About Joe Weber

Now an associate professor at the University of Nebraska's College of Journalism and Mass Communications, I worked 35 years in magazines and newspapers. I spent most of that time, 22 years, at BUSINESS WEEK Magazine, leaving in August 2009 as chief of correspondents. So far, I have worked in central New Jersey, New York City, Denver, Dallas, Philadelphia, Toronto, Chicago, Beijing, Shanghai and Lincoln, Neb. The adventure continues.

Outsiders Shine a Light on America

Posted on March 29, 2023 by Joe Weber

As far back as the 1830s, it was clear that an outsider could look at America in a fresh, independent and novel way. Back then, the keen observer of American culture was Alexis de Tocqueville, a French political scientist, historian and politician whose four-volume “Democracy in America” praised much about the burgeoning country, but also noted its flaws.

Tocqueville pointed to equality as the great idea of his era, and he thought that the United States offered the most advanced example of equality in action, as the History website summarized his work. “He admired American individualism but warned that a society of individuals can easily become atomized and paradoxically uniform when ‘every citizen, being assimilated to all the rest, is lost in the crowd.’” Trenchantly, Tocqueville also took note of the irony of the freedom-loving nation’s mistreatment of Native Americans and its embrace of slavery.

Now comes Helen Lewis, a British staff writer for The Atlantic and former deputy editor of England’s New Statesman magazine. She reports on the abundant irony, as well, in just one state, Florida. While exploring various aspects of the state’s odd culture, she casts that irony in timely political terms in a piece headlined “How did America’s Weirdest, Most Freedom-Obsessed State Fall for an Authoritarian Governor?: A journey through Ron DeSantis’s magic kingdom.”

To Lewis, Florida is “America’s pulsing id, a vision of life without the necessary restriction of shame. Chroniclers talk about its seasonless strangeness; the public meltdowns of its oddest residents; how retired CIA operatives, Mafia informants, and Jair Bolsonaro can be reborn there.” To her, the state is “the Australia of America: The wildlife is trying to kill you, the weather is trying to kill you, and the people retain a pioneer spirit, even when their roughest expedition is to the 18th hole.”

And she notes that it’s no surprise that the two top contenders for the GOP presidential nomination, Gov. DeSantis and former President Trump, both call the state home. They fit in smoothly in a place that she says “has come to embody an emotional new strain of conservatism.” She quotes Miami-based author Michael Grunwald saying: “The general Republican mindset now is about grievances against condescending elites, and it fits with the sense that ‘we’re Florida Man; everyone makes fun of us.’ ” Lewis adds that criticism doesn’t faze Florida men, but just emboldens them.

Lewis’s observations struck me as spot on because I’ve recently spent time in two corners of the place, Sarasota and Orlando. In the former, I visited relatives of my wife who live in a gated community that is a haven for retirees – one of many such guarded places in the state. It boasts palm trees, lovely ponds sometimes frequented by alligators, a couple pools and lots of paddle ball-playing oldsters who like the mix of independence and security, as well as the chances to hang out with mostly white middle class folks that such a homogenous place can offer. As for Orlando, I spent several days with grandkids at the Walt Disney World Resort, a place Lewis says “flatters its customers the way Florida flatters the rich, by hiding the machinery needed to support decadence. You absolutely never see Cinderella smoking a joint behind her castle, or Mickey Mouse losing it with a group of irritating 9-year-olds.”

Disney World, Lewis writes, “only underlines how the state is one giant theme park. She quotes Grunwald saying: “This is not a place that makes anything, and it’s not really a place that does anything, other than bring in more people.” She adds, “Having brought in those people, what Florida never tells them is no, nor does the state ask them to play nicely with the other children.” She quotes Grunwald again: “We’re not going to make you wear a mask or take a vaccine or pay your taxes or care about the schools.” (Indeed, I came down with COVID-19 in Florida and had a devil of a time persuading a doctor to give me the new drug Paxlovid. Masks were rare.)

Lewis points out various contradictions about Floridians, noting how they value freedom but call for government help when reality intrudes. “In Florida, no one wants to hear about the costs or the consequences,” she writes. “Why else would people keep rebuilding fragile beachfront homes in a hurricane zone—and expect the government to offer them insurance?”

The central irony in Lewis’s work is that this state so eagerly embraces two GOP politicians who would do more to take power and rights away from individuals – or businesses — than any Democrat would dare to. Both Trump and DeSantis would much like to restrict voting and would curb abortion rights, for instance. Both slam “woke” culture, attacking diversity efforts in academia and business. Indeed, DeSantis recently one-upped Trump by stripping away the independence of state-funded New College of Florida, in Sarasota, as he installed cronies and right wingers such as Christopher Rufo (an out-of-stater famous for attacking critical race theory) on its board.

More than anything, though, DeSantis’s headline grabbing action at Disney World has defined him for a national audience. The governor drove legislation that ended the autonomy that Disney has long exercised over its 39-square mile tract of land near Orlando. He took control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which governs the theme parks, hotels and other amenities in the area, appointing a board to oversee municipal services. He did this to punish the Disney Co. CEO at the time for criticizing the “Don’t Say Gay” law of March 2022 that limited what public school teachers could teach.

As the Orlando Sentinel recently editorialized: “…the governor’s ego had been bruised, by tepid criticism from Disney’s then-CEO Bob Chapek, aimed at DeSantis’ hateful attacks on LGBTQ+ people. And though DeSantis loves to chant ‘freedom,’ he’s clearly established that freedom only covers himself and those who follow the same track. For everyone else, retribution is as swift as a whip crack.”

And, as Atlantic writer Lewis put it: “DeSantis is a politician who preaches freedom while suspending elected officials who offend him, banning classroom discussions he doesn’t like, carrying out hostile takeovers of state universities, and obstructing the release of public records whenever he can.”

As I wandered about the Disney resort parks along with thousands of others in this spring-break month, I was struck by how un-Republican DeSantis is. Disney brings in millions of visitors, employs 77,000 “cast members” in its parks, and is responsible for countless other jobs in and around Orlando. It is an economic machine without parallel. So why would any politician, much less a Republican, want to tamper with that?

Beating up on gay and transgender people and on the “woke” culture that encourages toleration seems to be a common trope for right wing politicians these days, though. DeSantis seems to be calculating that railing against Disney and other “woke” companies, as well as political stunts such as busing migrants to more liberal states will garner attention for him in the culture wars. Economics and old-fashioned GOP ideology be damned; it’s all about winning the votes of conservative straight white people who feel threatened by folks of different sexual orientations (and by diversity in all senses).

Firing back at DeSantis, Disney announced that in September it will host a conference promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights in the workplace. Run by the Out & Equal organization, the event is expected to draw some 5,000 people, according to the Miami Herald. The paper reported that the meeting will include dozens of corporate sponsors such as Apple, McDonald’s, Uber, Walmart, Hilton, Amazon, Boeing, Cracker Barrel and John Deere, and several government agencies, including the State Department and the CIA, which will have booths at the conference.

Disney World has committed to host a second annual meeting of the group in 2024, possibly just as DeSantis makes his bid for the White House. Slamming Disney yet again at that point could play well for him with the culturally conservative folks he needs to steal away from Trump. And, certainly, his attacks would grab more headlines. But will that tune play well for most American voters, the ones who have accepted gay marriage? The ones who voted for Obama and, more recently, for Biden? The ones who still flock to Disney World? The contest will be fascinating.

Language is Powerful

Posted on March 17, 2023 by Joe Weber

Language is central to journalism, of course. That’s true whether we work with the printed word or the spoken one. So, a couple very different recent pieces showcase the power – and perversion – of words. They are worth pondering as a host of new terms worm their way into the public prints and airwaves — or are likely to do so.

Both pieces are exceptional. George Packer, making “The Moral Case Against Equity Language” in The Atlantic, inveighs against the diminishment of words in so-called equity-language guides. These publications take what used to be called political correctness to new depths as they counsel myriad ways to avoid offending. “Enslaved persons” replaces “slave,” for example. And “people with limited resources” replaces “the poor.”

And, in The Washington Post’s “Much of the 2024 GOP field focuses on dark, apocalyptic themes,” Ashley Parker and some colleagues enumerate the dire warnings that some Republican candidates hope will sweep them into the White House. While reminiscent of Trump’s “American carnage,” the phrases are new and improved, as the contenders excoriate “the woke mob” and attack President Biden’s “blueprint to ruin America.”

Tackling Packer’s theme first, there’s no question that offensive terms deserve to be junked. Does anyone use “gypped” or “jewed” anymore? But language guides such as “A Progressive’s Style Guide” and the Racial Equity Tools glossary seem like parodies, as does the guidance of groups such as the Sierra Club. Did you know that “urban,” “vibrant,” “hardworking” and “brown bag” are all subtly racist? And, in San Francisco, some officials no longer refer to “felons,” but rather to “justice-involved persons.” Elsewhere, “stand” is barred for fear of offending those who can’t do so. (We should “protect our rights,” but never “stand up” for them, we’re told.)

Will such tortured or simply bland phrases slip into common parlance? It’s very likely they will, perhaps through universities where folks keenly jump on the latest linguistic trends. Many of my colleagues in the academy now routinely end their emails with counsel on which pronouns – he, she, they, ze — they prefer for themselves. And how long will it be before The Associated Press Stylebook embraces the new lingo, just as it grew to love “they” instead of “he or she?” Going even further, NPR nowadays seems to refer to every individual as “they,” even when he or she is named and his or her distinctly gendered voice is aired (I keep waiting for the second voice to chime in).

Certainly, language must evolve. And dehumanizing or pejorative terms are best sent the way of Shakespeare’s obsolete phrases. AP, for instance, is correct to ban “illegals” and “illegal immigrant,” preferring the wordy but more precise “immigrants lacking permanent legal status.” And the outfit wisely and sensitively favors “people with disabilities” or “disabled people” over “the disabled.” In a recent class, one of my talented students educated me when she said the term “the Blacks” or “Blacks” made her skin crawl; “Black people,” she held, makes it clear we are dealing with people, not objects. That seems like something always worth remembering, whatever group we deal with. For that matter, if someone wants to be called “they,” instead of “he” or “she,” that seems fine – just don’t mandate such vagueness for everyone.

For his part, Packer offers trenchant insights into the motivations and troubling effects of the latest language distortion. “The rationale for equity-language guides is hard to fault,” he writes. “They seek a world without oppression and injustice…. Avoiding slurs, calling attention to inadvertent insults, and speaking to people with dignity are essential things in any decent society.” But the risk is that soft or absurdly complex terms serve to mask the truth. As he writes, prison is no less brutal for “a person experiencing the criminal-justice system.” And obesity isn’t any healthier for people with “high weight.”

As for the political distortions that Parker et al. point out, it was shocking to many when Trump’s belittlement of his opponents and his bemoaning of America’s state under President Obama helped him win in 2016. Denigration in the coarse terms he used was uncommon among serious candidates in recent political history (though not in the earliest days of the Republic, of course). Nowadays, ridiculing and labeling one’s competitors is as common as Congress members indecorously (and inaccurately) shouting “liar” at a president in a national speech. Trump was said, by his supporters, merely to be telling it like it is, but was referring to Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas” just telling it more like racists would have it?

Parker’s report, describing how GOP aspirants are busy alerting us all to how Democrats plan to “ruin” and “destroy” America, offers a distinctly post-2016 take. Nikki Haley recently warned that “the Democrats are destroying our people’s patriotism and swapping it out for dangerous self-loathing.” Ron DeSantis exalted his state, Florida, as an alternative to a Democratic “dystopia, where people’s rights were curtailed and their livelihoods were destroyed.” And Trump menacingly asserted that he would be “your warrior” and “your justice,” vowing: “And to those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.” It was only he who could “fix it” in the nation’s last presidential election, of course.

Yes, some Democrats are indulging in strong language, too, but does much of that not seem more rooted in reality? With the anniversary of the Jan. 6 insurrection still top of mind, Biden recently intoned: “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.” Hyperbole? Perhaps not, in light of the aims of those who invaded the Capitol dressed in military garb and wielding staves and pepper-spray as they called for the execution of the Vice President.

What’s unsettling about the GOP rhetoric, in addition to its heat, is that it seems untethered to facts or events. Jobless rates remain at historic lows. Patriotism remains in vogue in both parties. Rights – to such things as voting and abortion – would not be curtailed by Democrats, in fact, but very much would be limited by Republicans. And as for Trump’s seeming intention to be everyone’s “justice,” is he not really just hoping to wreak vengeance on those he believes have wronged him?

In the past, heated political language could be easily dismissed, especially when read critically in print or avoided by national TV networks. Nowadays, in our conflict-driven cable TV world, it gets lots of airplay. The more vile the crack, the more attention it gets, stoking the anger of the apparently very many angry folks out there. Such language helped get an otherwise undistinguished New York developer and political naif elected once already. For better or worse, it may help him – or an imitator of his — get to the White House once again.

The job of the media, however, is to point out when such language goes over the top. When it’s baseless, that needs to be illuminated. And, as they do so, the media need, too, to shun euphemism and vagueness (indeed, Packer’s piece is titled “The Moral Case Against Euphemism” in the print magazine, but the editors were likely mindful of search engines in retitling it online). Clarity and plainspokenness do not mean coarseness and, indeed, they are the stock-in-trade of good journalism.

Is J School Moral?

Posted on March 15, 2023 by Joe Weber

When I began this blog back in 2009, newspapers and magazines were endangered, journalism jobs were disappearing and students were rethinking their futures. It was all enough to make me wonder whether keeping J Schools open was immoral. After all, how could we ethically take money from students, train them for the fading types of careers we older journalists had enjoyed, and send them out to flip burgers instead of produce news stories?

Now, as my time in academia is nearing its end, many things have gotten worse. Newspapers and magazines continue to die, journalism jobs continue to fade away (or get hacked away by vulture capitalists and others), and J School students are wise to think about alternative futures. So, the question is even more compelling: is it moral for J Schools to stay open?

My answer then – and still – is yes. Why? Well, first, while lots of traditional journalism jobs are going away, alternative media outlets have been surging. Online outfits, often operating as nonprofits, have sprouted all over the country. Many of them cover things more narrowly than general-interest newspapers, focusing on state legislatures, for instance. Some for-profit ventures, with broader missions, have emerged, too.

There has been so much growth that I led a special-topics course about it in the spring of 2022. I had many leaders of such programs speak to my students. They hailed from new outfits such as The Texas Tribune, The Colorado Sun, Nebraska Examiner, Flatwater Free Press, The Oaklandside, and Boulder Reporting Lab and older ones taking innovative paths, such as Chicago Public Media. Sure, such outfits will provide fewer jobs than the once-robust newsrooms veteran faculty members were used to, but as fewer students seek traditional reporting jobs, the smaller numbers are tolerable.

And let’s not forget the big-name outfits, whose brands have become only more important lately. Even more than before, the big-name outlets are available to students. Yes, The Washington Post and even The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal are under pressure. But they still offer opportunities, especially internships. And specialized media, such as Bloomberg News and Reuters, remain vibrant, thank you.

Second, J School is not just about job training for reporters. Most students in such schools nowadays major in PR and advertising, where opportunity abounds. And, within journalism, the skills students acquire would serve them well in whatever field they go into. These skills include researching, analyzing, seeing different viewpoints and writing clearly. Remember that critical thinking – in such short supply throughout society – is at the base of what journalism faculty teach.

J School remains great preparation for particular professions, too. Several of my students went into law, for instance (some did so after stints in journalism and some went directly to law school). The skills they learned in our classes were essential. Similarly, some of my business journalism students went into accounting and related fields, where their writing skills were enhanced by training they got from us.

Think about the parallel with another endangered academic species – the English major, my own focus as an undergraduate. I studied the works of 18th and 20th century writers, in particular – works with as much practical value as philately, at least in terms of occupations. And yet, the tightly written prose and verses of Swift, Pope and Johnson taught me how to write with economy. Certainly, the work of Hemingway – who got his professional start as a reporter — was inspirational and worth trying to emulate.

For a time, I considered grad school in English, even gaining admission to a fine program. But the paucity of academic jobs on the horizon in the field back then (in the 1970s), helped me to choose graduate J School instead. Much as my heart may have been in literature, the public prints were my destiny. Even so, that training in the most impractical area of English proved helpful – enriching me personally and professionally.

Moreover, J Schools usually require students to take many courses outside of the field. The way I described this to prospective students was that journalism classes can teach you how to say something well, but other academic areas help give you something to say. Along with Journalism 101, students should take classes in such areas as law, business and economics. Indeed, the most intellectually adventurous might want to double-major in English.

So, should J Schools endure? Is it moral to train students in journalism? I believe so. The faculty must keep close tabs on the rapid changes in the field and make sure students are equipped with the skills they will need. But the core skills remain essential, whether the students wind up covering news, toiling in the courts, running businesses or doing anything else where good writing and clear thinking are vital.

From The Washington Post

Posted on February 13, 2023 by Joe Weber

HIGHER EDUCATION

When state secrets land in the hands of university librarians

By Joseph Weber
February 10, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EST

When archivists at Bates College combed through a trove of documents given to them by Sen. Edmund S. Muskie, a former secretary of state and Bates alumnus, they turned up 98 classified documents that he’d been keeping in his personal files. Some were sensitive papers involving the Iran-contra affair of the 1980s. Some carried information that should never have left secure hands.

For people who work with classified documents, including university archivists, these discoveries weren’t unusual. The handling of such papers by onetime officeholders is often sloppy, as the cases of former president Donald Trump, former vice president Mike Pence and President Biden have all shown in recent months. And when officials leave government and donate their papers to be kept in special collections at university archives, they can pose problems for the archivists who find themselves holding state secrets.

Government officials have wrestled with this problem for years. The Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) of the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has well-honed procedures for when university archivists, researchers or others in the public alert them to questionable papers.

Over the past 15 years, the agency has reviewed sensitive papers that turned up in donations to the libraries at the University of Mississippi, Stanford University, the University of South Carolina, the University of Pittsburgh, New York University, the University of Oklahoma, Brandeis University and Yale, to name a few, according to ISOO Director Mark A. Bradley.

The Muskie finds, for instance, triggered a review by government officials from 2007 to 2013, which concluded with the declassification, and release to Bates, of all but one of the documents in full and two-dozen in part, Bradley said. (The reviews are often lengthy, making archival work harder and depriving the public of historic records for extended periods.) The materials withheld were deemed too sensitive even now for researchers or the public to see without special security clearances. They were taken by NARA to its secure facility in College Park, Md.

University libraries are among the many repositories nationwide — private and public — that house the papers of top-level public servants. Officials often gave these records to their alma maters. Biden, for instance, donated his senatorial papers to the University of Delaware, where public access to this day remains closed until the collection can be fully vetted by the university archivists — a process that can take years.

Sometimes the papers bear legends such as “top secret” because exposing them may endanger national security. “Some government officials and contractors don’t quite understand the difference between private papers and papers they generated in the scope of their employment by the U.S.,” said Bradley, a former CIA officer who has directed the ISOO since 2016.

Often, he said, the papers of former officeholders are boxed up in haste, by interns or other staffers, to be sent home with the officials once they leave office. Some retirees hire professional archivists to weed out sensitive materials. But others — especially those with short tenures in Washington — may keep such papers as souvenirs or simply ship the whole cache to a university library. Still others keep the documents until their families or estates share them with libraries, perhaps as a posthumous bequest.

When the archivists get the papers, which can fill hundreds of boxes, they begin the laborious process of cataloguing them. That’s when the sensitive documents tend to turn up. Archivists are supposed to request an ISOO review of the papers.

After the University of Mississippi got hold of 1,040 boxes of the papers of former senator James O. Eastland, for instance, an archivist turned up three documents marked “top secret” and, in 2009, got in touch with ISOO. An FBI agent was dispatched to collect the papers.

Eastland, a dedicated Communist hunter who chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee for decades (and a 1950s subcommittee that investigated Communist activity), was close to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. He and Hoover long swapped intelligence, according to a 2012 book, “Enemies: A History of the FBI.” Eastland retired in 1978.

In many cases, archivists take years to review donated materials. In the Bates College case with Muskie’s papers, questionable documents turned up in a couple batches between 2007 and 2010, according to Bradley. ISOO officials declassified 39 of the Muskie documents quickly and returned them to the college. Then they declassified another 34 in full after a review by a panel that included officials from the departments of State, Justice and Defense, the National Security Council and the National Security Agency, he said. Parts of 24 documents were held back as security risks. One was ruled still classified in full.

Determining what is classified and what is not can be tricky. Some documents marked “confidential” or even “secret” may not be officially classified, but they bear such labels because the authors didn’t want the materials widely distributed, according to William Carpenter, an ISOO senior program analyst.

The papers of the former secretary of agriculture Clayton Yeutter at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, for instance, include a 1991 note marked “eyes only” from President George H.W. Bush (a former director of the CIA familiar with security agency jargon), but it dealt with his possible reelection plans, not state secrets, and so would not be considered “classified,” Carpenter said.

On the other hand, some documents not marked “classified” may nevertheless contain secrets, he said. A staffer composing a document, for instance, might inadvertently share confidential material but not classify the paper. Generally, documents with such sensitive information are marked with a block on the first page that includes the name of the person classifying it and the reason for classification (sometimes using codes).

A few former officeholders shared their papers, but the government insisted on holding the originals, so universities got copies. Former secretary of state John F. Dulles wanted his papers kept at his alma mater, Princeton, but NARA officials permitted only microfilm copies of some still-secret documents to be kept by the university — in a secure location.

They are “locked up and unavailable,” except to researchers who go through a prolonged government process of obtaining security clearances and then agree to submit documents for declassification, said Princeton archivist Daniel Linke. That way, he said, “no one is going to get to [the microfilm copies] accidentally. And someone who might not have permission is not going to get to them either because of a range of physical and electronic barriers.”

At least one school, Yale, asks officials who want their papers kept there to scrub them for classified materials first. “Very rarely — a handful of times in the past 40 years — we have encountered classified materials while either preparing a collection for research use or using it to answer a reference inquiry,” Yale University Library Director of Communications Patricia Carey said in an email. “We have procedures in place to immediately secure and restrict access to these documents and to submit them to the National Archives for declassification.”

But some schools that have turned up secret material recently are paying attention more closely now. Baylor University archivist Mary Goolsby, who chairs the Congressional Papers Section Steering Committee of the Society of American Archivists, pointed to such a case involving the papers of the late Rep. William R. Poage, who served in the House from 1937 to 1978.

“We found some classified documents in the papers of W.R. Poage last summer,” Goolsby said in an email. “I contacted NARA and they told me where to send them.” The Baylor archivists have been reprocessing all their congressional collections to put them into what librarians call a “finding aid” database, which is available to the public online. While the Trump-Biden-Pence discoveries haven’t triggered a review of already-archived material, they are scrutinizing the papers for classified markings in that process, Goolsby said.

Baylor’s inquiry was one of seven from institutional sources that ISOO received last year. It got another three from individuals. ISOO resolved six of the matters by phone, including through declassifications. ISOO reviewed a couple more and declassified those documents, and it kept a couple documents for review by concerned agencies.

One reason this system is problematic, according to Bradley and outside experts, is because the classification system itself needs fixing. Bradley wrote in his 2021 annual report to President Biden that an exemption-riddled automatic declassification system isn’t working. It is, he wrote, “unable to meet the requirements for existing paper records and will never keep up with the tsunami of digital CNSI [classified national security information] being created daily, making it likely that most of it will never be reviewed for declassification.”

Matthew J. Connelly, a professor of history at Columbia and the author of “The Declassification Engine,” argued that “overclassification is the real scandal,” suggesting that risk-averse officials too often keep records from public view. “That and former officials treating public records as their personal property,” he said in an email.

Similarly, Rutgers historian David Greenberg rued in an email that “so much mundane material is classified in the first place.” “If there are classified materials sitting in the collections of various political figures in university archives around the country, so be it. Let the chips fall where they may. We’re not going to imperil anyone or anything because they’re there.”

For university archivists, however, the chips can fall badly, complicating their work and lives.

Ups and Downs in Business Journalism

Posted on August 7, 2019 by Joe Weber

Two very different stories that slipped into my feeds this morning shed telling, if unsettling, light on the state of business journalism. Indeed, the tales of Suzanne McGee, an author and longtime Wall Street Journal reporter now working retail in a Banana Republic store, and Julia Angwin, a fired and rehired editor at an online startup, are curious statements on the health and challenges of our field today.

McGee, 57, had a distinguished career at the Journal for 14 years. She toiled in her native Canada, London and New York for the paper, bringing to bear her prior experience working for an English-language newspaper in Japan. After the trauma of 9/11, when she was working near Ground Zero, she left the Journal to become a corporate writer for an investment management and research firm. In time, she left there, freelanced for various big-name publications and then wrote a notable book about the 2008-09 financial crisis, “Chasing Goldman Sachs.”

So why is she now folding clothes and helping customers, even occasionally sweeping the floor, at a retail outlet in a shopping mall in Providence, Rhode Island?

The answer is likely quite complicated. Why does anyone slip from a great height professionally to wind up pinching pennies, to working for what likely is minimum wage or not far from it? Lots of reasons, both professional and personal, could enter in.

But McGee shared some thoughts with Providence Journal columnist Mark Patinkin. He shared them in an intriguing piece that sketches out this distinguished reporter’s troubling career trajectory. It doesn’t answer every question, but does help us understand a few elements.

First, there’s the professional part – McGee was doing okay freelancing, especially after she moved out of New York to lower-cost Rhode Island. But then a regular $4,500-a-month gig with The Guardian ended in about 2016, when the paper trimmed ties to independent contractors (though she still did some work for the paper afterward, with a byline as recent as August 2017). The loss of that steady paycheck put a dent in her finances, a dent big enough that she avoided even opening a credit card when she was pitched one at the Banana Republic outlet where she now works.

Patinkin reported that McGee still gets offers to freelance. But the pay is pathetic, $125 or less for pieces on subjects such as where the markets are headed – this for a savvy, experienced journalist with lots of insights to share. Three decades ago, McGee broke into journalism with a piece for a Canadian paper that paid $200 for it back then. Clearly, the numbers aren’t going in the right direction and Patinkin noted that McGee’s career path in part reflects tough times in journalism.

Then, there’s the personal part. McGee was extraordinarily lucky on 9/11. She was due at a conference that morning in 2001 atop the north tower of the World Trade Center. But by happenstance she got there an hour late, arriving just when the second plane hit. After the horrors of being at the focus of that disaster, however, the migraines she was prone to worsened. All that, it seems, led her into PR, to freelancing and ultimately to Providence.

McGee told Patinkin she’s not done with writing. Indeed, it’s ironic that a piece she did in July for the Wall Street Journal focused on a well-heeled and successful Morgan Stanley money manager. Moreover, she has another book in the works and she and a friend are looking into starting a business writing personal histories for families. A friend of mine in Omaha works in a similar business, Legacy Preservation, so that line may have potential for her.

In the meantime, folding clothes seems like a low-stress way to keep the bills paid. And she told him that her story is about both renewal through change and the dignity of making ends meet.

On another front, there’s Julia Angwin’s peculiar tale. Angwin was a hard-charger at Propublica and The Wall Street Journal, where she helped the paper win a Pulitzer Prize. Armed with a B.A. in math from the University of Chicago and an MBA from Columbia, Angwin had left those news outlets to help create a news start-up, The Markup, that would cover technology with investigative and data-driven journalistic techniques. Last April, she was fired after differing with the executive director, a cofounder of the site, over the cofounder’s suggestion that the site advocate against tech (the cofounder, Sue Gardner, disputed that, according to The New York Times, citing leadership issues on Angwin’s part. Gardner also wound up leaving).

But now, Angwin is back at The Markup. She has several distinguished journalists by her side, including most of those who quit with her. And they expect to launch the site by year-end. It is backed by a host of nonprofits, principally the Craig Newmark Philanthropies, but also the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and others. They all chipped in about $23 million to get the site going.

The Times account leaves a lot unanswered. The paper reported that Angwin and six of the seven staffers who quit in support of her are all back and were paid while they were out. Indeed, they had continued to work on pieces the site will produce, meeting roughly once a week in Angwin’s living room in Harlem.

So had they really been fired? Were they made whole after returning? What was the fracas all about anyway?

The $23 million that the backers anted up could buy a lot of good journalism for a quite a while. One of the tales that would be fascinating to hear is just what came off the rails at The Markup in the spring and what put it back on track. That may take an outside journalist’s work to tell.

Still, it’s encouraging that even as much of mainstream journalism struggles – driving some folks to work in shopping malls – opportunities continue to arise in other areas. These areas are not dependent on advertising, the loss of which to online outfits such as Facebook and Google has been killing news organizations nationwide. Such startups, tumultuous as they may be, likely will offer a better future for business journalists alongside of or as substitutes in time for today’s big publishing names.

BusinessWeek, Muse for Many

Posted on May 21, 2019 by Joe Weber

For much of its recent history, BusinessWeek has been an incubator for talented writers and reporters. Under editors Steve Shepard, Steve Adler, Josh Tyrangiel, Ellen Joan Pollock, Megan Murphy and, now, Joel Weber, the place has been a literary hotbed. Many BW staffers couldn’t limit themselves to the glossy pages, but had to break into books. The remake into Bloomberg Businessweek, with its traumatic turnover in staff, stoked that flame for some, and the trend continues.

Here, in its splendid variety, is a collection of recent (and not so recent) work by this talented bunch:

2019

Robert Pondiscio teaches us new tricks. “Robert Pondiscio is one of our nation’s most astute observers of K-12 education. In this engaging, wise, and enormously well reported book, he trains his penetrating eye on Success Academy, the highest performing charter network in America. —Joel Klein, former chancellor of the New York City Department of Education “Engrossing, challenging, and wise, this book will change how you think about schooling and poverty.”—Daniel T. Willingham, professor of psychology, University of Virginia. “A moving and dramatic story and a minute-by-minute account of how a school actually lives…. It is arresting, informative, and compelling. A school succeeds or fails by its ethos, and reading this book qualifies as an extended visit into the inner workings of that ethos in schools that are succeeding against the odds.”—William J. Bennett, former Secretary of Education

Cate Holahan thrills us anew. “A psychological thriller that will keep you up all night…Get ready.” – GOOD MORNING AMERICA “Well-drawn characters… [an] absorbing page-turner.” — BOOKLIST “A great beach read for those with a penchant for scandalous secrets and gossipy suspenseful mysteries.” — LIBRARY JOURNAL “A domestic thriller that’s actually filled with lots of secrets. Some of them pretty big. ” — KIRKUS “Solidly plotted…Holahan does a fine job portraying fraying marriages and artificial friendships.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Julie Flynn Siler unearths an unsettling tale with this one. “An eye-opening account of the valiant work of a handful of Christian women against the enslavement of Asian girls in San Francisco’s Chinatown from the mid-1870s well into the next century.” — KIRKUS REVIEW “This strong story will fascinate readers interested in the history of women, immigration, and racism.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Meticulously researched and inspiring … a reminder that our political gestures and small wins accumulate and create ripple effects in ways we cannot often measure. ” — SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

Chris Farrell counsels the aging among us. “Many prognosticators blame the aging population for the stagnating economy, arguing that as more and more people retire, relatively fewer working people will have to support growing numbers of dependent elderly. But … Chris Farrell debunks this line of thought by showing how a growing movement of elderly entrepreneurs and part-time workers are creating conditions for a stronger and more vibrant economy. Reframing aging will result in faster rates of economic growth and higher living standards for all of us, in addition to a more fulfilling and financially secure second half of life for our aging population.” — BOOKENDS & BEGINNINGS

2018

Diane Brady worked with Cisco’s John Chambers on this leadership guide. “By turns practical and insightful…” -JAMIE DIMON, JPMorgan Chase “Great leaders are distinguished by the ability to move their society or company from where it is to where it has never been. They act on the basis of a set of core principles, both intangible and inspirational. John Chambers, an accomplished executive in his own right, distills those principles in Connecting the Dots with elegance and common sense.” — HENRY KISSINGER “This is a compelling story of effective leadership through good times and bad, filled with smart lessons about innovation, team building, and managing creativity.” — JACK WELCH, former CEO of General Electric

Steve Shepard again proves how multidimensional a journalist — a business journalist — can be. “This is a really thoughtful, thought-provoking literary memoir, the story of a really accomplished, literary guy who, with the help of his book group of other really accomplished, literary guys — all of them of a certain age — work their way through the Mount Rushmore of American Jewish writers. Plus Updike, who granted a sort of honorary Jewishness. Some of the chapters based on book-group discussions, such as ‘Was Willy Loman Jewish?’ are the sort of loose, entertaining discussion you might hear from younger people debating who would win in a fight, Batman or Superman. (Except there is a right answer for that one.) Stephen Shepard and his book buddies chew on all sorts of questions that are more personal and more meaningful: how to lead an ethical life, how to find your way back to the religion and/or culture after decades in what Shepard calls his ‘personal diaspora,’ how to think of the Holocaust, and how to life a life promoting justice and equality. An underlying theme, of course, is the tension between relevance and aging.”— TIM HARPER, Amazon

2017

Cate Holahan thrills again. “A suffocating double nightmare…‘To be a writer is to be a life thief.’”― KIRKUS REVIEW “Recommended for anyone who enjoys Paula Hawkins or Gillian Flynn, primarily because it’s better.” — LIBRARY JOURNAL “Engrossing…Holahan keeps the suspense high…until the surprising denouement.” ― PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Pure, binge-worthy entertainment…readers looking for an addictive, layered suspense novel will feel right at home in Holahan’s world.” — CRIME BY THE BOOK

Chris Roush educates us anew. “This book provides excellent, down-to-earth information —and wisdom—on teaching. Everyone who teaches would improve by reading it.”—RICHARD COLE, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill “What a treasure trove of tips, guidance, examples, quotes, resources and, above all, encouragement for today’s journalism and mass communication educators from some of the best teachers in the field.”— JENNIFER D. GREER, University of Alabama “Mass communication instruction is becoming more challenging because of unprecedented changes in the professions we serve, the technology we use, and the students we engage in the learning process. This publication is timely and needed.”— JUAN-CARLOS MOLLEDA, University of Oregon

Catherine T. Yang translated this 1975 work by her father, the late Shu-Chin Yang. It commemorates the death, in 1937, of his brother. “Such a fascinating perspective about this terrible period in early WWII. The mystery of what happened to a brother who effectively disappeared and how it persistently affects the family is very moving. The letters from those that knew and came across Dapeng in the appendix are wonderful in pulling together the final proud story of a military warrior.” — AMY LeSUEUR, Amazon ” Gracefully told story of the thoughts and actions of brothers during 1930s China as Japanese troops were taking over. Full of first person accounts, this is also an important historical document.” — KUMIKO MAKIHARA, Amazon

Roben Farzad tells the tale of a Mutiny, a most unusual hotel. “Hotel Scarface is a journey into the surreal. The book sizzles with exquisitely detailed reporting and a fast-paced narrative that thrusts the reader right into the middle of Miami’s cocaine madness.” — ASHLEE VANCE, author. “Roben Farzad’s electric prose brilliantly captures boomtown Miami in its coke-fueled heyday. The city has grown up since then, but beneath our gilded, 21st-century veneer lurks the same menacing spirit of the kingpins, caudillos and straight-up whack-jobs who ruled the Mutiny.” — NICHOLAS NEHAMAS, Miami Herald reporter. “Thought I was reading a Carl Hiaasen novel. Then I realized it was NON-fiction. Hotel Scarface is to Miami what ‘Narcos’ is to Colombia.” — MICHELLE CARUSO-CABRERA, CNBC’s Chief International Correspondent

Jack Ewing digs deep in this corporate dissection. “A fascinating exposé….Ewing’s compelling prose makes his book read like entertainment more than education and the story of Volkswagen’s fall…is a study in corporate hubris.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
“A shocking, sobering story―and, given the current antiregulatory mood, one likely to be repeated.” — KIRKUS

2016

Alex Beam likes a good fight. “Beam wears his learning lightly. He has a keen sense of the absurd and is mischievous but not malicious in exposing the foibles of these frenemies. He also, while he’s at it, has some Nabokovian fun as he laces his narrative with wordplay and faux-scholarly flourishes…his book mostly leaves you asking yourself how prideful and pig headed even the smartest men can be. — MICHAEL UPCHURCH, The Boston Globe. “Throughout, [Beam] is not only an amiable guide, but also proves adept concerning Russian history and literature, and Pushkin’s famous novel. (Beam was the Globe’s Moscow correspondent earlier in his career.)” — JOHN WINTERS, WBUR.org “As Alex Beam explains in ‘The Feud,’ his elegant and intimate account of the rise and fall of the Wilson-Nabokov friendship, it all began with Pushkin.” — DOMINIC GREEN, Wall Street Journal.

Patricia O’Connell coauthors some sage counsel. “Woo, Wow, and Win is a roadmap for success in a landscape being rapidly transformed by technology and entrepreneurship.” — STEVE CASE “This is the book that service business executives have been waiting for. Woo, Wow, and Win shows how to make the connection between strategic opportunity, business design, and customer satisfaction. The principles of service design are the pathway to a more profitable future–and happier customers.” — RAM CHARAN “Tom Stewart’s and Patricia O’Connell’s exceptional book is a convincing testimony to the power of having service strategies that are as unique and differentiated as product strategies. It provides deep insights into how you can develop your customers and retain them with superior service. It’s a must read!” — BILL GEORGE, Senior Fellow at Harvard Business School, former Chair & CEO of Medtronic

Heather Green scratches an itch with this memoir, her debut book. It “… is about Heather’s venture into the world of cat rescue, which I learned is a place full of caring, careful people who are trying to make our neighborhoods safe for feral cats, while at the same time making it possible for them to transition from the wild into loving homes. While taming three feral kittens (and ultimately their mother), Heather learns the value of patience and of nurturing relationships.” — ARLENE WEINTRAUB, author. “This marvelous book is much more than a story about cats. Yes, anyone who has loved cats will empathize with and be delighted by the author’s challenging, humorous, surprising, and touching experiences as she and her boyfriend are lured into the crazy and deeply rewarding world of cat rescue. But, the artfully woven additional dimensions of this work make it both compelling and inspirational. What in life feels right, what matters most, and do we dare take the bold steps to seize them?” — PAMELA L. WHITELOCK, Amazon “What a great read. The author did a wonderful job of giving the kittens and their mother personalities so strong that you felt you were right there with them. Combining kittens and romance that built throughout the book was quite a feat.” — NANCY CAROLYN, Amazon

For Chris Roush, the third time should be as charming as the first two. I will use this text in class, as I have the prior editions, and proudly note I chipped in the preface on this update. “Chris Roush demystifies financial storytelling, and with insight from leading journalists helps reporters figure out when a company’s dollars make sense―and when they don’t. Show Me the Money prepares even the math-phobic reporter to write business news that matters to readers from Main Street to Wall Street.” – MELITA M.GARZA, Texas Christian University “Show Me the Money isn’t just a thorough textbook – it’s an essential reference that should be on the desk of any journalist who may ever have to write about business and finance.” – JOHN KROLL, Kent State University

Mark Landler waxes political. “A superb journalist has brought us a vivid, page-turning, and revelatory account of the relationship between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, as well as of their statecraft …. a signal contribution to the national debate over who should be the next American president.”– MICHAEL BESCHLOSS, author. “Mark Landler, one of the best reporters working in Washington today, delivers an inside account of Hillary Clinton’s relationship with Barack Obama that brims with insight and high-level intrigue. It’s both fun to read and eye-opening.” — JANE MAYER, author. “An incredibly important book, timely and deeply revelatory. Landler’s brilliant reporting reveals a Barack Obama ever skeptical of establishment wisdom, and a Hillary Clinton driven by ‘inner hawk’ instincts. This is an extraordinary tale of two formidable personalities locked in an alliance who have competing visions of America’s foreign policy.” — KAI BIRD, author.

George Michelsen Foy helps us find the way home. “GPS’s cultural and psychological significance is at the core of George Michelsen Foy’s Finding North…[and] the questions he worries at are important ones.” — WALL STREET JOURNAL “Foy’s strongest moments happen when he taps into the internal map, through his own personal, sensory-based history with a particular place…[a] great storyteller.” — OUTSIDE “Deep waters and deep thoughts fill these pages. With skillful prose and insight, Foy’s account of the different aspects of navigation packs a powerful punch.” ― PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Cate Holahan thrills us anew. “One of those rare thrillers that really will keep you reading all night.” — KIRKUS (starred review) “Holahan once again creates a compelling heroine who can tap into bottomless reserves of strength when push comes to shove. A fast read for domestic-suspense fans.” — BOOKLIST “In this chilling cat-and-mouse tale… Holahan keeps the action going.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

2015

Cate Holahan offers some mysterious plot twists. “Readers are sure to be reminded of various movies with ballet at their core: The Turning Point, Black Swan, and Center Stage come to mind. As one would expect, Dark Turns goes to some of the darker places those films also explored, but not in a way that never feels derivative.” — BOLO BOOKS “Recommended read for Young Adult and Fiction fans that like a bit of darkness with their light. This one drives you forward with the character connections forged but keeps you guessing as to where it will all land.” — SATISFACTION FOR INSATIABLE READERS

Arlene Weintraub is barking up the right tree. “Anyone interested in translational science, innovative developments in cancer research, or treating pets with cancer will find this book a valuable resource….Readers will share Weintraub’s growing appreciation for the canine and feline subjects (and their owners) who are helping to advance cancer research.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Honest reporting . . . [A] useful and credible book.” — BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK “Beautifully written and superbly researched, Heal makes a compelling case for increased collaboration between the human and veterinary medical fields. Engaging and emotional, Heal is an important book for scientists, animal lovers and anyone interested in the vulnerabilities we humans share with animals.” — BARBARA NATTERSON-HOROWITZ, MD and KATHRYN BOWERS, co-authors of Zoobiquity

Giles Blunt goes for the jugular again.”Blunt stands as a master craftsman who shows us not only darkness, but also decency.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Blunt writes with the flashing grace of an ice skater skimming over a frozen pond.” — THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW “Another tense, engrossing read from one of Canada’s top crime writers. Blunt’s new tale of obsessive love leisurely grabs hold and doesn’t let go, from the pastoral innocence of the first few pages to the climactic twist of events. A solid book for a late summer cottage getaway. Just remember to glance over your shoulder once in awhile.” — RANDALL PERRY

Jon Fine finds memoir to be his metier. “A deft stylist, Fine captures the uncompromising drive of 20-something men on a mission to change the world through music played at high volume.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “The short shelf of great books on indie rock adds another—an unlikely memoir about an obscure band that somehow found demand for its reunion in the Internet age . . . ‘I don’t regret a thing,’ writes Fine, and neither will readers who live vicariously through the author’s eyes and memory.”
— KIRKUS REVIEWS (starred)

Stephen Adler and his bride, Lisa Grunwald, join forces again. “Such an entertaining romp through marriage. I wish I’d had it before I wed and during.” — BECKY, Goodreads “Funny, wise, provocative and essential words about why marriage works and why it doesn’t. These authors have scoured literature and pop culture and come up with remarkable insights and history.” — BETSY, Goodreads

Charles Dubow sets hearts athrobbing — yet again! “The novel is a whirlwind of impossibly chic settings and experiences; the characters know all the right people and do all the right things …. Dubow offers a heady, intoxicating tale…. A story of the most interesting people you will ever know, told with style and verve.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS “This is a page-turner for avid readers of romantic novels.” — LIBRARY JOURNAL

Celine Keating graces us anew. “Evocative, philosophical, and downright entertaining, Play for Me had me turning pages as if to discover the fate not only of its winning heroine, but of myself.” — ALETHEA BLACK, author “Though the story revolves around issues of morality and fidelity—what do we owe ourselves versus what do we owe our loved ones—I cared about each character and hoped he or she would find happiness. This is a page-turner in the best sense. ALICE ELLIOTT DARK, author “Music pours out of this wonderful novel.” — SUSAN SEGAL, author

Sandra Dallas delivers again. “This is a novel that celebrates women: their unbreakable bonds, their unselfish love for their children, their incredible capacity to endure. ” — KIRKUS REVIEWS “The Last Midwife evokes a powerful sense of time and place.” —THE DENVER POST “With plot, personality and prose melded into a superb whole, The Last Midwife represents a standout effort in popular fiction, one untethered from dismissive adjectives such as ‘historical’ or ‘crime’ and one that resonates in the present day. As she does in all of her fiction, Dallas casts an unwavering but sympathetic eye on the people of her latest novel. And like Gracy, she gives — and enhances — life.” — RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH

2014

Sandra Dallas stitches together a riveting tale. “A wonderful story full of history and heart that will satisfy Dallas’s many fans.” — LIBRARY JOURNAL “Dallas takes an interesting look at the lives of women left behind during the Civil War, especially in ambivalent Kansas, and grounds her characters in authentic struggles of love and hate, right and wrong, trespasses and forgiveness. Elegant, thought-provoking and quietly powerful.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS

Edward C. Baig makes tech simple. Personal Tech columnist for USA TODAY, he coauthored iPad mini For Dummies, iPhone For Dummies, and iPad For Dummies. “Since computers do not come with Owner’s Manuals any more, this is just what I needed to teach me what my computer can do and how to do it.”– GAIL A. LEWIS, Amazon customer review

Elizabeth Woyke dials up some savvy insights. “A smartphone full monty that will appeal mostly to the device’s users—all 1.75 billion of them.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS “A superior reporter, Woyke brilliantly presents a clear-eyed view of this new communication device that has conquered everything in sight.” — ROBERT W. MCCHESNEY, author “Readers who fully absorb the more disturbing details of Woyke’s report will never be able to download a new app or listen to a podcast without a twinge or two of consumer guilt.”– BOOKLIST

Laura Zinn Fromm serves up a tasty meal. “It’s like sitting in your kitchen with your best friend, talking about life, the loves, births, deaths, longings, failures and joys– and the recipes that go with them. Beautiful, delicious fare.” — JULIE TILSNER, author “Love and divorce, marriage and motherhood, friendship and family; Laura invites you to sit at her kitchen counter as she shares with you the recipes and stories that have seasoned her life.” — JEWISH SCENE

Jeff Rothfeder never steers us astray. “The story of one of the most innovative companies in the world: the automobile manufacturer that makes some of the best-selling and longest-lasting cars on the road.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS “Rothfeder writes well and he mostly manages to steer round the pitfalls of getting too technical.” — ANDREW HILL, Financial Times “Rothfeder’s fluent, concise narrative makes easy reading and also reminds family businesspeople of the sense of partnering with an outsider who can temper the founders’ foibles, and strengthen the company, as Takeo Fujisawa did with Soichiro Honda.” — WILLIAM WADSWORTH, South China Morning Post

Chris Farrell speaks to Boomers, with authority. “Farrell’s discussions with experts from academia, finance and research foundations offer support for the view that there will be employment available to those who want it.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS “For older workers at a loss for ideas and eager to postpone the inevitable, Farrell’s how-to-cope book will provide a comforting road map and set of possibilities.” –- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Finally, an author doesn’t think the Baby Boomer generation is going to bankrupt the nation…Farrell makes a great case for a longer working career for many people…What a breath of fresh air here.” — BOOKLOONS.COM.

Paul Barrett dazzles again. “An enthralling true-life courtroom drama…Almost Shakespearean in scope, featuring a flawed protagonist with good intentions but tragically overreaching ambitions.” — BOOKLIST “Here’s a twist: the almost unbelievable tale of a human rights attorney every bit as conscienceless as the multinational he was suing… a true-life, courtroom version of Heart of Darkness. — KIRKUS REVIEWS “This chilling account of the bruising, bare-knuckled conflict between a deeply flawed do-gooder and a well-oiled legal steamrolling machine should give pause to anyone who believes that justice always prevails. Barrett brilliantly shows that in the real world, the law of the jungle—an oxymoron if there ever was one—trumps the rule of law.” — ALAN DERSHOWITZ, Harvard Law School

Paul Raeburn shows his scientific savvy once again. “‘Do Fathers Matter?’ gathers an impressive diversity of studies into a single, highly readable volume, covering such topics as conception, pregnancy, infants, teenagers and aging fathers.” — BRUCE FEILER, Washington Post “It’s stuffed with studies showing the vital role fathers play in their children’s lives from the moment of conception, through the mother’s pregnancy and onward. But there’s still a sense of wonder that comes with it.” — JEFFREY KLUGER, TIME “A zippy tour through the latest research on fathers’ distinctive, or predominant, contributions to their children’s lives, “Do Fathers Matter?” is filled with provocative studies of human dads — not to mention a lot of curious animal experiments . . . [Paul Raeburn] writes clearly, untangling cause from effect, noting probabilities and inserting caveats. . . he is an ideal guide to tricky, uncertain research in a nascent field. . . . father research cuts across disciplines, and Mr. Raeburn excels at mapping the twistiness of the road ahead.” — MARK OPPENHEIMER, The New York Times

Jack Ewing offers useful lessons. “Jack Ewing dissects German business rules, habits, and procedures with the precise curiosity of an engineer who takes apart and analyses the newest product of a competitor. His approach is hands-on rather than theoretic – and due to dozens of interviews with CEOs, managers, and company owners, as well as employee representatives, he attains an illuminating insight into the inner machinery of the German economy and its success.” – WOLFGANG REUTER, Handelsblatt “Anyone looking to understand what makes Germany tick should read this book. Extraordinarily deft, profoundly human, and yet a deep analysis of how and why Europe’s biggest economy works.” – ALISON SMALE, The New York Times “Jack Ewing’s insightful analysis of Germany’s story shows how Germans built an equation based on historical strengths, adaptation to change, and commitment to competitive excellence. Typical German? Maybe – or maybe not, for those willing to take a look and a lesson from German formulas for success.” – JACKSON JANES, American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, John Hopkins University

Chris Roush makes a fresh mark. “Vermont Royster was one of newspaperdom’s truly original voices, and for many crucial years the conscience of the Wall Street Journal. Chris Roush brings him to life, while illuminating his times. This is a significant contribution to the history of journalism in the 20th century.” — RICHARD J. TOFEL, president, ProPublica “Chris Roush’s biography of Vermont Royster is a masterful portrait of one of the most influential editors of the 20th century, a writer who left a mark on American journalism that endures to this day.” — WARREN PHILLIPS, CEO, Dow Jones & Co. “Chris Roush’s rich evocation of the memory of Vermont Royster will, I hope, kindle a revival of interest in him and his work.” EDWIN M. YODER, JR., author

Stephen Baker charges into fiction. “Baker has written a true delight of a techno-thriller that has deep, dark roots in the present.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS “Highly recommended to sf and techno-thriller fans.” — BOOKLIST REVIEWS “An update to the boost, a revolutionary human-computer interface, threatens to open Americans’ brains like a Facebook account left unattended in Baker’s chillingly possible debut, a futuristic thriller with a few flaws.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Pardon my flagrant self-promotion, but I am excited to post this one. “Weber brings a journalist’s eye for character and story to this engrossing account of Transcendental Meditation and the town—and lives—it transformed. Along the way he probes religious and cultural questions about tradition and change, healing, community, place, and much more. This book is a lively and eye-opening delight.” — MATTHEW S. HEDSTROM, University of Virginia “Like many other alternative religions that burst onto the American scene in the 1960s and 1970s, Transcendental Meditation attracted thousands of followers but also a fair number of detractors. The interplay of meditators and local residents in the midwestern town of Fairfield, Iowa, where TM established its major American center, makes a fascinating case study of the impact of new religions on traditional American culture.” — TIMOTHY MILLER, editor, Spiritual and Visionary Communities: Out to Save the World

Alex Beam continues to impress, with remarkable variety in his topic choices. “High drama as one of America’s greatest—and most mystifying—characters, Joseph Smith, meets one our most incisive writers, Alex Beam, at a crossroads of our history.”— author RON ROSENBAUM “If Mormonism is the most American of religions—and it is—then the story of its founding is an American epic. In this gripping book, Alex Beam tells the story of the fate of Joseph Smith amid the Mormons’ rising tensions with ‘gentile’ neighbors—and among themselves. With an acute eye for character, he depicts Smith, Brigham Young, and their enemies as vivid, complicated human beings, immersed in struggles over money, power, survival, and the controversial doctrine of polygamy.” — author T.J. STILES “American Crucifixion is an engrossing, powerful account of the rise and fall of one of the most remarkable figures in American history. Alex Beam’s portrait of Joseph Smith—equal parts P. T. Barnum, Huey Long, and the prophet Jeremiah—captures the man in all of his contradictions and complexities.”— author GARY KRIST

Sandra Dallas takes on another tough topic. “Dallas makes an important time in American history accessible to middle grade readers with this novel that illuminates a time of discrimination while promoting a message of perseverance and tolerance.” — TIFFANY DAVIS, Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh, NY

2013

Sandra Dallas muses on old-time Denver. “Bestseller Dallas (True Sisters) memorably evokes the raw, rough-edged Denver of 1885 in this blend of suspenseful mystery and nuanced romance…. The author’s depiction of 19th-century Denver, especially its seedier side, is vividly authentic, while the nascent bond between Mick and Beret will have readers eagerly anticipating their next encounter. — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Dallas plumbs the lives of so-called fallen women in 1885 Denver as she ably reveals the ties, sturdy as well as tenuous, that bind two sisters and test the memory of their relationship after one of them is found murdered in a brothel….Sure to be snapped up by era fans as well as Dallas’ loyal readership. — JULIE TREVELYAN, Booklist

Brad Stone offers the inside skinny on Bezos, with little help from the subject, in The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon. “… the meticulously reported book has plenty of gems for anyone who cares about Amazon, Jeff Bezos, entrepreneurship, leadership or just the lunacy it took to build a company in less than two decades that now employs almost 90,000 people and sold $61 billion worth of, well, almost everything last year.” — BETHANY McLEAN, WASHINGTON POST “For people seeking to understand what can be an enigmatic company, the book does a great service in explaining the psychology of Amazon, and the company’s role as an extension of Bezos’ brain.” — GEEKWIRE “Everywhere I can fact check from personal knowledge, I find way too many inaccuracies, and unfortunately that casts doubt over every episode in the book,” MACKENZIE BEZOS (Jeff’s wife), AMAZON.COM

In the spirit of Reader’s Digest magazine’s popular 13 Things They Won’t Tell You series, Jennifer Merritt and coauthor Roe D’Angelo developed what their publisher calls “the ultimate roadmap for making the most of your money and avoiding the wallet-sucking scams.” They “talked to everyday and not-so-everyday rich folks, and to the experts who helped make them rich, to learn their secrets on what to save for, how much to save—and where to stash cash so that it grows (hint: not that bank savings account).”

Katie Hafner gets personal. “Her memoir shines a light on nurturing deficits repeated through generations and will lead many readers to relive their own struggles with forgiveness.” —ERICA JONG, PEOPLE “Katie Hafner’s Mother Daughter Me delivers an unusually graceful story, one that balances honesty and tact. . . . Hafner narrates the events so adeptly that they feel enlightening.” — HARPER’S “Heartbreakingly honest, yet not without hope and flashes of wry humor.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS “[An] emotionally raw memoir examining the delicate, inevitable shift from dependence to independence and back again.” — O: THE OPRAH MAGAZINE (Ten Titles to Pick Up Now) “Weaving past with present, anecdote with analysis, Hafner’s riveting account of multigenerational living and mother-daughter frictions, of love and forgiveness, is devoid of self-pity and unafraid of self-blame.” — ELLE

Leslie Helm is making an impressive mark with this memoir. “Yokohama Yankee is a marvelous and eloquent work of family history. What makes it more remarkable is this family’s history also sheds light on the political, economic, cultural, and racial interactions and tensions between Japan and the United States for more than a century and a half, right up to the present day. This is a humane and insightful book that will be read many years from now.” — JAMES FALLOWS of The Atlantic. “Like a sword cleaving a bittersweet fruit, Leslie Helm’s saga of his mixed-blood family in Japan cuts to the inescapable isolation of being white in a country where blood still means so much. Yokohama Yankee is a painfully intimate story that spans more than a century and brings the wrenching history of modern Japan into a focus that is both razor sharp and deeply human.” — BLAINE HARDEN, former Tokyo bureau chief of The Washington Post

Stacy Perman clocks in anew with a timely effort. “A unique competition between two scions of the Gilded Age is the driver for this fresh look at the mores of the rich and powerful. The aim of the competition was to acquire the world’s most complicated timepieces. She effectively combines these different strands, providing a compelling social history…A masterful approach to composition combines with a fascinating plot and makes its subject entertaining as well as compelling.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS (Starred Review ) “Lively” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Bruce Nussbaum wields his keen mind. “Bruce Nussbaum demystifies one of the most important initiatives of our time — unlocking the creativity within ourselves and our organizations.” — DAVID KELLEY, founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school “An intriguing mixture of challenging ideas and Utopian solutions to the broader issues regarding social welfare currently under debate.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS “Creative Intelligence lays out the forces that will drive us toward a prosperous future. Read this book if you want to be inspired and provoked to lead the way.” — RICHARD FLORIDA, Univ. of Toronto; Senior Editor, The Atlantic

Charles Dubow roars out of the gate with his first effort. “An epic novel of friendship, betrayal and undying love … outstanding” — KIRKUS REVIEWS (Starred Review) “A smart, sensuous, and moving debut. … Delicious. … The characters exude a Jazz Age glamour.” — O MAGAZINE

Robert Buderi enlightens us about military matters. “This book is a must for anyone that wants to know how the best research is done, especially the first chapter on the USS Cole disaster, and the beginning of the Iraqi war. Scientists and Admirals are finding solutions to achieve victory to an unconventional war with innovative ideas. It is fascinating how ideas are translated into science and innovation.” Marilene, AMAZON review

2012

Jon Friedman takes a novel look at Dylan. “… a unique view of Dylan through his actions, his decisions. Friedman took a tried and true formula of “Self Help” advice, turned it on its head by navigating through Dylan’s career to make the case that, despite – or perhaps because – of the chances he has taken, the unorthodox method Dylan has used could, indeed, be inspirational to people in all walks of life, in the workplace and one’s private life.” — HAROLD LEPIDUS, Performing Arts Examiner. “Friedman has produced a clear, passionate case for Dylan’s importance as a personal role model, rather than an artist or a cultural symbol. The lessons that he draws are no less true for being trite. If you love Bob Dylan, and you enjoy self-help literature, you’ll probably like this book.” — RICHARD MCGILL MURPHY, Fortune

Steve Shepard, guru to us all, lays it all out in this memoir. “This is a personal and insightful book about one of the most important questions of our time: how will journalism make the transition to the digital age? Steve Shepard made that leap bravely when he went from being a great magazine editor to the first dean of the City University of New York journalism school. His tale is filled with great lessons for us all.” — WALTER ISAACSON “An insightful and convivial account of a bright, bountiful life dedicated to words, information and wonder.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS (Starred Review)

Peter Galuszka digs deep into the world of coal-mining. “A fascinating—and infuriating—account of the deadliest industry on earth. Deadly for its workers and the people unfortunate enough to live near its mines, but deadlier still for the planet. You can’t understand our moment in time without understanding the coal industry.” — BILL McKIBBEN, author. “Appalachia may be blessed with the ‘world’s best metallurgical coal,’ but as journalist Galuszka’s powerful book shows, this coal is both ‘a curse and a prize…’ He convincingly excoriates the safety record of Massey Energy and its controversial former CEO, Don Blankenship… Drawing on his personal experience of Appalachia, Galuszka offers a sympathetic but unsentimental portrait of the region’s people and their struggles.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Natural gas, renewables, and efficiency are positioned to be the sources of America’s energy expansion, while coal represents the nation’s past. Galuszka’s Thunder on the Mountain highlights the disturbing and often deadly impacts of this highly polluting energy source and why Big Coal might just be losing its power.”– RON PERNICK, managing director of Clean Edge, Inc.

John N. Frank shares insights about life in the job market. He includes a chapter about his time at BW that he says alums might find intriguing.

Julia Lichtblau gives Woody Allen a run for his money. Her story in this collection is “Désolée, Monsieur.” She has work forthcoming in The Florida Review — the story “Foreign Service” — and in Temenos — “May, 1968” — and has been published in Ploughshares blog, Narrative,The Common Online, Pindelbox, and Tertulia.

Fran Hawthorne takes aim at some longtime faves. “Fran Hawthorne’s illuminating book will delight fans of ‘corporate social responsibility’—and enrage its critics. Her descriptions of Apple, for example, at once beloved and much criticized by the CSR crowd, aptly captures the essence of the debate.”—ADAM LASHINSKY, author. “In assessing corporate performance on social responsibility, Fran Hawthorne digs beneath the surface of some of America’s most beloved companies…. Bravo to Ethical Chic for helping to illuminate which companies are on the right track.”—DANIEL C. ESTY, author. “Hawthorne goes beyond the usual categories of ‘social responsibility’ to offer a remarkably clear-eyed view of what we should really expect from companies—and what we shouldn’t.” —MICHAEL BLANDING, author.

Jennifer Merritt helps the career-minded. “Are you looking for a mere job–the kind where you do virtually the same thing day after day, year after year, and spend the hours counting down the minutes until the clock hits five p.m.? Or are you looking for a “career”–the kind that engages your interests and passions, constantly presents new and exciting opportunities and challenges, and allows you to grow personally and professionally? If you chose the latter, this is the book for you.” — CROWN BUSINESS

Gary Weiss goes for jugular of the Tea Party movement. “Ayn Rand Nation is a fascinating exploration of one of the fastest-growing and most powerful coalitions in American politics….If you want to understand the men and women whose vehement voices are reshaping American government, you must read this book.”—KURT EICHENWALD “The timing of this book couldn’t be better for Americans who are trying to understand where in the hell the far-out right’s anti-worker, anti-egalitarian extremism is coming from. Ayn Rand Nation introduces us to the godmother of such Tea Party craziness as destroying Social Security and eliminating Wall Street regulation.”—JIM HIGHTOWER, author. “Think Ayn Rand is marginal? Think again! Gary Weiss’s powerful new history inscribes the libertarian firebrand at the very center of the American story of the past three decades.”—DAVID FRUM, author

Diane Brady tells an inspiring tale. “Holy Cross, Black Power, and the Sixties could have been an unholy mix. A bold Jesuit priest made it a holy one. The story of Father John Brooks, Clarence Thomas, Ted Wells, and the others rings with power, pride, and human feeling. Fraternity and the saga it retells adds honor to my college.”—CHRIS MATTHEWS, anchor, MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews “Diane Brady’s book brilliantly shows how the attention and concern of one man changed not only the course of these individual lives but the course of history.”—WES MOORE, author

Julia Flynn Siler immerses us in some of the ugly history of Paradise. “A sweeping tale of tragedy, greed, betrayal, and imperialism… The depth of her research shines through the narrative, and the lush prose and quick pace make for engaging reading… absorbing.”– LIBRARY JOURNAL “Richly…sourced… [Siler is] able to color in many figures who had heretofore existed largely in outline or black and white… a solidly researched account of an important chapter in our national history, one that most Americans don’t know but should… an 1893 New York Times headline called [the annexation] ‘the political crime of the century.’”– NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

Arms and the man, redux. “Paul Barrett’s Glock is a fascinating and bizarre tale of an entrepreneur, a weapon, and a nation’s love affair with guns.” — JEFFREY TOOBIN, staff writer, The New Yorker. “This book—from a top-notch reporter—will enlighten you about both gun culture and business culture. It’s fascinating, even-handed, and packs considerable punch!” —BILL McKIBBEN, author. Paul has talked about the subject, too.

Sandra Dallas brings it home again. In a novel based on true events, New York Times bestselling author Sandra Dallas delivers the story of four women—seeking the promise of salvation and prosperity in a new land—who come together on a harrowing journey.

Sandra Dallas tries her fine hand at Young Adult fiction. “Period details, engaging characters and clever plot twists will entice even the most discerning fans of historical fiction. Populated with brave and intelligent women, Dallas story is as much about Emmy s journey toward womanhood as their journey toward the West. Solid writing and a close attention to details make this story more than the sum of its parts.” — KIRKUS

Giles Blunt lands it again. “[Giles Blunt’s novels] stand as landmarks in what we might think of as the new Canadian crime wave. . . . John Cardinal is the quintessential modern Canadian crime fiction hero–the northern lawman reimagined.” — THE WALRUS “Blunt writes with the flashing grace of an ice skater skimming over a frozen pond.” — NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

Ron Lovell adds to his Thomas Martindale mystery series. “I was surprised but so far this is my favorite book out of the Martindale series. This book really showcased his masterful mystery techniques. His writing style reminds me a lot of Tom Clancy. Good Series, Fast paced and an easy read. Worth checking out.” — JLFG (Amazon customer review)

John Byrne lent a hand on this one. “… Mort has spent most of his very productive life outside the spotlight. But he has finally sat down long enough to write a brilliant book filled with the advice that helped make him a leading philanthropist, business leader, social entrepreneur and self-made billionaire. … His highly compelling book is not a memoir but rather an exploration of the fundamental principles that shaped his career and beliefs.” — MARSHALL GOLDSMITH, Amazon Reviews

John Byrne teams up with Sanford Kreisberg to offer sage counsel. John is editor-in-chief of PoetsandQuants.com and the author or co-author of ten business books, including two New York Times bestsellers. He is also the former executive editor of BusinessWeek magazine, the former editor-in-chief of BusinessWeek.com, and the former editor-in-chief of Fast Company magazine. Sanford Kreisberg is a leading MBA admissons consultant. His firm, HBSGuru.com, specializes in helping applicants get into Harvard, Stanford, Wharton and other top business schools.

2011

Ellen Neuborne and Orly Sade took on financial literacy for young folks. “Along the way, Ella learns about key business concepts, such as market research, competitive analysis, word-of-mouth marketing, guerilla marketing, costs, revenue, profits, loss, leadership, partnerships… and the list goes on. She also learns about the many types of financial products, including stocks, bonds and loans.” – ERICA SWALLOW “My husband read this to our 9-year-old son, and they both enjoyed the story. My husband is an entrepreneur, and he felt the financial concepts in this book were sound.” – JYOTSNA SREENIVASAN

“Chester Dawson is a Japanese-speaking investigative reporter who has got the inside story of Lexus and made it come alive. – EZRA F. VOGEL, Harvard University. “This is a tale of invention, innovation, consumer insight, dedication and resolve.” – MICHAEL SILVERSTEIN, The Boston Consulting Group “This is a must-read not only for car buffs, but for any manager or executive who wants to understand any manager or executive who wants to understand how to create, sustain and expand an elite brand.” – MICHELINE MAYNARD, author

John Byrne shares the wisdom of people who shook things up. “In World Changers, John Byrne has assembled a fascinating cast of characters from Oprah Winfrey to Steve Jobs. Through excerpts from their published interviews and Byrne’s own one-on-one interviews with these entrepreneurs, Byrne pieces together not just a readable volume of personal narratives but a collection of insights into what it takes to change the world. The stories are diverse, but taken as a whole, they are inspirational and educational.”– JOHN COLEMAN “If you loved Jack Welch’s Straight from the Gut, you’ll need to read this new book about how entrepreneurs drive change with passion and vision. Few people have enjoyed a seat at the table with extraordinary entrepreneurs as John has …” — MARK THOMPSON

Larry Light sallied forth against the forces of darkness. “… [P]erfect summer reading fare. The author, a financial reporter and editor, is a skilled storyteller. In this book he explores a range of investment strategies and instruments, traces their development, and in the process profiles some of the best-known investors and academics.” BRENDA JUBIN, Seeking Alpha

Dori Jones Yang waxed historical. “Yang has done an excellent job describing 14th century Mongolia, and by including the familiar character of Marco Polo she has a seamless way to weave all of the amazing facts about this setting into the narrative while rarely dragging down the story. A refreshing change of pace from a lot of the historical fiction/romance out there today! (And a brief aside: a book with a wonderful cover! After the whitewashing controversies of the last few years, 2011 is shaping up to be an amazing year for proudly putting the faces of characters of color on covers!)” BOOKISH BLATHER “The language is believable, and the descriptions of customs, foods, and places during that time period are vivid and engaging…. History is brought alive in this novel, and I enjoyed getting a glimpse of Chinese and Mongolian history mixed with a bit of adventure.” SQUEAKY CLEAN READS

Dori Jones Yang also remained a scribe. “The oral histories in this book provide valuable primary-source material about the so-called ‘lost generation’ of Chinese Americans, those who came as students in the 1940s through 1960s. This book fills a gap in our knowledge and will enrich the studies of academic researchers analyzing the experience of the Chinese diaspora.”EVELYN HU-DEHART, Brown University. “Academics and researchers will find this book of oral history an indispensable resource to study a long overlooked group of Chinese immigrants in America.” PETER KWONG, Hunter College

Celine Keatings’s new novel is piling up the praise: “Céline Keating‘s deftly plotted novel takes readers on a gripping journey along the underground railroad of post-’60s radicalism. . . . Every adult has to reinterpret the story of her childhood. Keating beautifully demonstrates the courage it takes for each of us to face that bittersweet truth.” LARRY DARK, Director of The Story Prize “A beautiful book–at once nostalgic and fresh–that will go straight to your heart and lodge there.” ALETHEA BLACK, author of I Knew You’d Be Lovely “[An] emotional page-turner. Layla’s coming to terms with her parents’ dangerous activism is heart wrenching due to Keating’s delightfully drawn characters. This novel also serves as a compelling lesson in our values and how drastically they’ve changed. It serves as a better history than any essay or screed.” SUSAN BRAUDY, author of Family Circle. Intriguing trailer, too.

So, too, is Amy Cortese‘s new effort in nonfiction. “If Michael Pollan changed the way you think about food, let Amy Cortese change the way you think about finance.” JAY LEE “Locavesting uses great storytelling to present a structured analysis of how and why to invest where you live and in the (mostly) small businesses there. Each aspect of Locavesting is brought to life by sketches of real people who impress, amuse, and intrigue.” CLIFFORD J. REEVES “This is one of the best books I have ever read on the topic of financing small business growth.” RODNEY LOGES

As is the effort by Stanley Reed and Alison Fitzgerald. “…the latest, and probably the best, of what one might call the “private sector” books about the BP spill…by a pair of talented and experienced Bloomberg reporters.” FINANCIAL TIMES “The two journalists make a logical team, and their book is often enlightening about the corporate-political nexus that placed enrichment of the already rich and aggrandizement of the already influential above the common good.” USA TODAY

Stephen Baker‘s takeout on the advance of the computer into the game-show realm proved intriguing. “Like Tracy Kidder’s Soul of a New Machine (1981), Baker’s book finds us at the dawn of a singularity. It’s an excellent case study, and does good double duty as a Philip K. Dick scenario, too.” KIRKUS REVIEWS “Final Jeopardy not only holds the answers to my … questions, but really delves into the man vs. machine thought. How do we as humans learn a language? How do we measure perception? And then once we know all of this, how do we teach it to a machine? If you are even the slightest bit interested in artificial intelligence this book is for you. At the same time, it is not so down in the computery depths that someone who knows little of data-mining algorithms won’t be able to understand. I think it is a very accessible book.” Julia, THE BROKE AND THE BOOKISH

Steve Hamm, with a couple coauthors, weighed in about machines, too. “IBM doesn’t just THINK, it thinks big. The story of these big ideas illustrates how 100 years of innovation have shaped the way we live and work today.” KENNETH CHENAULT, American Express. “Making the World Work Better convincingly documents IBM’s enormous impact on business and the world. Its history provides vital lessons for organizations of all sizes, and IBM’s future promises to continue to innovate the way we work, and even think.” HENRY CHESBROUGH, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley “Innovation, resilience, and great leadership are the key ingredients of the IBM story. Making the World Work Better tells that story exceptionally well. Ultimately, it reveals that IBM is not simply a technology company; it is a company of ideas and the future those ideas have created.” JOHN HOLLAR, Computer History Museum

William J. Holstein takes a look at what ails us. “[A] timely prescription for what our country must do to regain its financial fortitude and reinvigorate our national economy. While many believe that America faces an inevitable decline and loss of global leadership to emerging Asian economies as we exhaust our ability to innovate and compete, Holstein offers a more optimistic assessment of American industry and its ability to rise to the challenge.” PETER G. BALBUS, Pragmaxis LLC “If wishful thinking were dollars, this book would be a gold mine. As it is, Holstein provides an optimistic but not necessarily candy-colored view of a resurgent American economy.” KIRKUS REVIEWS

Alethea Black is winning lots of fans with her fiction. “This debut reads like a dream, with nary a false note…” KIRKUS REVIEWS. “A sense of vulnerable restlessness is betrayed by the otherwise pragmatic characters of Black’s strong debut collection.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Alethea Black is downright brilliant at capturing the restless striving for a self that we all are feeling in this parlous and unsettling age. I Knew You’d Be Lovely is a splendidly resonant debut by an important young writer.” ROBERT OLEN BUTLER, author of A Good Scent From a Strange Mountain

Chris Roush created a must-have text for budding business journalists and updated it nicely with this new edition. I use it in my classes. There can be no stronger endorsement! This is a keeper.

Sandra Dallas extended her long run. “[A] winning combination of solid historical fiction,vivid enduring characters,and an interesting story that pulls the reader right in. Sandra Dallas is at the top of her game with THE BRIDE’S HOUSE…an excellent read.” BOOKREPORTER.COM

2010

“Overwhelmed by … noise in New York City, NYU creative writing instructor [George Michelsen] Foy

zealously sought out silence … [but it] eluded him: underwater in his bathtub the roaring metropolis was amplified by the denser medium of water; in Paris’s catacombs a distant hum persisted among the stacked skulls and bones; and in his family home on Cape Cod the absence of excessive sound, rather than soothing him, made him conscious of the absence of his recently deceased mother. Yet in a Minneapolis anechoic chamber, he felt rested, relaxed, and triumphant, becoming the first person to stay in the dark and silent chamber alone for 45 minutes. The author’s quixotic quest is quirky, inventive, and alluring …” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Foy’s thinking about quietude began where it never exists: the New York City subway. With an audiometer, he measured the decibels of its deafening cacophony in addition to levels in his apartment, the street, and the former mansion of Joseph Pulitzer, who hated noise…. Foy’s is an adventurous and perceptively ruminative investigation of acoustical annoyances.” — GILBERT TAYLOR, BOOKLIST

Fran Hawthorne explains how real simple is anything but. “With a welcome mixture of facts and humor, Fran Hawthorne highlights the dilemmas of living an environmentally virtuous, healthy life in a fiercely consumption-oriented culture.—MICHAEL F. JACOBSON, Center for Science in the Public Interest “People are quickly learning that living a simple, low-impact life actually isn’t so simple. Thankfully, there’s much-needed relief to be found in Fran Hawthorne’s funny, poignant, and often eye-opening way of sorting through the dilemmas-and solutions—facing socially and environmentally minded consumers.”—GREG MELVILLE, author

Chris Roush, with a colleague, offered a helpful tutorial. “The book is an invaluable guide to helping you get business right, understand it, and explain it. Which is, of course, what we all should be trying to do.” ALLAN SLOAN, Fortune magazine “An essential interpretive guide for business journalists striving to make the arcane clear to readers. Very practical references for today’s changing business climate.” PATRICK SCOTT, Charlotte Observer “A comprehensive reference tool for virtually every phrase a business or economics reporter or editor needs to know. An indispensable guide both for specialists and especially for those who get thrust into covering business or economic stories.” GREG DAVID, Crain’s New York Business

Sandra Dallas kept them coming. “Dallas presents another historical novel about the hardscrabble mining communities of Colorado, set just down the road from her best-selling Prayers for Sale (2009), creating a patchwork of individuals whose lives had not intersected until this singular, transformative event. Readers may find the abrupt transitions and preponderance of flashbacks confusing and distancing. Dallas is well known for her storytelling abilities, but this reads more like a valediction of a time and place faded from memory than her usual vibrant, visceral tale. Still, Dallas is a magnet.” LYNNE WELCH, Booklist

Another standout from Hardy Green. “Taking in textile, coal, oil, lumber and appliance-manufacturing towns, Mr. Green’s survey is a useful one…. [T]he company towns overseen by Milton Hershey, Francis Cabot Lowell and even Charlie Cannon were communities enlivened by quirks and passions and idiosyncratic visions. Edens? Hardly. But they had soul, and you can neither buy nor sell that at the company store.” WALL STREET JOURNAL “Mr. Green sprints – at times breathlessly – through all kinds of company towns, mostly past but some present…. He uses these accounts, in tandem with a clean, engaging voice, to tell story upon story…. Mr. Green has amassed a collection of important, well-told stories about the contradictions, inequities and possibilities of American capitalism.” NEW YORK TIMES “[A] delightful book.” THE ECONOMIST

Andrew Park weighed in on matters of faith. “He discusses his parents’ religious upbringing and the impact it had on him. His father, for instance, was raised in the Church of Scotland, the forebear of Presbyterianism, which left him with unpleasant memories that he passed on to Park; meanwhile, Park’s older brother converted to modern Evangelical Christianity. Whether writing about his family or Rick Warren’s Saddleback megachurch, Park remains a father trying to delicately balance the responsibilities of parenthood and being true to himself. A lovely read.” JUNE SAWYERS, Booklist “Park puts on his journalist’s hat to explore the sociological backdrop of periods in America when religion experienced growth and upheaval. He examines his own inconstant feelings and discovers he has pragmatic reasons to be drawn to faith, including the community it provides. Ultimately his investigations bring Park back where he started, but with new insight. He attends a seminar about how to raise ethical children without religion and seems to have found his own holy grail: It’s OK to be a doubting dad.” MICHELLE BOORSTEIN, Washington Post.

Arlene Weintraub has made some marketers nervous. “Weintraub, a former senior writer for BusinessWeek, portrays the hormone replacement sector as a cesspool of unproven claims, unacknowledged side-effects, and marketing scams. It’s also a zoo of colorful quacks, presided over by actress Suzanne Somers, author of best-selling alternative medicine treatises. Weintraub mixes acute reportage with a censorious tone; she deplores the notion that old age is a disease.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Wrinkles, fat, and low libido start to sound pretty good after reading this unnerving exposé by journalist Arlene Weintraub. Her elixir of deep research and smooth storytelling delivers a sometimes-gag-inducing dose of reality…” FAST COMPANY “Weintraub generates plenty of feverish prose and cautionary tales to highlight this powerfully seductive syllogism of the “anti-aging industry…” AARP Magazine

Chris Farrell caught the sense of the times. “Chris Farrell provides practical guidance about how to manage personal finances. In a nutshell, which is a great disservice to the author, Farrell — who hosts a radio show on NPR– advocates implementing a margin of safety in investing and a return to the frugality that many of us grew up with…the world would be a better place if more people followed his common sense advice.” NEWARK STAR LEDGER “The title of this book hooked me from the start. What am I writing about at The Simple Dollar if I’m not writing about “the new frugality” Chris Farrell, the author of the book, is a name I’m familiar with having been a long-time faithful listener of Marketplace Money (and it’s other Marketplace brethren) on NPR. I expected a well-written book that offered lots of insightful thoughts on the “new frugality” along with some practical tips. That’s precisely what I got. Let’s dig in.” CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR “[The New Frugality] will help you spend less and save more…This book is filled with anecdotes, historical insights, resources and common sense, all of which are designed to teach you how to wisely spend your money while saving for the future.” THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Giles Blunt added to a shelf groaning with work. “As distinctively Canadian as a Tom Thomson painting. . . . Crime Machine is as good as Canadian crime fiction gets.” MARGARET CANNON, The Globe and Mail “A marvelously controlled writer, equally confident with characters and narrative.” TORONTO STAR “First-rate series. . . .You can hear the crunch of snowshoes through the bush, smell the buckshot mingling with fresh blood.” NOW (Toronto) “Another winner from one of Canada’s leading crime writers.” THE PETERBOROUGH EXAMINER

Joan Hamilton came to Meg Whitman’s aid. “Meg Whitman doesn’t just talk about important values such as integrity, accountability, authenticity and courage, she lives them…. In this engaging and honest book, Meg shares these values and how she applied them to pioneering a new model for managing a twenty-first-century company. This book only deepens my admiration for Meg’s leadership.” A.G. LAFLEY, Procter & Gamble. “As an eBay board member, I saw firsthand Meg Whitman’s determination to live and manage by the answer to the question ‘What is the right thing to do?’ as she helped eBay develop its character as a company. This book explores the values she brought to eBay and the values she nurtured at eBay – values that ultimately helped her create a remarkable success story and a powerful consumer brand.” HOWARD SCHULTZ, Starbucks “Meg Whitman makes a compelling connection between achieving success and holding firm to high standards of integrity and personal values. It’s clear and effective advice for motivating people to do their very best.” W. JAMES MCNERNEY, JR., Boeing

Anthony Bianco plunged into Silicon Valley. “[A] gripping, well-sourced and illuminating book, “The Big Lie” [is] a gossipy and at times vulgar account of the battle of wills between Dunn and Tom Perkins, one of California’s wealthiest venture capitalists. Think Tyra Banks meets “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell in a televised food fight… A splendid account of the very flawed stars of HP’s sideshow.” SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE “An authoritative account.” NEW YORK TIMES “Bianco’s reporting (and he’s done plenty of it at BusinessWeek) is complete, nasty, with plenty of villains, no heroes, and perhaps one victim… Read this alongside Jeffrey Pfeffer’s recent book, Power, and you will understand much of the dysfunction of Fortune 500 capitalism.” NEW YORK JOURNAL OF BOOKS

Jay Greene cast a designing eye. “A series of case studies of attractive and efficient design, from journalist Greene, makes a persuasive case for regarding design as an essential component of the development process of any product, which must be attended to at all stages, not just at the end….Through case studies of design-savvy companies like Porsche, Nike, LEGO, OXO, Clif bars, and Virgin Atlantic, Greene discusses the brands’ origins and presses home the point that successful companies turn their customers into cultists of a sort, admirers of both the form and function of the products they’re using.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Greene provides valuable information and insight for companies in all businesses as he explains the importance of design thinking. He quotes Apple’s Steve Jobs in discussing the iPod, ‘It’s design’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.’” MARY WHALEY, Booklist

Suzanne Robitaille checked out cutting-edge tech. “Suzanne’s book combines research and personal insight to help even the most novice user make better, more informed choices about assistive technology.” FRANCIS W. WEST, IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Center “This comprehensive, practical, and detailed guide gives you all the information you need to choose the right options for you or your loved one.” KIM DORITY, Vice President, Disaboom “Using a lively narrative style, Suzanne Robitaille takes the reader on a fascinating tour of the latest and best in assistive technology…” NICK LaROCCA, National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Ellyn Spragins has a trilogy with this work in her series on the insights of exceptional women. “… a good read for the bad times and makes a great gift for the graduating teenager who may need advice, looking back.” — BALTIMORE DAILY RECORD

2009

Evan Schwartz surprises with his Oz tale.”Author and former business journalist Schwartz (The Last Lone Inventor) presents the life story of L. Frank Baum, focusing on the invention and development of his classic 1900 children’s tale, The Wizard of Oz. Schwartz reveals how Baum’s early interest in theatre, tall tales, and entertaining an audience led the restless young man through a string of doomed careers, including actor, playwright, castor oil salesman, and shop owner (trading in knickknacks and toys)…. A dad himself, Schwartz tells Baum’s story with understanding and wit, perfect for anyone with fond memories from over the rainbow.–PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Joan Hamilton also offered sage counsel to a lawyer. “Well written and engaging, this book opens a door into big city crime and how to address it. A must-read for any would-be prosecutor and urban resident, in particular. It dispels myths about the impact of crimes with a balanced eye on the one wronged, the perpetrator and law enforcement, and should make any California resident comfortable–and hopeful–about seeing Harris in higher office. Hamilton does an excellent job of capturing the prosecutor’s perspective without letting this drift into hagiography. M. DUNKERLY, Texas attorney “This book, so clearly and well written, describes a comprehensive and sensible approach for actually reducing crime. Kamala Harris is a no-nonsense prosecutor who has thought about how to address the actual causes of crime, as well as appropriate punishments. Everyone who is concerned about the safety of our neighborhoods, now and in the future, needs to read this book and ask our friends in law enforcement and the judiciary to carefully consider her proposals for reform of the criminal justice system.” JANE HICKIE, Stephenville, Texas

Check out Linda Himelstein‘s much-praised work. “…a colorful chronicle of the rise of a business. Ms. Himelstein, a veteran journalist, keeps her narrative moving neatly along, distilling complex matters of commerce into a clear and readable form.” JOSEPH TARTAKOVSKY, The Wall Street Journal. “Himelstein makes Russian history and even current politics come alive through an unlikely narrative thread — the creation of a fortune and the eventual demise of a vodka-producing family.” STEVE WEINBERG, USA Today “The book is an impressive feat of research, told swiftly and enthusiastically, and brings depth and substance to a product that is otherwise bereft.” JORDAN MACKAY, San Francisco Chronicle

Giles Blunt hit again. “An utterly vivid, completely disturbing account of how thugs with authority unrestrained by the rule of law and untempered by the quality of mercy can go about the physical, mental and emotional destruction of a person.” THE GAZETTE “Giles Blunt writes with uncommon grace, style and compassion and he plots like a demon.” JONATHAN KELLERMAN, author “A tour de force, sorrowing and direct, sharp as a knife blade, beautifully written — an unforgettable window into the human capacity for cruelty and courage.” THE GLOBE AND MAIL

Howard Gleckman, long a pillar of the D.C. bureau, was moved to write about his elders. “Compelling personal stories, helpful information about where to turn for assistance, and ideas for ways to strengthen the safety net that too often fails families facing crisis.” JOHN ROTHER, AARP “Howard Gleckman knows first hand about caring for his elderly parents. In his illuminating Caring for Our Parents, Gleckman shines a spotlight on the financial and physical price we pay to help our loved ones in a fractured and inadequate network of long-term care services. As he profiles families who meet those challenges with love, determination, and grace, he raises important questions about how our nation will cope as the enormous Baby Boomer generation ages. Caring for our Parents is a wake-up call to a graying nation.” MARY BETH FRANKLIN, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance “By telling his personal story and those of others, Howard Gleckman helps us understand why caring for our parents is such a challenge. This is a must read for every Baby Boomer.” SUZANNE MINTZ, National Family Caregivers Association

Count Stacy Perman in, too. “Amazon Best of the Month, April 2009: [A] chronicle of how a family-run California hamburger joint went on to become an American pop culture icon…. If you’ve never had an In-N-Out burger, Perman’s book just might inspire you to find a good reason to get yourself to Southern California and seek out an off-the-menu 3×3 with a side of Animal Style fries.” BRAD THOMAS PARSONS Intriguing video of Stacy, too.

Sandra Dallas wowed ’em. “In her charming new novel, Dallas (The Persian Pickle Club; Tallgrass; etc.) offers up the unconventional friendship between Hennie Comfort, a natural storyteller entering the twilight of her life, and Nit Spindle, a naïve young newlywed, forged in the isolated mining town of Middle Swan, Colo., in 1936…. This satisfying novel will immediately draw readers into Hennie and Nit’s lives, and the unexpected twists will keep them hooked through to the bittersweet denouement.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “*Starred Review* Like the lives narrated, this novel, by the author of Tallgrass (2007), runs the gamut of heartache, hardship, and happiness as Dallas skillfully weaves past into present and surprises everyone at the end. Fans of Lee Smith (Fair and Tender Ladies, 1988), Sue Monk Kidd (The Secret Life of Bees, 2002), and Kaye Gibbons (Charms for the Easy Life, 2003), will love this book.” JEN BAKER, Booklist

Ellen Spragins gathers more insights. “Spragins’s ingenious book is the rare self-help volume that young women would elect to read and decidedly enjoy. The author profiles 35 highly accomplished women and asks them to write a letter of counsel or encouragement addressed to their younger selves. The result is a collection of life directives that are highly personal and disarmingly honest…. This book offers sound advice and is highly recommended for women just starting out.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Candid and sometimes surprising letters…It’s hard not to relate to these letters on one level or another…Readers will leave If I’d Known Then inspired to look back on their own lives and write their own missive to themselves.” — DESERET NEWS

2008

Lindsey Gerdes launched this intriguing idea for up-and-comers.

Lou Lavelle, a datameister ahead of his time, pulled together a helpful guide. Aspiring MBAs, no doubt, took note.

Spencer Ante ventures ahead profitably. “Richly researched with the cooperation of Doriot’s surviving colleagues…” — THE WALL STREET JOURNAL An “ultimately satisfying biography of Georges F. Doriot, the transplanted Frenchman who is often called the father of V.C.” — THE NEW YORK TIMES “This book will appeal to anyone interested in the origins of venture capital, why its centre of gravity moved from the Boston area to the west coast, or what it takes to succeed as a VC investor.” — THE FINANCIAL TIMES

Sandra Dallas nailed another. “An ugly murder is central to this compelling historical, but the focus is on one appealing family, the Strouds, in the backwater town of Ellis, Colo. Soon after Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government rounded up all the Japanese residents of the West Coast and shipped them off to “internment camps” for the duration of the war. One of the camps is Tallgrass, based on an actual Colorado camp, as Dallas (The Chili Queen) explains in her acknowledgments. The major discomforts and petty indignities these (mostly) American citizens had to endure are viewed through the clear eyes of a young girl who lives on a nearby farm, Rennie Stroud…. Dallas’s terrific characters, unerring ear for regional dialects and ability to evoke the sights and sounds of the 1940s make this a special treat.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Dallas has made a major contribution to a growing body of literature about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Based on the one camp in Colorado (named Amache, and renamed Tallgrass by the author), the story focuses on the impact it had on the local farmers and townspeople….Part mystery, part historical fiction, part coming-of-age story, Tallgrass has all the elements of a tale well told: complex characters, intriguing plot, atmospheric detail, pathos, humor, and memorable turns of phrase. But most of all, the book offers a fresh look at a theme that can never be ignored: the interplay of good and evil within society and within people.” ROBERT SAUNDERSON,Berkeley Public Library, CA, School Library Journal

Alex Beam has made quite a mark, too. “Alex Beam’s colourful history narrates how this extraordinary project got off the ground at the University of Chicago, under the stewardship of chalk-and-cheese duo Robert Hutchins (who, a friend said, “made homosexuals of us all”) and Mortimer Adler (who “often added his own works to Great Books reading lists for courses he taught”).” STEVEN POOLE, Guardian “Boston Globe columnist Beam looks at how and why this multi-year project took shape, what it managed to accomplish (or not), and the lasting effects it had on college curricula (in the familiar form of Dead White Males). Beam (Gracefully Insane: Life and Death Inside America’s Premier Mental Hospital) describes meetings endured by the selection committee, and countless debates … but tells it like it is regarding the Syntopicon they devised-at “3,000 subtopics and 163,000 separate entries, not exactly a user-friendly compendium”-and the resulting volumes, labeling them “icons of unreadability-32,000 pages of tiny, double-column, eye-straining type.” By lauding the intent and intelligently critiquing the outcome, Beam offers an insightful, accessible and fair narrative on the Great Books, its time, and its surprisingly significant legacy.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Steve Hamm pursued the ideal. “This is a really remarkable book! Covering past, present, and-most excitingly-the future of mobiles, it brings back extremely vivid memories to me and puts in context the many challenges and great opportunities still out there.” JOHN ELLENBY, creator of the GRiD Compass, the first laptop computer “If you have a couple of mobile devices in your pocket and wonder why there isn’t a perfect single device, this book is for you.” ROBERT SCOBLE, the Scobleizer blog and former chief blogger for Microsoft

Giles Blunt ventured into the youth market. “Blunt presents readers with a well-crafted plot and lovable, eccentric characters who are magnetizing from page one. Teens will fall in love with this handsome, insightful 18-year-old and his questionable girlfriend, and will be charmed by this quirky, fast-paced tale.” ELLEN BELL, Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton, CA

Steve Baker did some close counting on this one. “In this captivating exploration of digital nosiness, business reporter Baker spotlights a new breed of entrepreneurial mathematicians (the numerati) engaged in harnessing the avalanche of private data individuals provide when they use a credit card, donate to a cause, surf the Internet—or even make a phone call…. An intriguing but disquieting look at a not too distant future when our thoughts will remain private, but computers will disclose our tastes, opinions, habits and quirks to curious parties, not all of whom have our best interests at heart.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “This is a fascinating outing of the hidden yet exploding world of digital surveillance and stealthy intrusions into our decision-making processes as we buy food, make a date, or vote for president. Yet, as Baker assures us, we are not helpless. For one thing, machines still can’t process sarcasm. Read and resist.” DONNA SEAMAN, Booklist

Michael Mandel waxed academic. Another text I use in my biz-econ journalism class. Need you know more?

Fran Hawthorne shares retirement worries. “Will retirement security be an oxymoron for most Americans? Fran Hawthorne’s Pension Dumping offers a clear-eyed, provocative look at the critically important world of pensions.”
—BARBARA RUDOLPH, author. “Having lived through the S&L crisis, I can’t help but wonder what policy makers might have done had they been presented with a concise, cogent description of the gathering of the perfect storm before events unfolded. Fran Hawthorne has written such a book for pension policy makers.”—OLENA BERG LACY, former Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration. “With clarity and even humor at times, Hawthorne examines a complicated, multifaceted, and often troubling phenomenon with broad current and future implications for companies, workers, retirees, taxpayers, and society as a whole.”—PHYLLIS C. BORZI, former Counsel for Employee Benefits, U.S. House of Representatives

Stephen Adler and Lisa Grunwald team up as editors on this one. “Leaving few stones unturned, the husband-and-wife journalist team of Grunwald and Adler (a former Esquire features editor and a Wall Street Journal assistant managing editor, respectively) have compiled a riveting epistolary chronicle of 20th-century America. Comprising 423 letters that are by turns intimate, bureaucratic, officious and epoch-defining…” – PUBLISHERS WEEKLY. “Letters to lovers, threats from gangsters, pleas to judges for mercy, tracts from terrorists, junk mail from evangelists, advice from Ann Landers, even young JFK’s message carved on a coconut after PT-109 was sunk–all combine to provide one of the most authentic, resonant, and real histories imaginable, a sweeping and often intensely personal chronicle of the American 20th century, as told by the famous, the infamous, and the obscure. – PAUL HUGHES, Amazon.com

FOR WORK BY BW AUTHORS FROM 2007 AND EARLIER SEE NEXT POST

It was Queen E, but could have been St. E

Posted on July 31, 2017 by Joe Weber

For all its splendors, travel often brings a misadventure or two. Count the many hours Donna and I spent in a pair of Chinese hospitals overnight last night among those. By turns disturbing and enlightening, the experience was almost Dickensian.

Donna did something bad to her lower back on the treadmill during a regular Sunday morning workout. Her pain settled in by midday and, by midnight, was excruciating. She was in such distress, in fact, that after half a sleepless day in bed, she groaned at about 1 a.m. Monday that she had to go to the ER.

The medical saga then began. First, the staffers at the Sheraton Kowloon were marvelous. Three folks showed up at our room door with a wheelchair, helped Donna into a taxi and gave us a sheet bearing the name and address of the first hospital, St. Teresa’s, a private hospital they recommended.

Off we went. Unfortunately, many Hong Kongers had similar ideas in the middle of the night. Donna was 20^th in line to see a single general practitioner on duty. After checking in at 1:27 a.m., Donna was wheeled in to see him sometime after 3 a.m. In between, she was left to writhe on a bed in a ward of about a dozen beds, next to a fellow who, like her, moaned a lot.

The nurses, to be sure, were kind. They provided an icepack, albeit an unrefrigerated one, when I asked. But they couldn’t break the queue, not even for someone in obvious intense pain. It turned out, too, that St. Teresa’s did not have an ER, but only an outpatient clinic along with its 1,000-plus beds, and thus the single GP and long line.

The GP never laid his hands on Donna. Nor did he visit her at her bed. Instead, his exam consisted of asking her questions after they wheeled her into a tiny room to talk with him. He ordered up an X-ray, which, happily but mysteriously, showed nothing unusual. The whole time, he (like most of the others med staff) wore a surgical mask, apparently in fear of the flu outbreak now filling wards in the city. Altogether, this was not reassuring. Visions of MRSA clouded my thoughts.

The GP ordered up an injection for Donna and the nurses complied. After the shot did nothing and I complained, he ordered up a second injection, which also did nothing. Then, he prescribed oral meds, including a muscle relaxant, sending me off to the pharmacy area of the hospital to collect them. These meds did only a bit better than nothing, making Donna at least drowsy, even if still in agony. We feared a kidney stone or some other internal problem, but neither we nor the doc had a clue.

By the way, the first task on entering the hospital and before getting the meds was for me to pay up at a glass-walled counter (like the kind at paycheck-loan places). I paid the equivalent of $174 for the hospital services and a like amount for three drugs. That was astoundingly low by American standards, of course. Still, it was unsettling to be required to pay first, making me wonder what would happen if we didn’t have the money (they took American Express). There have been stories in China of people cast out into the street for lack of funds (though not at public hospitals, as I recall).

At about 4 a.m., it was clear Donna wasn’t improving, even as no one still had any idea what was wrong with her. The staff urged that she visit Queen Elizabeth Hospital, a public hospital that had an ER. An ambulance showed up, after a discomfiting wait, and took us on a leisurely ride through the city to QEH. The driver saw no need to use his lights or siren, and stopped dutifully at every red light, despite Donna’s anguish.

Soon, at QEH, we found the Chinese version of St. Elsewhere. It was jammed with people sitting in a waiting area in dire need of remodeling. The inner treatment area was filled with nearly a dozen folks on gurneys, in various states of distress. Donna joined this queue, with her gurney lined up along the others in the center of the floor, and, again, we waited. Eventually, she was wheeled into a tiny exam area behind a curtain, and she got a proper exam from a doc who seemed altogether overworked.

Indeed, later I chatted with one of the ER admitting guys, who told me it’s tough for the public hospitals to keep docs. The hospitals routinely see dozens of patients each night and the docs work nonstop through their shifts. They also likely don’t make much money, since the charge for hospital services this time – again, in advance, was about $183. The docs soon burn out and go private, he said. There were no old docs there.

After ordering up a second set of X-rays and processing blood and urine tests, the kindly doc we dealt with found nothing obviously wrong. It was all still a painful mystery. But, by 8 a.m. or so – after a few hours of more writhing – the docs decided that Donna should be admitted for observation and a chance to see a specialist. I signed the papers, even though no one could say when the specialist would stop by. The ER docs also couldn’t give her anything more for pain beyond the meds that seemed to be barely better than Tylenol because the ER didn’t dispense such drugs; only the specialist upstairs had access to them.

Problem was, the admitting staff couldn’t find room in a ward for Donna. The ward was jammed, so we waited until after 9 a.m. By then, we both had had enough — over eight hours of misery was plenty. Toughing it out at the hotel until we could find a private doc seemed better than laying unattended in an ER, waiting for a room and never being sure when a promised specialist would appear. We signed the papers, acknowledging our discharge against medical advice, were counseled by a doc on what to do should something go awry, and we found our way to a taxi.

Soon, as Donna lay uncomfortably in the hotel bed, I did a little Internet work and turned up a chiropractor’s office near our hotel. We went, found a wonderful group of guys, educated in Canada and in the U.S., who examined Donna properly, determined the problem and began therapy. She apparently had compressed a couple discs in her back on the 15-hour flight to Hong Kong and then worsened the problem by running. The swelling caused the intense pain.

The private practice was well-equipped and comfy, in a sleek downtown office building above an Esprit shop. Still, the cost was reasonable: the equivalent of $178. Donna will get at least two more such sessions before we leave.

The bottom line: treatment in Hong Kong, unlike the U.S., won’t bankrupt a patient. The docs seem capable, but overworked and, maybe, a bit incurious about their patients’ mystery illnesses. And, at least in the general hospitals, the queuing is heartless at best. That leaves the hard-pressed docs and nurses to take a workaday approach that leaves patients ill-informed, seemingly ignored and feeling beset by griefs beyond their ailments.

It’s not fun to get sick anywhere, but, sadly, there are better places to do so. Happily, Donna is on the mend now. And she’s looking forward to heading home Saturday.

For Chinese students, history is personal

Posted on July 24, 2017 by Joe Weber

“I have a sister who is eleven years older than I. Actually, I heard from my mother that I should have another sister who is just one year old than I. I asked my parents and grandparents a lot times about where did she go or did she die. From my mother’s mood, I guess she didn’t die but she was abandoned by my parents. Why? Because at that time, my family was so poor to afford three children, and boys mean more than girls to a family which I completely disagree with. Thus, I have never seen her in my life. I wish she would live better than I and we could meet each other again. I am looking for her, I hope I can find her.”

Their stories, like China’s history for the last three generations (and longer), are remarkable. Some are heartbreaking. Others are heartwarming. Still others, like those of many of my students in Nebraska, are surprisingly upbeat. The variety in their life stories – again, as is also true of my students in Nebraska – is stunning.

My students in a summer course at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics shared their brief autobiographies as an initial assignment. I assign the task to get a sense of their writing skills and to get to know them a bit. I ask where they hope their studies will take them and what they want to get out of the course. As in Nebraska, I find a blend of young-adult idealism, hopefulness and candor in their work.

Some of their stories are extraordinary, though, and they open a window onto China’s recent history:

“All of the members in my entire family are born in Shanghai, and my grand grandparents and grandparents, they came through the Cultural Revolution, which is also mentioned in the yesterday’s Ted video. During that ten years, it seems like nobody need to work, according to what my grandfather have told me, and the national economy backed off. National income lost about 500 billion yuan, according to the online statistics, and people’s living standards and personal education has been destroyed. While my grandparents suffered a lot because of the chaos in the upper politics, my parents and I have already got the great benefit from the reform and opening policy. All of us are well-educated and have more working opportunities than ever no matter how fierce the competition is in today’s job market. Those who are about the similar ages as me, which are also called millennials professionally, actually enjoy the fruits that the great development in China has brought us.”

Their tales also shed light on China’s present and future:

“I was born in a little village in Zhejiang province. My mother and my father are all local residents in this village, but they came to Shanghai to set up their own business when I was about two … My mother and my father are retailers selling glasses in Shanghai. Their business is successful now. They have expanded their business to eight chain stores now which was unimaginable at the beginning of the business, because my grandfather and grandmother are all farmers with little income and they had little money for the business when they first came to Shanghai, a city full of opportunities and attractiveness to them at that time.

‘My parents lived a tough life at the beginning of their business. My father was once time cheated by his fellow-villager when his business just started to improve, who suddenly disappeared with all my father’s savings… I really admire them for setting up their own business so successfully…. But things aren’t going well these years. The industry has been going downhill since the rise of E-business in Chinese. One of the chain stores has been shut down because it wasn’t able to earn profit. I was asked to help at the day the store was shut down .The store was decorated beautifully and it cost a lot, but at that day they had to be moved out of that store … My parents told me that it was harder and harder to run a business nowadays…. They plan to shrink their business and end it when they retire. This arises my interest in business and economics, and that is why I chose to enter Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.”

Some come from very modest backgrounds, as the children of farmers:

“I know how many people in China are still in poor today, cause I know how many people are still struggling for a better life. Chinese people, especially the farmers, are trying their best to fight against corruption of the government, discrimination of the citizen, destruction of the bad weather, low price of agricultural products, low pay in the factories, the inequality of education.

“There are too many things we need to do, and I want to contribute to the positive changes of my family, my homeland, and my country. I got much help from the society, and I want to do something helpful to society, that’s where my worth lies… I want to get a wider vision. I want to know more about the world I used to hate business as I think that it is just a chase for money, but now I think that only through business can our people get wealthy, so I want to know more about the business world, what’s it like, how does it work, how can we work in the process and make people get wealth through the process.”

Others, hailing from comfortable backgrounds, expect to do even better than their parents in life:

“I come from a well-off family. My father is a salesperson who lacks high-level education but is pretty experienced in marketing in the environmental protection industry. I am very proud of him and he is my hero who built up from nothing and made every effort to offer the best to my family. My mother is the woman who stands at the back of him. She works more than a housewife would do and takes good care of both my father and me. Since I was little, I have travelled a lot with my parents around the country partly thanks to the requirement of my father’s job. In the rest of my life, I would love to walk farther, enjoy more beautiful sceneries and accompany my parents to travel all over the world with the gratitude they brought to me in my childhood. To be a better one, man needs to experience more.”

Their powerful stories make me want to serve them better as a teacher, even of a short-term course. If I can provide some insights into economics and business, I may give them something that helps them long after their school days end. Such is my hope and ambition anyway.

BW Authors (Part 2)

Posted on June 14, 2017 by Joe Weber

The talent pool at BW was so rich and deep that I had to break the post listing the books by veterans of the magazine in two posts. Here is the list from 2007 and earlier:

2007

Geoff Gloeckler got the party started with this effort. “This book helped me plan out which schools I would look at to go into business. I feel that they have by far the best rankings out there, even better than U.S. News and World Report, because they dont just rank, they prioritize and explain their rankings thoroughly.” — K. BOYLE, Amazon customer review. “The book has so much relevant information put in a simple, easy to read format. Everything I wanted to know about business schools plus extra. The book gave me a well rounded look, not only academic. Things like activities in the near by area, girl to guy ratios, and intramural activities…. Great book and well put together!” — D. SEATON, Amazon customer review.

Jeff Rothfeder sizzles.”Despite the company’s ebbing sales and profits even in the midst of a hot-sauce craze, Rothfeder’s tale is balanced and always entertaining, and may please at least some of those who shake a few drops of Tabasco on whatever they’re eating.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Reading this piquant history means you can never again reach for that little bottle without recalling the amazing history fraught within.” – MARK KNOBLAUCH, Booklist

Tony Bianco went shopping. “[The Bully of Bentonville]…is filled with direct quotations from current and former Wal-Mart employees, paraphrased anecdotes from Wal-Mart lore, Sam Walton legends, data from government documents and studies from academic researchers such as Basker. Not a single page…is boring, whether the reader is a Wal-Mart lover, Wal-Mart hater, or a conflicted in-between sometimes shopper.” THE KANSAS CITY STAR “In The Bully of Bentonville Bianco produces the most penetrating examination of Wal-Mart’s business practices and their ripple effects in American society that has been published since Wal-Mart watching became a serious pursuit of the business press and academia.” THE STAR TELEGRAM

Ann Therese Palmer, a devoted grad of Notre Dame, showed her fealty to alma mater. “This book is a great read. It includes letter from early Notre Dame female grads along with other famous ND folks who were there when coeducation began. Included are letters from sports coaches and the first female ND undergraduate.” PAUL BLILEY JR. “This book is amazing! Reading all the stories and experiences of Notre Dame women pioneers, famous Notre Dame graduates, and various administrators is inspiring! Read the book, it’s wonderful!” R. O’CONNOR, BingoBooks

Paul Barrett wrapped this one up on Steve Adler‘s watch at BW. “Paul M. Barrett has written a rich book full of insights into a religion many Americans don’t know enough about.” CHICAGO TRIBUNE “A thoughtful exploration that is both comforting and alarming . . . American Islam reveals the variety of Muslim experience in the U.S., as well as profound aspects of Islam that are underappreciated in this country.” THE WALL STREET JOURNAL “Well wrought and engaging . . . A welcome antidote to the wide spread Islamophobia that has infected so many Americans over the last five years . . . The book makes a compelling argument that the greatest tool in America’s arsenal in the ‘war on terror’ may be its own thriving and thoroughly assimilated Muslim community.” THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD

Julia Flynn Siler knows a bit about wine, it seems. “Call it Greek tragedy or Shakespearean drama, Biblical strife, Freudian acting out or even soap opera. You wouldn’t be exaggerating, and you wouldn’t be wrong….” ERIC ASIMOV, The New York Times “[A] lesson in business, family, greed and hubris that reads like a thriller novel. You will never look at a glass of wine the same way again.” GEOFF OLDFATHER, Treasure Coast Palm “With stellar reporting and clear, enjoyable writing Julia Flynn Siler… describes the long rise and sharp descent of California’s most iconic vintner … her research is simply outstanding. She captures the scope of Mondavi’s story, which amounts to King Lear in wine country.” W. BLAKE GRAY, Vinography

Larry Light and his bride, Meredith Anthony, proved versatile in fiction. “Ladykiller is an intriguing, compelling and suspenseful crime novel packed with enticing twists and turns to keep you on the edge. The authors have created a powerful thriller that tantalizes with a sense of suspense and a steady flow of action. The characters are believable, finely developed and engaging. Ladykiller is superbly crafted with vivid detail that draws you into the story.” TERRY SOUTH, Quality Reviews

Janet Rae-Dupree and Pat DuPree got physical with this one. “I’m a middle age woman who returned to college and needed help with my Anatomy class this book was a very big help. I couldn’t have passed the class without this book.” — CHRISTY BURKE “I am starting my first year of nursing school and needed some brushing up on my A&P. This book breaks everything down for you. It is simple enough to easily understand but doesn’t become so easy that you are actually learning nothing. I would totally recommend it!” — LILMISSNURSE

Under the pseudonym G.F. Michelsen [George Michelsen Foy] “pits a commercial sea captain against a broken ship and an insubordinate crew in his disappointing new novel. Lorenzo Fuller captains the Pacific Debenture, a grain freighter, off the coast of southeast Africa and tries to get the wayward and ailing ship back on track. But the memories of the woman he has loved and lost haunt him…. Fans of nautical tales will enjoy the climactic scene, but anyone not enamored of salty dog stories will have a tough time getting their sea legs here.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “Michelsen has written deftly about men struggling with their jobs, their marriages, and society in general, and his latest novel addresses similar themes…. Michelsen’s strong characterizations of Lorenzo, his son, and several crew members inject heightened pathos into the climactic, though not unexpected, conclusion.” — DEBORAH DONOVAN, BOOKLIST

Sandra Dallas, with Nanette Simonds, weaves quite the story. “Written by one of Colorado’s finest writers, our quilted history is well told in The Quilt That Walked to Golden.” — ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS “This book not only walks, it talks. And no quilt could have a better author to make it ‘talk’ than Sandra Dallas. A great book.” —PAT SCHROEDER, former member of Congress

2006

Larry Light addresses timeless topics. “Light brings back intrepid reporter Karen Glick, feature writer for Profit magazine, for a second outing (following Too Rich to Live) with largely satisfying results. The three Reiner sisters, Linda, Ginny and Flo, have created a computer program called Goldring that accurately predicts the stock market, and have used it to make themselves incredibly wealthy. But the digital goose that lays the golden eggs proves deadly…. Light is skillful setting the multiple and complicated plots spinning, and despite the body count he manages to keep the tone light and quick; however, the story—nicely tied up though it is—relies heavily on coincidence and overly talky characters, and much of the supporting cast feel stock. That said, Glick remains a strong, witty heroine; her latest adventure should please fans of Wall Street thrillers.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Giles Blunt chilled ’em with this. “Set in remote Algonquin Bay, Ontario, Blunt’s compelling fourth crime novel to feature John Cardinal (after Blackfly Season) finds the police detective mourning the death of his wife, an apparent suicide. Then Cardinal starts receiving cold, hate-filled notes gloating over his loss…. An unexpected yet utterly realistic twist lifts this novel into extremely interesting (and entertaining) territory. Sharp dialogue, complex characters and a satisfying conclusion should help Blunt, who has won Britain’s Silver Dagger and Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award, win new readers in the U.S. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “The fourth crime novel featuring Detective John Cardinal may give acclaimed Canadian author Blunt the popular recognition he is due.” ALLISON BLOCK, Booklist

Steve Hamm rode the tiger. “Business Week senior writer Hamm, who has focused on the emergence of India and China as global economic powers, chose to profile Wipro to tell the story of India’s rising technology industry. Founder Azim Premji built the company from a failing vegetable oil company into a high-tech engineering lab serving clients such as Aviva and Texas Instruments. Premji (who has been called the Bill Gates of India) pioneered the “Wipro Way,” which, much like the famed HP Way, emphasizes ethical values, process excellence, and a central focus on customer relations. On track to become the Wal-Mart of IT services, Wipro is already a fierce global competitor and will be a company to keep an eye on. DAVID SIEGFRIED, Booklist

Gary Weiss found the fraudsters — again. “Never mind Enron—corruption, fraud and towering incompetence are Wall Street’s daily bread and butter, insists this lively j’accuse. Ex-BusinessWeek reporter Weiss (Born to Steal: When the Mafia Hit Wall Street) details the myriad ways the financial industry preys on small investors… He also pillories the industry’s toothless watchdogs—the New York Stock Exchange, a business media addicted to hype and puffery, and a do-nothing Securities and Exchange Commission.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “If you’re like half of America, and you own stocks, either directly or through mutual funds, IRAs, or 401(k)s, you may not want to hear what Weiss has to say about the industry–but you’d better read it anyway, for your own good. Weiss, an award-winning investigative journalist, formerly with Business Week, refuses to toe the party line. He describes practices we thought were confined to the fringe dark side of The Street, such as boiler room fraud; overpaid, uncaring fund managers; ineffectual SEC regulations; and Wild West-style hedge funds. The wall that is supposed to separate CEOs, analysts, underwriters, and the media has long disappeared, according to Weiss, as these forces cozy up to form a coalition designed to separate you from your money.” DAVID SIEGFRIED, Booklist

Ellyn Spragins shares the wisdom of extraordinary women. “What these letters offer . . . is hope—hope that those who read them will understand that there is a future where the road not taken is no longer regretted, and, in the end, the choices we make, make us who we are.” — BOSTON GLOBE

Robert Buderi teams up with Gregory T. Huang to offer insights on China. “Guanxi is a riveting story of Microsoft’s efforts to do research and development in China. It gives you a front row seat on the global war for scientific talent, the future of innovation, and the growing linkages between the U.S. and China…Essential reading for anyone who wants to better understand where the world is headed.” — JEFFREY E. GARTEN, Yale School of Management
“Offers valuable insights into how some of the world’s mightiest corporations twist themselves into knots to gain footholds in China… The story has all the elements for a corporate drama.” — BLOOMBERG.COM “The authors argue persuasively that Microsoft’s Beijing Center has played a central role in developing products and served as a model for the company as it expands…Guanxi does show the importance that China has for American high-tech companies.” — BRUCE EINHORN, BusinessWeek

2005

Sandra Dallas struck a chord. “Old fans will recognize Dallas’ trademark leisurely pace in a new setting, a gothic-tinted South instead of the wide-open Midwest, and be pleasantly surprised. The languid pacing will not keep readers from eagerly turning pages to discover why Amalia was murdered and the reasons behind Nora’s failed marriage. Dallas has crafted a honey-and-Spanish-moss-tinged tale certain to please gentle fiction readers who don’t mind a little mystery.” KAITE MEDIATORE, Booklist

Giles Blunt stings. “Silver Dagger–winner Blunt spins a highly disturbing but truly memorable tale about a Canadian cult’s murder spree…. Based on a true crime, the pulsing, tightly plotted narrative again shows why Blunt (Forty Words for Sorrow) should be considered among the new practitioners of crime drama’s elite.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “His characters, even to the lonely guy sitting by himself at the end of the bar, are wonderfully realistic; his pacing never flags; his knowledge of police procedure is accurate without being show-offy; and he leaves the reader not so much with a story as with a glimpse into a perfectly realized world. First-rate.” CONNIE FLETCHER, Booklist

Sheridan Prasso made a mark early with this effort. “Prasso’s ambitious agenda focuses on both Asian women and our perceptions of them, exploring the historical and pop cultural roots of the ‘Asian Mystique’ and ending with a ‘reality tour of Asia.’ Her stories about the lives of Asian women from diverse cultures and socio-economic backgrounds are compelling.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “… Prasso explains the symbiotic nature of Western fantasy and Asian fulfillment–often to great profit–of that fantasy, the roles that Asian women play and defy in the West, even the dangerous implications of this still-active fantasy upon global politics. Especially interesting are her observations on the emasculated role of Asian men in Western media–picture, for instance, Jackie Chan even kissing a Western woman.” ALAN MOORES, Booklist

Paul Raeburn shared some tough material. “Raeburn fully discloses the daily struggles he faces with his children — one bipolar, the other chronically depressed — but what emerges is less about them than about him. He is the center of the narrative — a pragmatic journalist with an anger problem and a failed marriage who wants what’s best for his children, but like most parents is groping in the dark for what that is…. Raeburn’s greatest gift is his brave honesty. He challenges all parents to take responsibility and claim their part in their children’s pain.” PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

Larry Light took readers inside. “Light draws us into a Wall Street world full of well-chosen and telling details that only someone who’s had inside access would know. TOO RICH TO LIVE melds humor and suspense in this entertaining mystery that explores the heady worlds of some very rich men from the point of view of one feisty investigative journalist.”CARROLL JOHNSON, Reviewing the Evidence.

“A clear-eyed, thoughtful look at an agency that regulates a quarter of the U.S. economy and, more than any other, has the safety of the American public in its hands. Inside the FDA makes plain how powerful and controversial the Food and Drug Administration has become.”—ELIZABETH MACBRIDE,former managing editor of Crain’s New York Business. “Controversy lives on the FDA’s doorstep, and it knocks loudly— as it did recently with Vioxx—when a drug it approves is involved in consumer deaths. Fran Hawthorne has written a vivid and compelling account of the pressures from politicians, industry, and consumers; the scientific uncertainties; the risk-reward compromises; and the constantly changing legal landscape that influences the agency’s life-and-death decisions.”—CLEM MORGELLO, former senior editor and columnist at Newsweek, former senior editor at Dun’s Review

Julie Tilsner stretches the point, hilariously. “I just had my first baby in June and I was given this book by my grandmother. I cannot think of a more perfect book!” — A. NEWKIRK “This book is absolutely charming and very very funny. I laughed, and boy did I need it. 🙂 — GRACE “When this book arrived, I sat down on my comfy chair and read each and every “mommy asana” in one sitting. Then I read it again. And again. Then I shared the book with my neighbors and friends. We’ve never laughed so much. It was wonderful.” — D. TUSZKE

2004

Anthony Bianco summons some haunting memories. “Business writer Bianco (Rainmaker: The Saga of Jeff Beck, Wall Street’s Mad Dog) evokes many wonderful ‘ghosts’ in his moving and dramatic story of the block that runs between Broadway and Eighth Avenue on 42nd Street (although the book is about the entire Times Square area). He starts with impresario Oscar Hammerstein, the German immigrant who built 10 splendid theaters in Manhattan between 1888 and 1914 (and whose fame was eventually eclipsed by that of his grandson, lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II). With dry humor and an admirable lack of sentimentality, the author surveys 42nd Street/Times Square from its heyday as an entertainment center, through its long decline, to its recent revival despite greedy promoters and reluctant politicians, whom he’s not loath to name.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

2002

Paula Dwyer toiled with Arthur Levitt on this one. “Levitt, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s longest-serving chairman, supervised stock markets during the late 1990s dot-com boom. As working Americans poured billions into stocks and mutual funds, corporate America devised increasingly opaque strategies for hoarding most of the proceeds. Levitt reveals their tactics in plain language, then spells out how to intelligently invest in mutual funds and the stock market. His advice is aimed squarely at small, individual investors, as he explains how to look for clues of malfeasance in annual reports, understand press releases and draw more from reliable sources. Woven throughout are his recollections about the SEC boardroom fights he oversaw…. should be mandatory reading for anyone with a dollar invested in the stock market.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

William Wolman and Anne Colamosca join forces in this cautionary tale. “A call for real pension reform and a rethinking of how to provide retirement security in this country.” — BOSTON GLOBE “A hard-hitting evaluation of the 401(k)plans… [Wolman and Colamosca] deliver a disturbing message.” — USA TODAY

Sandra Dallas bends the genre. “The author tweaks the Western genre with her newest historical novel…. Dallas fleshes out the kind of background characters found in a L’Amour or Grey novel with affection and zest. Sure to garner new fans and satisfy existing ones, this novel is recommended for all public library collections.” — KAITE MEDIATORE, Booklist

2001

John Byrne helps a business legend cement his legend. “It’s hard to think of a CEO that commands as much respect as Jack Welch. Under his leadership, General Electric reinvented itself several times over by integrating new and innovative practices into its many lines of business. In Jack: Straight from the Gut, Welch, with the help of Business Week journalist John Byrne, recounts his career and the style of management that helped to make GE one of the most successful companies of the last century. Beginning with Welch’s childhood in Salem, Massachusetts, the book quickly progresses from his first job in GE’s plastics division to his ambitious rise up the GE corporate ladder, which culminated in 1981. What comes across most in this autobiography is Welch’s passion for business as well as his remarkable directness and intolerance of what he calls ‘superficial congeniality’–a dislike that would help earn him the nickname ‘Neutron Jack.’ In spite of its 496 pages, Jack: Straight from the Gut is a quick read that any student or manager would do well to consider. Highly recommended.” — HARRY C. EDWARDS, Amazon Reviews

2000

Sandra Dallas tackles timeless themes. “Loyalty, trust and friendship are the themes of Dallas’s (The Persian Pickle Club) cozy, suspense-driven epistolary novel, set during the Civil War…. As the story unfolds, secrets and mysteries abound, and Alice shares every joy and sorrow with her sister by letter…. her irreverent humor and precise expression will keep readers entertained.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

1999

John Byrne takes on a slash-and-burn artist. “It would be hard to imagine a more scathing indictment of one man’s career and character than this blistering saga by Byrne (Informed Consent), a senior writer for Business Week. Dubbed ‘Chainsaw Al’ for his management style, which featured massive layoffs, Dunlap became a business star when he appeared to have turned around the ailing Scott Paper Co. and then arranged its sale to Kimberly-Clark, a move that made millions for Scott’s shareholders and executives. After leaving Scott, Dunlap was recruited by mutual fund manager Michael Price to improve the lethargic stock price of Sunbeam, and Dunlap immediately went to work, slashing thousands of jobs and shutting dozens of plants…. During his career, Dunlap created no shortage of enemies, who were more than willing to share their views with Byrne. Byrne captures the chaos that became Sunbeam in this sizzling tale of what can happen when greed trumps all other management considerations.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

1997

Elizabeth Ehrlich remembers. “Ehrlich … writes with humor and passion about her journey from ambivalent Jew to a woman who observes tradition and teaches her children about their ethnic heritage. Her story begins when she meets Miriam, her future mother-in-law, a Polish Holocaust survivor who ‘guarded culinary specialties in her mind during years when possession and certainties were ripped from her hands.’ Through Miriam, Ehrlich awakens to dormant memories and traditions in her past and gradually decides that her own family life would have greater meaning if she made her kitchen kosher.” SUSAN DEARSTYNE — Library Journal “Ehrlich’s own story covers her transformation from a child whose family lit Sabbath candles but went boating on Yom Kippur, to an adult who chooses an Orthodox life marked by ambivalence about the rigors of being kosher and pride in what she is passing on to her children. Recipes for Honey Cake, Noodle Pudding, and many others are buried treasures hidden among Ehrlich’s intense words…. Miriam’s Kitchen is a gripping and gratifying memoir of food, life, tragedy, and family survival. — DANA JACOBI, Amazon Reviews

Anthony Bianco sallies into the northland. “A decade ago, the Reichmanns of Toronto were ranked as one of the 10 wealthiest families in the world. Olympia & York, the five brothers’ flagship real estate company, had major developments throughout the world. The story of 0 & Y’s collapse has already been told well by Peter Foster in Towers of Debt: The Rise and Fall of the Reichmanns (1993) and by Walter Stewart in Too Big to Fail: Olympia & York, the Story behind the Headlines (1993). Both of those authors sketched in details of the Reichmann family history, but Bianco delves deep into the Reichmann genealogy, beginning during the ‘golden age of Hungarian Jewry’ in the 1600s. He chronicles how the family prospered, first as egg merchants in Vienna and then, after fleeing the Nazis to Tangier, as currency traders. The Reichmanns are ultra-Orthodox Jews, and Bianco focuses on their beliefs, showing how they were able to balance their insular life in Toronto with the demands of a worldwide real estate empire.” — DAVID ROUSE, Booklist

William Wolman and Anne Colamosca vent about economic betrayal. “The authors castigate rightly supply-side economics as a policy of lowering tax rates for the rich and at the same time as a money-raising vehicle for the GOP. They show clearly that small businesses are not the cornerstone of job creation…. A very revealing and necessary book. Not to be missed.” — LUC REYNAERT, Amazon reviews “How ironic it is to go back to this book written in 1997 and see the entire dynamic of outsourcing and globalization analyzed before it became evident to the rest of us. Even today, however, it is not obsolete because they not only predicted the events but also demonstrated why globalization would have this consequence. They also provide a critical analysis of reengineering which demonstrated the technique as little more that an excuse for downsizing jobs and wages. Even now this book is a must read on globalization.” — BILL MURPHY, Amazon reviews

Sandra Dallas explores down-home themes. “The buoyancy and simple, uncloying sweetness of spirit of Dallas’s appealing protagonist–the young wife of a homesteader in Colorado Territory–give a bright, fresh shading to the tragedies and small sharp joys of 19th-century frontier life. Again, as in The Persian Pickle Club (1995), Dallas has caught the lilt and drift of regional speech…. Tragedies and sad little domestic dramas are muffled within the decency and humanity of a character whose understanding–but not essence–changes with events.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS

1996

John Byrne humanizes an ugly chapter in business history. “This wrenching, compelling personal story raises vital questions for corporate ethics programs. Michigan executive John Swanson, creator and overseer of Dow Corning’s ethics program, faced a moral crisis when his wife, Colleen, began experiencing problems that she attributed to her Dow-manufactured silicone breast implants: severe migraines, debilitating joint and back pain, numbness in her arms and hands and extreme fatigue. In 1991, she underwent removal of the leaking implants, which had been in her chest for 17 years. Her husband then recused himself from Dow’s silicone breast implant business, telling his employers that he would no longer help the company defend itself against the growing onslaught of criticism and lawsuits. He had gradually come to believe that Dow had failed to fully inform women of the known risks and had ignored numerous opportunities to get out of the implant business gracefully.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

1995

Sandra Dallas goes exotic — only seemingly. “This entertaining second novel from the author of the well-received Buster Midnight’s Cafe could be a sleeper. Set in Depression-era Kansas and made vivid with the narrator’s humorous down-home voice, it’s a story of loyalty and friendship in a women’s quilting circle…. The result is a simple but endearing story that depicts small-town eccentricities with affection and adds dazzle with some late-breaking surprises. Dallas hits all the right notes, combining an authentic look at the social fabric of Depression-era life with a homespun suspense story.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

1993

John Byrne looks coolly at the wonder boys.” An unsparing post-mortem on a group of organization men who played an influential, if not always constructive, role in the postwar history of US business and government…. With the postwar era’s best and brightest now gone to varying rewards, Byrne offers a harsh appraisal of their legacy. In particular, he takes the Whiz Kids and their disciples to task for putting near-blind faith in the decisive power of numbers and arrogantly imposing severe financial constraints on enterprises whose bottom-line results could almost certainly have been improved by allowing fallible human beings to exercise their intuition and creativity. An impressive and instructive look at a generation that apparently cast a long dark shadow on the domestic landscape.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS

1991

Anthony Bianco rattles a few cages. “Unlike other Wall Street dealmakers who convinced themselves that the 1980s manic corporate takeover wave was restoring corporate America’s entrepreneurial vigor, flamboyant investment banker Jeff Beck knew it was a con, a game run on greed and ego. But Beck, who as Drexel Burnham’s “Mad Dog” rainmaker presided over the $8-billion leveraged buyout of Beatrice Foods, played the game with a vengeance, driven by a desperate craving for social status. He circulated extravagant fantasies about himself, claiming heroism as a U.S. Special Forces captain in Vietnam and spreading the fabrication that he had assembled a vast secret corporate empire called Rosebud. Though Beck never fought in Vietnam, actor-producer Michael Douglas, taken in by his tall tale, nearly made a movie about him. In a gripping parable of Reagan-era wishful thinking masquerading as optimism, this searching biography by Business Week reporter Bianco lays bare the deep psychic wounds and family skeletons that contributed to one rainmaker’s rise and fall.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

1990

John Byrne builds a franchise for BW. “Among the several guides to graduate business schools, Business Week‘s has always been a favorite. Unlike Barron‘s and the Graduate Management Admissions Council’s comprehensive and descriptive directories, Business Week‘s is selective and evaluative.” — DAVID ROUSE, Booklist

Sandra Dallas bursts into fiction. “Dallas’s first novel depicts a remarkable cluster of enduring friendships that may strike the modern urban reader as implausible, but accurately reflect the flavor of a small town and its inbred relationships. If the denouement seems predictable, Dallas, whose work calls to mind Fannie Flagg’s Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle-Stop Cafe , is nonetheless a stylist to be reckoned with.” — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

1990

Bruce Nussbaum takes on one of the most troubling issues of the era. “… Nussbaum blames the failure to find a drug effective against AIDS on an unholy alliance forged among the National Institutes of Health, the FDA, elite biomedical centers and the big drug companies. AZT, the toxic, immunosuppressive anti-AIDS drug developed by Burroughs Wellcome, probably offers only short-term, transitory benefits to some patients, he charges. A hard-hitting, shocking look at profit-oriented AIDS research, this brisk journalistic account also tours a medical underground in which grass-roots organizations offer various unapproved drugs to people with AIDS. In this informal network, claims Nussbaum ( The World After Oil ), a model for quick testing of drugs is emerging that, if widely implemented, could revolutionize the treatment of other diseases. — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

1989

Elizabeth Ehrlich takes a look at a journalistic trailblazer. “The story of Elizabeth Cochrane, the innovative female journalist who, as Nellie Bly, built a career in an age in which women were socially assigned to running households. She tackled the problem of working conditions in factories by working at menial laboring jobs to give firsthand accounts, and had herself admitted as a patient to explore the conditions in mental institutions. Her remarkable courage and thorough reports and feature stories provoked much controversy and led to many important reforms…. Cochrane’s life is accurately documented with an interesting mix of her unique professional exploits and personal difficulties. Her outstanding achievements both as a woman and as a journalist should provide inspirational reading. — JUDIE PORTER, School Library Journal

1988

Sandra Dallas and her daughter, Kendall Atchison, explore their favorite state’s haunts. “Prize-winning author Sandra Dallas was dubbed ‘a quintessential American voice’ by Jane Smiley, in Vogue Magazine. Sandra’s novels with their themes of loyalty, friendship, and human dignity have been translated into a dozen foreign languages and have been optioned for films.” This one graces my coffee table in Silverthorne, Colorado. -JW

1987

John Byrne lends a hand to another business legend with this one. “The chairman and CEO of Apple Computer, with the aid of a Business Week editor, vividly describes how, after working as an executive for Pepsi-Cola, developing winning strategies in the Cola Wars, and being promoted to president at age 38, he abandoned a ‘second-wave’ company to join Apple, a ‘third-wave’ firm epitomizing flexibility, creativity, and innovation. Sculley tells of his mistakes, failings, and successes and ends chapters with lessons in management or marketing. Highly recommended for business students and anyone curious about a CEO’s life.” — LIBRARY JOURNAL

1986

John Byrne sleuths around in the world executive search. “Executive search firms, less respectfully known as headhunters, have become a significant factor in the hiring and mobility of executive talent in the past 20 years. Through profiles of top personalities and firms and stories of top level searches, Byrne illustrates who executive searchers are and how they operate. An addendum describes the top ten executive search firms in the United States. The book seems to be based primarily on interviews with principals and is basically reportorial rather than analytic, but Byrne pulls no punches in revealing the tactics and weak points of headhunting.” — ELIN B. CHRISTIANSON, Library Journal

1985

John W. “Jack” Wilson makes history. “In the mid 80s John Wilson published this book about venture capital. At the time, it was about business and how venture capital works. It has now become a history book and it shows how Silicon Valley developed in part thanks to venture capital. It is full of anecdotes, facts and figures. A great book…” — HERVE LEBRET

1984

Sandra Dallas goes knocking on history’s doors. “Few books can show so vividly the tenor of social change, for the pictures give an intimate account of how living and styles changed in three generations of families in Denver, Colorado.”

1983

Bruce Nussbaum looks to the future. “… I found ”The World After Oil’ to be a clear-eyed examination of the direction in which the world is hurtling. As Mr. Nussbaum points out, his analysis is not simply an exercise in fanciful futurism. His time horizon remains within the 20th century, and his telling examples – as well as the headlines in each morning’s newspaper – suggest that the future depicted by him already is taking shape around us.” — JAMES ANDREWS, Christian Science Monitor

1980

Leonard Silk and son Mark peek under the velvet curtains. “The Silks’ conclusions? In short, the ‘Establishment’ does, indeed exist and seeks — with mixed success — to serve the public weal. It is, they say, a third force between business and politics.” — BENJAMIN WELLES, Christian Science Monitor “The American Establishment, according to the Silks, is alive and well-with-us and best left to pursue its ‘disinterested’ interests unobserved!” — KIRKUS REVIEWS

Bruce Nussbaum headed the BW team that produced “The Decline of U.S. Power (and what we can do about it).” Bruce edited work by Ed Mervosh, Jack Kramer, Lenny Glynn, Lewis Beman, William Wolman and Lewis Young.

1979

Sandra Dallas teamed up with illustrator Ned Jacob on this one. It won the National Cowboy Hall of Fame Western Heritage Wrangler Award.

1975

Chris Welles takes on Wall Street. “Welles’ massive analysis of the crises and trends of the last five years among the big money men charts the gradual replacement of the New York Stock Exchange as the linchpin of American capitalism by the ongoing consolidation and growth of commercial banking.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS

1974

Sandra Dallas waxes nostalgic about her favorite city. Sandra is the recipient of the Women Writing the West Willa Award for New Mercies, and two-time winner of the Western Writers of America Spur Award, for The Chili Queen and Tallgrass. In addition, she was a finalist for the Colorado Book Award, the Mountain and Plains Booksellers Assn. Award, and a four-time finalist for the Women Writing the West Willa Award.

1971

Sandra Dallas finds some intriguing old sites in a Denver suburb where few such places can be found nowadays.

1970

Chris Welles makes his mark — with some controversy. LIFE fired him after he sold a piece that became this book to Harper’s Magazine. Not only a distinguished journalist, he was also a talented teacher of many at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, including me.

1967

Sandra Dallas peeks behind a few old doors. “Both entertaining reading and a most useful guide.” — DENVER POST “Every page makes entertaining reading.”– DALLAS NEWS “Amusing and informative and a fine way to fill an evening.“— CHICAGO TRIBUNE “The book is light, frothy and pleasant to read.”– ST. LOUIS POST DISPATCH

“In my little town, I grew up believing …”

Posted on December 31, 2016 by Joe Weber

My wife’s parents moved to Las Vegas nearly a quarter-century ago. To them, it was the perfect spot for retirement, the glitzy new place that was everything that decaying old Baltimore was not. Visiting the place this week, now that I’m a few years older than they were when they moved here, puts me in mind of what the ideal retirement place would be.

My short answer: this place is not it, not for me anyway.

Vegas is beautiful, to be sure. It’s sunny most of the time, the mountains that ring the city are stunning. The desert vegetation is eerily beautiful. And snow is unheard of. The hustle and bustle here is invigorating, not to mention the appeal of the over-the-top entertainment culture – it’s Disneyland for adults, as a former colleague at BW once described it.

My in-laws live in a lovely 55+ development fashioned around a golf course, with modest houses suited to retirees unburdened by children at home. The southwest architecture boasts pretty tan exteriors and brilliant red roof tiles. The place is landscaped to perfection and carefully maintained. A rec center offers exercise and social options, plus there are a million senior-citizen activities, such as the bowling leagues that have shaped my in-laws’ lives for the last couple decades.

But, these idyllic touches notwithstanding, it’s not for me. Why not?

For starters, you have to drive everywhere. Many cities have been designed around the car, but Vegas takes that notion to lofty heights. The city is crisscrossed by superwide expressways where any speed less than 80 mph puts an angry driver on your tail. Staying out of the way of pricey sports cars is all but impossible.

Off the highways, the roads are marked by housing development after housing development, each one a clone of the next. Strip malls filled with supermarkets, nail salons, tanning places, Big Box stores, chain restaurants and gas stations with tacky names (Terrible’s is one) mark nearly every major intersection. Again, each looks like the one down the road.

The cliche “soulless suburbs” comes to mind.

And then there are the casinos, of course. They are the reason the city exists. But they are best avoided. They are the sorts of places that our next president once owned. Need I say anything about them?

How different is this from the small-town model I knew back in northern New Jersey and from the charming little towns of New England I visited. How different is it from Evanston, Illinois, where I lived for a decade. How different is it from the little town near my place in the Rockies, Frisco, Colorado. In these places, you can walk from store to store. The shops are modest-sized, sometimes quirky, almost always very individual.

It’s a far cry, too, from Lincoln, Nebraska, where I live now — a place that is a regular on annual “best-places-to-live” lists. Built around a state capitol building and a university campus, it, too, is walkable. You don’t have to compete with speeding BMWs and Boxsters to get from one spot to the next. Some of my colleagues even bicycle to work from their suburban developments. For me, it’s just an eight-mile car trip, one that takes 25 minutes on a busy day.

Perhaps we all have ideal spots in our heads. These are places that may echo happy times in our childhoods. They may spring from the pages of books we have read, movies we have seen, romantic notions we have had. Who knows where notions of perfection come from? We each have our own fantasylands, I suppose.

But one thing I am sure of is that Las Vegas is a long way from such perfection — at least for me. Sure, it has its seductions. It’s fine for an occasional visit, ideal for a party, good for a bachelor or bachelorette debauch. The shows and buffets are fun. The newness of the place is exciting. And it’s almost too lively.

But give me my mythical little town any day. It’s there where I can best build a life, I think. And someday – many years hence – that ideal retirement.

The Big Picture

Author Archives: Joe Weber