The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival by John Vaillant — Damn this book is good. Just so good. Even if it was just the main narrative–the chase to kill a man-eating Tiger in Siberia in post-communist Russia–it would be worth reading, but it is so much more than that. The author explains the Russian psyche, the psyche of man vs predator, the psyches of primitive peoples and animals, in such a masterful way that you’re shocked to find 1) that he knows this, and 2) that he fit it all into this readable and relatively short book. The story is nuts: a tiger starts killing people in Russia and a team is sent to kill it (Russia is so fucked up, they already have a team for this). I’ve recommended this book to thousands of people and have heard countless times how much they loved it. Not a single complaint. (Runner up: Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson is amazing.)
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I’ve created a list of 15 books you’ve never heard of that will alter your worldview and help you excel at your career.
