgam, a mixture of the picturesque towns encountered in fiction.

Bryson traveled from Des Moines, Iowa to all corners of the lower 48 states of the United States. The book contains detailed descriptions of the places he visited, together with reflections from his childhood. Bryson writes with perception, accuracy and wit. He captures the vast contrasts in the United States, the gaps between the wealthy and the poor, the prevalence of violent crime, and America's large scale abandonment of small town "high street" commercial life in favor of large scale commerce of big box stores and shopping malls. Bryson praises the staggering physical beauty of the United States while simultaneously recoiling at the homogenization of its look alike suburban developments, gas stations, motels and fast food outlets frequented by overweight hicks wearing bad clothes.

The Lost Continent established Bryson's reputation as a humorous travel writer. At times he is a rude smart-alec that prompts deep belly laughs in reader. At times he is cruel when he makes fun of the local residents of the small towns he visits. At the time of the writing of this book, Bryson has lived outside the United States for a long time. This book shows that the America of his youth is gone; Americans' way of life and their towns and cities have changes from how he remembers them. It’s as though Bryson is a foreigner in his own country and he is disgusted with a lot of what he sees. Despite his smart-alec outrage and humorous put-downs, Bryson writes quite beautifully about the places he visits, most notably the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit, Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, the Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, and numerous small towns in New England and the Mid West. The book also contains many historical fact that enable Bryson to provide a back story to the places he visited thereby acting as a story teller and educator for the reader. Bryson's eye for detail, love of useful facts, historical details, and good yarns are his great strength. His gift is to tell great stories about significant human achievements and follies that move and excite people. In The Lost Continent we see the potential he developed later on in more serious and scholarly books.

If this book has a weakness it’s the uneven pace. Bryson starts slowly, describing in great detail his travels on the Iowa and Illinois back roads. It’s as though he is travelling slowly, but writing a lot. By the end of the book, Bryson covers great distances with less detail. As times it appears as though he is racing across the western states as though he is on a deadline to traverse these great distances in a short period of time and in as few pages as possible so he can flop over the finish line in time for his return flight to England. The pace is that of a sprinter compared to the leisurely stroll at the start of the book. If you can get past this minor blemish, Bryson's "culture shock" and humorous self-obsession with how America has changed, you should enjoy this book for its moments of serious reflection and first-rate story telling about things that both tarnish and make America great. These alone are worth the purchase price of this book.

Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief by Bill a Mason and Lee Gruenfeld

Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief by Bill Mason and Lee Gruenfeld, (New York: Villard Books; 2005), 365 pages.

Confessions always make good reading. From the times of Saint Augustine we've read them in great number. Those of us that live quiet lives seem always willing to pay for the confessions of Saints and sinners. Bill Mason fits into the sinner camp. He was an exceptional jewel thief that plied his specialized craft in Cleveland and South Florida. During the day, Mason worked a a successful property manager and real estate investor. On the side, he was a jewel thief that over his career stole more than $35 million worth of jewels from wealthy industrialists, actors, show business personalities, and wealthy socialites. This book reflects on his early life and early crimes, his growing confidence as he successfully completed more dangerous robberies, his relocation to Florida and fresh crop of new targets, his embarrassment of the Florida police, the five years he spent as a fugitive, his time in jail and prison, and the events that led to him retiring from a life of crime.

Mason's confessions show how the life of crime does not pay. We read of his excitement of successfully completing a succession of heists, and the highs of completing a range of jobs. But we also read of his brush with death after being shot by a security guard, the dogged pursuit of him by the Florida police, the misery he caused his family by long absences in jail and being a fugitive from the law for five years, as well as the stress and strain he caused his wife by her not knowing whether he will come home from a job. Mason paints a pretty good picture of the highs and lows of his criminal life and appears genuine when he apologizes for all the misery and pain he inflicted on his wives and children. He regrets the life that he lived, but shows that even though he had a lot of fun for a while, in the long run his live as a master jewel thief was not worth the suffering he inflicted on himself and those he loved. Let's hope that any potential criminals that read this book learn from Mason's experience and heed his advice.

David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm Gladwell, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants (New York: Little, Brown and Company; 2013), 305 pages.

The Malcolm Gladwell publishing enterprise’s latest installment is David and Goliath. The format is similar to his previous efforts: a volume of essays with a theme. This volume is about what happens when ordinary people are confronted by giants. By giants, he means powerful opponents of all kinds from armies and mighty warriors to physical and intellectual disability, misfortune, and oppression. Each chapter tells the story of a person that faced an oversized challenge and was forced to choose to respond. Each person Gladwell covers was challenged to play by the rules or give up, strike back, or forgive. In exploring these stories, Gladwell tries to explore two ideas. First, he explores the idea that lopsided conflicts, like that between David and Goliath, produce greatness and beauty. Second, he believes that we consistently get these kinds of David and Goliath conflicts wrong. To Gladwell, we misread them or misinterpret them. The same qualities that give one side great strength and an overwhelming advantage are often sources of great weakness. Being an underdog can change people in ways that we often fail to appreciate: it can open doors, create opportunities, educate and enlighten, and make possible what might otherwise have seemed un-thinkable.

Gladwell uses examples to make his case. For example, he examines a sporting team with a novice coach and novice players that achieve amazing success against more experienced opponents by using unorthodox tactics. Gladwell examines school class sizes and student family wealth to show the positive relationship between wealth up to a certain point, after which there is a negative relationship between wealth and success. Parents of college-age children will find the chapter of college achievement very interesting. Gladwell explored research into success rates of students interested in science in non-prestigious colleges versus achievement of similar children at prestigious colleges. Gladwell reported that on average, it is better to be a big fish (bright kid) in a small pond (non-prestigious college) than it is to be a small fish in a large pond (a bright kid among very many bright kids at a large prestigious college). Gladwell also examined research into the productivity of faculty that graduated from non-prestigious colleges versus faculty that graduated from prestigious colleges and found that the faculty that graduated from less prestigious colleges were more productive (on average) than graduates of prestigious schools. Gladwell also examines how people that face great difficulties and sufferings often develop great skills and accomplishments in spite of these difficulties. The book contains three chapters on the limits to power, namely, how great power can act to sew the seeds of its own defeat, or result in tan expensive and fruitless use of power by the State.

While very readable, and at time quite engaging, Gladwell’s latest book lacks the gravity, punch or impact of his earlier works. It’s adequately entertaining enough for this reader to finish it, but only just. This is a book I looked forward to finishing: it started well, but faded badly. It starts well with what you would expect in a book with this title, but after the first third, starts to fade to the extent that it is not readily apparent how the final third fits the author’s purpose. Perhaps this is due to our interest in stories about David’s success, rather than Goliath-type failures. No book is perfect. Galdwell has written a book worth reading with brief moments of great insight, but overall, somewhat disappointing compared to his other works.

New Ideas From Dead CEOs by Todd Buchholz

New Ideas From Dead CEOs: lasting Lessons from the Corner Office by Todd Buchholz, (New York: MJF Books; 2007), 300 pages.

We all believe that the present time is the peak time for knowledge and wisdom. This book explicitly challenges that proposition or belief by suggesting that iconic business leaders and business founders from the past can provide valuable life and business lessons to people today. In this short book, Buchholz examines the lives and and business challenges of a dozen business leaders. The people he examines are self-made successes that faced numerous ups and owns on their way to making business history. The book is divided into chapters that, for the most part, chronicle one business leader and the business they built. For example, he reviews the life of A.P. Giannini and how he built the Bank of America, Sam Walton and Walmart, Ray Croc at McDonalds, Walt Disney at Disney, Akio Morita at Sony, and Estee Lauder at the company that bears her name. Two chapters cover two people: one covers Thomas Watson Sr. and Jr. at IBM, and another covers Mary Kay Ash and Estee Lauder before he writes a separate chapter on both women. Each chapter provides biographic material including their upbringing, their early careers, decisions they made., and events that forged their distinct goals and aspirations, as well as challenges they faced during the establishment of their business and how they overcame obstacles.

The strength of this book is the wide range of lessons it covers. For example, the story of Walt Disney's loss of ownership of his creative content in the 1920s as an animator formed his resolve to retain ownership of Mickey Mouse, the character the built the Disney corporation. By contrast, the author also shows the importance of concentrating on low prices to the development of Walmart, the use of research and development in the growth of Sony, and the willingness for franchisees to experiment in the development of McDonalds.

This short book is a good introduction in to the lives of successful business founders, and their unique and varied experiences that led to their growth and ability to dominate their various industries.  The book contains a useful end notes section for readers interested in getting more detailed works of the people covered in this book, for example, biographies, autobiographies and studies. It is a book suitable for the curious reader and business owner alike, or student interested in the factors that led to some major businesses becoming what they are today.