Maturity – DaneCobain.com

Title: Big Sur

Author: Jack Kerouac

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 186

Rating: 4/5

Jack Kerouac – Big Sur

In Big Sur, we get some more of Kerouac’s reflections on his own life in his unique brand of stream of consciousness beat prosody. This one in particular focuses on his slightly later years, after the release of On the Road brought him notoriety, and follows the troubles with alcoholism that plagued both Kerouac and many of his friends.

A particular favourite for me was this little excerpt when he talked about his hangovers: “I feel like the most disgraceful and nay disreputable wretch on earth, in fact my hair is blowing in beastly streaks across my stupid and moronic face, the hangover has now worked paranoia into me down to the last pitiable detail.”

There’s just something about Kerouac’s writing style that’s both absorbing and super enjoyable. Sure, he might make you think, but I felt as though some of his maturity came into play here and added an extra element. There was more wisdom there from the older Jack Kerouac than in his earlier work.

Jack Kerouac

Click here to buy Big Sur.

Shirley Mansfield – The Grown-Up Business | Review

Title: The Grown-Up Business

Author: Shirley Mansfield

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 257

Rating: 8/10

Shirley Mansfield – The Grown-Up Business

Disclaimer: While I aim to be unbiased, I received a copy of this for free to review.

There was a surprising amount to learn here – I read quite a lot of business books, but most of them focus on marketing and communications rather than on day-to-day operations. In this book, though, Shirley Mansfield provides an illuminating explanation for how businesses age and develop, through to a stage of maturity that many companies never attain.

And while she explains and illustrates each of these stages throughout the book, you can dip in and out to locate your own company’s persona if you’re in a hurry. That said, the book is packed with great advice from cover to cover, and so I highly recommend that you do that instead. Mansfield has plenty of experience when it comes to both running a business and acting as a consultant, and she augments her knowledge with plenty of case studies to show you a real-life example of how the principles have been put in to practice, with great effect.

I’m not exactly the target audience here, because the book is best read if you’re the owner of a small business, and so bear that in mind if you buy a copy. That said, a lot of the ideas can be applied even if you’re a manager or a team leader, and so don’t dismiss it right away. You might even learn something!