Book 30: In Pursuit of Elegance

TITLE: In Pursuit of Elegance: Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing
AUTHOR: Matthew E. May
STARTED: May 5, 2011
FINISHED: May 26, 2011
PAGES: 216
GENRE: Non-Fiction

FIRST SENTENCE: [From the Prologue] On Sunday, June 10, 2007, nearly twelve million television viewers in the United States tuned their sets to HBO to watch the final episode of the hit series The Sopranos.

SUMMARY: [From Amazon.com] What made the Sopranos finale one of the most-talked-about events in television history? Why is sudoku so addictive and the iPhone so darn irresistible? What do Jackson Pollock and Lance Armstrong have in common with theoretical physicists and Buddhist monks?

Elegance.

In this thought-provoking exploration of why certain events, products, and people capture our attention and imaginations, Matthew E. May examines the elusive element behind so many innovative breakthroughs in fields ranging from physics and marketing to design and popular culture. Combining unusual simplicity and surprising power, elegance is characterized by four key elements—seduction, subtraction, symmetry, and sustainability. In a compelling, story-driven narrative that sheds light on the need for elegance in design, engineering, art, urban planning, sports, and work, May offers surprising evidence that what’s “not there” often trumps what is.

THOUGHTS: I like it when a book teaches me "things." This book impressed me because I learned a shload of new material and facts without feeling overwhelmed. May's text is simple, well-thought out, and fascinating. For a work of non-fiction, this was a remarkably easy book to fall into. The pages flew by and, in the end, I almost wished there were more.

May's book is structured so that each chapter builds off the previous one. This means that at no time did I feel overwhelmed or lost. Everything made sense because May spent just enough time explaining his rational and research without entering infodump territory. (Congrats on that!) May's text draws from various areas including science, popular culture, and business. May then shows how "elegance" can be found in each - creating a lesson in simplicity.

As an author, May treats his readers as equals. He never talks down or bothers to over explain. That happens so rarely in books that I want to applaud him. Thank you for treating me like the smart person I am! May lays his information on the page and lets his readers decide what they want to do from there.

Elegance has also caused me to question my usual manner of work. I plan and plan and plan and keep on planning. I think it may be time to step back a little and see if I can do more with less. If May's goal was to get his readers to rethink how they work, than he has succeeded.


RATING: 7/10 [Very Good]