Well, it’s a busy day for reviews of Hannibal and Me.
After the Wall Street Journal’s review, also today, the Washington Post has now weighed in, with a very short but sweet take.
That’s now the 8th or 9th review, depending on how you count. (As a reminder, I’m keeping a list of everything here.)
Like the Journal, the Post also “grouped” me with two other books, but in this case two “self-improvement” books.
Here goes:
The author, a longtime correspondent for the Economist, will surely elicit comparisons to the work of Malcolm Gladwell and others with his new book, which deals with pressure, resilience and why some people (and companies) thrive while others don’t. Kluth’s originality lies in examining the successes and failures of the legendary Carthaginian general Hannibal in order to illuminate our own. One of Kluth’s tenets is that “part of success is adjusting your idea of what it is.” That can be true for failure, as well, he reasons, and it’s important to know the difference. For example, Hannibal’s miraculous crossing of the Alps was a triumph in the short run, but in the end his enemies, the Romans, endured.
OK, OK. Compared to … Gladwell, called “original”, …. I guess I’ll take it. 😉
Hannibal and Me: life lessons from history 
I checked the Niederösterreichische Nachrichten, but no Hannibal review so far. I’ll keep an eye out.
I am shocked — shocked! — that the Niederoesterreichische Nachrichten has focused its coverage this month on the potential collapse of Europe rather than my book.
Have you checked the Oberoesterreichische Nachrichten?
If not discussing your book directly, at the very least they could have drawn parallels between the potential collapse of Europe and the collapse of the Roman Empire and editorialized on whether such “failures” might not, in fact, be but temporary hiccups on the road to Shangri-la.
I’m not familiar with the Oberösterreichische Nachrichten. Out of my region. My valley, my castle.
I figured where there is a Nieder there must also be an Ober. How do the Oberoesterreicher get their news?
These people may have their own local paper. I don’t know. Oberösterreich borders on Bavaria, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they got a large portion of their news from Bayrischer Rundfunk airwaves bleeding across the border.
Die Website der “Die Niederösterreichischen Nachrichten” (NÖN) zeigt keine Nachrichten über die republikanischen Vorwahlen.
Wegen der weltweit Wichtigkeit der US-Vorwahlen, es ist unglaublich dass eine Wochenzeitung aus der heutigen Zeit US-Vorwahlen ignorieren würden, ob sie Demokratische oder Republikanische sind.
Daraus folgt dass “Die Niederösterreichischen Nachrichten” “Hannibal and Me” ignorieren würden.
Ich habe ein ungeheuerlich Grammatikfehler bemerkt, dass ich soeben geschrieben habe.
Selbstverständlich, “Ignorieren würden” sollte “Ignorieren würde”.
Herzlichen Glückwunsch. You’ve just added four times more ungeheuerliche Grammatikfehler than you corrected.
And your logic is flawed, for in spite of having covered Hannibal and Me, neither the WSJ nor the WP have thus far deigned to report on this year’s dearth of snow in Niederösterreich, which has resulted in an explosion of the local wild boar population. Not von weltweiter Wichtigkeit, you say? A potential harbinger of the apocalypse, I say.
Christopher thus gets an A for valor in braving Germanic grammar, and three great news brands perish upon their fatal shortcomings. A day that will live in infamy.
“………..You’ve just added four times more ungeheuerliche Grammatikfehler than you corrected……..”
I was afraid of this!!
Being the consummate cosmopolitan (vollständig Weltbürger?), I visit regularly the website of “Der Spiegel”, and will keep an eagle eye (adlerisch Auge?!!) there for any reviews of “Hannibal and Me”.
I forgot to say that when reading “Der Spiegel” I’ll keep das adlerisch Auge open also for news of the proliferation of Lower Austrian wild boars.
your logic is flawed, for in spite of having covered Hannibal and Me, neither the WSJ nor the WP have thus far deigned to report on this year’s dearth of snow in Niederösterreich, which has resulted in an explosion of the local wild boar population. Not von weltweiter Wichtigkeit, you say?
For the WP and the WSJ to miss this topic of weltweiter Wichtigkeit is surely a signal of their imminent demise as publications. Will boars will roam in their former newsrooms.