THE MISFIT ECONOMY Lessons in Creativity from Pirates, Hackers, Gangsters, and Other Informal Entrepreneurs

Clay and Phillips tell a series of engaging stories about Amish camel milk farmers, Amazon herb importers, Somali pirates, pro bono business consultants, hackers, ex-con consultants, and New York gangsters. While each story is illuminating, they don't come together into a coherent book. Emily Woo Zeller has a strong, warm voice and uses a well-measured pace. She does a good job with the exotic vocabulary of some of the book's subjects, and she sounds sympathetic to the author's project. The topics cover characters who range from socially useful innovators to violent criminal failures. While all are creative people, it's unclear what lessons the authors hope listeners glean from their compendium. F.C. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2015]