The Culture Code, by Clotaire Rapaille. French-born cultural anthropologist Rapaille, who makes beaucoup bucks consulting to multinational companies, is the master of the irksome, irresistible generalization: "The American Culture Code for love is FALSE EXPECTATION." "The English find youth boring." But his real-world marketing and advertising examples are compelling and convincing. (After he recommended that the Jeep Wrangler be redesigned with round headlights--because "the Code for Jeep in America is HORSE," and horses have round eyes, not square ones--sales rocketed.) For a quick hit, see this interview with Rapaille in the April 19 issue of Newsweek. And kudos to Lou Aronica, Rapaille's barely credited ghostwriter, who crafted the book's highly readable prose.
The Lemon Tree, by Sandy Tolan, is subtitled "An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East"; it's the true story of a Palestinian man, a Bulgarian Jewish woman, and the house in Ramla, Israel, owned in turn by both their families. Tolan, an American non-Jew, tells the story of the Israeli "troubles" through the intertwined stories of Bashir and Dalia; the book grew out of a long narrative he produced for public radio. I have a personal interest in that difficult corner of the globe: my father and his mother were both born in Israel (then Palestine), and I myself lived there for two interesting, challenging years.
The Inn at Lake Devine, by Elinor Lipman. Lipman is the best contemporary American novelist you've never heard of; every one of her books is a sly delight, populated by smart, witty, and woeful characters with jobs and families and fatal flaws. I discovered Lipman through her 2003 novel, The Pursuit of Alice Thrift, and worked my way back chronologically. I'm now eager to read Lipman's newest, My Latest Grievance.
Miss Snark, the literary agent, one very funny blog about writing and rejection. Miss Snark claims to be the long-lost love child of Joyce Maynard and J.D. Salinger, and if you don't get that reference, don't bother to link.
Manolo's Shoe Blog, whose author isn't THAT Manolo, you silly, but some other Manolo who writes in the style divine. To wit: "Manolo says, Ayyyyyyyy! The designers for the next season of the Project Runway, they have been announced, and the Manolo’s good friends at the Blogging the Project Runway, they have the links to the various webpages of the designers."
I too am currently reading Rapaille's book "The Culture Code" and find it fascinating. However, I am not surprised that large corporations are so impotent regarding communion with their every own offering. In fact, the code for corporate culture is BARREN.
His approach is in illuninating the basil subconscious connections we as people make to the things that surround us. Very informative and quite important to branding. I look forward to using the process for my own offering.
Posted by: argos | June 22, 2006 at 11:22 AM