Companies Books

I first read this book when it was published. I have lost count of the number of times I have read it since then. This was among the first books to go to my Kindle. I love all of Elizabeth Peters' books, but for sheer lunacy, this one remains my favorite.

This is one of my favorites in the Barbara Michaels / Elizabeth Peters collection, brimming over with all my most beloved elements: a young female protagonist, unconventional relatives, an enormous, rambling old house complete with a menagerie of ill-behaved pets, fateful secrets, flawless characters, and of course, a few resident ghosts.

Ellie has come to her irascible Aunt Kate's home in rural Virginia to house-sit while said Aunt Kate takes a brief vacation. Ellie just has to inhabit the house, water the plants, and take care of Kate's veritable stable of pets, including dogs, cats, and one rat named after a local politician. On her very first night in the old house alone Ellie has an unwelcome spectral visitor, and from that moment forward, nothing is quite as it seems. The library is vandalized, more ghostly figures appear, and the apparently rich and scandalous past of some of the town's most distinguished inhabitants re-awakens to shake up the present. Ellie feels a little out of her league, and so ropes in various friends and neighbors to help her figure out what's going on as genuine danger seems to be closing in.

We all want an Aunt Kate, or at least I do! She's the perfect picture of the kind of eccentricity that's cozy rather than creepy, and her skill at witchcraft - or at least the rumor of it, which is as good as the real thing, around these parts! - is as much a part of her as her obsession with the Washington Redskins. Technically she's away for much of the story, but her character is very much a part of it. Ted, Dr. Gold, Don, the Grants, Miss Mary and the other characters fill out their parts with gusto, adding wonderfully to the atmosphere.

Always a pleasure, Miss Peters/Michaels/Mertz!

Fun, nice dialog, nice characters. The story's conclusion just didn't carry much punch for me.

I've read this book several times. I love coming back to it after a couple of years and enjoying it all over again. The best thing about Elizabeth Peters/B Michaels is that she creates a cozy atmostphere, with every day occurences (such as eating lunch...sleeping...,) yet, there are not so every day occurences thrown in - ghosts, etc. It makes it feel like is business as usual to suspect that a ghost is inhabiting your house. I just love the atmostphere she creates! She doesn't write these types of books anymore, - not a dynasty - like Amelia (love those too, of course), but these single book stories, and I miss them!

Ellie has agreed to house sit for her Aunt Kate. Her pompous fiance drives her down to impress the rich old lady, who dislikes him immediately. After Kate's departure with the fiance to the airport. Ellie experiences all kinds of strange manifestations involving the six founding families of the area. A rare book telling of their boring scandals seems to be the trigger. A neighbor agrees to help her solve the mystery. It seems like a practical joke, until an old friend of Kate's gets seriously injured....

This was a very quick read and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I picked it up and didn't stop reading until the last page. The characters are quirky and entertaining. The atmosphere appropriately creepy, and the story line engrossing. A very good read.

I really said it in the title. The copy I have is hard cover. I ordered four copies and received 2 hardback, used and 2 paperback, new. These are gifts, so I will be proud to give them.

What a gift it is to find the words that fit, the words that calm or quicken or clear or connect as needed! This is what I receive as I regulary use A Diary of Private Prayer morning and evening.

After reading other books by John Baillie, I was endeared to his Scottish Prayers, based on his Scottish Presbyterian Thelogy. As a gift from a daughter of one outstanding Presbyterian Pastor and Father, I noted the Greek inscription from Luke 18:1, "That men ought at all times to pray and not faint."

Each Day of Morning and Evening prayer followed the same format:
"Almighty and eternal God, Thou art hidden from my sight:
Thou art beyond the understanding of my mind:
Thy thoughts are not as my thoughts:
Thy ways are past finding out."

This became familiar to me as the Fourth Day for each Month. It was followed by yet a longer version of related Baillie Prayer. In the third place, there was another prose prayer with excerpts from Psalms, such as 17, 36, 57 and 91, In this Fourth Morning Prayer he concluded with a more personal and intimate prayer, beginning: "O Thou who alone knowest what lies before me this day, grant that in every hour of it I may stay close to Thee." There lies his wee touch of Scottish Theology.

From this first example I always linger over his final sentence:
"Suggest, direct, control every movement of my mind; for my Lord Christ's sake. Amen."

Nearly every day followed this same format with exceptions for the 11th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th Days, he altered both style and paragraphs. Yet that hardly ever affected his sustained interest in my daily Prayers.

Another poignant beginning prayer comes on 16th Morning: "With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early; for when thy judgements are in the earth, the inhabitants of the earth world will learn (your) righteousness." Many are longer yet equally intimate... Retired Chaplain, Fred W Hood "Barbara377" (Fayetteville,GA United States)

This is one of the best books, for individuals to learn not only how to oray, but its also good for those who are wanting to become
prayer warriors. I use this book to teach Christians the process of daily prayiny to become a life stile through there walk in life. Great Book

Baillie has the rare ability to put into words the hopes and failings of Christian hearts and lives. I frequently give this book as a gift to friends,and most make it a part of their daily devotion. Even though Baillie uses the language of the King James Bible, he has a command of the language that is beautiful, compelling and inspirational. The thirty days of morning and evening prayers become more meaningful with repeated readings.

This is a great book for the one who loves the details about big-game fishing and large boats. Great, puts you right in the cockpit with the crew and on the bridge with the Captian. This was one book that was hard to put down.

Having known Piet for 10 years now I have been fortunate enough to bear witness to his unique storytelling style in many venues. Whether it is spoken from atop a sawed off dock piling in P.A. or craftily typed from a laptop on Easy St., the substance of Piet's stories always grab those who read or listen and hold on to them until all their senses are satisfied. He is very thorough in detail and makes it easy to follow with the terse natue of each chapter. I thought the imagery was great throughout this story as well as his descriptions of the settings. His characters were great; real people, the kind of people that you find on boats and in less reputable bars; the kind of folks I like. Why, I can see ol' Dan Larsen stumbling down the steps of the disco right now......

Pretty Work Piety and thanks for mentioning the 'Tequila Tree', I'm looking forward to your next work! JJ

Having known Piet for 10 years now I have been fortunate enough to bear witness to his unique storytelling style in many venues. Whether it is spoken from atop a sawed off dock piling in P.A. or craftily typed from a laptop on Easy St., the substance of Piet's stories always grab those who read or listen and hold on to them until all their senses are satisfied. He is very thorough in detail and makes it easy to follow with the terse natue of each chapter. I thought the imagery was great throughout this story as well as his descriptions of the settings. His characters were great; real people, the kind of people that you find on boats and in less reputable bars; the kind of folks I like. Why, I can see ol' Dan Larsen stumbling down the steps of the disco right now......

Pretty Work Piety and thanks for mentioning the 'Tequila Tree', I'm looking forward to your next work! JJ

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a masterful blend of classic intrigue interwoven with the glamorous high end sportishing world. Superb character development, keenly accurate details and location descriptions enhance the thrills of following the undercover agent through South Florida and Mexico. A real page turner!

I look forward to the continuing adventures of Dan Larsen!

This book is chock full of action, suspense and intrigue. From the opening pages you can sense that the author really knows his stuff. The sense of realism makes it seem like you are in the middle of the action. This book succesfully mixes the underworld of cocaine trafficing and the men who fight the drug war with the exciting world of Sportfishing. At first you wouldn't think this combination would be a natural fit, however Van Alder makes it work so well you wonder why this formula hasn't been tried before. The characters are horrifically realistic. In the words of the author, the main villian, Amado Carillo Fuentes "makes Pablo Escobar and the rest of the Colombians look like f...ing Boy Scouts!" Carillo's sidekick, Paco Herrera is pure evil. Reading this book is like taking a whirlwind tour of the best of the Yucatan Peninsula, but you see the sites from a perspective no tourist will ever get. You may even pick up a few fishing tips. I can't wait for the author's next effort.

Will there ever be a new edition of this title? It's been ten years. Any info. would be much appreciated.

I'll start this review by saying that, in fact, I haven't read THIS book, but I own Grant's older book from the '80's of the same title (which I bought from a used book seller for $3!), and I assume that this is the same material, but with some new stuff added. I plan to buy this newer book, because I can't wait to see this author's views on the subsequent movies that came out.

John Grant's description of the Disney movies and cartoons is amazingly detailed, and he profiles every character, from Mickey Mouse to obscure supporting characters that most people have forgotten about. While reading the entries, I remembered several movies and cartoons that I had seen as a kid, and forgotten about. It made me want to run out and buy all the old movies on DVD, so I could watch them again and relive this simpler time!

While Grant is definitely a Disney fan, he does look at the movies with a critical eye, and is willing to admit some of the shortcomings they had, including some of the racism that appeared in the earlier films (although I think he was a little too soft on this, which could be seen as insensitive to many people). He also has this charming, very British style of writing, that's addictive to read. Great escapist fun for any Disney fan!

This is almost certainly the best book on Disney animation ever published - it is difficult to think of superlatives that other reviewers haven't already (quite rightly) used in their praise of it. (To the reviewer who complained about the omission of Eega Beeva: Eega Beeva is a character in the comics, not the animated movies.) Astonishingly comprehensive, beautifully illustrated, and written with the kind of stylish wit that makes the mere act of reading the text a joy in itself, the Encyclopedia deserves all the praise that has been heaped on it.

I have only one complaint. This is the third edition, and was published in 1998. Why oh why has there been no subsequent edition? What has gotten into Disney's corporate head that they have not begged Mr. Grant, well known for his extensive writings elsewhere, to bring the story of Disney animation up to date? Such a book is desperately needed!

This is a definite must-have for any Disney fan. The book is divided into three basic sections: Characters in shorts, characters in television shows, and characters in features. Each category has a mention of every Disney character created until 1997 including interesting articles about them. This is also a great place to find information on lesser-known or forgotten Disney characters such as Spike the bee from a number of Donald Duck cartoons and Little Hans, a star of his own wartime propaganda film. Combine this with hundreds of pictures from the films and you have a book that is sure to be a favorite of any Disney fan.

First, while the title of this book is accurate, it is also misleading. This is no fluffy, flimsy book containing some fun descriptions of Disney characters from the latest popular films. This is an intense, in-depth look at EVERY Disney animated character since Walt began his career. The book is divided into two parts, "Shorts" and "Feature Films". The shorts have the usual gang, Donald, Mickey, Goofy, Pluto, and so on. After each characters bio is a list of every Disney short they've appeared in. Don't be worried or fooled by by this truly encyclopedic book - it is not a boring A to Z book. Color photos pop off of every page, including some from rarely seen Disney shorts. The feature films section not only includes detailed character bios, but plot summaries and "making of" details, cast and crew credits, and more. You buy this book, you will have a list of EVERY Disney short ever made (including the early "Alice" shorts and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit), every feature film in chronological order, and enough information about each one to be the champ of any Disney trivia game!

Are you curious about the life of Carrie Bradshaw before she became the successful columnist with a penchant for designer clothes and $450 shoes? If you answered "Yes!" then you need to read this book. The story of Reality Nirvana Tuttle is, without a doubt, an unintended pre-quel to Sex and the City.

Ignore what the woman from Library Journal has to say! I'm certain that she's the wrong demographic to understand the social relevance of this story. Fabulous Nobodies is funny, earnest, so very New York City in the late 1980s, and, for those of us who were in our 20s during that time, a wonderfully fun trip down memory lane. If you can remember when in was possible to rent an apartment in alphabet city for $350 month and have a tub in your kitchen then you'll appreciate this story. If you can remember scouring Goodwill, Sal's Boutique, and vintage clothing shops with your meager earnings from a club, record store, or underground publication then you'll appreciate this story. If you can remember life before the internet and came of age at a time when local fanzines and arts newspapers were the ruling social arbiters then you'll appreciate this story.

Lee Tulloch's book is a completely captivating snapshot of a place, time, and people who no longer exist except in our scrapbooks and collected memorabilia.

Twentyish Reality Nirvana Tuttle determines who can enter the Less is More Manhattan nightclub though no one, not even she, knows her conditions, which change almost on a whim, but that impulse is inside her brain. It might be an outfit that was in a half hour ago but seems so ancient at this moment. Reality is a pro at what she does as fool "doorwhores'' can match her skill at picking the trendy and tossing the has-beens and wanabees to the street.

However, Reality faces reality when it comes to her one ambition in life as so far she has failed to achieve her goal. She desperately wants to be featured in Hugo Falks' weekly gossip column in Frenzie as a hip woman of power on the move. She enlists her friends, Perfect Woman editor Phoebe, transvestite Geoffrey, and his dog Cristobal Balenciaga to cause a scandal that will turn her from almost famous to famous.

This reprint still retains its sharp acerbic lampoon of the jet set who needs to obtain fame even if it only for fifteen minutes. Reality is a terrific protagonist whose obsession becomes her reality, but never interferes with her selection of who's in and who's polar. Celebrity status takes a beating as Lee Tulloch's satire rips into the cost and inane need to become a known "personality".

Harriet Klausner

Hilarious homage to clothing and finding THE perfect outfit. Reality "Really" Tuttle was born in the late 60's, so if you are in the same genre as myself, you will definitely appreciate references to ghastly 80's attire that she despises as well as the detailed descriptions of her frocks. ...

The writing is masterful, the characters are alive, the story has a compelling mythical power, it should've won a pulitzer. It is wonderful and splendid and shall never perish. It has a deep, soulful message. It has an archetypal power, it shall become a classic. It could be the basis of a great Broadway musical, and we know they are not making great musicals nowadays. Just as My Fair Lady is a great musical, but still consider it now still a Pygmalion. I imagine a animated chorus line of frocks, inhabitated by many the great fashion icons. I would die to see that musical.

Before Bridget Jones, Sex and the City, or Shopaholic, there was Lee Tulloch's "Fabulous Nobodies."

Lee Tulloch was once the editor of Australian Vogue, and she puts her knowledge of fashion and the whole fashion glam scene to hysterically funny use in this little novel. The book opens with a hilarious narrative about the main character's nails of all things.

It's been years since I read Fabulous Nobodies, but it's a definite stand-out in a genre that didn't exist when the book was published in the early 90s. If you're in your 20s, a slave to fashion, any or all of the above, you've got to read this book. You can finish it in a day and you'll spend most of the time laughing at the antics of the main character and her crew. Our 20s are a great time of life (if only in retrospect), because we're no longer teenagers but not quite mature enough to be adults, so there's much goofing off, goofing around, and goofing up to learn from (or at least laugh about). Fabulous Nobodies is filled with all three. Don't miss this one.

Much like Gary Hamel's book The Future of Management, one needs to read this book with an open mind. It is an exceptional book and one that I am giving away to my clients this coming Holiday. It is thought provoking and enlightening. Above all it stresses that companies have a need above profit. That profit is the score, not the game itself. Perhaps had the management of Enron and others of that ilk truly believed in a purpose beyond profit, corporate America would not being wearing SOX today.

There's a difference when you fly Southwest vs. United. You feel different shopping at Costco than you feel shopping at Wal-mart. Why? That question is explored and answered in the book Firms of Endearment: How World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose by Raj Sisodia, Jag Sheth, and David B. Wolfe. This is one of those books that will cause you to think about why you feel as you do towards certain companies, and how those feelings translate into real profits.



Contents: A Whole New World; It's Not Share of Wallet Anymore - It's Share of Heart; New Age, New Rules, New Capitalism; The Chaotic Interregnum; Employees - The Decline and Fall of Human Resources; Customers - The Power of Love; Investors - Reaping What FoEs Sow; Partners - Elegant Harmonies; Society - The Ultimate Stakeholder; Culture - The Secret Ingredient; Lessons Learned; Crossing Over to the Other Side; Acknowledgements



On Wall Street, companies are usually judged on their profit. Squeeze as much out of your business as you can, cut costs wherever possible, and make sure you meet your numbers. To be sure, plenty of companies are successful under those rules (such as Wal-mart). But when you look at their performance over the last few years on the stock market, returns have been stagnant or have trailed the field. The alternative way to run a business is as a "firm of endearment" (FoE). These companies have a passion for what they do/sell, they have a strongly defined purpose for what they want to accomplish, and they look to contribute to society in more ways than just the quarterly dividend to shareholders. These FoEs, like Costco, Whole Foods, Harley-Davidson, and others, include stakeholders to mean all parts of society that they touch... shareholders, employees, the community, etc. The focus isn't on pure profit, but instead on contributing to the well-being of all the stakeholders. That's why a company like Costco can afford to pay their employees a living wage, have low turnover, and *still* turn a substantial profit. They have captured the hearts of their customer base, and that base will go out of their way to shop at Costco whenever possible. That's also why a company like Ikea can propose a new location and have nearly universal acceptance in the community, while a new Wal-mart location brings out protesters in force. There's obviously a lot more that differentiates FoEs from their counterparts in the marketplace, but once you recognize an FoE, you'll understand why they are successful by *not* following the same formula as everyone else.



It's tempting to think that all the FoEs covered in this book can do no wrong. That's not the case. JetBlue was/is an FoE that badly damaged their reputation during the winter when storms caused massive cancellations. It even led to the resignation of the CEO. Like other business books of this genre (In Search Of Excellence, From Good To Great), only time will tell how these companies will fare over the long term. It may well be that a decade from now, the stars of this book will have all fallen to the wayside. But I would venture to guess that the companies covered here will have a much larger margin of forgiveness than would other companies that are just focused on the next quarter...



This is a book that is highly recommended for anyone running a business. It should cause you to rethink the factors of success for your company, as well as point you in directions that could lead you to become an FoE in your niche.

This book identifies a batch of companies that have oriented their business model to providing a superior feeling in the minds of their customers. In many cases I absolutely agree with them.

Wegman's supermarkets for instance presents an excellent shopping experience. I particularly love their cheese department where knowledge people stand ready to discuss their magnificant array of choices and even to giving you samples to taste seemingly without end or sales pressure. In turn I buy far more cheeses than I would otherwise. We both win.

But then they turn to Wal-Mart and repeat a litany of alleged problems with employees, suppliers, and communities. My own experience with Wal-Mart is limited to one store in the small town where I live. But my experience doesn't match the alleged problems. I go there, the people, from the greeter at the door to the most junor sales clerk are friendly and willing to walk halfway across the store to help me find something. I talk to people who work there (away from the store) and they universally say that it is the best job they've ever had. Does the Wal-Mart experience depend on the store? Are the alledged problems just that, allegations? And for that matter, does every Wegman's have such an excellent cheese department? And what about Microsoft? Everyone (nearly) uses their products and most people hate the company. What does this say about their future? I guess we'll just have to watch and see.

This is a book that describes one way of doing business that has worked for a lot of companies. It provides a good insight into what these companies do.

What is a Firm of Endearment? The authors argue that their example companies share a common set of core values, policies, and operating attributes which include:

1. aligning the interests of all stakeholder groups (customers, employees, partners, investors, and society) rather than seeking profit optimization

2. below-average executive compensation

3. open-door policies

4. employee compensation and benefits are above average for their industry

5. above-average employee training

6. empower employees to satisfy customers

7. hire employees who are passionate about the company's purpose

8. humanize customer and employee experiences

9. enjoy below-average marketing costs

10. honor the spirit as well as the letter of laws

11. focus on corporate culture as a competitive advantage

12. are often innovative in their industries

Companies identified include extensive examples drawn from Commerce Bank, Container Store, Costco, Harley-Davidson, Honda, IDEO, IKEA, jetBlue, Johnson & Johnson, Jordan's Furniture, New Balance, Patagonia, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks, Timberland, Toyota, Trader Joe's, UPS, Wegmans, and Whole Foods.

These companies are often contrasted with Wal-Mart and the Good to Great Companies identified by Jim Collins in 2001 in terms of stock price growth.

The authors argue that there is a new level of consciousness emerging that rewards those who do good while doing well. The implication is that all firms should shift to stakeholder optimization and the cultural values identified in the example companies.

While they don't make this argument, it's clear that the authors have identified many of the mindsets that lead a company to seek optimizing results for all stakeholders.

Before you assume total cause and effect, I would like to raise some issues not fully addressed in the book:

1. This is an after-the-fact evaluation. As such, (like Good to Great), we may mostly be seeing what the leaders are proud of . . . rather than what caused their success. For example, Southwest's success is focused on their corporate culture. But the company also has a better business model than almost any other airline (Ryanair's is better) and does a better job of fuel cost hedging than any other U.S. airline. Those factors aren't mentioned.

2. These companies are almost all in consumer products or services. A class of socially conscious consumers has sprung up who look hard for such firms. It's not clear that OEM and industrial buyers have evolved their preferences nearly to the same extent. So many of the lessons may only apply consumer goods and services (except for those validated by Gallup for having a motivated and effective group of people working for you).

3. Almost all of these firms are highly effective business model innovators who have gained enormous advantages over competitors who seldom innovate their business models. As a result, they can afford practices that may or may not pay off in profit without incurring any negative reaction. The next business model innovation will pay for the cost.

I was surprised that this book didn't look at the study I made from 1992-2001 that identified continuing business model innovation as the single best factor for explaining high levels of corporate performance (see The Ultimate Competitive Advantage). The books share some examples in common (including Jordan's Furniture and Timberland), but many of FoE's examples are also superior business model innovators (Amazon, BMW, CarMax, Caterpillar, Container Store, Costco, eBay, Google, Harley-Davidson, IDEO, IKEA, jetBlue, Patagonia, Starbucks, Trader Joe's, UPS, Wegmans, and Whole Food).

4. It often pays better to serve stakeholder interests than to ignore them. Why? Because ignoring stakeholders often burdens both the company and the stakeholder with costs and experiences that neither want. This economic case for stakeholder focus isn't fully developed outside of the customer arena.

5. The book emphasizes sustainability, but much of that argument is built around companies disappearing from the Fortune 500 (something that happens whenever a merger happens . . . which doesn't mean that the organization goes away, just the corporate headquarters in most cases). In the research of my students on environmental sustainability (see Hiroshi Fukushi's work, A Strategic Approach to the Environmentally Sustainable Business, for example), it's apparent that making the environment cleaner than when you touched it is economically advantaged in most situations. The idea of sustainability is based on the outmoded notion of not doing too much damage rather than finding profits in making the world better than you found it.

But it's a good book that creates more questions than it answers. This one will probably stimulate some more careful thinking in the area of where seeking to be more considerate of others is going to create better results as well as better sleep.

In the Prologue, when discussing The Age of Transcendence through which the contemporary business world is now proceeding, the co-authors (Rajendra S. Sisodia, David B. Wolfe, and Jagdish N. Sheth) suggest that it is "a cultural movement in which physical (materialistic) influences that dominated culture in the twentieth-century are ebbing while metaphysical (experiential) influences become stronger. This is helping to drive a shift in the foundations of culture from an objective base to a subjective base: People are increasingly relying on their own counsel to decide what the truth is...That shift acknowledges a long-suppressed idea in a world largely guided by Newtonian certainty that chemistry Nobel laureate Ilya Prigogine says is scattering to the winds: Ultimately, everything is personal."

Thus do the authors establish a frame-of-reference for the thesis of their book: That each stakeholder in an organization tends to thrive best when all stakeholders thrive. That is, no stakeholder group is more important than any other. "It is disciplined dedication to the well-being of all stakeholders that separates firms of endearment from their competition." Stakeholder relationship management (SRM), the authors suggest, can achieve and then sustain superior business performance that, in turn, will create n a decisive competitive advantage. They are convinced that SRM business models will increasingly be seen "as the most efficacious way to achieve sustained superior business performance in years to come" but only if (huge "if") the interests of all stakeholder groups are brought into strategic alignment.

Two Questions: Are all stakeholder groups of equal importance and do they have the same interests? Also, are all members of a stakeholder group (e.g. shareholders) of equal importance and do they have the same interests? These questions occurred to me as I read the first chapter, especially the brief discussion of the "distinctive" core values, policies, and attributes that firms of endearment (FoEs) share in common. Eventually, Sisodia, Wolfe, and Sheth provide answers to these questions, answers best revealed within the narrative.

If indeed "endearing companies tend to be enduring companies," how do the 28 FoEs that "made the final cut" for this book compare with the 11 companies praised by Jim Collins in Good to Great? "Over a 10-year horizon, FoEs outperformed the Good to Great companies by 1,026 percent to 331 percent (a 3.1-to-1 ratio). Over five years, FoEs outperformed the Good to Great companies by 128 percent to 77 percent (a 1.7-to-1 ratio). Over three years, FoEs performed on par the Good to Great companies: 73 percent to 75 percent." (FYI, there are no duplicates on the two lists.) As with the exemplary companies discussed by Thomas J. Peters in Robert H. Waterman, Jr. in In Search of Excellence, not all companies on any such list continue to meet the criteria that were the basis of their initial selection.

For me, some of the most interesting material is presented in Chapter 11, "Crossing Over to the Other Side." At one point, the authors cite Oliver Wendell Holmes's observation "I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity." They then quote one of my favorite passages in James O'Toole's The Executive's Compass:

"To move beyond the confusion of complexity, executives must abandon their constant search for the immediately practice and, paradoxically, seek to understand the underlying ideas and values that have shaped the world they work in. Managers who clamor for how-to instruction are, by definition, stuck on the near side of complexity."

According to Sisodia, Wolfe, and Sheth, the big challenge of the times is to transcend the zero-sum mindset because, given the profusion of new opportunities, absolutes (by nature limiting) are found everywhere on the near side of complexity. "They emerge from people's perennial quest for pat solutions, or `silver bullets,' as they are sometimes described. This is a key point because, as Sisodia, Wolfe, and Sheth explain, a zero sum mindset leads to the conclusion that one stakeholder group can only benefit at the expense of the other stakeholder groups...However, opportunities increase by an order of magnitude when the mind breaks free of zero-sum thinking."

There are specific reasons why endearing companies tend to be enduring companies and one of the most important is their having "the ability to transcend ruthless competition and embrace the fruits of cooperation [which is] the essence of evolved humanness."

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Bill George's Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value and his later book, True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership, co-authored with Peter Sims. Also Michael Ray's The Highest Goal, Adrian J. Slywotzky's The Upside: The 7 Strategies for Turning Big Threats into Growth Breakthroughs, Enterprise Architecture As Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution by Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, and David Robertson as well as Ram Charan's Know-How: The 8 Skills That Separate People Who Perform from Those Who Don't, Lynda Gratton's Hot Spots: Why Some Teams, Workplaces, and Organizations Buzz with Energy - And Others Don't, Robert J. Herbold's Seduced by Success: How the Best Companies Survive the 9 Traps of Winning, Jack Alexander's Performance Dashboards and Analysis for Value Creation, and Michael Useem's The Go Point: When It's Time to Decide--Knowing What to Do and When to Do It.

This is a wonderful collection of recipes many of us who are first generation ethnic Americans grew up with. I understand the author passed away in 2004 but not without leaving many fond memories of his FRUGAL GOURMET cooking show which used to air on PBS some time ago. I used to watch his show while living in New Orleans between 1982 and 1997. Of course my favorite section is THE LITHUANIAN IMMIGRANTS which lists recipes for Pressed Cheese (Suris), Kugelis Potato Pudding, Fresh Sausage (Kielbasa), Smoked Sausages (Kielbasa), Cold Beet Soup (Saltibarsciai), Pork in Gelatin (Koselina Saltiena) and Raw Sauerkraut with Caraway. My husband's favorites, of course, would be THE GERMAN IMMIGRANTS and THE IRISH IMMIGRANTS. The author really celebrates over 35 ethnic groups not only noting some of their best recipes but giving mini geography lessons and short descriptions of each individual culture before getting into detailing their recipes. In an era which only seems to highlight African, Greek, hispanic or Italian cooking, this book is a real treat!

How could a book on immigrant ancestors leave out the English? He covers Irish, Scottish, And Welsh immigrant recipes as well as recipes from many other cultures. Did all the English settlers become United Empire Loyalists and move north to Canada? I'm a Canadian and we ignore the English here as well. We have days celebrating every other culture except the English - Carribanna (in Toronto), Black history month, St. Patricks Day, Robbie Burns Day, St. Jean Baptiste Day (especially in Quebec) but no St. Davids Day (I don't even know when it is).

It's a good book but I guess I'll just have to look elsewhere for recipes for bangers and mash, bubble and squeak, fish and chips, trifle, etc.

I love this cookbook! I just pulled it out to look something up, noticed how torn up it has gotten, and thought I'd look online for a replacement copy. This is, hands down, my favorite and most used cookbook. Recipes are easy to follow and delicious. I've had "authentic" cooking from some of the countries included, so I can vouch for the fact that the recipes are right on target.

I never really watched The Frugal Gourmet when he was featured on Public TV. One of my Amazon Friends recently reviewed this book, and that review piqued my interest. I recently received my copy of Jeff Smith's "The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors: Recipes You Should Have Gotten from Your Grandmother." What a fascinating concept and what a nice set of recipes!

Smith begins by laying out the methodology of this book (Page 2): "We have traveled all over this great nation eating with immigrants, many of them grandmas, who know that it is terribly important to retain those characteristics of our immigrant ancestry, characteristics that will help us remember who we are." Hence, we have a cook book with a small set of recipes from many countries, from Armenia to the Basque region of Spain to Ethiopia to Jamaica to Ireland to Korea to Lebanon and through Yugoslavia (countries are in alphabetical order). I just received the book and have not had a chance to try out any recipes. But there are a number that I already find tempting and expect to begin trying these out soon!

The first part of the book is a standard discussion of cooking tools needed, a glossary of ingredients and condiments, and an essay on the immigrant experience. But it's the recipes that are the heart of this book. Let's take a look at a few examples.

Armenian Stuffed Meatballs. Ooh. This looks like some work, but it seems scrumptious! A meatball within a meatball. The inner meatball is made from ground lamb (or beef), onions, green bell paper, parsley, pine nuts, paprika, mint leaves, and a set of spices. After cooking these and rolling small meatballs, one makes the outer meatball, with a different set of ingredients.

From Ethiopia, Lamb and Cardamom. Some onions, a couple Ethiopian sauces (recipes included in this section), lamb, cumin, cardamom seeds, ginger, garlic, salt and pepper. Once one has assembled the ingredients this looks pretty straightforward--and tasty!

A Lebanese dish, Baked Lamb Kibbe. Boneless leg of lamb, butter, pine nuts, onion, cinnamon, allspice, salt and pepper. Sautee the lamb in butter, and then assemble Kibbe (recipe on the preceding page), and move ahead. Again, a recipe that really sounds delicious.

And so on. It's fun just to skim recipes from different countries and enjoy contemplating what each would taste like! The book ends with a quotation from the author (Page 574): "The point of this book is simple. If we do not understand our ancestral table, I doubt that we can understand our history." Maybe a bit overstated, but that sums up the author's philosophy in this volume. Worth taking a look at!

My title blurb is a funny quote I remembered, Jeff Smith spoke on his entertaining PBS show. Before 'The Food Network' we had the witty and talented 'Frugal Gourmet'. This book deals with some simplistic, yet very good classic old world dishes. Nothing fancy, just great traditional food!

This is yet another excellent cook book by Jeff Smith! It's full of great recipes and stories by a very talented cook and writer. This one focuses on old world cooking. I have used many of these recipes and found them to be very good. Being a home grown cook myself and having had many of my grandmother's classic recipes handed down to me, I found this book to be very helpful in expanding my culinary taste buds.

Jeff Smith entertained us for years on his PBS program 'The Frugal Gourmet'. Not only did he teach us many savory dishes, he also educated us. Not satisfied with just cooking delicious meals for his viewers, he would give detailed history lessons about the origins of the dish and made it all a lot of fun!

This may be Mr. Smiths best cook book and it is a worthy edition to everyone's cook book library. I own and have read many, if not all of his cook books, not only for the man's knowledge of cooking, but his incredible wit! This guy was funny and I would have loved to have hung out and throw a few beers down with him.

Unfortunately, this man had some very seriously bad press released about his personal life and well..... I am not one to spread rumors.....he seemed like a great guy and sadly he died before he was able to clear his name.

R.I.P. Frugs!

Bought this for my 4 year old granddaughter. I'd made a dreamcatcher for her when she was a baby and when she was 2 I explained what it was for. She loved it; and she loves this book.
It briefly talks about moving, bad dreams and family relationships.

A delight and easy reading for young children which will encourage them to read more of indian culture and stories. A beautiful "tuck-me-in" story!

This is a beautiful story especially for bedtime reading! Recommended for all ages.

This story flows with ease and delight for childrens' bedtime reading. It brings in love of family and a lasting focus on indian heritage. Highly recommended for all ages.

This is a lovely story filled with security of home and family. It also offers a study of Indian Culture to children, as well as adults. A book for any country and is a book for all ages. It is also timeless and will go on as long as it is offered for the public to see.

ABSOLUTELY AWESOME! (Please note: I am only ¾ of the way through the book so I can't give it full accounting.)

This book should be called, `The Bible of Cured Meat!' It contains or reaffirms or explains in-depth everything I have ever read or heard about dry curing meat. (Not to mention every other curing method known to man.) It not only tells you what you need to do, it lets you know what your results will be if you stray either way on a temperature or ingredient; very helpful for trouble shooting, or keeping you out of trouble if you are trying a new cure.

I like the brief history behind each of the curing methods and their places of origin. I also appreciated the FDA discussion and where cured meats are at in the U.S. and abroad.

As always, I find that the cover jackets of these books look like you are going to find a national geographic photo essay inside and then when you open them you only find a few pages of glossies. This book is no exception; it's lacking in actually production photos which I find almost as helpful as the written text.

I think it would be safe to say that Rytek Kutas' book is the authority on meat curing. I think every other book I have is just suplimentary.

As a beginner I was very worried about making venison sausage. This book took all the fears away. Everything is explained in great detail while maintaining an easy to read style. This book mixes the right amount of technical knowledge, personal stories, and personal experience to make the book very interesting to people of all skill levels. This is a must buy for the beginner to the professional. The huge bonus is that I bought this book for the sausage making but it really encompasses the full breadth meat curing to include drying, smoking, pickling, etc. If you only want to buy 1 book, buy this one. It will be a long while before I make it though all the recipes in this book.

I am just getting started in sausage making and was looking for a guide for making sausage at home. After reading all the reviews here, I purchased this book. It is a fairly large volume and includes a lot of detail on equipment, meat selection, meat handling, spices, recipes and techniques. There are many recipes for most of the types of sausages that readers would be interested in. The batch sizes are pretty large for the home sausage maker but can be scaled. There is a lot of detail on smoking and smoking equipment. The reason that I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is that in my opinion, it is a bit too detailed for the average home sausage maker. Much of the book deals with details that a meat processor may need to know but not needed for the average home sausage maker that is only going to process a couple of pounds of meat at a time. That being said, the recipes are straightforward and should be easy enough for anyone to follow.

Very informative and great explanations! No pictures, but very good book for the beginner.

Being a meat technologist and having spent twenty years in the meat seasoning business I bought this book for curiosity and to enlarge my library of professional cookbooks. I couldn't have made a better choice. The Kutases (originally Latvian?) have a very practical approach in their book. Anyone who plans to set up a butchershop can benefit from their handy hints. On the other hand even the seasoning suggestions for a variety of sausages seem useful.

As others have already reviewed, I am a fly fisherman who purchased this book to get a better understanding of freshwater invertebrates other than mayfly and caddis species. (For a highly detailed description of mayflies and caddis for the fly-fisherman, I would recommend the titles "Nymphs, volumes I and II".)

This guide is well-written and not too difficult to follow, even for the beginner. There is a focus on stream ecology and some tips on how to collect and identify various species. Be clear - the focus of this book is not specifically on fly-fishing, but more of a biological guide to aquatic invertebrates.

For a beginner, this book is a great place to start, but is also a nice reference for those with a little more experience. The color drawings are detailed enough to help determine the differences in various species. All in all - Excellent Book.

This books is easy to comprehend, and the plates are well defined. Extremely useful for ID'ing aquatic creatures.

My teaching partner and I will use this in our Freshwater Ecology class at the secondary level. It is a great basic guide that will be used as a reference tool and identification resource at an introductory level. Excellent for the money.

This book contains easy to understand pictographs for beginners, plus distinguishing characteristics for experienced entomologists. A major plus to any and every watershed association out there, and every limnology, water pollution biology, fisheries, etc. class offered at the collegiate level.

A definate must have for nymph fishermen as well!

Well done for a price that doesn't take a bite out of the pocketbook!

This book is great for beginners or someone who wants to brush up on invertebrates. The descriptions are wonderful, as are the pictures. Highly recommended!