Non-Fiction – Snopes

The Unintended Consequences of the Steve Jobs Biography

Timothy McAleenan

When we look at the grand scope of the influence of novels on American life throughout its history, I’m guessing that most English professors would lament that well-written novels have not managed to change the discourse in America as much as they wish it would have. Certainly, there have been some books with particularly strong consequences—Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was a possibly contributing factor to the American Civil War, and Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” sharply affected the American dialogue on life for factory workers—but most literary works fail to achieve their mark on mainstream discourse.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal titled “Bio as Bible: Managers Imitate Steve Jobs” points to the unintended consequences of Walter Isaacson’s biography on the Apple co-founder. Managers across the country are reportedly missing the point of what made Steve Jobs a success, namely: his natural feel for aesthetics, ability to manage people effectively, ability to implement designs, the gumption to raise input costs to achieve perfection, and a general inclination to take risks in the pursuit of lofty visions. But unfortunately, as the Wall Street Journal article points out, managers are focusing on the eccentricities and gimmicks of his persona rather than his natural talents—such as his regular use of handicap parking, his tendency to drive in triple digits on the highway, a complete lack of consideration for others (i.e. impromptu firings), a reality distortion field that completely obfuscates what is really going on, and a general inclination to lie and manipulate others for sport. Essentially, these managers are focusing on the “black turtleneck” aspect of Steve Jobs rather than the stay-up-for-fifty-hours-straight-to-perfect-the-Macintosh aspect of Steve Jobs, and this is a lazy way to interpret the biography.

It’s important to remember that Steve Jobs managed to succeed in spite of these things, not because of them. A similar phenomenon occurred when the Warren Buffett biographies started rolling out—instead of focusing on the fact that Buffett spend countless hours locked away reading annual reports, they often focused on his early disregard for authority. “Look, I disobey my teachers too, I’m kind of like that Buffett fellow!”

Earlier, Professor Smith made the joke that this black turtleneck syndrome with Steve Jobs is the equivalent of a military general attributing his on-field success to putting his hand in his coatpocket—see, just like Napoleon! By focusing on the side effects of Jobs’ success, these middle managers are missing the point. Jobs didn’t get a cult of personality because he parked in handicap parking spaces, he achieved success by creating an aesthetically pleasing personal computer that could slowly take away market share from the global behemoth Microsoft. This goes to show just how many unintended consequences have affected the interpretation of this book, and it seems to me that the focus on the wild aspects of the Steve Jobs persona overlook the true ingredients of his success: a relentless drive, brilliant marketing instincts, and good old fashioned hard work.

Interview With Reginald Stinson (AKA Prince Hollywood)

Timothy McAleenan

Listen To Song: Get Her First

Earlier this afternoon, I had the fortune of conducting an interview with Reginald Stinson, an up-and-coming rapper in Queens, New York better known as “Prince Hollywood”. Hollywood has a budding reputation for well-written lyrics backed up by strong beats that reflect the intensity of his personal feelings on the subject matter at hand. Hollywood was born in Butler, Georgia, but moved to the South Side of Queens when he was five years old. He started writing music when he was eleven, and started focusing on the relationship between conveying authentic emotion within the confines of well-written lyrics while serving a short prison sentence around 1995. His career took off in 2009-2010 with the release of his album “Hollywood Star”, which is a tribute and successful collaboration with Warren “Dirty War” Davis and another popular Manhattan rapper, Red Viper. Currently, Hollywood is working on the album “Under Dog’s Volume 1” which features the mix tape “Project G.E.D.” Hollywood regularly performs at night clubs and concerts in Georgia and New York, and will be making a live performance at Washington & Lee University in May 2012.

*You can access Young Hollywood’s music by visiting the website www.soundcloud.com/younghollywood

Mr. Hollywood. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to conduct this interview. I really appreciate that. My first question for you is this: What made you decide to abandon the name Reginald in favor of your stage name, Young Hollywood?

It all has to do with how I live my life. Obviously, everyone wants to go to Hollywood and live a Hollywood lifestyle, but we can’t all go to California. So I try to live a Hollywood kind of life. Every day, I live the glamour, I got the “here and there” mindset, while not forgetting about tomorrow. Everything I do is energy, that’s why I’m Hollywood.

Very nice. I was hoping to talk to you for a minute about your debut album, “Hollywood Star,” that sort of put you on the map in the Queens scene. What do you think it was about the album that has made it such a big success?

Well, the album is all about real feeling, and laying down rhymes that it tell it like it is. People can relate to that. When they know you’re being real with them, and spitting out truth, you get a response. I worked with my longtime partners “Dirty War” and “Red Viper”, and they both bring the killer stage presence. They were there for me at “Fourth Ward” and “P.A.N.I.C”, and I’m grateful for their supportive collaboration. It’s hard not to make it big when you’ve got that kind of energy on stage.

Fourth Ward and Panic. Any chance you could elaborate on that for us?

Absolutely. Me and Dirty War came from the Fourth Ward of Butler, Georgia, and we make sure that no matter how big we get, we never forget where we come from. It’s about being true to ourselves, and making sure that we don’t ever lose sight of ourselves. Panic is actually an acronym, P.A.N.I.C.,that Dirty War came up with to fight the discrimination we had to deal with growing up. It stands for “Put All N-words in Check”. That was the mentality of a lot of people who hated us, fronted us, and weren’t real with us while we were growing up, and we tried to flip that negative and turn it into a positive. Every song, we say “Fourth Ward! Panic!” to remind ourselves of who we are, where we came from, and that we’re never going to let that go.

I just finished listening to your track “My Letter to God.” It sounds very inspirational, and rejects valuing the opinions of those who judge you in favor of seeking refuge in God. If I can say so myself, I thought it was a very bold track. What’s the story behind that sound?

Listen To Song: My Letter To God

You know, when I wrote that, I just got jumped in Queens, and the guy took me for what I had. It was hard for me to write about faith in God at that time, but I knew that I had to do it. Because having faith isn’t just about God in the good times, but finding him in the bad times as well. Especially then. So I changed up the vocals, and wrote a dialogue where I spoke to God, and then responded based on how I thought God would talk to me. It was definitely my most daring song, and I’ve been lucky that most of my fans such as yourself have overwhelmingly responded positive to it. If people look to my work ten years from now, I hope “Letter To God” is the song that they remember.

Oh wow. So are most of your songs autobiographical?

Absolutely. Some of it is fictional, but I always talk about what I’m feeling at a given time. If you want to know me, the real me, who I am, just listen to my songs.

So what’s your process for writing songs like?

I just sit on my front porch, take out a notebook and pen, and write how I feel it. Even if it didn’t happen to me, I’m talking about an emotion that did. That’s what it’s all about it. Conveying to my audience what I feel. The truth is what I tell my audience, and I make sure to get that through in my work. When I’m up front and honest with you, and you know I’m not fronting you, then we’re there.

What has been your best performance lately?

I recently peformed at a couple of night clubs in Queens with Dirty War, and that was a killer success. I’m from Georgia, so I’ve played there as well, but there’s nothing quite like putting on a show in New York.

If you were from Butler, GA, how’d you work your way to New York?

My mom and my brothers moved out of Georgia and went to New York where she was originally from, when I was five. My dad’s family is from Georgia, and I still go there from time to time.

What do your parents think of your rap career?

They’ve never seen me live before, but they’ve both listened to my songs on my album. They might like it if I was still working other jobs, but I do what I can do. They support what makes me happy, and I’m thankful for that.

What other kinds of jobs have you worked on, or do you focus on rap exclusively?

You know, I’m in vocational school, becoming a medical office assistant. I wish I could spend all day writing, but for now, it’s just a weekend gig. I’m putting out music that’s true to myself, and that’s where I’m at right now. I want to reach the point where I can rap exclusively, but I got to provide for my little shorty, Murda, and our kids. They’re the center of my life, and if you listen to my music, you’ll get that.

Thank you so much for you time today, Young Hollywood. I really appreciate that. Do you have any parting words for those of us reading at home?

Thank you for having me. It’s been a pleasure. Never lose sight of yourself, stay true to who you are, and if you want it, go get it. Life’s too short to worry about other people judging you. Doing your own thing everday is what makes you happy. I do what I want, where I want, with who I want, and that’s all you can ever ask of yourself. That’s where it’s at.

Thank you, Hollywood. We look forward to seeing you on campus in May.

Social Media as a Language

skitskoc12

Social media has the world in its grasp. Facebook, Twitter and even Google’s new Google+ have all stamped their names upon the word’s computer screens, smart phones, ipads, and tablets. For the majority of the population these websites provide an easy way to reach out and keep in touch with their friends and family. Because we allocate so much time to these websites, we have begun casually implementing the abridged lingo in general conversation. It all began with texting- abbreviations such as lol (laugh out loud) or brb (be right back) began infiltrating everyday conversation. Facebook seems to be reinforcing these abbreviations and grammatical errors.

Everyday use has made use of this slang appropriate in casual conversation, but I still do not feel they are appropriate in more formal situations. For example, I cannot think of any student who would think it was appropriate to write 2night or btw (by the way) in a formal paper or even in a classroom. So what makes it appropriate for social media? It would make sense if texting was still a bit of a process like it was ten years ago, but today it is simple. It would not even take me an extra second to write got to go instead of gtg. Neither is it because Facebook is a time to relax with friends; Facebook is littered with businesses – bosses are friends. People we would never address in slang terms suddenly fall to the level of buddies. So why do we let our language devolve the second we see that iconic blue and white logo? Personally I hope that particular vernacular remains inappropriate for formal and scholarly settings. I have no desire to even look at a book that reads like a list of status updates.

Nonfiction… Or is it?

Isabella Martin

In one of the English courses I’m taking, we frequently discuss creative nonfiction, and what kinds of rules should be imposed on works within the genre, for accuracy’s sake. I had been planning on posting about this for a while, but today the topic came up again in the Shenandoah internship course, and it seemed timely to try to start up a discussion on the subject.

James Frey was mentioned today, and we all know what happened to him when people found out that parts of the autobiographical account of his drug addiction, A Million Little Pieces, were fabricated. He was called out on The Oprah Winfrey Show (here is what amounts to a transcript of that particular interview), lost a publishing deal with Penguin, went through a lawsuit, and readers who’d bought his book before its falsities had been discovered could even receive a refund for their purchase. Frey received an incredible amount of negative press throughout the scandal. I’m sure all kinds of people have written about whether or not all this was deserved. What I’m curious about is what people think of this issue as it applies to creative nonfiction in general, not just this one fairly obvious example.

When someone writes a memoir or a book that they describe as “nonfiction,” is it important that it’s factually accurate, or can the Truth behind the author’s impressions, emotions and memories be more important? If not, should authors have to put a disclaimer in the first few pages? Dave Eggers does so in his A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (also mentioned in class today), as did Norman Mailer in the late ‘60s when he published his account of the 1967 March on the Pentagon in The Armies of the Night: History as a Novel, The Novel as History.

I have observed in my nonfiction class that most people, when asked directly, are not willing to come right out and say they are on one side or the other when it comes to fact and truth in creative nonfiction. There seems to be a huge gray area in which we expect creative nonfiction writers to operate. Is it possible to sift through this gray matter and draw a clear verdict on what a nonfiction writer can and cannot do?