Rolf Dobelli

Rolf Dobelli

promotional portrait (dated 2010)
Born July 15, 1966
Luzern, Switzerland

Rolf Dobelli (born July 15, 1966 in Luzern, Switzerland[1]) is a Swiss author and businessman. He began his writing career as a novelist in 2002, but he is best known internationally for his bestselling non-fiction The Art of Thinking Clearly (2011, English 2013), for which The Times has called him "the self-help guru the Germans love".[2]

Born in 1966 in Lucerne, Switzerland, he obtained an MBA in 1991 from the University of St. Gallen and a PhD in economic philosophy in 1995. In 1999, he co-founded getAbstract, a publisher of book summaries and article abstracts.

In 2003, Diogenes Publisher (Switzerland) published his first novel, Fünfunddreissig ("Thirty-five"), followed by Und was machen Sie beruflich? ("And What Do You Do for a Living?") in 2004, Himmelreich in 2006, Wer bin ich? ("Who am I?") and Turbulenzen ("Turbulence") in 2007 and Massimo Marini in 2010. The major themes in Dobelli's novels are the meaning of success and the role of randomness in business and in life.

Dobelli is the author of The Art of Thinking Clearly (Die Kunst des klaren Denkens), originally published by Carl Hanser Verlag in 2011, which was an instant success, entering Germany's Der Spiegel Bestseller list as number 1.[3] It was the bestselling non-fiction book in Germany and Switzerland in 2012.[4] It was translated into English in 2013 and hit the top ten bestseller lists in the U.K,[5][6] South Korea, India,[7] Ireland,[8] Hong Kong and Singapore.[9] The Art of Thinking Clearly was attacked by Nassim Taleb and Christopher Chabris for plagiarism.[10][11] See reference [12] for Dobelli's response. Christopher Chabris has published an example in Dobelli's book that is referenced but does not have quotation marks, and four paragraphs in the notes/references section (unprinted in most editions) without the formally required proper credit. Dobelli acknowledged those errors and they will be fixed.[13]

Dobelli advises to "avoid news consumption" an idea he initially attributed to Nassim Taleb but later claimed to be his own.[14] He cites "fifteen reasons to avoid news" in a 2013 blog post.[15]

Dobelli is a member of Edge Foundation, Inc., an association of intellectuals,[16] PEN International, Royal Society of Arts and founder of the "zurich.minds" foundation.

Works

References

  1. ↑ http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/695505.Rolf_Dobelli
  2. ↑ The Times, June 2013
  3. ↑ Der Spiegel Bestseller List, 12 Jan 2012
  4. ↑ Der Spiegel print edition 1/2013 p. 121
  5. ↑ The Times bestseller list hardback non-fiction, 21 April 2013
  6. ↑ The Sunday Times bestseller list 7 July 2013 (rank number 4)
  7. ↑ [Crossword book retailer's bestseller list June 2013]
  8. ↑ Writing.IE Bestseller List, 14 June 2013
  9. ↑ The Straits Times bestseller list non-fiction, 28 April 2013
  10. ↑ Guido Kalberer, [www.tagesanzeiger.ch/kultur/buecher/Nassim-Taleb-attackiert-Rolf-Dobelli/story/11573752 Nassim Taleb attackiert Rolf Dobelli], Tages-Anzeiger, 12 September 2013.
  11. ↑
  12. ↑
  13. ↑
  14. ↑ Guardian News is bad for you – and giving up reading it will make you happier print and online edition of 13 April 2013
  15. ↑ "All in the Mind" on BBC Radio 30 April 2013, starting at 15:00 min. Why you should stay away from news - published online. The Huffington Post "Danny Rubin: News Is Bad for You? Here Are 9 Reasons Why That Idea Is Flat Wrong". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2013-08-12.. News is bad for you – and giving up reading it will make you happier - Essay in English published by the Guardian
  16. ↑ "Rolf Dobelli". Edge.org. Retrieved 2013-08-12.

External links