February 27, 2000
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Note: The links on this page now lead to Wordsworth. They used to lead to Amazon. I still believe Amazon is by far the best bookseller on the Web, but I don't like what they are doing with patents. Last week, after Amazon was granted a patent for afflilitate programs like this one, I went looking for another partner. Wordsworth was immediately responsive. The whole dialog took less than a day — a Sunday, in fact.
If you have any problems, let me know.
Doc Searls
February 27, 2000
The Cluetrain ManifestoYou've read the Web site, now order the book.
Can Seth Godin, Tom Petzinger, Eric Raymond, Don Peppers and Michael Wolff all be wrong?
The book is out, it's a hot seller, and you can read why.
You Already Know What to DoSharon is one of the most insightful people I know, and with You Already Know What to Do she has written one of the most truly clueful books of our time.
I contributed one small thing to this book: the title. You know you should buy it, don't you? Yes, you do.
The Cathedreal & The BazaarLots more Web sites are turning into books these days (see The Cluetrain Manifesto for our own example). But the biggest, best and most influential of them all is Eric Raymond's pile of writings, especially The Cathedral & The Bazaar, which is the Common Sense of our time: a call to revolution, delivered in a founding spirit.
Christopher Locke (my Cluetrain co-author) calls Eric "a rhetorician of the first water." Which means you'll enjoy his writing as much as his thinking.
Wake of the Perdido StarI lost track of Dan Lenihan after college. He was a rebel from New Yawk, a great guy with a major attitude about BS in all its forms. I liked him and always regretted that I didn't get to know him better. Many years later I heard that he had actually achieved his dream: to be an underwater archaeologist. In fact, I have since heard him called the best in the world.
Dan now lives in Santa Fe, I am told. He and a neighbor together made Wake of the Perdido Star their first novel. The neighbor just happens to be the best actor and airline voice-over guy in the world: Gene Hackman.
Metaphors We Live ByThe original mind-blower on the subject of metaphor — and still the shortest route to understanding why we can't help talking travel when we talk about life. Or even "understanding" (else why would we take a "route" to it)?
Philosophy in the Flesh : The Cognitive Unconscious and the Embodied Mind : How the Embodied Mind Creates PhilosophyGeorge & Mark's new book, already the #2,xxx best seller at Amazon.com. Not bad for a philosophy book. On this site it's tied with Don Norman's book as a best-seller.
Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things : What Categories Reveal About the MindA book that is equally deep, complicated, provocative and chock full of truths that make you think.
More Than Cool Reason : A Field Guide to Poetic MetaphorWe use metaphor everywhere, all the time. Poetry shows us how. George & Mark show us why Freud wrote, "Everywhere I go, I find a poet has been there first."
Moral Politics : What Conservatives Know That Liberals Don'tPolitics is about morality and morality is about family. Conservatives know this, which is why they hammer so much on "family values." Liberals don't know it, even though their moralities are no less family-based. Whatever, this book will tell you far more about your politics than you thought was possible.
The Invisible Computer : Why Good Products Can Fail, the Personal Computer Is So Complex, and Information Appliances Are the SolutionNo matter how many colors the iMac comes in, it's still too damn complicated. And it won't get any simpler. For that we'll need something new. Only Don Norman seems to have much of a clue about it. This is where he tells you.
The Future of Work : The Promise of the New Digital Work Society"The Internet will have a far greater impact on society, our economy and political structures than the advent of the printing press. It has already begun to create a new social psychology on the planet that will forever alter status and power relationships between individual citizens and larger societal organizations. the pod is here and sleeping under your bed--better look!"
That's what Charles Grantham wrote when he signed The Cluetrain Manifesto. Dig the thinking behind the insight.
Just $4.76 for the paperback on the left, which is probably what Walt charged for it in 1855. This version tries to be as true as possible to the original. They even left "my soul has never been torpid."
This hardcover edition is just $13.65. Still a helluva deal. Bear this in mind: Whitman was the Beethoven of poetry. He elevates the soul like nobody else.
In fact, if you want to get really high, read Whitman and listen to Beethoven.
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