Quick Book Blurbs: "Thunderstruck" "Selling the Invisible" & "Air #1"

The trailing spouse has plenty of time to read. As such, I figured I'd pass along some tidbits on what I've recently plowed through that's worth a look.

First up is Thunderstruck, by Erik Larson. If you've read Larson's other book, the equally heavy "popular history" work Devil in the White City, you'll quickly get the concept behind Thunderstruck. Like in Devil, Larson spins a twin tale dealing with a stubborn genius and a potential murderer. This time, the genius is Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of wireless communication. The murderer (or is he?) in question is Hawley Crippen, a seemingly harmless doctor living in London. Much like in Devil, Larson tells the story of each man in alternating chapters, leading up to a climax that has the men and their creations meet, to a somewhat thrilling if not ultimately predictable conclusion (this being a work of fact, having the slightest knowledge of the background of either character can spoil the final chapters).

The book is worth a read. My main issue with it, the same issue I had with Devil, is the fact that Larson, most likely due to the amount of available history at his disposal, always spends more time with his geniuses than his crackpots. Sure, wireless communication is interesting, but we all crave that trip into the mind and actions of a nut job, right? A little more Crippen, a little less Marconi, and the book would be perfect.

Next is Selling the Invisible by Henry Beckwith. Subtitled A Field Guide to Modern Marketing, the book mainly consists of a series of examples of how to create the invisible relationship between consumer and company, client and agency. The argument by Beckwith is that this relationship created between buyer and seller is what actually keeps the client satisfied, and that once this relationship is established the work done for said client is better achieved and appreciated. And, to be honest, I believe him. Reading through his examples makes me want to carry a copy of Selling around when I go out for errands or to dinner. Maybe hand it to various waiters and waitresses of cashiers that I encounter along the way. Some of his examples are certainly dated (the book was published in 1997), but the basic concepts are really interesting to read.

 

Last up for today is issue number one of Air, a new comic series created by G. Willow Wilson and M.K. Perker for Vertigo/DC. Spiraling out of the fear of flying and threat of terror in the skies that panic many Americans today (with or without warrant), the title follows a flight attendant named Blythe who is quickly caught in a tangle of deception involving a secret, vigilante anti-terrorist group and a man who may or may not be a terrorist himself. The writing in this comic is smart and real. It isn't too pop-cultured, which is a trait that often kills many modern comics for me (I still can't read Y: The Last Man because of this). The art is also very nice, with enough flair to keep the panels consistently interesting. Issue one certainly set an intriguing tone, giving the reader quite a bit to chew on and ponder. I'm looking forward to seeing what number two brings to the table. 

That's all for now. I'm reading three books right now, so I'll maybe be adding some more titles in the near future.