IGX

Picked this up out of sheer boredom in a local bookstore while on a weekend visit to my mother-in-law's home town (pop 35,000) for something to read. Wasn't expecting much based on the excerpt I saw(the 10 (or 12?) best Chef's tools things )some one posted on IG a couple months ago, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. Still of lot of bloviation about stuff like how he won a tango competition by mastering the art of learning things in a hurry (Anthony Robbins, anyone?) but all in all he doesn't come across as much of a douche-bag as in "4 Hour Body".

I think it's because the focus is different here - 4HC comes across as more of a travelogue. With the right background and editorial help, anyone can write ONE interesting book about food and cooking. And whatever I think of his actual abilities and accomplishments, I can't deny that Ferriss has gone a lot of interesting places, talked to a bunch of crazed iconoclasts, and done a lot of interesting, unconventional things.

The actual hardcover book is nicely designed, laid out, and organized, in spite of the loose aggregation of articles and subjects. It feels "generous", if you get what I mean - the guy had so many ideas and things to talk about that you can poke around in it for days.

If you liked anything at all about "4 Hour Body", you'll probably like "4 Hour Chef."

I'm only halfway into the first section (the part on accelerated learning) and thus far it seems painfully short on specifics. Which is ironic, because I think learning something with speed is all about specifics - figuring out exactly what you need to know.

milosz wrote:I'm only halfway into the first section (the part on accelerated learning) and thus far it seems painfully short on specifics. Which is ironic, because I think learning something with speed is all about specifics - figuring out exactly what you need to know.

I don't get the sense that Tim actually has any such ability, except inasmuch that he is good at finding people who could help him. For example, he mentioned that in seeking a mentor for a sport, finding someone who was big a few years ago (but is not now, such as a medalist from two Olympics ago) is a solid way to find somebody who could be helpful.

But he dicks around too much. Some things off the top of my head he wanted to excel at or had specific goals:

1K open water swim: Quit
500# DL: Injured/DNF
BJJ: Injured/Quit at blue belt

He geeks out and starts mind-mapping everything, like languages, when simple immersion would get the job done faster.

The stuff he is allegedly "good" at are things that aren't in areas where anybody else is trying hard enough to make a reliable benchmark. Anything where there are other people actually trying (KBs, lifting, BJJ, etc.) he is extremely average or below average.

Except marketing. He's got a ton of hustle and knows how to network his ass off.

Grandpa's Spells wrote:

milosz wrote:I'm only halfway into the first section (the part on accelerated learning) and thus far it seems painfully short on specifics. Which is ironic, because I think learning something with speed is all about specifics - figuring out exactly what you need to know.

I don't get the sense that Tim actually has any such ability, except inasmuch that he is good at finding people who could help him. For example, he mentioned that in seeking a mentor for a sport, finding someone who was big a few years ago (but is not now, such as a medalist from two Olympics ago) is a solid way to find somebody who could be helpful.

But he dicks around too much. Some things off the top of my head he wanted to excel at or had specific goals:

1K open water swim: Quit
500# DL: Injured/DNF
BJJ: Injured/Quit at blue belt

He geeks out and starts mind-mapping everything, like languages, when simple immersion would get the job done faster.

The stuff he is allegedly "good" at are things that aren't in areas where anybody else is trying hard enough to make a reliable benchmark. Anything where there are other people actually trying (KBs, lifting, BJJ, etc.) he is extremely average or below average.

Except marketing. He's got a ton of hustle and knows how to network his ass off.

Yes, that's my read on him as well. He is a good source of inspiration for people who might be stuck in a rut and afraid to try new things.

It also amuses me that in one 4HB video, he demonstrated a horrible starter breakfast that would gag a goat as part of his "Slo Carb" diet thing, and now he's instructing people in sous vide cooking.

you and nafod should start a lame book club

protobuilder wrote:you and nafod should start a lame book club

proto is really honing his craft these days.