Some books deserve “Cliffs notes” treatment, being a relatively simple thesis padded out into a book. This especially true of a lot of the self-help and business literature. I won’t hesitate to look for summaries of books which I think contain valuable ideas but which I suspect are mostly padding.
Another heuristic in that form: in my experience, books written by journalists often have about as much substance as one long-form article. There are exceptions. Stanley Karnow’s Vietnam was the most informative history book I’ve ever read; but then again, he was an old-school reporter.
Another heuristic in that form: in my experience, books written by journalists often have about as much substance as one long-form article. There are exceptions. Stanley Karnow’s Vietnam was the most informative history book I’ve ever read; but then again, he was an old-school reporter.