The World's Best Book Summaries
Who is Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg? How did the violinist discover that her talent alone was not going to lead her to a successful career in music? Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg is a highly accomplished violinist and music teacher. But she almost ruined her future as a violinist with her fixed mindset. We’ll cover the dangers of a fixed mindset (Carol Dweck, Mindset) and how Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg turned her early violin career around.
Who is Anne Mulcahy? How did she turn Xerox from a company with billions in debt and abysmal stock prices to a wildly successful company? Anne Mulcahy was the chairperson and CEO of Xerox from 2001 to 2010. She turned the struggling company around in three years. We’ll cover how Anne Mulcahy of Xerox was so successful in her mission and what made her such a great leader.
What is JD Vance’s mother like in Hillbilly Elegy? How does she impact her life, and how does he escape the cycle of poverty and violence that traps her? JD’s mother had once been a promising student and seemed on track to rise up from the poverty and abuse that had surrounded her as a child. Unfortunately, she fell into the same cycle of dysfunctional that she had learned from her parents. She married her high school boyfriend and quickly found her life beset by the drama, fighting, and violence that had so defined her parents’ marriage. We’ll cover the
What is JD Vance’s family like in Hillbilly Elegy? How do they shape who he becomes, and why does he desire to escape the place where he grew up? Vance shares the story of his struggles growing up within this culture as a means of articulating a broader social and cultural critique of the Appalachian white working class. Through it all, however, Vance is undeniably proud of where he comes from and clearly loves his family very dearly. We’ll cover the three primary members of JD Vance’s family: Mamaw, Papaw, and Mom.
What is JD Vance’s “Mamaw” like in Hillbilly Elegy? What impact does Mamaw have on JD Vance’s life? In Hillbilly Elegy, JD Vance shares the story of his struggles growing up within this culture as a means of articulating a broader social and cultural critique of the Appalachian white working class. Through it all, however, Vance is undeniably proud of where he comes from and clearly loves his family very dearly. JD Vance’s Mamaw plays an especially important role in young JD’s life.
What is JD Vance’s sister Lindsay Vance like in Hillbilly Elegy? How do she and Vance cope with an abusive mother and a town that prizes violence and devalues education? Hillbilly Elegy sets out to explore the struggles of the rural white working class in 21st-century America through the personal story of its author, JD Vance. Learn how JD Vance and his sister Lindsay Vance overcome the odds and achieve lives of success and respectability outside of the hillbilly culture from which they came—but at a heavy personal cost, and with many struggles along the way.
What is the Kevin Bacon game? How is it played? Where did the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon come from? Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon) is a game in which you attempt to link any Hollywood actor to Kevin Bacon is six steps or fewer. The game came out of the six degrees of separation theory. We’ll cover how to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon and what the game says about how we’re all connected.
Who is DeeDee Gordon? How did she get preppy kids to wear skater shoes, resulting in the epidemic success of the shoe company Airwalk? DeeDee Gordon is a maven able to spot trends that are about to explode. She was responsible for making Airwalk’s skater shoes mainstream, which led to the company’s widespread success. We’ll cover how DeeDee Gordon turned Airwalk’s branding around and how ideas like Gordon’s become epidemics through the diffusion model.