“the obvious,” maybe?

When I read Hugh MacLeod’s review of Seth Godin’s latest business book Linchpin, I was struck by the following paragraph in which MacLeod may have revealed more than he had intended about Godin’s career as a writer.

In his best-known book, Purple Cow, Seth’s message was, “Everyone’s a marketer now.” In All Marketers Are Liars, his message was, “Everyone’s a storyteller now.” In Tribes, his message was, “Everyone’s a leader now.” And from Linchpin? “Everyone’s an artist now.” By Seth’s definition, an artist is somebody who does (and I LOVE this term) “emotional work.”

It occurred to me one might observe that Mr. Godin has been growing more insightful as his writing career progressed. But frankly, that wasn’t what struck me. What seemed obvious about the progression was the need to have a new product to sell every few years on which to grow one’s punditry and consulting business.

BookTV on C-SPAN2 and on the Web

Although I have cable access and do watch when I’m able at least some of the many hours of the great weekend program on C-SPAN2 titled BookTV, I want to encourage you to bookmark the program’s accompanying website on which you’re able to freely view at your convenience videos of nearly all of the presentations of non-fiction authors and interviews with them which are broadcast on cable TV.

I just finished watching a presentation on BookTV (unfortunately not a video on the website yet) by Nancy Rubin Stuart, author of The Muse of the Revolution: The Secret Pen of Mercy Otis Warren and the Founding of a Nation. Because of Ms. Stuart’s wonderful introduction to and Q&A about the book, I intend to reserve a copy from my local library to read. I may then take a look at Ms. Stuart’s other books about remarkably influential women in history; her accomplishments as a social historian impress me.