“Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult | my top 5 books of 2008
After reading devouring a number of Picoult’s books in a row, I rather impolitely summed her up as “Grisham for girls”. Her cover artwork is recognisable a mile off as “chick lit”. Her stories have sexy lawyers, moral dilemmas and down-to-the-wire oratorial pleas. I hadn’t banked on the exact depth of these dilemmas.
Nineteen Minutes covers a tale with which we’re far too familiar. There are the pretty victims, the distraught parents and the bullied school shooter. Don’t pick sides now, Picoult cautions. You don’t know anything yet. Her characters get in your head until you can’t tell what’s up or down.
Heavy stuff – recruit reading buddies to debate in earnest.
Previous: “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak | my top 5 books of 2008
“The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak | my top 5 books of 2008
This novel was a little gem I didn’t see coming. It was a handy response to a mid-holiday plea, “anyone have a spare book!!!” Light holiday fare it was not, as no book has made me cry since I was a little girl.
Like many children educated in what were once Allied countries, this was a story I’d never heard: the German civilian experience during WWII.
After taking a young Jewish girl into hiding, perhaps the kindest man on earth does all he can to top up the world’s supply of love. It’s a gorgeous book – narrated by death – and I cried my eyes out.
The movie version is set for release next year – fingers crossed they don’t ruin it.
Next: “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult | my top 5 books of 2008
Previous: “Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides | my top 5 books of 2008
“Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides | my top 5 books of 2008
Author Jeffrey Eugenides and I share a Detroit childhood in common. His timely depiction of the city sliding decades backwards from its 20’s heyday through the 60’s race riots was what kept the book in my hands.
Middlesex is a book of characters. You’ll learn far too much about them, which might make them hard to love. This is a shame, because it’s not a plot book. You know the end before you start and, in the near century it takes to get there, the story drags.
For company you have Callie, the heroine-cum-hero whose hermaphroditic details are discussed ad nauseam. Yep, half boy, half girl, major issues: we got it.
Eugenides’ major conflict unfortunately gets in the way of the good bit: the incest pit of a family whose habitual gene crossing produces the narrator.
The book is dark, complex, funny at times, and has the beautiful prose expected of a Pullitzer novel. I only wonder whether his unlovable characters are a shortcoming or entirely the point.
Next: “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak | my top 5 books of 2008
Previous: “Wild Swans” by Jung Chang | my top 5 books of 2008
China 101 – “Wild Swans” by Jung Chang | my top 5 books of 2008
An autobiographical tale of a resilient family living through remarkable times, history doesn’t come with a more human face. Suffering permeates three generations: a grandmother the victim of the warlord era, a mother coming of age as the Communists take power and an author’s childhood coloured by the Cultural Revolution.
Today, China is trendy – everyone wants to be here for the making of a success story. Published in 1991, it’s a more relevant tale than ever with its nonstop assault of change and upheaval.
Writing from Shanghai, my family home of ten years, these are the stories you don’t hear. They’re the details between the text book lines, as Chang’s family pops up Forrest Gump-like through a century’s worth of history.
Where many inferior books line a sinophile’s shelves, this is the necessary start, middle and end for China 101. I love this book.
Next: “Middlesex” by Jeffrey Eugenides | my top 5 books of 2008
Previous: “Fly Boys” by James Bradley | my top 5 books of 2008
“Fly Boys” by James Bradley | my top 5 books of 2008
My 2008 goal was to read 50 books. Business or text books didn’t count: literature only. Given that I rather OD’ed on the former, my year-end tally was 31. This week I’ll review my favourite five.
“Fly Boys” by James Bradley
Not a bed time story. Ever heard of Chichi Jima? It’s a wretched, forgotten island near Iwo Jima. A group of American pilots were marooned here in WWII and Fly Boys recounts their separate fates.
WWII’s Pacific theatre has been the subject of two recent films (Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima), but this book cuts deeper. It’s less a battle narrative, more a complex investigation of two irreconcilable dogmas. Sixty some years later, no fingers are pointed. Bradley instead interviews and comes to know many of the Japanese captors. Hard to stomach but vital reading.
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“Wild Swans” by Jung Chang | my top 5 books of 2008
Your ideal raving fan
Last time, I covered my distinct disappointment with greedy mobile phone companies (well, one in particular). In a happier turn, I’d like to toast their opposite: Skype. (Cue ticker tape parade).
Compare and contrast:
Mobile phone company… “wants my every last penny. Might eat me alive.”
Skype…”wants to make my life easier. And much, much, happier!”
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- Skype offers something (something pretty amazing) – for free.
- Their paid services come with no strings attached. Cancel at any time – you’re the customer, it’s your prerogative. What a concept!
- They use technology to connect people; not as a very thick, convenient curtain to hide behind (Witness emails ignored and phone calls unanswered).
Skype’s relaxed, happy, helpful brand tells me “they’re here to help.” Approaching customers as such, rather than going first for their wallets, must be commended. In this week alone I’ve brought up how much I love Skype with at least five people. That’s some marketing power.
Mobile phone company = pit bull
Skype = golden retriever
…I know which I’d rather have at my side.
How to turn happy customers into raving enemies
Phone company customer service is notoriously awful. But it didn’t have to be difficult. That’s the lesson here: I wasn’t a difficult customer with an outlandish request. My mobile phone contract was due to expire and I was moving overseas. Simple enough, right?
What transpired is a saddening play-by-play in how to turn happy customers into raving enemies. With a contract six weeks from its expiration, I began battle preparations. I have a deep distrust of mobile phone companies and their myriad policies. They’re the dentists of the corporate world: regular people hate them. Isn’t that horrible? That your customers expect the worst of you?
This service provider would have been at the top of my list as soon as I returned. What transpired was so wholly vexing, a riot of are-you-kidding-me, that I’d sooner use two cups and a string.
My battle mission: confirm that my expiring contract would die a natural death
Difficulty out of 10: 0.5 – lift fingers to dial the 1-800 number
Oh. So. Wrong.
Sept 1 – six weeks before contract expiration
Called their service hotline at midday. A lot. No answer.
Sept 2
Called again, still no answer. Checked the number against the website 1 million times. No answer, no hold message – incessant annoyance.
Sept 3
Giving up on phone contact (why would a phone company answer the phone?), I changed tack. I’d email them! A clunky website provided only a blanket “contact us” form. Mission accomplished? Received an automated response: a real live human would be in touch within 24 hours. Still waiting for that email…
Sept 5
I’m a fastidious little soul and wanted a proper confirmation. Sent 2nd email. “Um, hello!?” This was getting ridiculous. This time, the automated response asked when would be convenient to call me. “ASAP. Any time this week during business hours please.”
Sept 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15….
No phone calls. Waiting very, very patiently.
Sept 16
Called service hotline. Magically, someone answered.
“Hi, my contract’s expiring on October 23rd. I’m calling to confirm that my service will terminate on that date.”
“Oh, we can’t accept cancellation notice more than one month in advance. You’ll have to call back on Sept 23.”
What! Who’s the customer here? “Sorry? I’m moving, I have a lot to do, I’m calling now.” No dice. If I didn’t call back on that day, I’d get another bill. I asked if they didn’t think this was a huge waste of both parties’ time?
“No, this is for the customer’s benefit,” he had the nerve to insist.
“A massage, a puppy, free ice cream – those would feel like benefits,” I explained.
September 23 – D-Day
The company had agreed to hold court with me on this date only. Before that was “not for the customer’s benefit” and afterwards meant “less than 30 days’ notice” and another month’s bill. During our last cosy chat, I’d explained that I was catching a dawn flight overseas that morning. It mattered little. The cell phone god had spoken. This was madness. This company, one of Canada’s largest, was dictating to their customer that they stand at an airport boarding gate, on hold, at 5 a.m. trying to cancel a contract that was expiring anyway, after six prior attempts over 22 days. An utter farce.
Livid and sleepy, I continued to jump through their abhorrent hoops. The voice of Oz had warned me that, despite an advertised 24-hotline, “no one would probably answer before 6 a.m.” He was right.
Their fault, my problem. Customer service made in heaven. I called them long-distance as soon as I landed. It was getting masochistic, but by now I had to win. After 15 minutes on hold, I sent another email. Still no success.
Sept 25 – Ten times
My tenth attempt at communication outlined all efforts to date. No response. Seriously?
November…
I eventually resolved my battle in mid-November, after receiving (you guessed it) a new bill. It wasn’t pretty.
For comparison’s sake, it would have taken so little of their time and such a tiny fraction of precious revenue for this “satisfied customer” to become “raving fan”. A quick no-questions-asked cancellation, a pro-rated bill and a promptly answered phone. I mean, I’d tell my friends about that, wouldn’t you? Such little time and so few resources to really, really win in the customer’s eyes.
It takes a lot to ruin customer relationships: insane inflexibility and outright inattention. At what cost does this come? As a small business owner, it’s horrifying to think what such regular disappointments are doing to peoples’ trust of routine transaction. Do we begin all business on the defense, expecting the worst? What a shame.
In a climate growing ever more demanding of corporate social responsibility, I’m sad for this unconcerned and money hungry company. Here’s hoping that a model built on miserly customer disservice proves itself a very bad idea. Until then, Rogers Wireless, you’re on my D-list.
(P.S. I’m not alone. If you’re in the mood for so-bad-it’s-good, see if you can swallow George Vaccaro’s ordeal, click here.)
Business book review | “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferriss
I saw someone reading this on the bus and thought, “well done, author, you’ve snagged the perfect title.” Isn’t it irresistible? “Get me that bite-sized work week!”
Thesis: “I have a perfect life. Here, try it on!”
The author has built himself a life that affords 164 hours of playtime every week. How? Read the book. It’s a very pretty picture filled with whimsy and Argentinean tango.
Here’s what you already know: passive income is good, compulsive email checking is bad and it’s “completely awesome” to pursue your dreams. This is a self help book disguised as a business book, yet his reminder is sound and enthusiastic.
His time-saving short cuts cause some concerns:
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- He advocates abandoning the newspaper (any paper or news source) to save time. Sorry, what? I’m not sure I can trust an author who shrugs off the value of being informed.
- He votes, sort of. To avoid wasting time digesting election issues and corollary political consequences, he jumps to the head of the intellectual queue…and just asks his friends what they think. Kool aid, anyone?
- He checks his email once a week only. While an empowered and capable staff is commendable, he sees communication as a chore and money as a means to overcome it. Alarming.
Verdict: Despite a few chapters of pure nonsense, Ferriss’ overall theme speaks to escaping the cube and making yourself happy; I can’t argue with that.
Reading time: A book to skim. 2 hours.
Obama has more fun
Thanks to a recent Youtube foray, I’m now fully in love with Obama up to date on politics. This much is clear: Obama has more fun.
Compare, contrast:
- Obama dances, laughs (and dances again)
- McCain sits: too old, too grumpy
It’s likely that #10 has seen the only dancing it’s going to get (thanks Hugh), though I’d be interested to see Gordo try.
Enough with the baby-kissing, give us some reality. In this, Obama trumped his competition. While McCain was promising, stiff-necked, “I-have-a-smile-in-my-voice-and-I’m-going-to-show-you,” Obama simply danced.
Credibility, meet personality.