john@westney.net

The author has put together facts and observations from so many times and places in human history. He has discerned fascinating patterns and painted an enlightening picture to share with us, listeners. If you like to learn about the history of the human race then do not miss this book.

Destiny (for short) tells great stories. And it is read by the author, so you get all of the pronunciations, and inflections, and emotional meanings that he intends.

He was born in “the mid-east”, so he knows that religion, that culture, and that history. But he’s lived in The States for decades so he knows American and European history, culture, and religion too. As he tells the history, the reader realizes that tragedy, cruelty, and stupidity happen in both cultures. Genius, compassion, and triumph, too.

Destiny is easily accessible to me as an American white guy. His humor, his language, and his writing, are all easy for me to understand. If we can understand one another then, hopefully, with understanding, will come peace.

I loaned Destiny to my neighbor, an older guy who had Catholic school all the way. He would not give the book back to me until he had listened to it three times. So either the book is really interesting, or my neighbor’s Alzheimers’ is getting worse -- and he just listens again and again without remembering.

I guess I mostly liked the book because I feel better equipped to make peace and prosperity with the Billion people who hail from these traditions. I still feel proud of the remarkable things that America has done, since its founding, to create human liberty. I think that the author would agree. But, reading Destiny we get to walk in the shoes of some people from the Mid-east, and consider what Americans would do differently, if we could do it over again. And maybe know better what we should do today and tomorrow.

Two things I love about this book:

First, the author tells a story very very well. Clear prose. Dramatic flow of each chapter. He was trained as a journalist and it shows.

Second, as he tells each tale about how Google developed from obscurity to success, and his part in that development, he describes the enlightened wisdom that he tried to bring to each challenge that Google faced. Then, as each story unfolds, he confesses how he was often wrong and what he really learned from each episode. (Hence the subtitle "Confessions of Google employee number 59"). Everyone should approach life in this way: share your wisdom with others, but be open to their wisdom too. Remembering that you might be wrong is the only path to enlightenment.

This book is the story of human endeavor: the creation of Google. And it is the author's personal story of his quest for wisdom, economic survival, and enlightenment.

Four stars from me is not faint praise. I reserve the highest rating for just the few books that come along rarely in one's lifetime. .

I just learned that the selection of zero stars is not permitted on Audible.com. I wonder why.

For page after page the authors gripe about people, human behaviors, and other authors. But they never lay out any credible thesis nor provide actual evidence to support it. They do inform us that we should EAT MORE BUGS. Seriously. I'm not making this up. Many many remarkable books are available on audible.com, so don't waste your time and money on this one.

One good thing about the book: it has SEX in the title. Woo Hoo! Don't fall for it.