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A surprisingly detailed book on receiving feedback well

The book covers the many aspects of receiving feedback well with elaborate detail. I want to say “complete” detail, but I don't know what I don't know.

Starting with the three triggers we deal with in receiving feedback, the book dives deep into various perspectives around the triggers related to the truth we believe, our relationships, and how we identify ourselves. Each of these aspects are illustrated brilliantly, and hilariously, with clear examples. It is tempting to build a list of all the lists contained in this book (I'm sure someone has already done this).

Finally, this is one of the books that tells you what you already know and it is all the more poignant for it.

Exactly as advertised

This book is exactly as advertised: “some instructions on writing and life”. Like everything artistic, the advice here applies not just to one subject but can be interpreted to apply to anything in our lives. The simplicity of the instruction enables this to apply to how we live.

This book does cover a bit of “how” of the writing process but it is more about the “why”. This book will probably give you a reason to write- a reason to live as a writer. Or this book will clarify the reason you think you want to be a writer. In any case, pick this book up and read it. Read it even if you have no interest in writing.

An extremely enjoyable journey of our body's digestion system. I don't pretend it's a comprehensive coverage of a sophisticated system in our complex body. It can't be. It's meant to be entertaining while still informative. That's the biggest risk I see with a book like this.

The book covers the digestion process right from the beginning when we eat the food. In fact, when we see the food or smell the food and up to when the the food is removed from our bodies. Along the way, it covers many related aspects such as immunity, allergies, and various chemicals such as cholesterol. It also talks about probiotics and prebiotics and how they help.

The author has taken special care to cite a scientific literature, but not to the extent of making the book boring to read. The primary purpose of the book seems to be to inform but not to excessively make it a scientific textbook. In that manner, this book is highly useful and as I mentioned before, highly entertaining and I can't think of a better book I have read in a long time.

This is one of the most important books I have read. I felt that the book started off rather dramatically and it made claims that raised my eyebrows. As I progressed through the book, I saw how it built a framework that can be used to measure stories and view the world. It's not perfect. It's not easy. It's not even possible to be aware of it all the time. Still, it's there and with practice, the framework promises a list of biases that hide the world from us. More importantly, the framework gives us tools that helps us uncover the truth from those who deliberately hide it.

It's hard to overstate the importance of such a framework that enumerates the biases that hides the facts in plain sight. Don't expect the book or the framework to be perfect. Just expect it to be useful.