I loved the concept, but I'm a sucker for this sort of thing: A cure for aging has been invented. The narrator gets the shot, as does nearly everyone...moreI loved the concept, but I'm a sucker for this sort of thing: A cure for aging has been invented. The narrator gets the shot, as does nearly everyone else on the planet. He gives first-person updates on the state of the world as the decades roll by. As you might guess, things don't go particularly well.
While I liked the big picture, the protagonist's storyline didn't grab me and I found the character development unconvincing. The writing style seemed uninspired, too, although that's perhaps intentional (the narration is provided in the form of blog-like entries).
Worth picking up if you like dystopian fiction and have a few hours to kill on an airplane.(less)
Wide-ranging review of the evidence supporting the links between stress and disease. It was fascinating most of the time, and I was happy that Sapols...moreWide-ranging review of the evidence supporting the links between stress and disease. It was fascinating most of the time, and I was happy that Sapolsky didn't shy away from biology and chemistry. The depression chapter was a bit of a slog, though. After all of the bad news, there are a few chapters describing things that can be done to cope with stress, but I didn't find them particularly helpful.(less)
It was very entertaining but much lighter on his research than I would've liked. I'm reading his "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers" now to addre...moreIt was very entertaining but much lighter on his research than I would've liked. I'm reading his "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers" now to address that. :-P(less)
Ugh. I have a high tolerance for bad writing and typically finish every book that I start, but this one was so terrible that I gave up. I kept hopin...moreUgh. I have a high tolerance for bad writing and typically finish every book that I start, but this one was so terrible that I gave up. I kept hoping that Wiley would present a clear claim at some point and then review the research supporting and contradicting it, but that still hadn't happened a quarter of the way in, and flipping ahead didn't give me hope that it ever would. Instead, I got a stream of paragraphs jumping from Thomas Edison to stress hormones to Daisyworld to string theory and so on, punctuated with cringe-inducing sentences telling me that our lives depend on it and that we're literally dying for a good night's sleep.(less)
I loved the first half of it, but there are two plot decisions near the end of part two (not going to describe them here) that made me frustrated enou...moreI loved the first half of it, but there are two plot decisions near the end of part two (not going to describe them here) that made me frustrated enough at Mitchell that I set the book aside for a few months. I'd been warned that a character with an incredibly tedious storyline is introduced in part 3, but I found myself able to plow through the remainder of the book without any trouble. I was left with a positive impression of the book at the end, but I absolutely hated it at one point and would probably be negative about it if I'd read it in a single go. So, three stars, I guess.(less)
Interesting history of the lipid and diet-heart hypotheses from the perspective of a researcher directly involved in the debate. I wasn't convinced b...moreInteresting history of the lipid and diet-heart hypotheses from the perspective of a researcher directly involved in the debate. I wasn't convinced by Steinberg's arguments, though; he focuses on trying to convince the reader that high levels of LDL are harmful (primarily by reviewing the usual epidemiological and clinical diet studies, along with more-recent statin trials) but spends comparatively little space discussing the implications of what's known about the actual process. People with familial hypercholesterolemia have defective LDL receptors and therefore higher levels of LDL -- is it the higher levels of LDL that increases their risk of CHD or the longer time that it spends in circulation (making it more likely to be oxidized)? Steinberg clearly believes that it's the former, but he gives no discussion of the latter. Cholesterol skeptics frequently mention the difference in atherogenicity between more- and less-dense LDL, but I saw no mention of it here, either. The book ends with an appendix attempting to rebut commonly-made objections; the omission of many that I find compelling disappointed me.(less)
I liked this book, but it would have benefited from a line editor (or even a spellchecker... sheesh). Also, I'm pretty sure that that's Comic Sans on...moreI liked this book, but it would have benefited from a line editor (or even a spellchecker... sheesh). Also, I'm pretty sure that that's Comic Sans on the front cover. :-((less)
Exclamation points have no place in science writing.
That's sort of glib, so I'll add this: I hate the writing style, the book seems to be ...moreExclamation points have no place in science writing.
That's sort of glib, so I'll add this: I hate the writing style, the book seems to be unedited (typos abound), there's no index, and the author has since made himself appear foolish in an online spat with Michael Eades. I'm perhaps 40% of the way through and agree with much of what the book says, but I'm not finding it useful for much more than learning about research papers that I'd like to read (which is requiring more note-taking than I'd like due to the aforementioned lack of an index).
Potential readers would be much better off with Gary Taubes's books instead ("Good Calories, Bad Calories" and "Why We Get Fat").(less)
tldr; probably disliked it about the same amount as "Eating Animals" but this took longer to read.
Keith is a former vegan of twent...moretldr; probably disliked it about the same amount as "Eating Animals" but this took longer to read.
Keith is a former vegan of twenty years who changed her ways and re-embraced meat and dairy after a long period of suffering from crippling diseases.
In the first section of the book, she attempts to make a case against ethical arguments for veganism with observations such as one that we're breaking our deal with apple trees by not depositing their seeds somewhere where they can grow. I found this uncompelling, as my crazy-meter starts going off somewhere north of the folks who avoid honey because they don't want to exploit bees.
I enjoyed the following section about the ecological destruction caused by agriculture slightly more. Keith is very much opposed to factory farming as well, although it's clear that she doesn't believe that her vision of sustainable farms where locale-appropriate ruminants graze on wild grasses would be able to produce enough food for the current world population.
Next, there's a section on nutrition. It's part paleo, part summary of Gary Taubes's "Good Calories, Bad Calories", and part warnings about the dangers of soy. I didn't find anything too objectionable here, although I'd turn to other books if I wanted deeper analysis of any of this.
Overall, I liked bits of the book, but I don't think it managed to convince me of much; the parts that I enjoyed were just those saying things that I already believe. I found the writing style to be condescending and shrill in places. And the author's habit of using sentence fragments. Probably in an attempt to add emphasis. Quickly got on my nerves.(less)
Yeah, I know: zombies. It was really good, though! The format (a bunch of mostly-disconnected interviews) allowed the author to jump around from sto...moreYeah, I know: zombies. It was really good, though! The format (a bunch of mostly-disconnected interviews) allowed the author to jump around from story to story, and I liked the way that modern-day relationships between different countries were woven into the narrative.(less)
A more accurate title might be "Eating Factory-Farmed Animals"; apart from a few brief forays onto small farms, most of the book's pages are...moreA more accurate title might be "Eating Factory-Farmed Animals"; apart from a few brief forays onto small farms, most of the book's pages are spent detailing the horrors of large-scale industrial operations in grisly detail. To the extent that the author makes an argument for vegetarianism, it's largely via the claim that it's now almost impossible to avoid factory-farmed or cruelty-free (or at least -lessened) meat, particularly from the fishing and poultry industries.
While I found the book to be thought-provoking, I disliked the writing. Safran Foer frequently ends chapters with what I can only describe as "whiny bombast". It's clear that he's attempting to persuade and he's refreshingly upfront about it, but his constant attempts to shame the reader into action just ended up annoying and alienating me. I was left slogging through a jumble of disturbing stories about sadistic farm employees and disorganized, Pollan-esque-but-without-the-eloquence ideas.(less)
I received this book after attending a lecture that the author gave. I was already convinced (even before the talk) that sleep is important; it seems...moreI received this book after attending a lecture that the author gave. I was already convinced (even before the talk) that sleep is important; it seems obvious given how lousy I feel when I don't get enough of it. As such, I was disappointed by how many words are spent trying to convince readers of this point. There were several places where I was frustrated to see claims made without any references provided to support them:
"The best diet may not be Atkins or Jenny Craig; it's getting one additional hour of sleep every night. If you do that and you're currently overweight, expect to lose an average of one pound per week, all else being constant." (p. 63)
"Fatigued workers cost US employers more than $136 billion per year in lost productivity due to health-related issues. Fatigue and poor health often go together, and this is no coincidence. The study estimated that the prevalence of fatigue in the US workforce is about 38 percent." (p. 149, with no mention of which study is being quoted)
The book does provide some advice for getting the recommended 7.5 to 9 hours of sleep per night, but much of it is fairly obvious (don't try to fall asleep while stressed, don't drink alcohol before bed, make your room dark and quiet, etc.). I still found some of the suggestions interesting, though (avoid strenuous exercise, apart from sex, immediately before sleep; avoid looking at electronic displays that emit blue light that our brains associate with daytime -- programs like http://stereopsis.com/flux/ and http://jonls.dk/redshift/ are useful in this regard).
There's also a bit of discussion of the actual mechanics of sleep. I enjoyed reading about the different stages of sleep that our brains pass through throughout the night and the effects of getting woken at different points in the cycle (if you're woken within a few minutes of REM sleep, you'll usually be able to remember the dream you just had; if you're woken during Stage 4, the deepest stage, you'll feel groggy). I would've liked to see more detail here, and for it to be integrated with the advice that the book gives -- I was left with questions like, how deleterious is it to be woken a few times in the middle of the night vs. sleeping continuously? If I wake up an hour before I'd like to and am unable to fall back asleep, is there any value to remaining in bed?
I thought that the book also suffers from its writing style, which leans too far in the motivational direction for my tastes -- there are a lot of sentences like, "so read on, use what makes sense, and have your entire family getting Sleep for Success!". There are other touches presumably meant to add color that I thought distracted from the book's message: frequent stock comic strips that are at best tangentially related to the material around them, and short blurbs reviewing sleep-related products. Why are there positive reviews of cutesy alarm clocks that run and hide after they go off to make it harder for you to hit the snooze button? The advice section of the book says that you shouldn't need to use an alarm to wake up if you're going to bed at the correct time.
I did enjoy hearing the author speak, and his message makes sense -- I just wasn't impressed by this book as a vehicle for it.(less)
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