B Books

This book was an excellent read. I couldn't put it down, as with all of Jacobsen's books, I've read. I like how he writes about political issue from a perspective that is not often addressed in literature. I highly recommend any of his books to anyone who enjoys thrillers and mystery books. He does a good job of incorporating both of those styles into his writing, without making it too gory or scary. Just the right amount to keep you interested.

This was my first Clay Jacobsen book, and I'll be checking out EVERYTHING he does. A very interesting look at the polls, and just how far someone will go for a popular opinion. Hats off to anyone who dares to be like Mark Taylor. There are some issues that some people may not be comfortable with. But for those people, you have to see the whole picture, and you appreciate this book all the more. When I read about Mark trying to figure out what's just going on, the words came off the pages! Thank you, Clay! Bravo!

This is a fast paced story with lots of action.

Mark Taylor is an investigative reporter who is looking for a big story for the television 'sweeps' period. He begins looking into the opinion polling industry and encounters incredible corruption in the way that results are skewed to manipulate particular outcomes of events. During the course of his investigation, Taylor uncovers murder, kidnapping, and collusion on a grand scale. The plot explores the effects of the polling industry on the outcome of elections, issues, etc.

Christian characters and ideas are interwoven into the story during the course of everyday life.This is a great book for anyone who enjoys a page turner that is difficult to put down. It is also thought provoking for anyone who has ever had concerns about the rampant use of polling in today's political climate. Jacobsen does an excellent job of theorizing how manipulations could occur.

This is the first book I have read of this author and I have already purchased another. This was great reading with a thought provoking twist. The characters developed nicely and the story was very believable. I'll be reading many more from this author.

Having read The Lasko Interview (Mr. Jacobsen's previous novel) I was anxious to read this one as well. I reviewed this novel for Broadman & Holman Publishers because I am a buyer for a bookstore. Jacobsen does characterization and plot very well and I was pleased to discover that he did an even better job with this novel. He weaves a Christian theme into his books without making it too obvious, which is a talent not possessed by all Christian authors. The area of polls and questionnaires is one I have long been suspicious of, because they are so easily manipulated. Jacobsen does an excellent job of giving a fictional account of just how easily this can be done and at the same time giving an enjoyably exciting story behind it. He's just released his new novel (Interview with the Devil). Can't wait to read it, too!

Karyn Purvis really understands her subject and what a challenge parenting adopted kids can be. She gives good practical information you can use today to parent kids that had eventful lives before they were yours. I recommend her book highly.

So many books on attachment are clinical and overwhelming. The recommendations seem so impossible to incorporate into your life. Not anymore! These authors offer amazing insight (you'll think they've been living in your house), practical advice, and inspiring commentary. I recommend this book to all foster or adoptive parents. If you know someone who is considering adoption or has recently adopted, you'll want to buy this book for them too!

As a parent of three domestically-adopted kids, this book has been a lifeline, a lifesaver and has helped us tremendously in getting the kids settled into a safe and healthy routine.

We're first-time parents and wanted a sane, easy-to-follow book to guide us through some of the rough spots. This book is chock full of common sense techniques, tips and ideas. I consult it at least once a month - but have read it through many, many times.

I bought this book after having read Deborah Grays "attaching in adoption" and I got so much more out of this book and many practical ways to handle our "not so easy to handle daughter". I also thought to myself as I read this book that alot of the advice would probably be valuable to any parent with a "challenging child", not just an adopted "challenging child". This book has helped our family tremendously with no nonsense practical ways to address difficult behaviors. It also taught us how to be compassionate and more sensitive to our daughters past and her current issues.

A nice book with a good message of compassion for the damaged children who are adopted into our homes. I liked the style, but was still waiting for concrete advice when the book ended. Short and very general. "Use a light, bantering tone." Well, I agree, but only possible under some circumstances. I have two children adopted from very difficult backgrounds. Parents like me need a lot more than what is in this book.

COUNTERPOINT, the frank account of the varied and exciting life of Joe Harnell, pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, will be sure to appeal to anyone who's a fan of mid to late 20th century popular culture and it's major players, louis armstrong, marlene dietrich, etc.
While not always pretty (Harnell has no desire to gloss over the more unpleasent aspects of his life), it is an always honest and very revealing account of the artistic and personal development of a musician's musician. After reading this book, it is difficult not to be touched by Harnell's humanity whether or not one is aware of his work and contributions to popular and television music over the last five decades.

COUNTERPOINT, the frank account of the varied and exciting life of Joe Harnell, pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, will be sure to appeal to anyone who's a fan of mid to late 20th century popular culture and it's major players, louis armstrong, marlene dietrich, etc.
While not always pretty (Harnell has no desire to gloss over the more unpleasent aspects of his life), it is an always honest and very revealing account of the artistic and personal development of a musician's musician. After reading this book, it is difficult not to be touched by Harnell's humanity whether or not one is aware of his work and contributions to popular and television music over the last five decades.

"Counterpoint" provides the reader with a rare perspective on a rich era in American Music written by one of the industry's giants about other musical giants of the time. Not only is Joe Harnell's personal journey told with extreme honesty, it's written with the light touch of a master humorist. He and Ira Skutch choose to divide the dazzling parade of musical legends by giving each one their own chapter, which makes it easy to refer back to a particular singer and reread a funny anecdote or insightful observation. This book succeeds on several levels: as a chronicle of music history; as a story of personal triumph; and as an important musical autobiography.

Joe Harnell pulls no punches in this great journey from boyhood to the present. Not only did I love the descriptions of the places and times Joe has traveled through, but the insight into the musicians and stars he worked with was rewarding. The fact that he is so out front with his personal life only makes you like him more for his human foibles and the peaks and valleys that we all experience. I'm from a younger generation but truly enjoyed reliving this time period through the words and music of Joe Harnell.

Not only a riveting expose of the music business over the last half a century, but also a revealing glimpse into the intimate life of a man with the sensitivity and temperament of a true artist and all the color and drama that go with it. Joe invites you along on his roller coaster ride of a life with stories you will never forget.

Dr. Kernan's four years overseas, which encompasses the full length of the War in the Pacific during 1941-45 is an autobiographical treasure that is as true a war story as any can be. This book takes us not on a pleasure cruise, but a voyage into a long-forgotten world of young, Depression-era ranchers and shoe clerks turned aviation ordinancemen and pilots. These we meet, however briefly, snaking up the stairs in a long line at the New Congress Hotel whorehouse in old Honolulu, in a below-decks poker game on a rusting, inflammable escort carrier, or seen for a fleeting moment, unconscious in the gaping seas as the result of a slight but deadly flight miscalculation, sinking beneath the waves, impossible to save, gone. Those voices of the past, their thoughts, fears and dreams, are recorded here with a painful honesty and without much sentiment for, as the author admits, he never really intended it for general publication at first. Those of us who appreciate history poured straight up will be forever in his debt that he changed his mind.

War, of course, is the antithesis of wonderful, and yet Alvin Kernan's memoir is so vividly and beautifully written that I wish to have been at his side during that time. The other reviews give a sense of Mr. Kernan's story, but I want to spend my praise on his writing: clear, direct, unadorned prose, which nevertheless conveys an absolute sense of place. If you want to learn to write well, you will read this book repeatedly. If you teach writing (not making up), consider Crossing The Line as a textbook.

Highest recommendation. You can order new copies online at Yalebooks.com.

. When you think of an east coast university professor who specializes in the humanities--Shakespearean literature, in this case--you probably won't be visualizing someone who started adulthood by engaging in vicious aerial gunnery duels with Japanese fighters and otherwise living the stressful, profane, hazardous life of an enlisted sailor on three World War II aircraft carriers, one of which was sunk while he was aboard. Such is the case, though, with retired Yale professor Alvin B. Kernan, author of "Crossing the Line," one of the most interesting and often gripping sagas of navy life that I've read.
. The book came as a surprise to me, on two counts. One, I knew that Kernan had been an aviation ordnanceman on the USS Enterprise during the Battle of Midway, and later an aerial gunner. But I had very little notion of the depth of his wartime experiences, not only as an aircrewman but also in escaping the sinking of the USS Hornet in the Guadalcanal battles and in a harrowing deployment aboard the escort carrier USS Suwanee (CVE-27). Suffice to say in this short review that Kernan earned a Navy Cross, a DFC, and five air medals from inside the turret of a TBF Avenger!
. And two, I had previously read Kernan's fictitious account of the Battle of Midway, "Love and Glory," which I thought was interesting but flawed in a number of regards (see my review on Amazon). For that reason, I was a little dubious about reading "Crossing the Line." Would this be another "interesting but flawed" piece of work that would cause me to keep my red pen handy while I read it? No. Crossing the Line is simply outstanding. Anyone with an interest in WWII naval air action will also want to read this book. I highly recommend it. Yes, there are a couple of minor nits that a very knowledgeable historian might want to pick, but they are so insignificant as to be unworthy of mentioning here. "Crossing the Line" will not disappoint you. In fact, you'll probably find it hard to put down.
. (Reviewed by R. W. Russell, Battle of Midway Roundtable, www.midway42.org)

Alvin Kernan has written one of the best books on WW2 I have ever read, and I've read a lot of them. His descriptions of his wartime experiences are crisp, vivid, and relevant.

If any of us are ever tempted to generalize in a negative way about sailors in the U.S. Navy, I suggest they read this book all the way to the end. What Kernan went on to do after the war is just as impressive as what he did while he served Uncle Sam.

Alvin Kernan was a 17-year-old from a poor family when he enlisted in the Navy in 1941. He was assigned to the carrier Enterprise and was aboard on Dec 7, 1941. He served aboard carriers most of the war, including a tour aboard the Hornet and he was aboard when she was sunk. He spent most of the time with the torpedo squadrons and gives a vivid account of the Battle of Midway. Most war histories are written by or about the leaders and it is unusual to find someone who was there for all the battles but who was seeing it all from the bottom up. After the war, he went to college on the GI Bill (as did I) and eventually ended his career as dean of the graduate school at Princeton. This is a vivid and knowledgeable account of the carrier war from one who was there and is a skilled writer. Anyone interested in the navy in World War II should read this book.

One of the best books I have encountered on human emotions in relation to God's working in our lives and the failures of the human heart in dealing with them apart from God. Chapter 10 - Abandonment and Despair: The loss of hope, and Chapter 11 - Redemptive Despair: The restoration of hope, have been wonderful assets in helping others.
PW

This is an excellent piece of work which cuts to the core of our emotional fight with God. It reflects the real struggle of Bible figures who over the ages have had the same struggles.

But in the end it will bring a deep sense of peace when the struggle is over. A great tool to understanding and working out our emotions.

This book has uncovered so much truth into my life and a message you will not hear from the pulpit but should. It has set me free! Incredible writing!

Dr. Dan Allender, makes a powerful case for the "righteousness" of emotion at its purist God given form. For most of my life I have been taught that emotion is wrong, from the devil, and from our brokenness. This book challenges that belief and has cleaned up emotion's reputation as it is usually drug through the mud of the sin we allow it to create in and through us. Emotion is blamed for the sin the carrier produces; much like Christ or the church is blamed for the sin Christians produce. Thank you for clearing up emotions reputation. This book has given me permission to feel. I now have a clearer picture of the Gospel of Christ!

This book was very good reading. It was easy to follow, yet was not shallow or filled with platitudes. It causes one to truly look at the root of one's emotions and deal with them. For too long emotions have been misunderstood. One camp says that they are evil. The opposite camp states that emotions are truth. Both are wrong, and the truth regarding our emotions comes out in this book. I was very impressed with the way the authors handled the subject and challenged the reader to look deeper, with honesty, into our emotions.

This story had me laughing out loud. I loved the relationship between the sisters, both the good and bad. To take a subject of losing your spouse to the levels this one goes both warmed my heart and made me cry. Any story that can bring this kind of charm to the written word, is an author to keep an eye on...Eileen that author.

Emily is a young widow, single mother to a seven year daughter, and clinging to what's kept her living since losing her husband: her daughter, her parents, her husband's best friend who's taken a sudden interest in her, and her sisters. Meeting to touch up her sisters' roots each month, the sisters agonize over their love lives and lack there of. They deal with family issues, health close-calls, and finding love in unexpected places.

I absolutely adored this book. It made me want to call my sister more often and love my husband a little better. The humor is hysterical and the emotions are poignant. I highly recommend this book.

I enjoyed this book very much but I expected more from it because some people were raving about this author.
She know how to writes about serious topics without going overboard and she knows how to include just the right about of humor without it becoming overbearing. All in al it was a great book and I'm looking forward to future releases from her.

This book made me laugh and cry. It made me root for the heroine and her best friend (a man) and her sisters. i even liked her parents. It's a great read.

Sharing their ups and downs, and triumphs and disappointments, the three Simon sisters have always been close, culminating in the ritual of hair dying parties. Eldest Leah tends to scare most guys off, but can't seem to stop hooking up with younger musician Chase; middle sis Claudia is looking for love after a painful divorce from an addict husband whose only commitment is his need for a fix; Emily was widowed at 30, and at 32, wants to appease her family by venturing out into the dating world, but after nursing her husband through cancer, she's finding that she's just not ready. When their dad suffers a mild heart attack and another family member has a cancer scare, Emily finds herself turning to her husband's best friend Jake, who has quickly become her best friend as well.

Don't be misled by the packaging. With a happy go lucky cover, this is really a deep and heart-wrenching tale of love, loss, and sisterhood, covering every serious topic from marriage to death to drug abuse. Told in first person from Emily's viewpoint, Rendahl injects just the right amount of comedy to offset the inevitable tears, and her writing is so real - not the least bit contrived. Most chapters start with the recipe for each sister's hair color (though Emily still has virgin hair), with some interesting narrative tossed in. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.

I have to say this book is just wonderful! It is great as a casual read as well as excellent for the researcher and/or family historian! It helped me to fill some gaps in my families history (Daniel's sister, Sarah Boone) and gave other avenues in which to reasearch.

Wanted to read this book as a celebration of Daniels life Yet I found it to be long statements made directly following his death It is told that none ventured into writing of this man during his life I guess that makes it appealing The man had big family and was known to beat the Indians at there own gam that I found Admirable the book on a whole was simply a bore due to the accounts of how Boone tryed to purchase this or that But to those who want to build homesteads in the 1800s It will be to your liking

This is the one to get. This one, and John Mack Faragher's BOONE biography (Henry Holt, 1992). Anything by Belue is worth getting; he is precise to the point of obsession, and his works--four thus far--will stand the test of time.

Occasionally a book that has been available for a while deserves another look just because of its intrinsic value. In 1998 a book was published that combined the names of two legendary individuals who will be associated forever with the history of the American backwoods-Daniel Boone, the famous adventurer, and Lyman C. Draper, the renowned nineteenth-century interviewer and collector. It was only through the painstaking efforts of editor Ted Franklin Belue that Draper's highly significant tome on Boone finally came into being a century and a half after it was started. Before the ink was dry on the printed page, this book had become a backcountry classic. It instantly went to the front rank of Boone biographies. For the previous hundred years few but the serious historian had been drawing from Draper's handwritten manuscript on Boone; now even the casual reader would have the material readily available in print. Despite the fact that Draper never finished writing the biography and didn't take Boone's exploits beyond 1778, The Life of Daniel Boone (596 pages hardcover, $39.95, Stackpole Books) has proven to be well worth the long wait.
The book is a treasure trove of information about Boone, including such highlights as: his early years in Pennsylvania and North Carolina; activities during the French and Indian War; hunting in the Appalachian region; long hunting in Kentucky; adventures in Dunmore's War; the establishment of Boonesborough; and the first half of the Revolutionary War in Kentucky. While perusing these pages, the reader will be reminded constantly of Draper's monumental research that involved extensive travel to obtain interviews with people who had known Boone personally or with relatives and friends of such individuals. He also endeavored to collect important documents before they disappeared. His efforts were literally a race against time. Belue sets a standard for excellence with his very interesting preface as well as his editor's note (following the preface) that explains how the book finally came into being. The outstanding notes at the end of each chapter by both Draper and Belue are a further wealth of information. Draper's 44-page appendix provides a Boone genealogy and biographical sketches of many other frontier figures.
From Smoke & Fire News, November 2004, by Bob Holden

Lyman Draper wrote the single best account of the life of Daniel Boone. This source, while not well known, has been mined by virtually every biographer of Boone since 1850. This book and the biography of John Bakeless are the best two volumes ever to appear about the life of Daniel Boone. Also the Memoirs of Nathan Boone and his wife are of extreme value. These books provide the basis for the study of early Kentucky history.

This book is a great source for aspiring fashion illustrators. I would highly recommend it. Teaches you how every aspect from shading, to creating fabric folds, to drawing lace, and plaids. In addition to this book I would also recommendDraw Fashion Models! (Discover Drawing Series), which briefly goes into how to draw flats.

This book is great. It's excellent help for anyone interested in sketching fashion figures or going into fashion.
Bina Abling has published lots of books, but each edition of this Fashion Sketchbook keeps getting better and more refined.

This sketchbook is very comprehensive and great for all levels of fashion sketching. It is a wonderful book if you are trying to conquer the croquis. I was an absolute beginner and this book has developed my skills greatly and the step by step lessons in the book are extremely helpful. This book is spiral-bound which makes a big difference when practicing, especially if you like to using tracing paper prior to your sketching attempts. Not all fashion drawing books are spiral-bound so make sure you take note, it makes a big difference when working on your art.

This book was exactly what I needed for my fashion illustration class. I received it in perfect condition. I really like it!

This is The authority on illustrating for fashion. Abling's attention to detail and artistic ability make her a perfect tutor on the topic, and every explanation is clear--it's the sort of thing where you look at the example, and it clicks in your head, "Oh, Now I see!".

The book goes over Everything you need, but in case you want to know exactly what is inside, here is a quick summary:

Ch 1: Fashion Figure Proportions
Figures on grids broken down in several ways, extensive work on proportion. Abling divides figures into geometric shapes: foot, head, hips, chest, upper arm, thigh; she then puts them together, showing how they fit and relate to one anther. It then goes further and shows how different poses and types of movement affect the torso (upper and lower), as well as different types/shapes of figures, from the elongated fashion figure to petite and full. The chapter also features a figure map, interpretations of anatomy, different poses and artistic approaches, balance, and movement.

Ch 2: Basic Figure Forms
Drawing legs, arms, feet, shoes, hands, fingers, and foreshortening. There are so many helpful diagrams from multiple perspectives, numerous poses.

Ch 3: Model Drawing
Gesture drawing, exercises on isolated sections of the body, angles, and more; balance line, supporting leg (where the weight is distributed so the figure looks planted to the ground, not floating around or unevenly/awkwardly perched), arms.

Ch 4: Fashion Heads
Faces, different ethnicities, facial features, dissection of the head with a map on the placement of eyes, nose, lips, etc. The head in different positions, from different angles; techniques to maintain proportion and balance: diamond technique, working with angles and planes of the face, shading/highlights/shadows. Hair: styles, hairlines, period styles.

Ch 5: Drawing Men
Comparison to female figure, legs, arms, hands, hair, gesture, dressing the figure, suits, and details on how the fabric falls, where to put certain features like the cuff, armhole, etc. Proportions, classic menswear techniques, fashion croquis technique, vintage styles.

Ch 6: Drawing Children
Proportions by age, with many dissections and comparisons, tons of helpful illustrations and examples. Infants, toddlers, children, tweens; heads, facial expressions, hairstyles, arms, hands, legs, feet, vintage styles.

Ch 7: Garment and Garment Details
Necklines, collars, sleeves (different types, lengths, etc), skirts (folds, fall of fabric, gathering, flaring, volume, pleats), pants (folds, gathering, lengths, fit), blouses, blazers, jackets, coats, ruffles, smocking, shirring, cowls, fur, quilting, formal gowns, applying the concepts to garments.

Ch 8: Accessories
Jewelry and how they sit on the body, eyewear, hats (male, female), belts (types, fit), trims, notions, closures, handbags, shoes (different angles, heel heights, types).

Ch 9: Basic Rendering Techniques
Working with stripes and other fabric types/prints. Shading, highlighting, rendering with marker, fall fabrics, more fabric types: shiny fabrics, flat/matte, sheers, layers, velvet, satins, chiffon, etc. Working with all black fabrics.

Ch 10: Color Rendering
Chapter features color renderings to show skin tones, menswear with marker, children; using gouache, using watercolors, rendering hair in color.

Ch 11: Drawing Knits
Necklines, knit patterns, treatments/embellishments.

Ch 12: Designer Sketching and Fashion Illustration
Poses: I-pose, S-pose, X-pose, T-pose. Attitude, "look" and feel, style, emphasis.

Ch 13: Drawing Flats and Specs
Layout styles, freehand sketching, proportion, chart on measurements by size: Women, Men, Unisex, Belts, Hats, Socks. Gathering, buttons, closures, top stitching. Mixing croquis and flat drawings.

Ch 14: Layout
Combining multiple drawings, elements, or figures; groupings,

Appendix
More necklines, collars, sleeves, armholes, tops, dresses, skirts, pants, jackets, coats, sleepwear, underwear, design details, ties, hats, waistlines, pockets, handbags, shoes, collars, cuffs.
One of the neatest sections in the book is titled "problem spots" and features examples of the right and wrong way to do various details. Showing examples of how amateurs or beginners make mistakes and then showing the correct way works So well! Better than explanation, this simple and clear approach is crucial.

This book is filled with immensely helpful diagrams, exercises, and demonstrations. Every part of it is useful to students and designers, and because it is so comprehensive, this could be the single most important book in fashion illustration. If you could only have one book on the subject, get Fashion Sketchbook by Bina Abling.

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 real mind-bending read! M. B. Lemanski shows himself to be a masterful storyteller with this debut work. He offers a fresh perspective on religious extremism--namely, that no one faith has a monopoly on it. The author takes us on a surprising spiritual journey in this tale about the ultimate worldwide war--Armageddon. It is surprising because the only eventual winners in this tale of the horrors of such a war are those who abandon altogether the strategy of war. It is spiritual in that the reader is deftly persuaded--both by the chain of events as well as the words and the aura of the hero Janus Philio (a character skillfully developed by Lemanski)--to reexamine his or her notions of truth and belief, as well as how one arrives at both.

Another surprise throughout is that somewhat irreverent images of established religion and oddly believable politico-religious personalities are subtly contrasted with what seems like a reverence on the part of the author for something else. It's worth the time spent to discover what that something else is--something which has eluded human beings perhaps as much as the knowledge of God.

Although author M.B. Lemanski may have portrayed the second coming in an unorthodox, and what to some may appear a disturbing way, yet the yarn has a strange plausibleness to it, for those who know the history of prophets and prophecies. He proves that mind bending can be entertaining.

Written by defense markets analyst M. B. Lemanski, The Flesh of Kings: The Final Battle Begins After Armageddon is an exciting novel about the battle for humankind's future in the wake of Armageddon. A teacher and mystic going by the name Janus Philio has claimed the title of King of kings in Jerusalem and performed miracles to help heal the world. Is he the second coming of Jesus Christ, or the latest in a series of Antichrists, or something else entirely? Preacher's son and former NFL superstar Julian "the Mighty" Quinn earns political power in what is left of America; his distrust of Philio entangled him in the machinations of a secret society set on assassinating the King of kings. A tense, action-packed adventure ensues, in this disturbing yet utterly absorbing post-apocalyptic tale.

After being disappointed so many times with the "fast food" literature available today, I was thrilled to read Mr. Lemanski's "The Flesh of Kings".
His style is reminiscent of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. as he literally dismantles so many of the icons of today. Human beings in his world can trust no one, assume nothing, and certainly take nothing for granted. I find this a healthy attitude from which to describe the world we see.
To me, this book is a friendly wakeup call for all of us who spend our time in the pursuit of creature comforts instead of really seeing today's world and its many dangers.
Mr. Lemanski's humor has a edge and I throughly enjoyed his book.

Wow! The Flesh of Kings is a great read. The author certainly has a way with words and will take you on an adventurous and interesting journey into the near future to examine what life might be like after Armageddon. There is an underlying message that begins to unfold near the end which is simple, something we all want and something we sometimes fail to give.The novel ends with a glimpse at "what's it all about." The author is a real storyteller. The novel is worthwhile, entertaining and will leave you with a lot to ponder.

The end of days is also the beginning of days. Julian Quinn is a former professional football player who happens to find himself struggling for survival in an area of southern California called `The Zone.' The Zone is a creation of the new order of America which came about due to a terrible war that arose in the Middle East. The country we know today no longer exists. Julian begins a journey that could only happen to one or two individuals in a millennium. Along the way he meets varied characters and is posed many questions. How will he answer them? Will mankind survive? Read this book and be carried along to its conclusion and all will be known, maybe.

M.B. Lemanski is the former head of an aerospace consultancy and Wall Street defense markets analyst prior to joining Reuters as a writer in the area of science and technology.

This is cleverly and ably crafted tale of a possible future of mankind that could arise out of the raw material of today. Mr. Lemanksi is truly a master of the English language and its tremendous vocabulary. This only adds to Mr. Lemanski's ability to weave together the different characters into a complete and congruent whole. This book is well-recommended and is worth reading even for those who might disagree with its point of view. After all, what is fiction but a way to learn and to grow.