Page 14 - Forbes - Asia (September 2018)
P. 14
FORBES
FACT & COMMENT STEVE FORBES
Its thesis is simple yet pro- have to memorize a playbook the
found: Greater prosperity gives size of the Yellow Pages.” Great
more and more people the oppor- football players—or those great at
tunity to match work with passion, any sport—are intense students of
the kind of work that “has you ex- the game. Athleticism isn’t enough.
cited on Sunday nights.” Critical to In fact, given the hard work and
this “luxury” is a growing econo- the immense physical and cere-
my. “The freer people are to earn bral discipline necessary to master
as much as they can and keep it, high-level college football, the
the more likely it is that everyone sport, says the author, should be a
will have the opportunity to make major.
a living from his own unique skills Tamny entertainingly discusses
and intelligence.” the creation of numerous new
The way the author—a long- kinds of jobs, such as coaches for
time and valued contributor to teams of video game players (one
both Forbes magazine and forbes. competition can attract tens of
com—illustrates this optimistic thousands of fans) and dog walk-
viewpoint is exciting and origi- ers, as well as the rising remu-
nal. Sports is one area that’s been neration (often in six figures) and
expanding as we’ve become more sophistication of traditional, once
affluent, with vastly greater needs seemingly simple tasks such as cad-
at all levels of play for coaches, dying (pro golf caddies are trusted
assistants, training specialists, and crucial advisors to players).
scouts and nerdy number crunch- With affluence, people’s tastes
ers to better evaluate players and for finer things expands. Costco is
prospects (the fascinating subject of vices, playing fields and stadiums. today the biggest importer of French
Moneyball, both the book and the Many people still regard football wine in the world.
movie), as well as for agents, lawyers, as a game of lumbering semi-Nean- Tamny closes his enjoyable work
marketers, publicists and broadcast- derthals. The NFL and serious college with this thought: “In an economy of
ers—not to mention the simultane- football are both tough and cere- individuals, we’re all better off when
ous explosion in infrastructure, such bral. “Few of us have the intelligence each person gets to pursue what most
as ever better and more sophisticated to play football on the professional amplifies his unique skills and intel-
equipment, player-monitoring de- level,” Tamny notes. “Players ligence.”
The Second Coming: A Thriller
John Heubusch (Howard Books, $26)
This fantastic tale of mystery and con- also the nexus of a global conspiracy.
spiracy will have you flipping pages A clone has been created from DNA
at a breakneck pace to find out what contained within the shroud that car-
happens next, with your heart racing ries a plague aptly named “the Devil’s
as if you were running the 400-meter Sweat.” The aim of the conspiracy is
race at the Olympics. the ultimate cataclysm: to wipe out
The novel is a sequel to last year’s humanity via this unholy laboratory
spectacular bestseller The Shroud experiment. The race is on to save the
Conspiracy. In this second install- human race.
ment Heubusch continues the story Does this apocalyptic plot sound
of Jon Bondurant, who, despite being too outlandish? It’s a tribute to Heu-
a skeptic of the legend, found himself busch’s considerable gifts as a compel-
investigating the Shroud of Turin, a ling storyteller that the characters and
relic many believers take to be the events feel all too real.
burial cloth of Christ. I have only one question for the
Bondurant quickly realizes that author: When does the next book
the shroud is not only authentic but come out? F
12 | FORBES ASIA SEPTEMBER 2018
