Weekly Read
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Rock your business hard, get paid
In his new book, Rock Your Business, David Fishof draws valuable life lessons from the world of rock.
By Richard McGill Murphy, contributor
FORTUNE -- It took chutzpah to walk into the office of legendary New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and talk him into paying your client more than a million dollars, particularly if you were only 22 years old at the time. As a young sports agent, David Fishof MORE
Dec 21, 2012 6:22 AM ET -
Antifragility: How disorder makes us stronger
In his latest book, Nassim Taleb celebrates the strengthening effects of stress and chaos.
By Scott Cendrowski, writer-reporter
FORTUNE -- How did Switzerland become the most stable country in history? Its currency, unlike ours, keeps hitting new highs post-crisis, yet Switzerland doesn't have a large central bank working behind the scenes. For that matter, it doesn't have much of a central government. In Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder, Nassim Taleb MORE
Dec 14, 2012 7:59 AM ET -
Holiday book parade
From new thrillers to New York City bike paths, our literary correspondent has book suggestions for everyone on your shopping list.
By Lawrence A. Armour, contributor
FORTUNE -- In the spirit of the season, here's a selection of literary stocking stuffers for you or the bookworm in your life. They include two terrific thrillers, a definitive short story collection, and a pair of engrossing books about biking.
Cops, hoods, and spies
Ben Affleck, MORE
Dec 7, 2012 8:34 AM ET -
Leadership lessons from Thomas Jefferson
In a new biography, Jon Meacham shows how modern politicians can learn a lot from our nation's third president.
By David Whitford editor-at-large
FORTUNE -- Thomas Jefferson, Jon Meacham writes, "is the founding president who charms us most." Not just us. He charmed his contemporaries, too, and not only but definitely also the ladies. One of my favorite stories in Meacham's masterful and intimate new biography, Thomas Jefferson: The Art of MORE
Nov 30, 2012 11:54 AM ET -
What business can learn from Occupy Wall Street
Insubordination can be a managerial virtue, argues James C. Scott in Two Cheers for Anarchism.
By Michael Schrage, contributor
FORTUNE -- Should you hold even the slightest sympathy for the Occupy Wall Street crowd and the anti-globalists who took on the World Trade Organization in the "Battle in Seattle," you'll find that James C. Scott's Two Cheers for Anarchism makes their arguments far more coherently than they do. Even if you MORE
Nov 21, 2012 8:35 AM ET -
Coffee table book nirvana
New, beautifully illustrated doorstoppers on boxing, glaciers, antique postcards, modern India, and New York City.
By Lawrence A. Armour, contributor
FORTUNE -- Coffee table books typically dominate the publishing world at this time of year, and 2012 is no exception. Hundreds of new titles have appeared in recent weeks, all vying for your gift shopping dollars. From this vast selection I chose five very different but equally sumptuous volumes.
First up: Howard MORE
Nov 16, 2012 7:42 AM ET -
Zen and the art of global domination
In Mastery, Robert Greene offers a roadmap to professional transcendence.
By John Capouya, contributor
FORTUNE -- "Low cunning'' has always struck me as a misnomer. In my biosphere, cunning is a vital, desirable attribute; whoever came up with that dismissive term obviously never scored the rewards of top-shelf deviousness.
Robert Greene's 2000 bestseller The 48 Laws of Power made clear there's a real and sophisticated art to scheming, climbing, and supremacy. Appropriately, MORE
Nov 9, 2012 8:17 AM ET -
The San Francisco tech scene, fictionalized
Robin Sloan's buzzy novel Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore is set in an old-school bookstore, sure, but it is packed with startup name-dropping and exciting technology.
By Daniel Roberts, reporter
FORTUNE -- What happens when a startup veteran decides to write a novel? You get something like Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, a hip sort of paean to San Francisco and its brainy, fast-paced technology scene.
Robin Sloan wrote the book while working as a media manager at MORE
Nov 2, 2012 7:41 AM ET -
Do psychopaths make good CEOs?
Yes, according to The Wisdom of Psychopaths, a new book by Kevin Dutton. Ambitious executives, take note!
By Scott Olster, editor
FORTUNE -- Must thrive in a fast-paced environment. Should be cool under pressure. Ambitious go-getters welcome. You find these clichés in most job descriptions these days. You may have even written one of these descriptions, if you're hiring. Little did you know that your ideal candidate might well be a psychopath.
That's MORE
Oct 26, 2012 9:22 AM ET -
Will Big Data decide the election?
A new book traces the recent history of data mining in political campaigns. A review of The Victory Lab, by Sasha Issenberg.
By Chip Lebovitz, contributor
FORTUNE -- There's a powerful vignette in Sasha Issenberg's The Victory Lab in which political consultant Alexander Gage presents his new data targeting system to Mitt Romney's 2002 gubernatorial campaign.
Gage has combined consumer records with political voting history to identify potential Romney supporters among MORE
Oct 19, 2012 7:29 AM ET
