Page 42 - Intra Muros September 2023

BOOK REVIEW

Elon Musk being in crisis mode, which it has been

By Walter Isaacson for about 14 years now, or arguably most
of my life,” he said.
From the author of Steve Jobs and other bestselling It was a wistful comment, not a New
biographies, this is the astonishingly intimate story of Year’s resolution. Even as he said it, he was
Elon Musk, the most fascinating and controversial innovator secretly buying up shares of Twitter, the
of our era – a rule-breaking visionary who helped to lead world’s ultimate playground.
the world into the era of electric vehicles, private space Over the years, whenever Musk was in
exploration and artificial intelligence. Oh, and took over a dark place, his mind went back to being
Twitter, renaming it X. bullied on the playground. Now he had the
When Musk was a child in South Africa, he was beaten chance to own the playground.
regularly by bullies. One day, a group pushed him down For two years, Isaacson shadowed Musk,
some concrete steps and kicked him until his face was a attended his meetings, walked his factories
swollen ball of flesh. He was in the hospital for a week. with him and spent hours interviewing
But the physical scars were minor compared to the emotional ones inflicted by his father, an him, his family, friends, co-workers and
engineer, rogue and charismatic fantasist. adversaries.
His father’s impact on his psyche would linger. He developed into a tough yet vulnerable The result is the revealing inside story,
man-child, prone to abrupt Jekyll-and-Hyde mood swings, with an exceedingly high tolerance filled with amazing tales of triumphs and
for risk, a craving for drama, an epic sense of mission, and a maniacal intensity that was turmoil, that addresses this question: Are
callous and at times, destructive. the demons that drive Musk also what it
At the beginning of 2022 – after a year marked by SpaceX launching 31 rockets into takes to drive innovation and progress?
orbit, Tesla selling a million cars, and 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 Price: R605.00

Abundance: Rassie: Stories of Life and Rugby
The Inner Path to Wealth By Rassie Erasmus and David O’Sullivan
By Deepak Chopra
Rassie Erasmus has been called a genius. He’s been
Discover the keys called reckless. All his life, he’s done things differently.
to a life of success, Now, with his trademark candour, Rassie talks openly
fulfilment, wholeness about his adventures and misadventures. He reveals
and plenty. the turmoil of living with an alcoholic father and
Many of us live in a growing up in the conservative town of Despatch.
mindset of lack and He looks back on an exemplary career as a player
limitation, focusing whose innate rugby instincts, ability to read a game
on the things we differently and appetite for hard work set him
don’t have. Too apart. While his teammates relaxed, he preferred to
often we allow our watch hours of videos to devise winning strategies.
egos to drive our When given the opportunity to lead his country as
thoughts and actions, Springbok captain, he refused this honour.
preventing us from Rassie recalls how he became an important cog in Nick Mallett’s record-
reaching something greater: a true sense of breaking Springbok team of the late 1990s. He remembers the anguish of the
inner peace, acceptance and fulfilment. 1999 World Cup and the devastating injuries that cut short his playing career. He
In Abundance, international bestselling author discusses his revolutionary coaching methods, which were initially laughed off and
Deepak Chopra offers a simple seven-step plan then eagerly adopted, how he fought the rugby establishment at the Stormers
to help you reset your focus, become the agent and earned the grudging respect of Irish fans at Munster.
of your own life and strive for life’s unbounded Rassie talks about his greatest contribution to South African rugby: appointing
possibilities. Demonstrating how to work its first black captain, Siya Kolisi, without much fanfare or controversy, as his bold
past self-generated feelings of limitation and plans for effective racial transformation of the national team achieved immediate
providing meditations to help you focus your success, culminating in triumph at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
attention and intuition, this is your guide to a life Readers will enjoy the behind-the-scenes information about interactions and
of true power, prosperity and plenty. controversies and previously untold stories from a truly maverick life.

Price: R420.00 Price R380.00

40 | INTRAMUROS SEPTEMBER 2023