“Every battle is won before it is fought.” Sun Tzu stated that trueism long ago, but it is still true today. Robert Cialdini shows how you can persuade people by preparing them for your message. What you do before you make your pitch determines much of the acceptance of your message. There are plenty of applications of Cialdini’s approach in marketing and management. But these techniques would also work in everyday life whether you’re trying to convince your spounce that “just a few more books” would make Life better or swaying your children to your point of view. The preparation of the message is everything! Cialdini also presents ways to change for the better. Different messages must be used but in order to be effective, an organized campaign of messaging needs to be organized. I found a lot of great ideas in Pre-Suasion. You’ll find it useful, too! GRADE: B+
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Acknowledgements
Author’s Note
Part 1: Pre-suasion: the frontloading of attention.
Pre-suasion: an introduction
Privileged moments
The importance of attention…is importance
What’s focal is causal
Commanders of attention 1: the attractors
Commanders of attention 2: the magnetizers
Part 2: Processes: the role of association.
The primacy of associations: I link, therefore I think
Persuasive geographies: all the right places, all the right traces
The mechanics of pre-suasion: causes, constraints, and correctives
Part 3: Best practices : the optimization of pre-suasion.
Six main roads to change: broad boulevards as smart shortcuts
Unity 1: being together
Unity 2: acting together
Ethical use: a pre-pre-suasive consideration
Post-suasion: aftereffects.
References
Notes
Index

Turnout is everything. Go vote!

The 4-4 Buffalo Bills find themselves mired in mediocrity again. Their best player, running back LeSean McCoy, suffers from a sore hamstring. He may or may not play tonight (another Game Time Decision for Head Coach Rex Ryan). Massive defensive end, Marcell Dareus, returned from his NFL Drug Suspension and promptly developed a sore groin. He may not play either. I can’t remember the last time the Bills won a Monday Night Football game. It’s been at least a decade. I don’t think Cap’n Bob or Rick have anything to worry about tonight.

The Buffalo Bills play tomorrow. What is your favorite NFL team going to do today?

I really wanted to like DOCTOR STRANGE more than I did. Benedict Cumberbatch is just fine as the egocentric, narcissistic neurosurgeon who loses his ability to practice his profession. Rachel McAdams is solid as Strange’s former love interest (she’s also an ER doctor). And Tilda Swinton is a delightful casting choice as The Ancient One. My problem is with the Magic. Given that we’re in a world of magic and sorcery, you’d think that the CGI guys would come up with something cool. Instead, we get buildings folding themselves (a la Inception) and glowing magic shields. Not impressive. I think the MARVEL Special Effects team needs to watch the trailer to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to see how Magic should look like on the Big Screen. GRADE: B

A couple weeks ago I reviewed The 13 Crimes of Science Fiction. You can read that review here. Steve mentioned the earlier anthology with the same theme: Miriam Allen deFord’s Space, Time & Crime from 1964. I liked the Solar Pons story by Derleth and Reynolds. And I enjoyed the James McKimmey story, too. Problably the most famous story in this anthology is Fritz Leiber’s “Try and Change the Past.” It’s one of his Change War stories that I’ve always admired. If you’re in the mood for a mashup of SF and crime, you’ll enjoy Space, Time & Crime.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
7 • Introduction (Space, Time & Crime) • (1964) • essay by Miriam Allen deFord
11 • Crisis, 1999 • (1949) • short story by Fredric Brown
27 • Criminal Negligence • (1955) • short story by J. Francis McComas
43 • The Talking Stone • [Wendell Urth] • (1955) • short story by Isaac Asimov
61 • The Past and Its Dead People • (1956) • novelette by Reginald Bretnor [as by R. Bretnor ]
81 • The Adventure of the Snitch in Time • [Solar Pons] • (1953) • short story by August Derleth and Mack Reynolds
89 • The Eyes Have It • (1953) • short story by James McKimmey, Jr. [as by James McKimmey ]
97 • Public Eye • (1952) • short story by Anthony Boucher
111 • The Innocent Arrival • novelette by Poul Anderson and Karen Anderson (variant of Innocent at Large 1958)
129 • Third Offense • (1958) • short story by Frederik Pohl
137 • The Recurrent Suitor • [Plumrose] • (1963) • short story by Ron Goulart
149 • Try and Change the Past • [Change War] • (1958) • short story by Fritz Leiber
157 • Rope’s End • (1960) • short story by Miriam Allen deFord
167 • Or the Grasses Grow • (1958) • short story by Avram Davidson

The Masked City is the second book in the Invisible Library series. You can find my review of the first book, The Invisible Library here. For some inexplicable reason, Genevieve Cogman wrote the first book in the first person and The Masked City in the third person. I prefer this series in the first person. Irene, a secret agent for the Invisible Library, finds herself traveling to an alternate chaos world to try to rescue her kidnapped student, Kai. Kai was taken by the Fae, a race of powerful magicians who delight in chaos and confusion. This alternate world features a Venice that’s perpetually celebrating Carnival. Written for the Young Adult market, these books deliver thrills and adventure and fun. If you’re looking for some light, entertaining reading I recommend the Invisible Library series. A third volume, The Red Page, is schedule for early 2017. GRADE: B

Ed Gorman once mentioned to me that he was reading Harry Whittington and really enjoying his writing. But Ed admitted didn’t have any of Whittington’s westerns. The next day, I shipped a dozen duplicates of Harry Whittington’s western paperbacks to Ed Gorman’s address. Ed was delighted by the Whittington package and bestowed on me a “Lifetime” subscription to Myestery Scene. That’s the kind of guy Ed Gorman was. I’m sure on “Ed Gorman Day” you’ll read a lot of stories like this one featuring Ed’s generosity and helpfulness. He was a class guy, an excellent writer, and an inspiration to many.

A Man Called Ove is based on a worldwide bestseller by Fredrik Backman about a curmudgeon who feels his life is empty after the death of his wife. There’s a running joke in the book and film about Ove and his lack of success in this matter (no spoiler). Ove is played by Rolf Lassgård who played Wallander in the Swedish version of Hemming kelton’s mystery series. Ida Engvoll plays Ove’s wonderful wife, Sonja. In a series of flashbacks, we discover Ove has been dogged by tragedy. Yet, when a new family moves in next door, things begin to change. The arrival of new neighbors Parvaneh (Bahar Pars), her husband Patrik (Tobias Almborg), and their two daughters alters Ove’s plans and the gloom begins to lift. It takes a crafty movie and book to both make you laugh and make you cry. A Man Called Ove manages to achieve both. GRADE: A-