The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill - Mark Bittner

One rarely comes across a story so moving as this. From his romantic simplicity to the classic "why are we here" complexity, the self-titled dharma bum Mark Bittner tells the story of his life in this book.

I was reluctant to read this book at first. It was a little below my haughty-taughty arrogance in choice reads. However, it was a gift from my girlfriend as a result of my recent fascination with my backyard birdfeeder, and I felt inclined to read it. The cover of this book states, "A love story...with wings." A quote from a review from Elle magazine also appears on the cover stating "..the perfect read for anyone who believes that success means more than a corner office." So, I was a bit hesitant given the last book I read was about an industrial era tycoon who obliterated his competition and become more wealthy than all of freaking Europe - and I loved it.

However, despite my doubts, I loved this book. Yes, it was moving, and no it wasn't a Bambi story. This is a tale about a guy who had the balls to be himself, and has an ending that makes you believe everything is going to be o.k. despite life getting in the way.

At first, maybe because of my arrogance, I thought the book was a little slow. It delves into some distant concepts and I actually felt sorry for the guy for falling into some out-there ideas. Then it goes into how he "fell in with a gang of parrots" and from there on tells story after story about a fun group of parrots. Each little tale is exhilarating in itself, but after awhile I started searching for the book's point. Then it hits you without you ever realizing it. Bittner writes with such simplicity and ease that you would think he was a veteran author.

I don't care if you are a reader of textbooks, steamy romance novels, or don't read at all, you need to read this book. If I learned a lot from Titan, I learned more from The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.

Titan: The Life Of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. - by Ron Chernow

Whew! What a read. I feel like I need to take a breather after this 676 page behemoth. I say that not as a negative sentiment, but as a statement one would say after riding in a race car for 2 months.

Despite this book's length, it moved rather quickly and was very entertaining despite it's informative intent. I was never too familiar with Rockefeller. Honestly, all I knew was that he was involved in oil a long time ago and that there is a really, really, big building in New York City named after him. I also knew that he had given a lot of money to charities. But, I never knew why, what, or how all this came about. Looking back on this story and how much I learned about U.S. businesses today, I am almost annoyed that I didn't know more about this fascinating man and what he did. Why is it that our history books choose to leave him, for the most part, out?

One reason I assume is that the Rockefeller name has become synonymous with a couple of things. The ironic thing is that these two things, Charitable contribution and industrial-era power, greed, etc..., are so completely opposite each other. The latter is why he may be left out of the history books and the former is what they call a false sense of philanthropy to make up for other wrongs. And, so, his eternal punishment is to be left out of high school classes and for me to be annoyed that I didn't know more. However, this dichotomy is representative of Rockefeller's life altogether, and Ron Chernow writes with a wealth of insight to point this out to his readers.

Enough of my ranting. If you enjoy history books, business, or just plain leadership, read this book. Yes it is long and yes you will feel like you had just run a marathon after having finished, but it is worth it. Rockefeller is responsible for making the word "trust" unmentionable in US history books without the word "anti" in front of it. From my point of view and what I think is Ron Chernow's as well, he was only playing the game by the rules, or lack thereof, of his day. In fact, without being biased, Chernow goes to great lengths to undo conventional thought regarding Rockefeller greed, power, and unfair business practices. Of note, Rockefeller's philanthropy was not out of guilt, but out of strict religious belief that it was his duty to disperse riches among society.

I learned so much from this book. From interesting Jeopardy tidbit answers to our current business laws and anti-trust issues I have learned things that I would have thought would be important to learn a long time ago. I very much enjoyed it, and at risk of making a cliche statement, I am more knowledgeable about U.S. business history and the entire industrial era for having read it.

If you don't enjoy reading for knowledge, you may find yourself lost in a sea of nearly seven-hundred pages. If you do, this is as good as any John Grisham tale ever written.