Books by Frank Rose

 

In a series of nonfiction books on a wide range of topics, Frank Rose shows how the way we humans view ourselves as individuals is changing in response to the shifting rules, expectations and power structures that govern our behavior. While his early books focus on specific subcultures and rivalries — in academia, in Silicon Valley, in Hollywood — in his later work he broadens the picture to demonstrate how these forces of disruption, whether cultural or technological, are fundamentally rewiring our sense of self and our perception of reality.

“If you want to connect with customers — that is, with the audience for the experience you’ve created — Frank Rose shows not only that you have to think narratively but how to go about it, element by element. And he wonderfully exemplifies his ideas, for his stories about storytelling are superbly written and expertly woven together. Read this book to be immersed in the sea of storytelling that’s so crucial to business success today.”

— B. Joseph Pine II, coauthor of “The Experience Economy” and “Authenticity”

WE SWIM IN A SEA OF STORIES — stories that determine how we comprehend the world, that define our personal lives, our professional lives, our goals and ambitions and ideals. They can control us, or we can control them — if we know how they work. LEARN MORE…

“Compelling . . . From ‘Star Wars’ to ‘Lost’ (‘television for the hive mind’), it is the immersive, ‘fractal-like com­plexity’ of story­telling that turns on digital audiences and sends them online to extend the fantasy via wikis, Twitter and blogs.”

— P.D. James, The Guardian (London)

NOT LONG AGO WE WERE passive consumers of mass media. Now we approach television, movies, even advertising as invitations to participate. We are witnessing the emergence of a new form of narrative that is native to the In­ternet. LEARN MORE…

“A cram course on the modern entertainment business as seen not from the cus­tomary perspective of the talent, but from the point of view of the humble appa­ratchiks who doggedly tried to prevent the lunatics from wrecking their asylum.”

— Peter Bart, The New York Times Book Review

FOR DECADES, the Morris agency made deals that determined the fate of stars, studios, and television networks alike. But everything changed after the agency’s president dismissed his own best friend, the man who’d brought Barry Diller and Michael Ovitz out of the mailroom. A multi-generational saga of loyalty and betrayal in Hollywood. LEARN MORE…

“Rose’s tone is authoritative and wry. . . . His smooth and lively story captures better than any previous attempt the spirit of Apple under Jobs. . . . Of them all, ‘West of Eden’ seems most likely to endure as the definitive account of the convulsive period that saw Apple grow up.”

— Businessweek

IT SEEMS UNTHINKABLE TODAY—but forty years ago, when personal com­puters were still new and the World Wide Web had yet to be invented, Steve Jobs was cast out of Apple. And it wasn’t just Wall Street that applauded—it was most of Silicon Valley. LEARN MORE…

“A good, acces­sible re­port for the gen­eral reader on one of the most bizarre fas­cina­tions of mod­ern sci­ence.”

— Theo­dore Roszak, San Fran­cis­co Chron­icle

IN A CRAMPED LABORATORY at Berkeley, scientists are trying to teach a computer to think — to reason, remember and exhibit common sense. To make it work, they need to codify the entirety of human thought. But first they have to get their machine to put on a raincoat before going out in the rain. LEARN MORE…

“A thoroughly fascinating book. Accompanied by George Bennett’s stunning photographs, each profile is explicit, candid and deeply personal.”

— Publishers Weekly

THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT BEING MALE. About power and discipline, sex and violence, and the roles they play in the lives of American men. Think of it as a personal and idiosyncratic survey designed to produce not statistical data but individual answers to the question of what it means to be a man. LEARN MORE…