Pre-book notes

Mom bought this book when she was on her Indian writers kick. I have no idea what to expect.

Post-book

Okay, this book was completely and totally not one I would pick up on my own. If Mom hadn't bought it in such a format that I would have it on hand, I wouldn't have read it. She was on an Indian writers kick, and read a large number of authors from India, this book and this author being one of her many.

The story is told in two interleaved parts, one from a first person point of view of a major in the Pakistani army, the other from a third person point of view of a narrator. The story is somewhat confusing at the beginning as the two parts intertwine, but totally clears up as the story progresses. I absolutely adored the way the author would tell of an incidental fact or odd coincidence in the story, then a bit later show how it was incredibly relevant in the story. I chuckled a large number of times, pleased when I caught the references.

I didn't catch some of the humour, and many of the references were lost on me, but I was delighted by the book. Totally outside of the books I normally read, and recommended.

Mid-book thoughts

I'm kinda chuckling at this book as I read it. It's all pre-Internet era advertising examples, which makes them hilarious in the context of today's world. That said, I wish there were an updated, relevant-to-today version of this book. Extracting the message, ignoring the historical juxtaposition with the number of upturned ideas about marketing, and the book is okay so far. Might be a bit too Mad-Men-esque for me.

End of book thoughts

Subtitled, "The Battle for Your Mind"

I read this book on the recommendation in How to Transform Your Ideas into Software Products.

The book was first published in 1981, though there's a 2001 copyright on some of the books. As a result, oh, ha, a lot of the products discussed and idea presented are so dated I felt I was reading a Mad Men how-to manual of sorts. There were references to Xerox's failed attempts at the computer industry, along with references to the Marlboro man on television (uh.... nope, not any more), and American car manufacturers dominance in the minds of Americans. The parts where suggestions about "possibly think internationally" had me giggling. And, aw, man, I understood many of the references to the older ways of doing things (hey, how about that Thomas Register?).

I really would like to have this book rewritten with modern / updated product references and case studies.

That said, the positioning yourself and your career chapter totally hit home. Still relevant, still applicable, and still swirling in my head as "I need to do this."