Book reviews from pollackbks

Predictably Irrational

by Dan Ariely

I thought his approach and conclusions were predictable. I always marvel that people can earn a good living doing "studies" to prove what everyone knows anyway.

Intimate Companions - a Triography Of

by David Leddick

Reasonably well written, but too much focus on sexuality, gossip, and surface, with too little exploration or apparent appreciation of what the contributions of these men and their circle were to the arts and to the milieu of the times. Despite the author's clear admiration of them, he makes them seem shallow, self-absorbed and out-of-touch, and fails to show why we should consider them relevant today. Research, despite being described as meticulous, seems very superficial, and little differentiation is made between documented information and that gleaned from gossip. An example is the treatment of George Tichenor, a studio assistant and possible lover of George Platt Lynes, who is described as coming from unknown origins, possibly from New Jersey. Tichenor was killed while in the US military, so there must be records of his background available there. All of this said, there is some, if not enough, useful information about the three subjects and many of those they interacted with.