I found out about this book on gizmodo. I’ve read the “prewiev” on Amazon, and I must say it’s a wonderful book!
In fact, I am in High school right now, and I am starting to ask myself what is the point of learning the stuff I really don’t like from the people I really don’t like.
It gives me double damage: I can’t focus on programming because of my schoolwork and I can’t focus on schoolwork because of programming.
Looks like I’m going to have to quit one of the soooner or later.

Anyway, I would very much like to read he rest of the book, but I don’t think I can buy it right now, so are there any giweaways or something like it now?

[James' Reply: There was a giveaway recently at secularhomeschooling.com but I think that's over with. If you ever see me in person, I am probably holding a copy of the book (I keep one in my jacket) and I will probably give it to you if you ask nicely.]

I just finished reading the ‘The Secrets of a Buccaneer-Scholar’ online version and it has been an amazing Learning experience. A lot of us are caught up as Buccaneers since childhood - when our elders or our so called well wishers think that we are off track in terms of competing with the rest of the existent world. This in turn pressurises them to pull us back in all that we would have eventually discovered or found. However, Buccaneers are on their own like you said

This book is one of the most wonderful writings on ‘LEARNING’ in itself which is a universal challenge to mankind. I loved the ‘Great Secret’ section where you give away a lot of your personal secrets, tips and tricks

My favourite quotes in your own words:

1. “To learn from whatever happens, no matter how horrible that experience maybe is a kind of revenge on bad fortune that is always available to us”

2. “Celebrate Failures”

3. “Anything I learn is a gateway to everything else i will ever know”

I would like to thank you for being such a Great Inspiration to countless number of testers like me across the world.

Happy Testing,
Pari - http://curioustester.blogspot.com

[James' Reply: Thank you very much. I am also glad to see that you are blogging. Your blog looks interesting, too. So, I'm doubly flattered that such an interesting person like you would like my book.]

I’m amused at the idea that people who can solve difficult problems well might tend to have trouble solving simple problems. Fits right in with the absent-minded professor profile.

Thanks for the book! I zipped through it on my Kindle while off work yesterday–best use of sick time in ages (I just wish I actually hadn’t been sick!).

For years I’ve told people that the main reason I’ve been successful is that I’ve built myself a “different set of tools,” which is really what I believe has given you your competitive advantage in your field. I don’t know if you’ve found this to be true, but I’m curious: I’ve found myself to be better at solving problems that have already stumped others than if I was the first one given the problem. I believe this is true because most people think in a standard way, so if a normal method is appropriate for the problem, they will often find a solution faster than I will. It seems to me that because your methods are more fluid than most, you might have had similar experiences.

Anyway, I’ve got a very smart nephew who is, like we were, bored in school, and I plan to pass this along to him as soon as I can get it in print.

[James' Reply: Thank you, Topher. That's a good point about not being the first to approach a problem. I also have that experience. Sometimes a good heuristic for solving a problem is to assume there is no conventional solution.]

I had tried registering on the same link couple of times earlier and again now but I still cannot see the downloadable link.I m using EE

[James' Reply: I don't know what the problem is, but other people have succeeded in downloading it. It's certainly not a very good technology.]

Will need to use a virtual machine to read it.

[James' Reply: I've heard of people using Linux to read it.]

For me, I was compelled to devour the whole book on my flight home from CAST. By Atlanta, I was the weird person recommending an ebook to strangers in the airport.

Thank you - Your stories depicted some of my struggles with formal education, and why I love software testing. By describing your approach and methods, you are prompting me to be more aware and intentional in mine.

[James' Reply: Thank you!]

I had the pleasure of meeting you in person today when you came by to visit with Jon Bach at LexisNexis. I just wanted to say that it was a great honor to meet you in person and get to talk to you for a little bit. I read one of your books (Lesson Learned in Software Testing) last year when I first started working for your brother and I enjoyed it very much. It changed the way I think about testing and how it should be done. It helped me to better understand some of the things that went on in the software community. It helped me see the bigger picture and in turn made me a better tester. I am super excited to hear about your upcoming book and can’t wait to get my hands on it. I am sure many people will benefit from learning about your experiences and the things that help you succeed. Best of luck with your new book.

Thanks,
Mazin Talha

[James' Reply: Thank you, Mazin. I've heard you're one of the friendliest and more reliable people in the business. I'm glad to have met you.]

Another information, I had some trouble to purchase the book from Simon&Schuster since I live in Brazil (it isn’t possible to register on the site with an local address), so I had to look for it on other libraries, I ended up find it on powells.com and could purchase it without problems.

James, I’ve already been through about a third of it, and I must say WOW. Great writing, everytime I thought I found a glitch or something that was missing the gap was filled a few sentences of paragraphs later. I can’t wait to sail through the rest of it!!
The feeling that I have so far is of learning more about all the subjects posted (cognition, systems thinking, lateral thinking, …) so I can deepen my questioning about them.

Sorry for any spelling/syntax mistakes.

Thanks a lot

[James' Reply: Thank you very much. I hope you post a review of the book, before it gets popular, and thus attracts reviewers who hate it! (There will be many who hate it.)]

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Darn corporate machines!

But I don’t have a Kindle and I would like to read this. Could it be released as a PDF?

[James' Reply: Absolutely there will be a print edition. The hardcover hits bookstores on September 8th.

I don't know what format Simon&Schuster releases it in. But if you go to their site, I think you'll find that it is in some form that can be read on your computer. Or you can just wait for the print edition.]