On the Road

Jack Kerouac

On the Road is an American classic that has inspired countless other books, poems, movies and songs. It was the handbook of the Beat Generation. It is the tale of a restless young man who wanted to experience everything and thought the best way to do that was on the road.

The characters in this book are not very likable. They hurt people without remorse, they steal thing along the way, they take advantage of the kindness and hospitality of countless others. They cheat on their wives and girlfriends. And yet, in the characters, we see real people with complex personalities. The same guy, for example, that is married to two women (at the same time) and chasing after several others, loves jazz and is deeply moved by poetry and stories of the road. The main characters all possess a spontaneity, even impulsiveness, that drives them to restless wandering. At a moment's notice, as the inspiration strikes, they often drop everything, abandon everyone around them and head for the other coast. In its realness, this is an incredibly wonderful book. At the same time, it is a picture of humanity in its lowest, most selfish form.

In writing this book, Kerouac achieved a new level of success and acceptance for what he called "Spontaneous Prose." It's a form of writing that has some structure, but is very close to a stream of consciousness. The book is written as if a very fast talker spews every possible recollection he has about his travels - and he does this for many hours on end. There is no quiet period in this book. There is no rest. It just keeps moving. The engine just keeps humming.

The Epistles of John: An Expositional Commentary

James Montgomery Boice

This is yet another wonderful, expositional commentary by Dr. Boice. His teaching is direct and easy to understand. As a collection of sermons, this commentary is perfect for daily devotions. The Epistles of John are small letters written to the early church as an encouragement to hold fast in the faith. Many had been lost to persecution and others had been lost to unorthodox teachings such as Gnosticism. In the same way, Dr. Boice's exposition of these epistles is an encouragement for contemporary Christians by applying these truths to our lives today. His encouragement would be especially helpful to those who are wrestling with doubts and lack of faith.

Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens

Oh, how we love the story of redemption. This Dickens masterwork is filled with all the elements of a great redemption story. The novel is set in Paris and London during the French Revolution, spanning from 1775 to 1792. Prior to the revolution, the French aristocrats abused and suppressed the poor at every opportunity. Rather than using their positions of power and wealth to care for the poor, they showed themselves to be animals. During and shortly after the revolution, the pendulum swings. The blood-thirsty peasants, drunk with the power of the guillotine, massacre anyone and everyone with the slightest link to the former aristocracy. There is daily bloodshed as people loose their heads, often the result of sham trials. The people sing and rejoice as the blood flows in the streets. In their lust for power and in the name of egalite, the peasants show themselves to be even more barbaric than the aristocrats.

Amid all of this bloodshed, malice and destruction, Dickens paints a marvelous picture of redemption. He shows it for what it truly is - brutally complicated and sickeningly messy. Just before the revolution, a young aristocrat named Charles Darnay denounced his aristocratic lineage and moved to London where he became a teacher of French language and literature. In his new, modest life, he married Lucie Manette, the daughter of a French medical doctor. Lucie and her father were also living in London. Dr. Manette had previously and wrongly been imprisoned in the Bastille for eighteen years. For various reasons, the three find themselves back in Paris in 1792 right in the middle of the post-revolution bloodbath. Darnay's family history is discovered and he is quickly imprisoned. He committed no crime. He was imprisoned simply because of who he was. Dr. Manette, beloved among the republicans because of his Bastille experience, offered testimony in Darnay's defense. Darnay was set free. In a sense, you could say that Darnay was redeemed by the pain suffered by Dr. Manette. But, the redemption was not a lasting redemption.

Before the family could leave Paris, a particularly evil person (referred to as the daughter of the Devil) brings a new set of charges against Darnay. This time, the good doctor's testimony is not sufficient to save him. No, in this case, the only way Darnay can escape his sentence is for a substitute to stand in for him - a Redeemer. In the end, Dickens masterfully tells this story of redemption and of the redeemer, an unexpected person who willingly stands in the accused's place at the guillotine and takes the punishment for him. It is a brutal and disturbing story. Man is shown at his best and worst. The reader is left in wonder at the power of redemption and shocked at the grand divide between good and evil.

The Innocent

Ian McEwan

Eleven years after WWII ended, as the Cold War was escalating, Leonard, a British postal worker was assigned to a secret spy operation in Berlin. The operation was run jointly by the CIA and MI6. While in Berlin, he meets and falls in love with Maria, a beautiful German divorcee. This is a suspenseful book and also has marks of more serious fiction. As entertainment, the book delivers well and becomes quite a page-turner about half-way through.

The book is also an excellent allegorical work. There are multiple stories interwoven together: the narrative story involving Maria and Leonard, the hidden narrative involving the spy operation itself and the meta-narrative of relations between America, Britain and Germany. It is this meta-narrative that McEwan handles very well. Like Germany, Maria is strong and yet vulnerable. Several men are involved in her life in various ways and, as in post-war Germany, she is mostly powerless against them. Like Britain, Leonard is "The Innocent". His role in the new order is not well-defined, but is very much framed by his British-isms and unassuming manner. His true power, however, is revealed only when he has been backed into a corner. Leonard and Maria have an intense relationship that is sudden and uncomfortably intimate. Another character, Bob, is an American military officer, responsible for security. He is American in every stereotypical way - too loud, too forward - but also very competent and compassionate. Otto, a former German soldier, representing the former Germany is drunk, angry and, ultimately unable to control his rage. The interaction of these characters, as well as others, provide an allegorical meta-narrative that reveals McEwan's ability to write serious fiction.

Homage to Catalonia

George Orwell

This is wonderful writing, pure and simple. Orwell was a master of language and this book is no exception. He spent part of 1936 and all of 1937 fighting for P.O.U.M., one of the communist factions in the Spanish Civil War. This is his personal account of the events of that time. He spent most of the time on the relatively quiet Aragon front. Orwell and his outfit lacked adequate food, clothes and weaponry - as did the Franco troops on the other side. Late in 1937, he was injured by a stray bullet through the neck.

Orwell was an idealist. For him, communism meant empowerment of the working class. He desired a true democracy and opposed facism and capitalism. But, he also opposed the Soviet model of communism, which he saw as just another way to oppress the working class. Ultimately, he left Spain disillusioned by the politics of war and the compromises made by the communists. He was dismayed by the incessant battles between the various communist factions.

Orwell tells many wonderful stories of his experiences in Spain. He gives an unvarnished view of a poor-man's war. The Spanish fighters - on both sides - were poorly trained, ill-equipped and generally lacking a will to fight. On the Franco side, most of the Spanish soldiers had been conscripted. On the communist side, the Spanish were just happy to have a paying job. Orwell's outstanding writing effortlessly combines many tales from the front with his political observations.

When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting The Poor and Yourself

Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert

This is a challenging book. It will challenge your ideas about missions and about helping poor people. Those who have seen second and third world conditions are often deeply moved by the scenes of poverty, disease and lack of education. This emotional experience often moves them to give money directly to the poor or to organize a building or medical project. The authors caution that we should not act too quickly. They suggest that by giving that money, building or medical care, we may actually be hurting the poor more than helping. In our haste to bring relief quickly, we can easily overlook the underlying spiritual situation and local relationship issues. The authors suggest that we often fail to see the needs in their rightful situation by confusing relief, rehabilitation and development. The authors offer a lot of excellent examples of success and failure. They also offer great advice for short-term missions efforts and long-term missions investments.

This is a great book and should be read by everyone involved with missions. I am, however, having trouble reconciling a conclusion one draws from the authors' argument. The authors say, "...when North American Christians do attempt to alleviate poverty, the methods often do considerable harm both to the materially poor and the materially non-poor." Perhaps the conclusion is that most of us should not get involved very much. Instead of spending money on short-term mission trips and ill-advised missions projects, perhaps the North American churches should just be collection centers for money and centers of prayer. Is there an underlying argument made by the authors that the majority of us should leave hands-on missions work to the trained professionals? Intellectually, I understand this. But, on another level it just doesn't seem right. Aren't we called by God to just go and, by implication, try to help? Doesn't God work through (and in spite of) our failures and brokenness in all aspects of our lives? Is, as the head of one large missions organization once told me, 90% of ministry just a matter of "showing up?" This book will not answer these questions, but it will help you to think them through.

Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and more) that Engage Customers and Ignite your Business

Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman

Handley and Chapman argue that the modern marketing department needs to see itself as a publisher/media outlet. They propose a model for creating a lot of content and reusing that content in various ways to keep customers and prospects engaged. They rightly argue that interruption marketing is no longer sufficient, that customer behavior is changing and that everyone is part of the interconnected world. Building on this core concept, the authors walk through several do's, don'ts and examples. They focus on blogs, webinars, ebooks, white papers, success stories and FAQs as the core elements of the content engine. Overall, I found the book to be a good synopsis of what every marketing department should be doing today.

This book as well as others in this genre, however, raise an important question for marketing departments: When is enough enough? It is very easy for a marketing department to get sucked into a "more is better" management model. More messaging, more white papers, more diagrams, more videos. More, more, more. The need to create more content needs to be balanced with the critical need for marketing to stay lean and mean. The authors advocate for massive reuse and repackaging of content. This is some of the best advice they offer in this book. There are many, many tools out there to help you create and reuse content without the need to pay for a lot of software, equipment, consultants and additional staff.

Kings Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus

Timothy Keller

This is Tim Keller's fifth book. It is a wonderful, expository commentary on the Gospel of Mark. He divides the book into two parts. In the first part, the King, Keller focuses on and establishes that Jesus is the rightful King of all people and all things. In the second part, the Cross, Keller explains how this King, although he has more power and majesty than any other person, gave up everything in order to redeem his people. Keller has an incredible ability to show the depth of Jesus' character - his wisdom, his love, his patience, his graciousness, his willingness to sacrifice himself. He clearly explains how the ugly yet beautiful, terrible yet wonderful, messy yet elegant death and resurrection of Jesus is the focal point of all history. You will not regret reading this one.

Why Does College Cost So Much?

Robert B. Archibald and David H. Feldman

Every parent in America is asking this question. The answer offered by the authors, while credible, is not very comforting. The rapid growth of college costs (price actually), they argue, is simply a function of the market value of the services provided by a highly educated workforce (the faculty). The authors show very plainly that the price of college tracks well with prices in other service industries with similar education levels. Even though they provide a clear, plausible explanation for the high price of an education, it is still a bitter pill. The authors don't offer a lot of ideas on what to do about the price of higher education. As a partial solution, at least in the case of public universities, they advocate replacing the current state subsidies received by schools with direct grants to students.

Overall, the book is well-written, accessible and logically consistent. Unlike other writers and politicians, the authors approach the issue from a purely economic standpoint. They don't rely on academic jargon to make their case. You don't need to be an economist to appreciate the argument they make. Parents, in particular, should read this book. You won't find it comforting at all. But, perhaps, it will inspire you to start saving for college now.

This authors of this book are faculty members at the College of William & Mary. My daughter, who is a student at William & Mary, gave me a signed copy of this book as a gift. I loved receiving it as a gift, but does anyone else see the humorous irony in it?

City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era

Michael Gerson and Peter Wehner

To engage or not to engage? That is the question for many Christians regarding politics. Are we to only submit to the authorities, but otherwise lead apolitical lives largely out of the public square? Or, are we to actively engage in the political process?

Gerson and Wehner, two former White House staffers, suggest the latter. In this book, they explain that it is our responsibility to engage in politics. But, then, how do we do it without compromising our integrity or without crossing the line between what is good for us personally and what is good for the Kingdom? In this short book, they give their ideas on our responsibility to engage and some approaches we might take. For example, they suggest that we maintain self-awareness, maintain a spiritual grounding, maintain perspective, maintain community and maintain a spirit of grace and reconciliation. I think we would all agree politics could use a lot more of that last one in particular.

City of Man is a short book at just 140 pages. There are six chapters and an Epilogue - Religion and Politics: Friends or Enemies, The Religious Right, A New Approach, The Morality of Human Rights, The Role and Purpose of the State, Persuasion and the Public Square. For me, by far, the most compelling chapter was The Morality of Human Rights. The authors eloquently explain that Christians have an obligation to work for and promote human rights because we are all made in the image of God and therefore have inherent worth. They point out that this concept is clearly part of America's founding documents. It is also consistent with Tim Keller's (who wrote the forward for City of Man) ideas on mercy and justice in his book, Generous Justice, which I also recommend.

Boswell's Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides

James Boswell

I took this book on my recent trip to Scotland. What a treat! For years, Boswell, a Scot, tried to get Samuel Johnson to accompany him on a tour through Scotland. Johnson, who was English, harbored many of the typical prejudices against Scotland, believing it to be a wild country with bad terrain, bad weather, bad food and uneducated people. Finally, in 1773, he agreed to make the trip. The tour started in Edinburgh and ended in Auchinleck, the family home of Boswell. The pair stayed in many homes and met many people during their three month journey. They spent most of their time in the Hebridean Islands.

Boswell is an incredible journalist. He faithfully captured the details of their excursion, everything from food consumed and sleeping conditions to conversations and emotions. He wrote one to two hours per day and conferred with his companion and hosts to make sure that his account was accurate. Boswell's frank depiction of Johnson is striking. Boswell depicts Johnson as a snobbish know-it-all. At times, Boswell seems to be describing a fictional character rather than a real person. In fact, many times during the book, Johnson seemed to be very much like a male version of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, the uppity and quite self-unaware character from Pride and Prejudice.

In the end, while he certainly found plenty to complain about, Johnson was genuinely impressed with what he saw in Scotland. Many of his prejudices gave way to appreciation for the hospitality and ingenuity of the people, not to mention the natural beauty of the country.

Benjamin Franklin in Ireland and Scotland

Bennett Nolan

Benjamin Franklin lived in England from 1757 to 1775, serving as the colonial representative for Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Georgia. He made two trips to Scotland, one in 1759 and the other in 1771. On the second trip, he also visited Ireland.

Nolan does an incredible job with this book. He pieced together many letters, journals, log books and other random bits to describe the two trips, which have largely been overlooked by other historians. Franklin was quite famous by the time he served in England, so many people wanted to meet him. Franklin stayed, met and dined with many of the great personalities, particularly of Scotland. Among others, he met David Hume, Adam Smith, Samuel Johnson and James Boswell. He heard a lecture by a 26 year-old John Witherspoon, who would later sign the Declaration of Independence and serve as President of the College of New Jersey (Princeton). In fact, Nolan shows that Franklin may have met as many as four signers on his first trip. On his second trip to Scotland, Franklin also spent time with James Watt.

This is a nice piece of historical writing. It interweaves the facts and journal entries, with notes on the personalities and interests of the characters. If the book is 90% history, it's 10% travelogue, detailing what it would have been like to be on the road at that time. Unfortunately, this wonderful book is out of print now.

What is Vocation?

Stephen J. Nichols

This is one of sixteen booklets called Basics of the Faith from P&R Publishing. In 31 short pages, Nichols gives a clear, helpful introduction to the Reformed doctrine of vocation. He explains that man was made to work and that, individually, we are equipped by God to do so. He also explains that we can find true meaning - and even pleasure - in our work by following the example of God who worked in Creation and Redemption and who continues to work in sustaining that Creation. If you find yourself just working for the weekend and in a constant battle with drudgery, this little booklet just might help you.

God at Work

Gene Edward Veith

If, like me, you are on a quest to understand the relationship between Christian faith and vocation, then I highly recommend this book to you. Veith writes with an uncomplicated style, making this book very easy to digest. He borrows a lot from Martin Luther's theology of vocation, which posits that all believers (not just pastors and priests) have holy callings from God. Some are called to be doctors, some teachers and some construction workers. The fact that our vocational callings are from God, Veith explains, frees us to see our work differently. Regardless of our positions, we have all been equipped by God to serve God and our neighbors and therefore fulfill the Greatest Commandment in real, tangible, vocational ways. The first four chapters set the stage by introducing the basic ideas, exploring how God works through his people and explaining the true nature of vocation. In the following chapters, Veith then connects these ideas to our callings at work, in the family, as citizens and as church members. He concludes with excellent chapters on the ethics of vocation, cross-bearing in vocation and resting in vocation.

Generous Justice: How God's Grace Makes Us Just

Timothy Keller

In this, his fourth book, Tim Keller has once again demonstrated that faith and reason are not enemies. In this book, he explores the role of the Christian in the area of social justice. He graciously argues that Christians have a responsibility to work for social justice and even to work along side non-Christians in serving the poor, oppressed and infirm. In clear language, he explains that God's beauty and the fact that man is made in this beautiful image should be our primary motivations for helping others. In chapters six and seven, Keller does an especially good job of showing that we need to be smart about how we serve. We need to, for example, consider both the micro/local and macro/global implications of our efforts. In a few places, Keller touches on the differing views of conservatives and liberals regarding social justice. He is generally consistent with James Davison Hunter (see my review on To Change the World) on this. Basically, they both suggest, our differences as conservatives or liberals should not prevent us from working together in causes for social justice and, as Hunter proposes, maintaining a "faithful presence" in the world.

The Age of Recovery: The Fifteenth Century

Jerah Johnson and William Percy


This is one of the 14 volumes of the Development of Western Civilization series (highly recommended) by Cornell University Press. Most of the the titles are out of print now, but there are plenty of copies floating around on the Internet. Johnson and Percy survey the major events of the 15th century, introduce the key figures and explore the main ideas of the age. This was the Renaissance period, marked by significant advancements in politics, trade and art. They cover such topics as John Hus, the invention of movable-type printing, Leonardo da Vinci, the end of the Hundred Years War, the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella and many others. The book is well written for the casual student of history and has plenty of references for further reading.

The Widower's Tale

Julia Glass

I bought this book after hearing Ms. Glass speak at the 2010 National Book Festival in Washington, DC. I looked forward to meeting her characters, especially Percy Darling, the main character. In the book, Ms. Glass quickly reveals her political leanings (left) by covering everything from gay marriage and gay teachers to illegal immigration and a variety of eco issues. Eco terrorism actually figures prominently throughout the narrative. As a political moderate, I found the imbalance somewhat annoying but predictable, and therefore tolerable. Perhaps my sensibilities were heightened simply because I read this novel during the run-up to the 2010 national elections. Ms. Glass finally redeems herself at the end by showing that politically-motivated acts of civil disobedience, even seemingly harmless ones, can have terribly destructive, hurtful and far-reaching consequences.

On a more analytical level, Ms. Glass offers a fascinating gender study in The Widower's Tale. The main character is someone you would, by stereotypes, expect to be a classic, elderly male curmudgeon. He is seventy-something. As a long-time widower, he has lived alone for many years. He likes alone time and is not always comfortable with change. Great material for a crusty, grumpy, reclusive curmudgeon, right? Well, he is never actually grumpy and is often quite feminine. At one point in the book, he actually thinks about the appearance of his own thighs and observes to himself that another man has "thick and alert" hair. Several of the other main, heterosexual male characters share at least some degree of unexpected (and unrealistic) femininity. Similarly, several of the main female characters have more than their share of stereotypically male traits. Unfortunately, it's not possible to determine from the text if Ms. Glass purposefully constructed the gender reversals or if they emerged from her pen subconsciously.

Rescuing Ambition

Dave Harvey

Recently a young man asked me about the place of professional ambition in the Christian life. He had real questions like "Is it OK for me to fire someone because their poor performance hinders my company's ability to make more money (ie Is firing an act of greed?)", "Is it OK to proactively pursue a promotion at work, or is this selfish behavior?", "Is it OK to dream about being the CEO?" I did my best to bumble through some answers. When I saw this book I wasted no time getting it.

The book proved to be a great read, but didn't answer all of the questions. A lot of what Harvey says about ambition is connected to his own personal ambition for ministry, for the Gospel and for the Church. The book is valuable and insightful because of his pastoral experiences. But, the book also lacks something. Since the author is a vocational minister, it lacks specific guidance about ambition in the secular workplace. I applaud the author for writing this book. The Faith and Work genre is sorely lacking good, meaningful material. If you are struggling with personal ambition, this book is a great place to start. But, there is plenty more to say on this topic. Perhaps Crossway Press will consider offering a companion to this book written by a CEO.

To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World

James Davison Hunter


There is so much stuff in this book that it is really difficult to write a concise review about it. Hunter had to cover a lot of ground to make his point - politics, history, theology. His point is that we live in a post-Constantinian age in which the Church is basically in exile. He argues that Christians no longer hold the keys of political power and control over the culture-defining institutions. As a result, Christians should not expect to make the rules for everyone else. Further, he proposes that Christians should not even be attempting to wield this power in the first place. He says that Christians, rather than attempting to gain political power or hold sway over the cultural institutions of our day, should focus more on personal devotion to Christ in all areas of our private and public lives (he calls this "faithful presence") and the development of authentic Christian community (koinonia).

In making his point, Hunter takes aim at several prominant Christians and Christian organizations. For those with allegiances to these organizations, this book will be pretty hard to accept. For me personally, I found that I did not agree with all of Hunter's minor points, but that I am largely in agreement with his overall proposition. If you start reading the book and find some objectionable stuff, I would encourage you to continue to the end. The final section of the book is masterfully conceived and artfully written.

John - New Testament Commentary

William Hendricksen

For the past several months, I've been reading through this sizeable commentary (about 720 pages). It is part of the New Testament Commentary series co-authored by Hendricksen and Simon Kistemaker. In summary, this is a great commentary for in-depth study, daily devotions and teaching preparation. Each verse is expounded with helpful references and illumination. There is some use of Greek throughout the book, but not so much that it is cumbersome. I found that I could skip over the Greek parts and not lose Hendricksen's point at all. This is a reference work. You can read it cover to cover as I did, or you could read just the sections you need. This is not an expository commentary. Hendricksen does not provide a sermon on each verse or section. He provides just enough additional information to illuminate the passages without wasting words.

Grace Unknown: The Heart of Reformed Theology

R.C. Sproul


I find myself returning to this book a lot - for encouragement, guidance and explanation. Sproul doesn't waste words in this short (230 pages) overview of Reformed Theology. The first half of the book explains the major ideas of Reformed Theology: centered on God, based on God's Word alone, faith alone, devotion to Christ and a proper view of the covenants of Scripture. The second half of the book explains the acronym TULIP (total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irrestible grace and perseverance of the saints), which is often called the Five Points of Calvinism. Using direct, readable language, Sproul explains that God is sovereign in all things, including salvation. Obviously, Sproul writes from a Calvinist perspective, but he is respectful of other theological views. The last chapter of the book, Perseverance of the Saints, is outstanding. It is a great source of comfort in that it explains that true believers cannot lose their salvation.

How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business

Douglas W. Hubbard

Could most business managers benefit from better decision-making skills? Probably. Would most of us benefit from a deeper knowledge of statistics? Probably. Will this book help you with either of these? Probably not.

Hubbard attempts the impossible in this book: to convey statistical and mathematical concepts without actually explaining them. He mainly just skims the ideas and doesn't really explain how the reader can take command of these tools. He skims over a variety of valuable methods without actually conveying enough knowledge for readers to become proficient in using them. Readers are forced to refer to a good stats book to really learn how to do most of the things Hubbard talks about. They would be better off reading the stats book in the first place and skipping this book altogether.

A second problem with this book is the author's frequent use of the passive voice. The passive voice makes the book hard to read. This problem surprises me since this is a second edition of the book. Hubbard's editors should have done a better job fixing this.

Text Cloud: My (apparently) favorite words

In case you can't tell, this is not a book review. It's a visual representation of the 70 most common words found on my blog. It is interesting and disturbing to see my writing vocabulary displayed this way. Clearly I need to expand my word choice. I created this with Wordle.com.

Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results

Thomas H. Davenport, Jeanne G. Harris, and Robert Morrison

In my review of the authors previous book, Competing on Analytics, I was critical of their lack of acknowledgement of intuition and experience as critical aspects of decision-making. The authors have come a long way with this new book and have made a more balanced argument. Overall, this second book is better than the first because it is much more tangible for business leaders and it is much more inwardly focused (on processes and staffing, for example). There is some consulting speak, but not as much as in their first book.

Chapter seven, Embed Analytics in Business Processes, is particularly good. In it, the authors warn against adoption of analytics on a one-time, project basis (they call this craft analytics). Instead, they advocate analytics as an integral part of the corporate persona. They give many great tips on how to overcome the common objections and roadblocks to adopting an analytics culture.

I have two minor issues with the book. One issue is the authors' implication that reporting and dashboarding are simplistic forms of BI. Enterprise and departmental reporting remain the predominant need in BI since most companies still don't have it. Another minor issue revolves around a statement the authors make: "Most information work is done through personal productivity tools like Microsoft Office." I absolutely agree with their observation. Even with the advent of very complex and expensive BI software packages, humble Excel remains the workhorse of end-user reporting and analysis. Unfortunately the authors never really address this reality. Even with these two minor issues, this is a really solid book. Highly recommended.