Eamon Dolanis senior editor for the HarperCollins interactive division, HarperEdge, where he investigates what's unfolding in the zeitgeist.
Dead Media Working Notes, edited by Bruce Sterling. "This email list (bruces@well.com) gives brief abstracts about dead media from the far corners of the world and distant centuries, from 8-track tapes to pneumatic tubes that used to suck your mail. Sterling's chronicles of human ingenuity are inspiring - and humbling. Do we do things more effectively than civilizations that existed centuries ago? It's not always clear. The list is both a hilarious and moving read of history and history in the making."
Naked, by David Sedaris. "Sedaris is a Renaissance guy: he's picked apples in Oregon, written off-Broadway plays, and even helped a paraplegic shoplift. The absurdist realism in this episodic autobiography makes for pure slapstick joy, but his stories also place a telling light on the way we look at people in society. Through sleight of hand, Sedaris artfully reveals as much as he conceals."
John Kao, an authority on corporate creativity, is a member of the Global Business Network and founder and CEO of the Idea Factory.
Steven Spielberg: The Unauthorized Biography, by John Baxter. "Baxter dramatizes Spielberg's balance of business and creative issues. A tremendous amount of creative energy and interplay is present between Spielberg's multiple projects. What were the effects of shooting Schindler's List while editing Jurassic Park? Creativity comes about whenever you have a collision of ideas, forcing mutually irreducible notions to coexist in the same space. It's in this parallel universe that Baxter shows Spielberg operating."
Ways of the Hand: The Organization of Improvised Conduct, by David Sudnow. "Reading Sudnow's account of learning to play jazz, I realized that improv is a cardinal skill businesses need to learn. It's not about playing whatever notes you want; it's about balancing freedom and discipline - walking the tightrope without knowing where it will take you. In a world where the rules are changing, Sudnow's day-by-day account of how he learned improv offers a model that businesses can use."
Daniel Goldman is CEO of the Total Entertainment Network, an interactive entertainment network for online gaming technologies.
Subliminal Ad-Ventures in Erotic Art, by Wilson Bryan Key. "People usually ask about the 'intent' of the graphic artist in rendering seductive or erotic imagery. But what interests me is the reality of what you can see, whether intentional or not, and the effect it has on people. Key offers a compelling perspective on the use of erotic images in the public sphere of advertising. Somewhat fanatical, Keys is a provocative writer whose point of view - that of a critic or a consumer - gives excellent social and historical context to not only eroticism, but human behavior."
Designing Business: Multiple Media, Multiple Disciplines, by Clement Mok. "How does a start-up high tech company create an identity and image? Too many companies make the mistake of centering their marketing scheme around passion or technology instead of purpose. Mok gives a clear-eyed, systemic look at business and the design principles that profuse the new media industry."
STREET CRED
Steve ReichRapoon
README On the bookshelves of the digerati
