Book review: "Call of the Mall: How We Shop"

Having not blogged much for months, now I do a few in a few minutes. There is no logic in these things.

Having enjoyed Paco Underhill's "Why we buy: the Science of Shopping" -- you will never walk through a store again without noticing things he points out -- I embarked with pleasurable anticipation on his follow-up "Call of the Mall: How we Shop" (which seems to be also titled "Call of the Mall: The Geography of Shopping" in the US Amazon's catalog but I am pretty sure they are the same book).

However, as is so often the case, the sequel disappoints. Having packed so much into his first book Why We Buy, there isn't as much left that is new and interesting in Call of the Mall.

There is a different focus to the two books. Why We Buy looks at customer behaviour in retail stores in order to relate it to the sales that do or don't result from it, and what the retailer can do to encourage the customer into the behaviours likely to lead to more ringing of cash registers. Call of the Mall looks more at the mall as a collection of stores rather than behaviours in particular stores. He also explores the role of the mall in modern (American) society.

However, where Why We Buy was more evidence-based (his company spends days observing customer behaviours), Call of the Mall is more opinionated (albeit expert opinionated) and of course draws on topics covered in Why We Buy, making it a bit "same old, same old" for me.

Probably the most interesting observation I found in Call of the Mall was that the mall is a private space which means it can exclude precisely the people whose civil liberties we defend to occupy the public spaces.

Book review: Screw it, lets do it!

I just finished reading "Screw it, let's do it : lessons in life" by Richard Branson. Well, I read half of it.

Having previously enjoyed Richard Branson's warts-and-all autobiography "Losing my Virginity", I was attracted to Screw-It both because of its author and because of its title (with which I feel a certain resonance).

However, as it turned out that the two reasons I had for reading Screw-It were precisely the two reasons I didn't really enjoy it and didn't bother to finish it.

Firstly, the content of the book can be pretty much summarised by its title. It basically tells you to pursue your dreams, don't fear failure, ignore the nay-sayers and the usual self-motivational stuff. It's right up there with "Feel the Fear But Do It Anyway" (my previous favourite example of a book that is completely summarised by its title).

And as Richard Branson illustrates Screw-it with various personal stories, it's rather dull if you've already read those stories in his autobiography.

If you've never read a self-motivational book, then by all means start with Screw-It.

But for a more entertaining read about Richard Branson, go for Losing My Virginity.

finally a "permanent" office

After 7 month in a temporary office (originally to be only a few weeks) in S-block at Gardens Point, a long series of cascading office moves has finally delivered me into a "permanent" office, Room 304, 126 Margaret Street.

This is Good News because it means I have a lot more space and I can finally bring in my collection of books and journals and miscellaneous memorabilia.