Category: Books
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David and Goliath
We Shall Overcome is one of the greatest civil rights songs. And it is true: some do overcome great odds. But they have to be different – not only courageous and tenacious but also unconventional, as Malcolm Gladwell points out in his book, David and Goliath. Underdogs, Misfits and the…
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The Beatles and Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000-hour rule
Today is the birthday of Malcolm Gladwell. He is 51 today. I have been reading David and Goliath, but my favourite is Outliers because of the chapter headed The 10,000-Hour, which begins with the epigraph, “In Hamburg, we had to play for eight hours.” That’s a quote from John Lennon,…
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The poems of John Betjeman
Today is the birthday of Sir John Betjeman, a 20th century poet who actually wrote in verse. Not free verse but lines that rhymed. Betjeman (August 28, 1906 – May 19, 1984) was popular in his time. His Collected Poems, published in 1958, has sold over two and a quarter…
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Ogden Nash: Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker
During his lifetime, Ogden Nash was the most widely known, appreciated, and imitated American creator of light verse, a reputation that has continued after his death, says the Poetry Foundation. Among other memorable verses he wrote: Reflexions on Ice-BreakingCandyis dandyBut liquoris quicker
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Updike’s last poems
Reading about Robin Williams’ death, I wanted to read what writers wrote in their last days, in their illness or old age, when they knew they were about to die. That is how I came across these poems by my favourite writer, John Updike.
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The love that dared not speak its name
Having returned to Singapore only last week after a long time, I have been catching up with the news. And one of the stories I have been following is the furore over two gay-themed books removed from the children’s section of the National Library. I love the library and am…
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Happy birthday, Salman Rushdie
Happy birthday, Salman Rushdie! He is all of 67 today. What a pity a book he began with such brio has haunted him ever since. Few books open as memorably as The Satanic Verses. I cannot imagine any other writer describing an air crash quite like him. After the plane…
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A Steve Jobs favourite
I am reading what was probably the first book downloaded by Steve Jobs on his iPad 2. The book: Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda, an Indian yogi who moved to America in 1920 and died in Los Angeles in 1952. Steve Jobs’ biographer, Walter Isaacson, saw the book…
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Janis Joplin and Simon and Garfunkel
I am enjoying reading the early chapters of record producer Clive Davis’ memoir, The Soundtrack of My Life, where he recalls working with artistes like Bob Dylan, Simon Garfunkel, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, Sly and the Family Stone, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Chicago, Johnny Winter and Miles Davis. Davis,…
Readiscovery 