August is here. And with it comes the long-awaited holiday which, in the mountains or by the sea, will (hopefully) bring time to unwind, enjoy yourself and switch off.
In the coming weeks, then, reading cannot be merely an option: there is no better time to rediscover a passion for reading than around Ferragosto, before the return to work.
That is also why, as every month, we at Bliss have selected three reads, spanning learning, leisure and introspection. Each is the best option to pack in your suitcase ahead of your next summer adventures.
Three books, three different registers. One on building something real. One on decisions, and what lies behind free will. And one… well, rather unusual, about a clerk who chooses to say no, always and only no. Because the most useful lessons often come from taking a stand. And what better time than August to rediscover why that matters?
Business – Shoe Dog
Phil Knight · Mondadori
Phil Knight founded Nike in 1964 with 50 dollars borrowed from his father. Until the company became the one we know today, it came close to failing almost every year. Shoe Dog is the story of those twenty years: banks cutting off credit, suppliers pulling out, partners walking away. Everything (and we mean absolutely everything) that accompanied the success of the world’s most iconic sportswear brand.
What sets this book apart from classic corporate memoirs is its perspective. Knight does not use “Shoe Dog” to justify his decisions in hindsight, nor to glorify them. Uncertainty is recounted while it is still uncertainty, without the author himself knowing how things would turn out. What emerges is an honest portrait of what it means to build something. Fear included.
Lo consigliamo perché: i libri di business per lo più spiegano come sarebbero dovute andare le cose. «L'Arte della Vittoria» racconta come sono andate le cose. Tutto qui. E in quella verità c’è un valore immenso.
Psychology – Predictably Irrational
Dan Ariely · ROI Edizioni
People do not make rational decisions. Ariely starts from this premise: the decisions each of us believes we make through logical processes actually stem from irrational impulses. Predictably irrational, in the sense that our errors follow consistent, foreseeable patterns. The book recounts the experiments that documented this principle, particularly in relation to marketing: how a free price distorts judgement, how comparison with a worse option changes the perception of a good one, how expectation alters actual experience.
Each chapter dismantles a mechanism readers recognise in their own behaviour. It is a series of small jolts that, chapter after chapter, make us realise we are not really exceptions, but work just like everyone else.
The book is a quick read, requires no technical background, and is the perfect compromise between learning and leisure.
Lo consigliamo perché: si collega direttamente al modo in cui i brand costruiscono le proprie architetture di scelta. Chi vuole capire come funziona davvero la mente del consumatore può iniziare da qui, prima di qualsiasi manuale di marketing.
Fiction – Bartleby, the Scrivener
Herman Melville · various paperback editions
Written in 1853 and barely fifty pages long, Bartleby is an entertaining and consistently absorbing read.
A work by the celebrated author of Moby Dick, this book follows a New York lawyer who, in turn, tells the story of Bartleby: a model clerk who one day, faced with any request, inexplicably began to reply: “I would prefer not to.”
No resignation. No explanation. Out of the blue, while still turning up at the office, Bartleby begins to do less and less, until he does nothing at all. His employer cannot fire him. Cannot understand him. Cannot get rid of him.
Perfect for August temperatures and the weariness that precedes the return to work, Bartleby, the Scrivener anticipates burnout, disengagement, quiet quitting and the silent refusal of work that makes no sense: everything contemporary management studies without yet having an answer. Read from a position of responsibility, it is one experience. Read as an employee, it is another. Both readers are right. And that, too, makes it an excellent investment: one volume, two books!
Lo consigliamo perché: è breve, disponibile gratuitamente perché di dominio pubblico, e pone una domanda che nessun libro di management ha ancora risolto: cosa si fa con una persona che non ha torto, ma non ha nemmeno ragione?
Domande frequenti
Which books should you read on holiday in August?
It depends on what you are looking for in a book. Shoe Dog suits those who want a business story told from the inside; Predictably Irrational offers a way into the psychology of decision-making without technical preparation; Bartleby, the Scrivener, by contrast, offers a short narrative read on the relationship between the individual, work and refusal.
Why is Shoe Dog useful for entrepreneurs?
Because Phil Knight recounts the building of Nike while decisions still held all their uncertainty. The book shows problems with cash flow, suppliers, growth and risk without retrospectively turning every choice into an inevitably correct decision.
What does Predictably Irrational teach us about marketing?
Dan Ariely's book shows that people do not assess prices, alternatives and opportunities in an entirely rational way. Context, comparison, expectations and perceived value can profoundly change a choice. For those working in marketing, it means understanding that designing an offer also requires understanding how people will interpret it.