Notes on an Execution

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Through these perspectives, we learn more about Ansel and his life before and after becoming a murderer. We also learn about these strong, powerful women who will all come to terms with what they know of him in different ways. This non-personality is certainly not in any sense good. Any good following in the psychopath’s wake is incidental, and probably accidental as well - like evil sometimes inadvertently results from the actions of normals. Psychopaths like Ansel don’t make bad choices; they have no choices, only compulsions, which they act on aggressively to achieve position, reputation, desires, and a general recognition in the world. We know that budgeting + not overspending = saving. But, how do we put this knowledge into action? By following lead measures, you witness how your current actions influence your goal, encouraging you to follow your plans. Takeaway #4. Keep Score Along The Way

Told from multiple perspectives and timelines, the storyline weaves through Ansels’ life from an innocent beginning to where he sits now. Blending breathtaking suspense with astonishing empathy, Notes on an Execution presents a chilling portrait of womanhood as it simultaneously unravels the familiar narrative of the American serial killer, interrogating our system of justice and our cultural obsession with crime stories, asking readers to consider the false promise of looking for meaning in the psyches of violent men. Creating a culture of accountability is the fourth discipline, and what ultimately determines execution. Here, you must set the example. Once the weekly meetings are decided, you must attend without fail. Showing your commitment increases their commitment. Initiate the meeting by giving detail of whether you have met your commitments. This then provides them with confidence to do the same. Another vital point: congratulate the successes. It will provide them with a sense of pride, and increases that winning feeling. The flaw in Augustine is obvious to all but medieval theologians and their liberal descendants. If evil is the absence of good, then all of creation is at least somewhat evil because it doesn’t possess the perfection of good that is God. Evil then is the baseline of existence. Ansel admits as much, quoting Sartre: “No one thing can be wholly good, can it?” Adam and Eve didn’t invent evil, it was there waiting all the time in the ground they walked on, a moral inadequacy which could never be corrected. Not only that. God in his perfection knew this to be the case, that what he had created would fail because it wasn’t him. Could such a divinity really be called ‘good’?The way Saffy puts it is “She wants to be good, whatever that meant.” But really what that means is the attainment and exercise of power. She always has wanted power. It’s why she became a cop. She wants what the psychopath has in excess. Thus do psychopaths create other psychopaths, an unusual but effective method of quasi-sexual reproduction combining the zygotes of revenge and envy to produce monsters. Here's what one of the prominent reviewers had to say about the book: "The Four Disciplines of Execution is the book every leader should read” — Clayton Christensen, Professor, Harvard Business School, and author of The Innovator’s Dilemma

Puts the reader in the shoes of serial killer . . . to strip some mystique from the serial-killer mythology * Rolling Stone * You want to state your main WIG, so that everyone understands exactly what they’re working towards. Then, bring in the team leaders. Get them to develop a WIG and related lead measures. You then step in to ensure it relates to the main WIG, and if it doesn’t, get them to choose a new goal. Them choosing is key. Remember, engagement = execution. I think this is a book that will resonate with many people. It isn't a book for everyone, but if you're in a contemplative mood the writing is fantastically crafted to push readers to think and ponder about life, death and everything in between. In the respect that it makes you think about the nature of trauma and who some become as a result, I found this fascinating. I liked that the story showed the impact of Ansel’s parents on his life without making his choices look sympathetic. I also liked that the focus was more on the women whose lives he affected. It’s definitely a thought-provoking, almost philosophical book that would be fantastic for discussion. you ignore the urgent, it can kill you today. It’s also true, however, that if you ignore the important, it can kill you tomorrow.”time reading it 1 year. That's how incredible it is to me. Favorite book of 2022. Stunning. Poetic. Heart breaking. Evocative. Just an overall stunner. While I enjoyed the read, I wasn’t blown away by the story, I felt the book dragged in places and the toing and froing from one time frame to another became a little confusing and tedious for me. I do however think this would make a good bookclub discussion read as there is lots to discuss in this one.

There are parts of this book that are incredibly difficult to read. The anguish I felt for what happened to Ansel as a child helped to give me perspective on the events that followed. Yet in that darkness, the author also gives us a glimpse that a person's nature is somewhat set from the beginning as well. There is a diverse cast of characters, all with their own baggage and interpretation of events. Focus on Execution: The book emphasizes that execution is the key to success, and it encourages leaders to create a culture where execution is the highest priority. There are murders, but the story is more about the aftermath. The effects on the families, and all leading up to this time when Ansel reflects on his life and decisions, up until his very last breath. Even those I loved what Danya Kukafka does here she didn't quite hit the mark for me. I do think it was in the pacing. A tighter woven story would of made a difference. She has me questioning why I have this fascination for books with men who harm women, and as I often do I wonder what is wrong with me. 😜

Danya Kukafka

I previously read a book by Danya Kukafka, and my experience couldn't have been more different. Night and day. The writing here was brilliant. Now, aware of the talent this author is capable of, I cannot wait to see what she has in store for us next. A work of literary suspense that deconstructs the story of a serial killer on death row, told primarily through the eyes of the women in his life. A masterful slow burn of a novel . . . a poignant, beautifully written and necessarily uncomfortable read * Guardian * At once blistering with righteous anger and radical empathy, Notes on an Execution is destined to become a contemporary classic. * Esquire * As author Kukafka sees it, America has a serial killer problem. It’s not that there’s a real one on the loose, but rather we obsess over - and glorify - their mythology. She writes in the Author’s Note that precedes the novel, “Average men become interesting when they start hurting women. Notes on an Execution was born from a desire to dissect this exhausting narrative.” Amen, sister.

This ambitious novel deconstructs the serial killer genre while exploiting the conventions that make it so compulsive * The Times * Notes O n An Execution is seriously important crime fiction that trains the lens on a serial killer's victims rather than on the criminal himself and shows how the legacy of violence endures decades and leaves a tidal wave of collateral damage in its wake. Kukakfa's story is unflinching and unromantic, yet wrenching and devastating in equal measure. Never falling into the easy trap of sensationalism, Notes On An Execution pushes women to the forefront of a narrative that has too often overlooked them and all they suffer * Ivy Pachoda, author of These Women *You can beat the whirlwind. It involves mastery of the Four Disciplines. Takeaway #2. Complete Focus on Wildly Important Goals Oh did I love “Notes On an Execution” by Danya Kukafka. Kukafka is fascinated by our culture’s obsessions with serial killers, and she decided to write a novel illuminating that bizarre draw. We as a culture are drawn to the macabre of these grisly murders, generally on women or less-abled victims such as children. Defiantly populated with living women . . . beautifully drawn, dense with detail and specificity . . . Notes on an Execution is nuanced, ambitious and compelling.” —Katie Kitamura, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (Editors' Choice) A book begging to be read on the beach, with the sun warming the sand and salt in the air: pure escapism.