Page 24 - IFV Issue 8_2023

Book Reviews

Elon Musk Rassie: Stories of Life and

BY WALTER ISAACSON Rugby
BY RASSIE ERASMUS AND DAVID O’SULLIVAN
From the author
of Steve Jobs and Rassie Erasmus has been called a genius. He’s
other bestselling been called reckless. All his life, he’s done
biographies, this is the things differently. Now, with his trademark
astonishingly intimate candour, Rassie talks openly about his
story of Elon Musk, the adventures and misadventures. He reveals
most fascinating and the turmoil of living with an alcoholic father
controversial innovator and growing up in the conservative town of
of our era – a rule- Despatch.
breaking visionary He looks back on an exemplary career as a player whose innate rugby instincts,
who helped to lead ability to read a game differently and appetite for hard work set him apart. While
the world into the era his teammates relaxed, he preferred to watch hours of videos to devise winning
of electric vehicles, strategies. When given the opportunity to lead his country as Springbok captain,
private space exploration and artificial intelligence. Oh, and he refused this honour.
took over Twitter. Rassie recalls how he became an important cog in Nick Mallett’s record-breaking
When Musk was a child in South Africa, he was beaten Springbok team of the late 1990s. He remembers the anguish of the 1999 World
regularly by bullies. One day, a group pushed him down some Cup and the devastating injuries that cut short his playing career. He discusses his
concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a swollen ball revolutionary coaching methods, which were initially laughed off and then eagerly
of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. But the physical adopted, how he fought the rugby establishment at the Stormers and earned the
scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by grudging respect of Irish fans at Munster.
his father, an engineer, rogue and charismatic fantasist. Rassie talks about his greatest contribution to South African rugby: appointing
His father’s impact on his psyche would linger. He developed its first black captain, Siya Kolisi, without much fanfare or controversy, as his bold
into a tough yet vulnerable man-child, prone to abrupt Jekyll- plans for effective racial transformation of the national team achieved immediate
and-Hyde mood swings, with an exceedingly high tolerance success, culminating in triumph at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
for risk, a craving for drama, an epic sense of mission, and a Readers will enjoy the behind-the-scenes information about interactions and
maniacal intensity that was callous and at times, destructive. controversies and previously untold stories from a truly maverick life.
At the beginning of 2022 – after a year marked by SpaceX
launching 31 rockets into orbit, Tesla selling a million cars, and Price R380.00
Musk becoming the richest man on earth – he spoke ruefully
about his compulsion to stir up dramas. “I need to shift my
mindset away from being in crisis mode, which it has been for Abundance: The Inner
about 14 years now, or arguably most of my life,” he said. Path to Wealth
It was a wistful comment, not a New Year’s resolution. Even
as he said it, he was secretly buying up shares of Twitter, the BY DEEPAK CHOPRA
world’s ultimate playground.
Over the years, whenever Musk was in a dark place, his mind Discover the keys to a life of success,
went back to being bullied on the playground. Now he had fulfilment, wholeness and plenty.
the chance to own the playground. Many of us live in a mindset of lack and
For two years, Isaacson shadowed Musk, attended his limitation, focusing on the things we don’t
meetings, walked his factories with him and spent hours have. Too often we allow our egos to drive
interviewing him, his family, friends, co-workers and our thoughts and actions, preventing us
adversaries. from reaching something greater: a true
The result is the revealing inside story, filled with amazing sense of inner peace, acceptance and
tales of triumphs and turmoil, that addresses this question: fulfilment.
Are the demons that drive Musk also what it takes to drive In Abundance, international bestselling
innovation and progress? author Deepak Chopra offers a simple
seven-step plan to help you reset
Price: R605.00 your focus, become the agent of your own life and strive for life’s unbounded
possibilities. Demonstrating how to work past self-generated feelings of limitation
and providing meditations to help you focus your attention and intuition, this is
your guide to a life of true power, prosperity and plenty.

Price: R420.00

22 • Issue 8 2023 • The Villager