Quite pretentious. And quite useless. The best word for describing this editorial effort is: exploitation.The metaphor which gives the book its title is useful, though. ( )

The Bed of Procrustes taught me a great deal about what inspires and angers Taleb, significantly less about what inspires and angers me, and almost nothing at all about the world. (I think "The person you are most afraid to contradict is yourself" is one of the only aphorisms that encouraged, in me, a new way to see things.)

It's not that there weren't interesting ideas in the book. It's just that most of the ideas I found interesting were ones I'd already considered...and I kept getting distracted by Taleb's increasing snark and cattiness as the book went on. (I have a difficult time seeing all journalists, economists, bankers, academics, consultants, nerds, newspaper readers, and men as exactly like the others of their category.)

Nor were the aphorisms all that memorable for their turn of phrase. (I'm not looking for wittiness or comedy, just a sense of pithy insight or piercing clarity of expression.) In truth, I doubt I'll wish to quote, or even remember, them in a month or two.

This sort of collection of aphorisms is, I think, best used for marking one's own personal journey. Buy a copy of this book. Write notes in response to the aphorisms that strike you. Put the book away for five, ten, twenty years, and then bring it out again. Do the aphorisms still strike you the same way? Are there some that didn't make sense then but do now? How has your understanding of the world---as mirrored in this handful of aphorisms---changed over the years? ( )

An interesting collection of aphorisms and general sayings and ideas. A bit cynical, snarky, definitely anti-journalist, anti-politician, and such. Super quick read, despite the prologue telling you to only read four or so at a time. ( )

Still not my favorite of Taleb's but not sure why I rated so low on the first reading. ( )

a good read after a hard day's work ( )