Reviews and Comments

I avoided this book for a long time. I suppose because I judged it based on some of the authors interactions in interviews. But a friend of mine convinced me to read it. He said it was funny. I also read reviews that said none of the characters are sympathetic.

Those things are only half true. There are funny parts, but they are almost always uncomfortable funny parts - the laugher is nervous because it reminds you of things you or someone close to you has done. All of the characters have some awful selfish behavior ... but the reason they are that way is the brilliant part of the book. They usually recognize when they rare behaving poorly, cannot "correct" them, and then tear them selves up about it. In fact, this might be one of the saddest books I have read. The family is dysfunctional in he way that most are: people hiding their true inner selves out of pride/ego/embarrassment. They are searching for "corrections" when what they really need are "connections".

Overall the writing is excellent. There were some passages that felt a little too clever, but many passages which were so devastatingly clear describing a character's inner turmoil.

I do not really like depressing books, but I think books that help you become more self aware, and sympathetic to others who are struggling are good investments. This book does that.

While the book is specifically about Government IT iniatives, it is more broadly about how large organizations made of constituent with different incentives are badly hampered from serving their users.

Politicians make policies to further their agenda, and then leave it to implementers to sort through all the ambiguity, inconsistencies and deliver something useful. Failure is almost assured at the outset. Much of the description rang true to me as a software developer in the private sector -- I experience the same sort of issues but perhaps at a smaller scale.

But the most interesting thing to me was Pahlka's argument that the impact of failed process is much worse than a bad user experience, a budget overrun, or a delay ... it is undermining trust in Government.

If you work in software/IT you will greatly enjoy this book. And if not, you will still find the sociology and a look at how the sausage gets made enlightening.

A fantastic book about human nature, politics, power and followers looking to be stirred out of numbness.

Author Robert Penn Warren was the only person to have won Pulitzer Prizes for both fiction and poetry. The writing is rich, descriptive and thought provoking. I read this book over ten years ago, and I remember skimming through the rich descriptions of the narrator's thoughts and observations because I wanted to know how the plot progresses (its an exciting plot). But on my second reading I enjoyed these sections more and thought about the many insights on human behavior they offer. Lots of yellow highlighting.

This book probably enlightened me more than any other on how successful political movements with Charismatic leaders build an enthusiastic following ... and why it does not end well.

Warning -- it is set in the Louisiana of the 1920s and 30s and uses the language of the setting which modern readers will find jarring (mainly the N word).

This was an interesting and enjoyable book. I was a child when Carter was president. I remember hearing about most of the big world events covered in this book but as a child did not pay much attention: civil rights issues, bussing, stagflation, the energy crisis, panama canal treaty, camp david, the Iranian revolution and hostage crisis, the Reagan Carter election. This book gaves incredible details of what was going on behind the scenes. Carter had exceptional character - and that probably was his undoing as he made enemies from other politicians (even in his own party) by avoiding the typical game of trading favors. As biography it was a great story of a kid growing up in rural georgia, to the Naval academy, to the governor and Presidency, and then years of incredible work. Carter refused to make easy money by doing speeches and appearances for pay.

Great Book -- highly recommend it. I am glad I finished the book while Carter was (and still is in early 2024) with us.