PJH Studios

Category: Books

All things books, fiction, nonfiction, sci-fi, thriller, horror, comics, literary

  • An Intimate Portrait of the Carousel Horse

    An intimate portrait of the carousel horse. Vol. 1 — Southern California is a vintage, specialized photography book from 1982. John R. Cook photographed carousel horses. The copy I looked through contained no forward or afterward to detail what the intimate portraits were attempting to achieve.

    Most of the photos appear to be snapshots and seemingly, there are such subtle differences that the horses are indistinguishable. Perhaps this book could serve as a reference for carousel horses, but these pictures appear about as intimate as the results you’d get from grandma at the family reunion learning how to use her disposable camera.

  • Kevin Kelly – What Technology Wants

    In What Technology Wants, Kevin Kelly views technology’s evolution from multiple perspectives–the anthropologist, the sociologist, the evolutionary biologist, the technologist and the futurist. Using these perspectives, he examines his core thesis: technology is an extension of our abilities.

    Broken into four sections, Origins, Imperatives, Choices and Directions he combines ideas from various disciplines with stories, documented history and deconstruction of facts. In Origins, evolutionary biology and anthropology explain humans and human interaction with technology. We began as a very simple species, and we adopted tools as we needed them. As homo sapiens evolved, our needs became more complex.

    Throughout Imperatives, he documents history and science with sociology in mind–how does technology affect us as it progresses? How do we reconcile our needs and abilities as humans adapt and grow into higher order civilizations? Technology comes from lower order needs, desiring of higher order abilities.

    Choices begins with Kelly stating that the Unabomber was right. Quoted at length from his manifesto, the Unabomber disdained technology due to it taking over our lives and growing beyond our control. Kelly points out the flaws in the manifesto somewhat cautiously–humans are incapable of fully living without technology. The Unabomber relied on others for tools and materials.

    The last two chapters consist of Kelly’s futurist, philosopher take on where technology is going. At length, he charts Technology’s Trajectories among 10 different areas: complexity, diversity, specialization, ubiquity, freedom, mutualism, beauty, sentience, structure, evolvability. These areas are the same areas that life itself works within, he states. Lastly, in a nod to James P. Carse’s Finite and Infinite Games, Kelly believes that our relationship with technology and ideas will constantly push boundaries and seek ways to grow in order to continue.

    In short, this book is full of ideas and perspectives. One particularly interesting idea he proposes is how many geniuses missed out on fully reaching their potential because they weren’t alive at the right time in history? Further, once a technology is created, in never ceases to exist. It may become rare, but it will serve a niche. If you want to get the most out of What Technology Wants in the shortest amount of time, read the last two chapters. Read the entire book for a synthesis of numerous ideas converging at once.

  • Seth Godin – Tribes

    Seth Godin’s Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us serves up a compact guide to be a leader of ideas. How should a leader of a tribe, a movement, cause, purpose devoted to a singular mission act or think? That’s what Godin covers with a mixture of anecdotes, stories from people who have led and succeeded or analogy or blunt deconstruction of a point.

    At about 130 pages, it reads quickly with each point or example no more than 300 to 500 words. He writes with purpose and clarity. There are times when his anecdotes seem thin, needing more context or explanation. Or is this a clever trick for the reader to become curious about the person he mentions and Google them?

    If you’ve read other Godin books, similar themes emerge. His emphatic belief that the factory mindset of cranking out widgets is broken. Education that invokes follow the rules behavior is an unsuccessful path. People fail not by the act of failing, but by not doing anything due to fear.

  • Seth Godin’s Purple Cow

    Seth Godin’s Purple Cow is a call for businesses and start ups to be remarkable. Being remarkable means being memorable, unique and doing business in such a way that it can be distinguishably different from the competition.

    Godin explains his purple cow: drive about the country side and watch cows–brown cows, black cows, black and white cows. After a while, they’re boring and part of the landscape. But what if all the sudden you saw a purple cow? That would be remarkable wouldn’t it?

    And his caveat: for a while, and then it too fades in to the scenery.

    Where most businesses stumble, is that they create something new and exciting and make money, but then they become stuck in a cycle of protecting the product and doing things that are safe and for the masses. What businesses should do, he says, as the purple cow is making money, invest that money on the next thing, the next idea. He supports this stating that you make more money on early adopters who then tell the masses (their friends) about the product or service. This doesn’t mean you seek out they next cool thing immediately, but be attentive and creative to when the market will provide an opportunity for you to create your next purple cow.

    Godin writes in stories, anecdotes and case studies. Purple Cow contains plenty of examples. My Pearl Jam nerd self received a little bit of glee when the band sold all 72 live shows from their 2000 tour–and made a profit–as an example. Sections are at most two to three pages in length, and some contain explicit take away points. Teachers, administrators, entrepreneurs, mid-level executives should be able to gleam morsels of inspiration within the books 200 pages.

  • Fine Art Photography: Water, Ice and Fog

    Fine Art Photography: Water, Ice and Fog by Tony Sweet showcases photographs of of water in its three states. Yes, there are great shots, but this book is a how-to book. Sweet discusses the composition of the shot and the elements of photography that went into it. What lens was used, at what aperture, at what time of day with what filter. His writing style is direct and to the point and instructional. Novices and advanced photographers should be able to get something out of this book.

  • Parker: The Hunter

    Parker: The Hunter (Richard Stark’s Parker) by Darwyn Cooke puts crime noir pulp author Richard Stark to page in graphic novel format. It tells the tale of a thief who’s been betrayed by his girlfriend and double crossed by a partner in crime and his hunt for revenge.

    The story is told in four arcs. The first, begins with a man (we soon to find to be Parker) crossing the Brooklyn Bridge and remains wordless for 8 pages as he cons a bank for money, insults a waitress at a diner and eventually meets up with his former girlfriend. The second arc focuses on the man, Mal, who betrayed Parker, and the third tells of how Parker found Mal. Finally, Parker continues, scorched earth style, up the chain of the organization that took his money.

    The dialogue reads like that of a pulp crime novel and the action is violent with some scenes graphically depicted and others implied. The art is a throwback to the 50s and 60s–sharp angular inks and expressive styled lines. The blue coloring is used for visuals to accentuate drama. It’s a well done effort into the graphic novel genre.

  • Chet and Bernie

    Spencer Quinn put a nifty twist on the detective whodunnit by making his narrator a dog, Chet. Chet’s voice is colorful, simple and direct, keenly detailing the sights, smells and sounds. There’s also an innocence, too, in his character when observing human nature, unsure of human emotion and motive.

    In Dog on It: A Chet and Bernie Mystery, Bernie takes a case for a wealthy divorcee whose daughter has been kidnapped. The setup may be simple, but Quinn constructs a plot with enough characters and motivations that the story is more than just about kidnapping. Comments on the housing crisis come through as Bernie finds more about the father, a real estate developer. While Bernie consists of the usual detective tropes–loner, ex-military, poor financial decision maker, brash attitude, Chet is what makes the pair unique in how they pair up. Bernie states that he and Chet are a team.

    The team continue working cases in Thereby Hangs a Tail: A Chet and Bernie Mystery when a wealthy dog owner and her dog are snatched before a premiere dog show. The dog show plotline seems a send up of celebrity culture, a farce with animals and their over eager owners, whom seem like caricatures. The supporting cast of bad guys and red herrings aren’t really as developed this time, and Chet’s narration seems more ADHD. Sure, dogs may become distracted, but when telling the story a colorful tangent may entertain, but this isn’t done in moderation. I found myself skipping large sections and didn’t fight the twist particularly revealing.

  • Andrew Shaylor’s Hells Angels Motorcycle Club

    Andrew Shaylor a United Kingdom based photographer released a book entitled, Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. It attempts to document the life of the club beyond its image as rough, gritty bikers. Given access to meeting rooms, Hells Angels events and pictures of members’ bikes, it humanizes the group as a bunch of guys, hanging out and riding motorcycles.

    Most members are over 30 and appearances are world weary. Shaylor comments that the group prefers new members have life experience before joining, and for a lot, it shows. Leathered faces, deep creases and graying hair. Toothy grins and countless tattoos.

    The tattoos. The death head varies from chapter to chapter and can only be worn by a member in good standing. Many get the death head, in some form, tattooed on their body–signifying their commitment for life.

    Interspersed between the portraits, Shaylor showcases life as a member. These shots mostly come across as snapshots or vacation photos. Hells Angels life is just as candid as a drunken frat party, too. At the end, and it seems random and I’m not sure if they add context, but Shaylor included portraits of members’ families–wives, sons, daughters, girlfriends. I suppose, they’re normal too.

    The subjects all reside in the UK. If you expected the more famous California Sonny Barger Hells Angels, you’d be disappointed. But would those portraits be any different?

  • Three Cups of Tea

    If you’re going to come away with anything from Three Cups of Tea, the story of Greg Mortenson’s mission to build schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, let it be the value of perseverance. To consistently focus on accomplishing something, despite the obstacles of lack of money, knowledge or cultural understanding, great things can happen if one learns from mistakes and continues to go forward. This theme even is displayed by those he is trying to help, as the conservative mullahs of the region see that Mortenson isn’t in their land to convert them or over take them, but to sincerely help children, specifically girls.

    The story starts slow, after Mortenson’s failed attempt to climb K2 and stumbles into a poor region without schools. We learn he is the son of a Lutheran missionary who grew up in Africa and is out of place when he returns to California. After coming back to the states, making a promise to return to Pakistan, Mortenson begins to raise money. He gains some traction from within the mountaineering world and receive a donation from Jan Hoerni, a wealthy scientist and climber, for his first school. The attempt to build the first school is fraught with errors, mostly with Mortenson expecting to return, buy supplies and build a school. The culture of Pakistan slows him down. And first a bridge must be built. Nearly two years later, the school does get built, but only after navigating his own ignorance and that of the Muslims in the region.

    As Three Cups of Tea progresses, it bounces back and forth between Mortenson’s inability to generate funds as quick as he’d like and his three to four month sabbaticals in the mountains of Central Asia. A cast of supportive and not so supportive characters carry the story along. From the kidnappers in the remote province of Waziristan to village elders such as Hajj Ali in Asia or his eventual wife and board members stateside, each is portrayed in a respectful depth. Eventually, Mortenson’s cause explodes after September 11th. (He happened to be in Afghanistan during the attacks.) He’s vilified for wanting people to understand what it will take to make the region a safer place. The Pentagon calls him in for a presentation, to which he sees why progress won’t be made in a Rumsfeld led Pentagon. Finally, after a Parade magazine feature, he receive an outpouring of support.

    The book is an inspiring piece to the adage that one person can make a difference. At times it’s slow and over written in sentimental prose, but it gives a picture that perseverance to foster understanding and education is fundamentally important to peace.