Author: James D. Watson File Type: mobi From Publishers WeeklySignatureReviewed byCarl ZimmerIts coming on 40 years now since James Watson published one of the classic works of popular science, The Double Helix. In that slender volume, Watson told how he and Francis Crick collaborated for two furious years to discover the structure of DNA. It is a great story splendidly told, but what truly set The Double Helix apart from most other books about scientific discoveries was Watson himself, less a narrator than a character a wildly ambitious young man splitting his time between searching for the secret of life and trying to find a date, ready to spill the beans on friends and enemies alike.The Double Helix focused on only two years of a life that has now spanned nearly eight decades. After his Nobel Prizewinning work on DNA, Watson went on to become a towering figure in the new science of molecular biology, first at Harvard University and then as director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Watson offers a new look back in Avoid Boring People, which he presents as, of all things, a self-help book. At the end of each chapter, he reviews the lessons he learned during that phase of his life. This is a book for those on their way up, as well as for those on the top who do not want their leadership years to be an assemblage of opportunities gone astray, he writes.Theres much that is entertaining and historically revealing, and Watson still knows how to deliver a delicious skewering. He refers to his opponents at Harvard who resisted his push into molecular biology as so many prima donnas whose meager accomplishments scarcely justified even the status of has-been. Theres also much cause for head-scratching. In the 21st century, Watsons descriptions of my hopes of finding a suitable blonde are not even funny. He pads the book with too many details, like the $8.86 his lawyer billed him for toll calls. And while some of Watsons advice is wise (never be the brightest person in the room), some is obsolete. A scientific team of more than two is a crowded affair made sense in the 1950s, but today its impractical for Watsons intellectual grandchildren, who must work together in squadrons on massive projects to analyze entire genomes. And when he offers lessons on how to spend your Nobel Prize money, you realize that Watson is actually offering lessons on being James Watson. And that unique job, we all know, is very much taken. 65 photos. *(Sept. 27)*Carl Zimmers books include Evolution The Triumph of an Idea and Soul Made Flesh. His next book, on E. coli and the meaning of life, will be published by Pantheon next spring. Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. From BooklistIn this memoir, Watson shows by example how to get to the top and stay there. Spanning his boyhood interest in birds to his resignation from Harvard University in 1976 to his leadership of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Watsons reminiscences encompass his claim to famecocredit for deducing DNAs structure in 1953but focus on his ambition and his conduct of academic politics. He exhibits candor and indulges in gossip, qualities that contributed to the controversy surrounding his account of the DNA breakthrough (The Double Helix,1968) and that enliven this example of the academic memoir, not a genre renowned for excitement. Through arch character sketches, light self-deprecation, and a comic penchant for appraising the behavior and physique of the human female, Watson swings between his scientific aims and the resistance he perceived in Harvards biology department to molecular genetics. Following each chapter, he appends manners derived from his experiences, which in the aggregate amount to making ones mark early and demanding commensurate perks thereafter. In angular and opinionated prose, Watson proves as engaging as ever. Taylor, Gilbert

Author: Chris Jericho File Type: mobi From Publishers WeeklyAn entertaining follow-up to their popular book A Lions Tale, international wresting superstar Jericho and co-writer Fornatale continue their chronicle of Jerichos wild ride through the wacky world of professional wrestling. This book picks up where the earlier book endedwith Jericho in 1999 joining Vince McMahons World Wrestling Enterprise, the most important venue in wrestingand ends with Jerichos return to the ring in 2007 after a two-year retirement. Jericho hilariously details these key years as WWEs resident bad guy. His feuds with WWEs colorful (and colorfully profane) cast, including the likes of X-Pac, Ken Shamrock, Chyna, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, and Christian, are solidly recounted, although most of this will be old news to hardcore WWE fans. But the most interesting stories involve his battles on- and off-stage with such better-known stars as Dwayne The Rock Johnson, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Goldbergwhom Jericho once had run over by a limousine during an episode of WWEs Raw series. It is here that Jericho shines and proves once again that, next to Mick Foley, he is an insightful and funny observer of pro wrestlings absurd universe. (Feb.) br (c) PWxyz, LLC. The eagerly awaited follow-up to the New York Times bestselling A Lions Tale documents Chris Jerichos meteoric rise to wrestling glory in the WWE. A Lions Tale gave readers a portrait of Jericho as a young man. Fighting his way through Mexico, rinky-dink leagues and a battery of thieving, sleazy promotersmanagers, the book ended with the authors WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) debut. Never one to leave his fans hanging, as demonstrated by his recent return to wrestling glory, Jericho now tells the story of life in the big leagues. But making it in the premier wrestling league in the world comes with its own set of obstacles and hard lessons. Jericho, in his witty, hilarious, and surprisingly endearing manner, lays it all out the good, the bad, and the spandex.