The Nerdist Way: How to Reach the Next Level (In Real Life) [Hardcover]

I managed to get an early-ish copy of the book, and if you follow the author's podcast, the first thing you'll notice is that you'll feel like you have a wee Hardwick sitting on your shoulder talking in your ear. He's compiled much of the results of his experience from stardom, to wasteland, and back to resurrection, which is no small feat. And, if you enjoy Chris's humour, you'll enjoy the writing style immensely.

Personally, I got hooked from the first, where he asks you to gamify your life, since that's something we nerds enjoy, and can build off of. From then on, you see that's the theme of the book: take those traits which identify you as a nerd, and turn it around to crush your enemies! (or something a little less violent).

You definitely have to approach the book as something fun, and not taken so seriously like other self-help books. It's supposed to be fun, but I can see where people might find it corny if they don't know nerd-culture, or scoff at these types of books. If you push that aside, and see how the author wants you to change your inner-view, it becomes very enjoyable.

I haven't yet been able to follow all the advice given, but I do like what I've gotten through, and I enjoy the author's writing style, so I'd give this an initial 4 stars. It's aimed at the nerdset, and feel like it follows through.

I generally don't read self-help books, but I picked this up because I am a fan of Chris Hardwick. Hardwick, who some may recognize as being one of the hosts of MTV's Singled Out way back in the 90s, spent much of his 20s partying, drinking, and generally ruining his life. What happened when he hit 30 is best expressed in his own words:

"Then, when I hit thirty, I began to look around at my life: I was consuming a baby elephant's weight in alcohol EVERY DAY. I lived in a [redacted] apartment near UCLA ... my place was always a mess, I had ruined my credit, and I had no real work prospects. I had become a thing I had always feared-the fat, drunk guy who used to be on television."

Hardwick quit drinking in 2003 and started trying to improve his life. Now he has multiple projects on the go, including a successful (and extremely entertaining) podcast, a new podcast network, and several TV gigs.

The secrets to Hardwick's success aren't anything new. Basically, he was able to harness his innate nature (his nerdiness, so to speak) and use it to his advantage. And that's what this book is about.

His techniques aren't going to appeal to everyone, but if you enjoy the quantitative over the qualitative, you may find some ideas here. In general, he is advocating identifying your goals and developing a way to track your progress in a visible way. He also talks a lot about how to deal with the generally obsessive "nerdist" brain, something which I could relate to. It's nice to know that you're not the only one who thinks the way you do. In the final section, he talks a lot about his diet and fitness, even providing a starter fitness plan that is modeled after what he has done with his trainer.

One thing you can't forget is that Hardwick is a comedian. The tone of the book is funny and descriptive, even during the more serious parts.

All-in-all, I enjoyed the book, even if I won't adopt some of the more time-consuming tracking techniques. However, there is one big ding against it. Hardwick spends a fair amount of time on the development of a "character tome" that is the heart of his goal-tracking technique. He sends readers to a web site for sample templates, but that website is not functional. We're now almost 3 months after the release of the book, and that's really not acceptable.

Good thing it's hard to be mad at Hardwick for long.

I enjoyed the excerpt I read on Wired and bought it on Nov 1. I'm only part way through it but am enjoying it pretty well so far. Fun writing style, although a little bloated (the excerpt is edited much more cleanly). I'm enjoying the geek pop culture references. The bit about how games give you the illusion of accomplishing something when you're not--that struck close to home. The self-help tips are the same tips you'd find in many other books ("write your goals down", "identify your strengths") but packaging them as a game design makes them more fun.

So, it's got padded writing and a prevalence of old ideas in new packages. The third reason I'm giving it only 3 stars is the same reason I'm reviewing it before I've finished reading: if in the first chapter, readers are directed to materials on a website, that site should be up and functional. I would recommend other readers not rush to buy this book. Until nerdistway.com is more than a splash page promoting where you can buy the book, it's like your copy has big blank squares in it labeled "coming soon! No, really! I mean it! Where are you going?"