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    <about><![CDATA[Like to read classics from the Homer, Virgil up to the Existentialists.  Also enjoy American history, political writings, social commentary, books about rock n roll.  My life is a constant juggling act between a demanding job in oil trading(the market never sleeps and acts up at weird hours when you live in Singapore), playing husband/father to a chinese educated tai-tai/two Eurasian girls, monitoring two frisky kittens and playing in an oldies rock band.  I value the extended periods of quiet when I can read great books and reminisce about my days as Stanford undergraduate.]]></about>
    <age>55</age>
    <gender>male</gender>
    <location>Singapore, Singapore</location>
    <website><![CDATA[]]></website>
    <joined>09/2007</joined>
    <last_active>09/2009</last_active>
    <interests><![CDATA[guitar, running, golf, music, reading]]></interests>
    <favorite_books><![CDATA[The Odyssey, Invisible Man, Huckleberry Finn]]></favorite_books>
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      <update type="comment">
    <action_text><![CDATA[new comment from John]]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/70010616</link>
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    <updated_at>Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:32:50 -0700</updated_at>
        
      
          <body><![CDATA[I struggled through this book.  His previous book, Fooled by Randomness was easier to digest and organized.  Black Swan is a bit tedious and challenging.  NNT writes like a bumblebee on amphetamines, moving from one topic to another, collecting a bit of pollen here and there and depositing in pile of gooey honeyed wax at the end.   Some parts are so dry that NNT even asks you to skip them (I love authors who do this but if they really respected their readers, why put this filler in?).  The first few chapters are ok and the last 3 sentences (where he states that simply being alive at this point in time is a risk-defying event which we should celebrate), are the best.  NNT called the financial crisis and his unorthodox ways of analyzing human behavior are too important to ignore but reading this book will probably leave you more confused than you were before you cracked it open.  Like Socrates, NNT knows that all is imperfect and unpredictible and genuine knowledge is ultimately beyond our grasp.]]></body>
        
    
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      <update type="questionuserstat">
    <action_text><![CDATA[took the never-ending book quiz]]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/trivia</link>
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    <updated_at>Wed, 10 Jun 2009 02:35:18 -0700</updated_at>
        
      
        
    
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      <update type="comment">
    <action_text><![CDATA[made a comment on the list Best Books Ever]]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1.Best_Books_Ever</link>
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    <updated_at>Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:37:53 -0800</updated_at>
        
      
          <body><![CDATA[hard to decide]]></body>
        
    
  </update>  
      <update type="userlistvote">
    <action_text><![CDATA[voted on the book list 'Best Books Ever']]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1.Best_Books_Ever</link>
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    <updated_at>Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:33:44 -0800</updated_at>
        
      
        
    
  </update>  
      <update type="review">
    <action_text><![CDATA[added: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2323794.Losing_It_And_Gaining_My_Life_Back_One_Pound_at_a_Time">Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time (Hardcover)</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1044193.Valerie_Bertinelli">Valerie Bertinelli</a>]]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21003203</link>
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  <id type="integer">353993</id>
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    <updated_at>Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:01:17 -0700</updated_at>
        
      
        
    
  </update>  
      <update type="review">
    <action_text><![CDATA[added: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/242472.The_Black_Swan_The_Impact_of_the_Highly_Improbable">The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable (Hardcover)</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21559.Nassim_Nicholas_Taleb">Nassim Nicholas Taleb</a>]]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21003070</link>
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    <updated_at>Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:57:54 -0700</updated_at>
        
      
        
    
  </update>  
      <update type="review">
    <action_text><![CDATA[added: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/91289.The_Hummingbird_s_Daughter">The Hummingbird's Daughter (Paperback)</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/52458.Luis_Alberto_Urrea">Luis Alberto Urrea</a>]]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21002887</link>
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    <updated_at>Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:53:56 -0700</updated_at>
        
      
        
    
  </update>  
      <update type="review">
    <action_text><![CDATA[gave 4 stars to: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/857933.In_Contempt">In Contempt (Hardcover)</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/34450.Christopher_A_Darden">Christopher A. Darden</a>]]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21001025</link>
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  <name>John</name>
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    <updated_at>Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:50:20 -0700</updated_at>
        
      
          <body><![CDATA[This was a bargain bin pickup.  A castoff at the Singapore American Club library sale ... a hardback for $3 Sing (about USD2.20).  I head read OJ books .. Faye Resnick, Vincent Bugliosi, OJ's own &quot;I Want to Tell You&quot;, Jeffrey Toobin plus Dominick Dunne articles in Vanity Fair.  This space ...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21001025">more...</a>]]></body>
        
    
  </update>  
      <update type="review">
    <action_text><![CDATA[gave 1 stars to: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/80063.Divisadero">Divisadero (Hardcover)</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4030.Michael_Ondaatje">Michael Ondaatje</a>]]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21001796</link>
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    <updated_at>Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:50:00 -0700</updated_at>
        
      
          <body><![CDATA[A very disappointing read.  A book that started off with a bang and then just faded in the middle. This fairly recent book was available for sale at the inflated price of $30 in Singapore bookshops so when it popped up in the American Club Library, I figured it was a smart, cost-efficient move. It w...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21001796">more...</a>]]></body>
        
    
  </update>  
      <update type="review">
    <action_text><![CDATA[gave 4 stars to: <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/96647.Scar_Tissue">Scar Tissue (Paperback)</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2955.Anthony_Kiedis">Anthony Kiedis</a>]]></action_text>
    <link>http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21002142</link>
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    <updated_at>Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:48:59 -0700</updated_at>
        
      
          <body><![CDATA[I grew up too late for the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  My college age sun raves about them, calling them the new Doors (making their lead singer Anthony Kiedis the equivalent of a modern Jim Morrison).  Having read at least 50 rock bios over the course of my life (the lifestyle, decadence and stories fr...<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/21002142">more...</a>]]></body>
        
    
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