Literary Gems

After reading a review in the Sunday paper about a new(ish) book telling the story of the rise and rise of Google (more to follow) I logged on to Amazon, so that I could get a copy in my hot little hands ASAP, and found that among my recommendations was Mr Brown Can Moo, Can You a Dr Seuss boardbook. Wow, I thought, they've at last got to grips with my taste in literature, I wonder what it was that helped them. It appears that the big clue for them was that I'd recently looked at The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester (thanks MaryB for your recommendation that led me to this). I can only assume that Mr Brown was a professor who looked up 'moo' in the dictionary, went mad and killed a cow!.........now I'll have to read it to find out.

Anyway, the book about Google........this is called The Google Story by David A.Vise and if the review is anything to go by would seem to be well worth reading. The bit that caught my attention initially was the description of employee working conditions and benefits:

'At the company's Silicon Valley headquarters, staff receive free massages at the end of the day. The lavatories have six levels of heat for the seat and an automated washing and drying system that does away with the need for loo paper. There's a free canteen that serves the kind of organic food that costs a fortune anywhere else, and you are even allowed to bring your dog to work. Oh, and 20 per cent of employees' time can be spent on research that is personal and has no obvious direct benefit to Google.'

It was the toilet facilities that grabbed me and together with the other perks could tempt me back to working life. However I think the commute would be a tad too much.