Synopses & Reviews
New York Times Bestseller
Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman's work changes the national dialogue. Beyond their bestselling books, you know them from commentary and features in the New York Times, CNN, NPR, Time, Newsweek, Wired, New York, and more. E-mail, Facebook, and Twitter accounts are filled with demands to read their reporting (such as "How Not to Talk to Your Kids," "Creativity Crisis," and "Losing Is Good for You").
In Top Dog, Bronson and Merryman again use their astonishing blend of science and storytelling to reveal what's truly in the heart of a champion. The joy of victory and the character-building agony of defeat. Testosterone and the neuroscience of mistakes. Why rivals motivate. How home field advantage gets you a raise. What teamwork really requires. It's baseball, the SAT, sales contests, and Linux. How before da Vinci and FedEx were innovators, first, they were great competitors.
Olympians carry Top Dog in their gym bags. It's in briefcases of Wall Street traders and Madison Avenue madmen. Risk takers from Silicon Valley to Vegas race to implement its ideas, as educators debate it in halls of academia. Now see for yourself what this game-changing talk is all about.
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"Cutting-edge science behind life's triumphs and failures...insight from politics, finance, science, sports and economics to tip the odds in your favor." NPR.com
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"Remarkable...this book will help you rise to the occasion...wildly counterintuitive." San Francisco Chronicle (Literary Pick)
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"Accessible for fans of pop science, yet substantial enough to have practical applications...will have folks rethinking the impulse to win at work and play." Publishers Weekly
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"An easy, highly satisfying read...surprising...fascinating. Grade: A." AVClub.com
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"There is intense competition in just about every aspect of life....There's not an app for that, yet, but there is a book: Top Dog...a good primer on the behaviors that can sink or lift us in a competitive world." Seattle Times
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"Illuminating and entertaining...surprising insights." Kirkus
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"Intriguing...the authors persuasively argue that technical skill is only one part-in many cases, the least important part-of what it takes to come out on top." Booklist
About the Author
Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman's NurtureShock was on the New York Times bestseller list for six months. One of the most influential books about children ever published, NurtureShock landed on more than 35 "Year's Best" lists and has been translated into 16 languages. The authors have won nine national awards for their reporting, including the PEN USA Award for Literary Journalism and the American Association for the Advancement of Science Award for Outstanding Journalism. Prior to their collaboration, Bronson authored five books, including What Should I Do with My Life?, a #1 New York Times bestseller with more than ten months on the list. Merryman's journalism has appeared in Time, Newsweek, New York, The Washington Post, and many other venues. Bronson lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children. Merryman lives in Los Angeles.