But first things first. The cover.
I don't like it. Don't like the tacky gold writing. Don't like the left hand column busyness. Don't like the suit. Don't like that it looks just like a self help book. Don't like that it is a self help book.
But, hey. We all know not to judge a book by its cover.
So I'll read.
Paper bag ready*. Away we go.
* Reading/hearing about organisational systems makes me hyperventilate.
This is going to be a fun ride.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about not judging this book by its cover. I think some kind of image capturing "the art of stress free productivity" (a tidy desk? a to do list with ticks alongside each item? an organised filing cabinet?) would probably make me want to read the book more than seeing the picture of the guy who wrote it on the front. He should be in a thumbnail on the back.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a recent cover, reflecting the fact that Dave Allen is now a brandbin his own right and people are largely buying the book because it and he are extremely famous. The old copy we have has no pic and a much plainer cover.
ReplyDeleteI think he wrote the book specifically to annoy you. And the cover too.
ReplyDeleteDave - my suspicisions exactly!
ReplyDeleteI share your cover. And Karen, the tick is very big, and quite gold, in the flesh.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the greatest area of concern is the tie. Not all observers here might be familiar with The Tie Challenge, which, put simply, is the Tantalising (I mean that literally, look him up) task of getting the two ends of the tie the right length once the knot is tied. The fat end has to reach down the right distance; the skinny end has to be as long as possible, but not so long that it peeks out. Then there's the Windsor vs Half-Windsor knot debate, often pre-empted by the length of the tie itself.
All of which leads me to say, his tie _changes pattern at a specific point, just near the knot_! This seems to me to be an insane, unnecessary over-complication of an already futile task.
Sorry, it was bothering me. But I've put it down in writing now, and I feel better.
Thinking about it briefly (I'm sorry, I know I wasn't meant to)...perhaps this is a subliminal signal to all the executives deciding whether to buy the book: it says, I'm so in control, I can make life harder and still put my hands in my pockets.
ReplyDelete