Publishers Books

This is a very encouraging book about courage and faith in the face of a devastating terrorist incident. I was moved by LTC Bidwell and his wife's faith in God and each other as they fought their way back from the brink of death, after he was burned over more than 60% of his body on 9/11. One of my battle buddies was just badly burned by a bomb blast in Kabul, Afghanistan and is currently making this same recovery. Reading this book encouraged me about my friend's prospective future, after recovery.

This book is one of the most amazing faith filled stories I have read in a long time.
What Mel and Brian Birdwell went through after the tragedy of 9/11 and how it made them grow in the Chrisitan faith never giving in to others negativity is a true testimony of how God does work miracles. Brian Birdwell is a walking miracle.
This was the best of all the books I have read about people who have survived 9/11. This is one book once you read it, you will never forget it!

This book is an amazing testimony of God's mercy, love and faithfulness to those who call upon His name. As Brian and Mel Birdwell share their experiences from the Pentagon attack and aftermath, the reader gets a vivid mental picture of much of what they went through. They share their pain and suffering, but they also share their hope and trust in the Lord which is ultimately what gets them through such an appalling tragedy. God is clearly glorified in this story!

Refined by Fire is an autobiography of a couple's experience of faith, endurance, and love of God. It evokes all human emotion.

Brian is a friend of my son and his family and while visiting with my son, I was fortunate enough to meet Brian and his wife. They are a very loving sincere couple who have had their faith tested and have come out of this stronger than ever. I have recommended this book to others and am giving the books to friend and family because I think it tells a great story of love, devotion and faith.

"Ripples from the Zambezi" is a beautiful, simple, common sense book with profound implications for catalyzing successful small business creation and growth. It was recently recommended to me by an economic development agency official working in an affluent, conservative U.S. Midwestern county. He felt some of the approaches might work for his area; and in reading the book, I concur with his conclusions.

In efforts to inform work on strategic innovation and marketing, I have plowed through far too many derivative, nonsensical business titles over the years. Before I picked this up, I was a little concerned that it might be a cult book; however, given the importance of rural renewal, I was willing to give any earnest voice the benefit of the doubt.

It was wrong to have prejudged "Ripples from the Zambezi." If this has risen to the status of a cult book, then Mr. Sirolli would be the first to suggest that you never mindlessly apply any approach he might propose. In our left-brain weighted society, it is easy to mistake an enthusiastic voice for a naïve one--but there is a basis for this enthusiasm that is powerful, and which Mr. Sirolli explores fully.

The ideas here are different. Mr. Sirolli speaks to the potential and the results of connecting with each entrepreneur holistically to engage heartfelt intention and remove obstacles to successful growth. The message--that individuals can realize hope for themselves, for their families, and for their communities borne of connecting passion with skill and action is a big message--and the Renaissance man who delivers it is capable to the challenge.

Every paragraph of Ernesto Sirolli's book is loaded with mature, interdisciplinary insight. It is a book whose "time has come" and whose wisdom is carefully woven through the subtext: it's personal, easy to read, and gut-wrenchingly smart.

Don't read this book. DO WHAT IT SAYS! I seldom applaud things. This I do.

I loved the book. Not only it gives great insights on enterpreneurship, it also teaches us that facilitation can be applied in all aspects of life, from work to family with fantastic results.

I highly recommend the book.

I work with small businesses and developing entrepreneurs and this book helped me see another view and perspective in the work i go. I recommend it for anyone who works in the small business (and micro business) community and who would like some new direction on how to build local economies.

"I can't myself raise the winds that might blow us, or this ship, into a better world. But, I can at least put up a sail so that, when the wind comes, I can catch it."

E. F. Schumacher

This was a fun and insightful book to read. Amidst all the discussion about radical, disruptive and breakthrough innovation, this book is a refreshing reminder that small things can make a big difference. It's a reality check for big budget innovation programs and economic development programs that usually end up stealing a company from one community in order to develop the economy of your community (a zero sum game by the way). This book is about dedicated, skilled innovators with a passion for their innovations and facilitators who provided the missing ingredients preventing these passionate innovators from making their ideas a reality. Sometimes, those missing ingredients were connections to the right people. Sometimes they were small sums of money (ridiculously small amounts of money that yielded great returns). And, sometimes it was adding small supportive or enabling innovations that turned an idea into a viable business model. And, always it's about the pattern of product, process and procedure innovation that worked.

Sirolli's journey began as a member of an Italian economic aid organization in Zambia. They noticed that the land along the Zambezi River was incredibly fertile. They thought that if they brought modern farming knowledge and applied it to the land, they would demonstrate to the natives just how much they could benefit. Of course, what did the Italians decide to grow? Tomatoes. The soil and weather were perfect. And, the tomatoes grew - the biggest most beautiful tomatoes the Italians had ever seen. The Italians watched with pride as their crop matured. The natives silently watched and laughed among themselves. One morning, just when the crop was about ready to be harvested, Sirolli reports that they came to the fields to find them totally destroyed. The hippos of the Zambezi had eaten all the tomatoes and laid the fields to waste, and the only tell tale signs were the ripples in the water.

Sirolli quotes Pliny the Elder, "There is always something new out of Africa." Sirolli writes, "Those who have worked in an African country will tell you, if they are honest, that they always learn from the expereince much more than they had bargained for...I am no exception." Later he states, "I became conscious of the fact that we were not doing the right thing - and consciousness is an extraordinary thing."

"Right now, in your community, at this very moment, there is someone who is dreaming about doing something to improve his/her lot. If we could learn how to help that person to transform the dream into meaningful work, we would be halfway to changing the economic fortunes of the entire community," the author comments. This is Sirrolli's credo. It is clear upon reading the book that the author has had a good classical education (formal or informal). His thinking about innovation is colored by Schumacher, Maslow and Rogers.

His advice, based on Schumacher is, "If people don't ask for help, leave them alone. And, there is no good or bad technology to carry out a task - only an appropriate or inappropriate one. Something big, modern and expensive is not necessarily best; it all depends on the circumstances."

"Because of Maslow and Schumacher," he writes, "I came to understand that successful development has to do with the quality, not quantity of life." Human beings are striving creatures. When one level of need is met, people move on to higher levels in an endless cascade. Is it any wonder that this country grew as it did because the founders understood this about people and claimed equality, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

With this framework, the author was able to explain his experiences in Africa. "They were secure and did love and had self esteem in the same proportions Western people had, maybe even more. Some of them were beautiful, wise, self-actualizing people reaching for the apex of full humanness," Sirolli writes.

The level of what is enough at each stage of development is set by cultural and psychological factors. Some people get stuck in the pursuit of material goods and others have lower levels of satisfaction and move on to the next higher state of development. The natives had enough food, safety and security for them, and they could move on to higher levels of human development.

From Carl Rogers he found that "that it was possible to help people heal themselves by simply being there, listening, facilitating and responding to the client's needs for communication and finding values to live by." "The aim is not to solve one particular problem but to help the individual to grow so that he can cope with the present problem and with later problems in a better, more integrated fashion."

Later, he continues, "Reading about the champions of the human race, I couldn't avoid creating, in my mind, a demonology - that is, a list of the demons oppressing us. Contrary to Dante's Inferno, however, my hell wasn't populated by naked gluttons, greedy merchants, and assorted petty sinners. The torturers had no tails; rather they were well-dressed authoritarian figures who, in the name of an idea, would torture and beat the psychological life out of the people in their power. From unyielding bureaucrats to religious fanatics, from political extremists to avid do-gooders, my demonology started to contain anybody who dreamt up a code of conduct and tried to manipulate or coerce others to follow it."

Sirolli's encourages his facilitators to support clients who have a marriage of both passion and skill. "But becoming what we are is invariably difficult," he writes. "We have to commit ourselves to a course that may prove to be unpopular with our peers, unfashionable among our friends, and unbecoming in the eyes of our parents. Striving for individuality is always a lonely business. Passion is what propels us during our solitary journey." Commenting on skill he writes, "Our generation is a generation without masters. We are still under the impression, and like to think, that The Beatles didn't have to learn how to play music; that Jimi Hendrix picked up a guitar one morning, put a big joint in his mouth, and started to play like a god. Does the next, younger generation, understand that there cannot possibly be art without skill?"

"Facilitation," he writes, "is based on the belief that it is human to dream and desire. Faith in human nature is what makes it work." "The skill of the facilitator is to become available to those who have the dream and to help them acquire the skills to transform it into meaningful and rewarding work. The skill of facilitation is therefore a communication skill with a twist. It isn't so much that facilitators have to communicate to their client; rather they have to be the kind of person one likes to talk to." Their role is to simple remove the obstacles that stifle a client's growth.

He identifies the characteristics of facilitators:

 Facilitators are passive
 Facilitators are visible
 Facilitators provide just-in-time help
 Facilitators work in confidence
 Facilitators act like swans
 Facilitators love action
 Facilitators are a loaded spring
 Facilitators assess the person and the motivation behind the idea.
 Facilitators understand that ideas are cheap, passionate individuals are rare
 Facilitators establish true communications and build trust
 facilitators don't play power games
 Facilitators are non-threatening, unassuming friendly listeners who make people want to talk to them.


The book is full of examples and case histories, and is divided into 14 chapters:
1. Out of Africa
2. The Technology Fix
3. Homo Cupeins - The Desiring Man
4. Out of the Mountain Cave Back to School
5. The Art of Shoemaking
6. The Esperance Expereince
7. The Esperance Model Applied
8. On Facilitation
9. Training Facilitators
10. A Word of Caution
11. Facilitation and Economic Development
12. A Quiet Revolution
13. The Politics of Personal Growth
14. Epilogue - Civic Society, Social Capital, and the Creation of Wealth

As you can see from the outline, the discussion covers a good deal of territory and Sirolli has meaningingful insights in all the topics. For example, "The shift by governments away from resource driven economies to valued-added ones cannot take place without recognizing that our greatest assets are not the ones that lie underground. Our greatest assets must be our energy, imagination, and skill - our commitment to good work and to the pursuit of excellence and the courage to fulfill our ambitions. Every single person is important in the creation of a better, wealthier, smarter society. Whether employed are not, engaged in export service industries, in the arts, sports or tourism, the quality, both of personal and professional, of every single person is what will make a country prosperous."

And, "Thus the freedom to become is the key to unlocking civic society and long term economic prosperity. Wealth can be generated in the short term in exploiting natural resources, but 1,000 years of prosperity can only be created intelligently by working together, exchanging ideas, sharing technology and resources, and helping each other do well in the understanding that a myriad of wealthy self-employed people produce an economic system immensely more resilient than any alternative."

And, "The beauty of Maslow's theory is that it explains that helping each other is not done out of charity, but out of our need to be appreciated, loved and respected."

Michelangelo, who believed his role as a sculptor was to release the images that were already in the stone, wrote:

"The best of artists hath no thought to show
which the rough stone in its superfluous shell
doth not include; to break the marble spell
is all the hand that serves the brain can do. "

To make his point, he carved a series of "unfinished" works depicting humans emerging from the rock (The Prisoners).

Metaphorically, the facilitator's role is the same.

And, if the facilitator is blessed with double insightful vision and can not only see the beauty inside the innovator, but can see the community that could emerge as a result, then a community transformation can occur.

You just have to read this book. And, when you do, write something about it. Better yet, use it.

Ken Jennings and John Stahl-Wert utilize a short story format to teach the attributes of leadership. In a consultant's interviews with community leaders revitalizing the inner city, the attributes of true-to-life leadership are demonstrated by action in the narrative.

They highlight the astonishing truth that the best leaders' focus upon building up the people around them, that no man is great on his own.

This very readable leadership 'story' - thankfully light on matrices or charts -draws out more purposeful insights than most books on the topic.

These guys have done a great job with what I call semi-fiction. Following the journal of a consultant as he reconnects with his father and learns the lessons of being a serving leader. This book goes further than Collins' Level 5 leadership and takes you into 5 practical pathways for becoming a serving leader. Excellent read.

A very well written, thoughtful and practical book that courageously tackles the challenge that all successful leaders ask themselves at some point in their careers- "OK so I have made a big impact on the numbers- and achieved my goals- but why do I still not feel satisfied?" The authors correctly point out that it is all about what you give to others- and not just to impact top or bottom lines in business- but also to impact the communities around us. Those who have not really dug into what a Servant Leader is- and does- may well have their exising paradigms upended. Servant leadership is NOT about being spineless or too nice- it IS about setting a very high standard and holding people accountable- but also caring about and investing in them to help them to hit and surpass this high mark. Having been a keen student of leadership over the past 20 years, I have seen trends and fads come and go and many leaders rise and fall. What I like best about The Serving Leader is that its principles are timeless and fad-proof. One will never go wrong being the type of Servant Leader described in this book- and they may become the leader who has the type of impact that they never dreamed big enough to conceive. A great read!

This book is truly exceptional for anyone who wants to be able to truly understand the heart of servant leadership. If you are ever able to meet Dr. Stahl-Wert, you will understand that he does not just write about it and talk about it, he lives it in his own personal and professional life which makes the book even more real. Do not read this book unless you are ready and willing to commit to the call to servant leadership and what it can mean for you and your organization.

Jennings and Stahl-Wert know what they're talking about. Unlike many "leadership experts," this book rings absolutely true. A very moving, honest, hopeful story that helped me a lot. Thank you for getting to the deeper heart of leadership.

I felt like this book was written especially for me and about my 21 year old son. It has been very insightful and helpful.

We have a 40-year-old daughter who is moving back in with us in a small apartment. She has LOTS of problems: BiPolar, Disassociative Personalty Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and others. I found much help in this book to help us help her without continuing to enable her. I would highly recommend this book to any parents with adult children with problems.

I carefully read all reviews here prior to ordering the book. There are many elements of the book that are sound and practical. The emphasis on parents not being taken hostage by their own children is very sound. Likewise, Allison Bottke's exploration of how parents enable their adult children is an excellent portion. Helping, as she says, is doing for our children what they cannot do for themselves; enabling is doing for them what they can do for themselves. Placing the emphasis on creating autonomy--both on the parental and child roles--is also a strength to this book. Overall, Bottke provides a clear path toward separating oneself, nurturing oneself, letting go of the worries over the adult child so that he or she can find independence. Bottke also delves into the power and positive force of support groups such as Al-anon. Very importantly, Bottke gives 20 signposts for troubled, sociopathic people, and this is an invaluable checklist. All told, these constitute solid reminders of our own healthiness, ou boundaries and selves so that we can live in peace.

If I have any personal reservations about the book, it would have to do with the solely Christian path to recovery. Bottke is very up-front about this being a book in which her perspective is based on Christian principles, so she cannot be faulted. As a Christian myself, I appreciate her point of view, but I also wonder whether the foundation of her philosophy does not merely resonate with sound, universally accepted "moral" and "ethical" tenets of civilized people, regardless of their religious persuasion. By isolating this as a Christian text, Bottke, it seems to me, narrows the broader audience who might receive the larger message she gives.

My most serious reservation about this book, however is that Bottke quotes media person Bill O'Reilly, whose view of the culture are too angry and accusatory for me. Honestly, I admit openly that I have no respect for O'Reilly because of his outrageous and vicious commentaries, so this was a depressing moment for me in reading this otherwise good book from an author I want to respect. I'd rather Bottke have said the O'Reilly "excuse abuse" quote herself, from her own life and experience than hauling in O'Reilly. He just comes with too many negative associations and his own checkered personal history in a book about healing and finding peace.

This book helped me a lot more than all the family counseling sessions I attended!It was well written, easy to understand, and most important of all,gave me my sanity back. I bought copies for a couple of friends (and my counselor) and all were impressed! My friends and I formed our own support group and we refer back to this book again and again!

Setting Boundaries with Your Adult Children by Allison Bottke is an empowering book about letting your children go. Bottke's story is sad, and all too familiar to a lot of parents. Her adult son was addicted to drugs and has done multiple stints in prison and rehab. She cleaned up his mistakes, helped him get on his feet numerous times, and in return, he was verbally abusive. Bottke provides a plan called SANITY to stop enabling adult children who are living off of their parents, whether through addictions, bad choices, or just sheer laziness. She includes anecdotes from her own experiences, as well as other parents who have suffered. The advice is solid, as are the quizzes she uses to help the reader determine if they are enablers. My children aren't adults yet, but in reading, I did see several areas where I could end up enabling them in the future if I don't take steps now. Bottke offers hope to parents who are at the end of their rope and don't know where to turn.

I saw 2 of Chekhov's plays in college and I honestly don't remember them. Glenn Close appeared in one I remember, but beyond that I was obviously distracted. Nothing could have prepared me for the perfection of these stories. I have never read a collection that had such an impact. Chekhov's clear-eyed world view peers at tiny physical details in the lives of the characters to see into their souls. They are tragic heroes in common clothes.

Chekhov looks on without judgment. His attitude is humane and liberal. No matter how foolish his subjects, his attitude is never condescending.

I hadn't realized it until I finished Pevear's forward, but Chekhov begins to slip subtly into stream of consciousness in several stories. This and many other innovations make Chekhov a pivotal figure in fiction writing. He is certainly under appreciated at present.

(I can't compare it, of course, but the P&V translation is another gift.)

Anton Chekhov is largely known for his plays (The Cherry Orchard, Uncle Vanya), but he is also widely regarded as a master of the short story. However to fully appreciate these stories the reader should be somewhat familiar with the state of fiction in Russia during the last half of the 19th century as well as social and political conditions in the country at that time. Some knowledge of Chekhov's personal history and his philosophy of life is also helpful. Lacking these insights one is likely to find these stories to be excessively negative and depressing.

One difficulty in reading this book of his best short stories is that the first few (50 pages or so) are unrelentingly depressing; death and unrequited love being the main themes and they are told in Chekhov's spare style. A Boring Story is a longer and more interesting piece. It includes some aspects of Chekhov's philosophy, and while it ends on another depressing note, there is still an element of hope present. Ward No. 6 is perhaps the best of these stories, as well as the longest. It tells of a hospital in Siberia with a ward for mental patients. The story centers around a doctor (Andrei Yefichmych), a decent and compassionate man who gradually descends to the depths of the place. Along the way he has an interesting exchange with a mental patient, Ivan Dmitrich. The doctor suggests that one can be happy anywhere, even trapped in a prison, and cites the example of the Greek philosopher Diogenes who so distained material things that he lived in a barrel. The patient disagrees strongly, shouting, "I love life, I love it passionately!" He adds, tellingly, that maybe Diogenes would not have been so happy if he had had to live in a barrel in the wintry cold of Siberia!

The other stories in the book treat of a variety of people and situations from all walks of Russian life. While despair and a sense of hopeless fatalism remains the main thrust of many of these stories, there is also an element of hope present. Chekov keeps coming back to the idea that the future will be better. Some stories, such as Anna on the Neck, even have an element of humor. The last story, The Fiancée, perhaps sums up Chekhov's view of Russian life. In this tale a young woman living in a small town becomes engaged to a local man. A guest from the city, Sasha, starts to talk with her about how empty her life will be if she marries this man. Gradually she begins to come to this realization and in the end leaves to move to St. Petersburg to have "a new, expansive, spacious life, and that life, still unclear, full of mysteries, lured and beckoned to her."

I have given Chekov a rating of 4 stars, rather than 5, because, compared to Guy de Maupassant and O. Henry, his stories do not sufficiently express the full range of human emotions. Both of the latter masters of the short story infuse their work with humor and even broad satire and this is the stuff of life as well as the dreary world that Chekov inhabits. Yet maybe Chekov is reflecting the reality of Russia in his time. In any case these stories are well worth reading.

A true master of the form of the short story, this collection of stories illustrates the full depth of Chekov's range of subjects and characters: serfs, bishops, doctors, merchants, coroners, in the country, city, and in between. There seems to have been no area of Russia where Chekov did not have an intimate, exhaustive knowledge. Every story is finely crafted, concise yet exacting, detailed yet brisk. Chekov manages to juggle these mutually exclusive elements of the art of short story, giving most of the stories the feel of longer, fully treated works in a very tight space. Simply put, Chekov well deserves his designation as one of the great masters of the short story.

This is the first series of works that I have read by Chekhov. I wanted to read some of his shorter works before beginning reading his novels. Now that I realize how much I enjoy his stlye, which I think other people will like as well, I am looking forward to reading his larger works. I very much liked the insight into the Russian culture.

Chekhov simply astonishes. "The Lady with the Little Dog," one of his most famous stories, is rendered splendidly by Pevar and Volokhonsky. I don't know of any other writer who captures the confusion, fear and excitement of romantic love as well as Chekhov does here. The last line is perfect.

My 29 year old son asked for this book and 2 others for his birthday. He said they are awesome. Thank you!

This book, like Bill Johnsons other books discuss who we really are in Christ, which alone should give us joy. We are reminided that we have a purpose and not to remember that purpose is when we are distracted by the enemy.

Bill is not new age, he takes a lot of flack because he teaches a revelation from the Holy Spirit and scriptural that is not new but progressive.

There is something mentioned on page 135 "Desparate Cry" that talks about how we are often taught that weeping and somberness is a true sign of conviction when really in the book of Nehemiah God tells everyone to stop crying and rejoice and feast. Should we not rejoice in knowing that we have salvation? We have it all backwards.

I believe we are in a period of really realizing what God wants for us. We are not weak creatures while we wait for God to maybe do something, we are strong in Him who do His will with power, signs and wonders.

This book gives you the knowledge you need to live a Godly, powerful life. Once you are equipped with this knowledge, it challenges you to use it in everyday life. To show the power of God to a people who are seeking.

This book is awesome. It's packed with truths that every believer needs to have firmly planted in their heart so that they can stand against every attack of the enemy and strengthen themselves in every difficult circumstance. I think all of Bill Johnson's books are great and this one is no exception.

I can not express what an explosive book this is. As a minister of the gospel, I was renewed, refreshed and rebounded back to action from reading this book. The hand of God was recognized on each page. If you need to draw closer to God, read this book. If you need to know how to handle you vocation, read this book. If you need to be lifted up, this is it, because Preachers, Prophets, and etc. need lifting up too. Often I have found that being a Minister, we are always at an aloneness. This book says why. This is a excellent book. I wish I could explain it more clearly.

Easy read...good clean story line, the characters pray to god, but its not the heavy religous stuff, more realistic, when one stops and says a quick prayer. Enjoy the fact that sex is left out of the story but that the author builds a relationship between the characters. The story line keeps you picking up the book.

When Darcy the spy meets Cougar the Navy SEAL, the chemistry is unquestionable. The romance builds through stolen moments sprinkled within the thickening suspense that follows the terrorist attacks of 9/11. This novel has a strong plot that is examined from the viewpoints of both the military and the CIA. There is intense action as well as thought-provoking intelligence. This is one of Dee Henderson's finest projects!

Yes, that about says it. Dee Henderson uses good syntax and an interesting plot to give you an all around good book.

I could not put this book down. The first book took me over one week to read. Just couldn't get into the characters. But the last two I could not put this book down.

I love strong women characters the kind that do not need to be saved. You got that from this book she could ultimately take care of herself but it's better to work as a team to catch the bad guy.

I enjoy reading but believe there are too many good Christian writers out there to read much of the secular trash today. I used to think it was safe to go to my church library to get good reading material--WRONG!! They are interested in getting best sellers, etc. I enjoy a good novel that keeps my interest without the foul language, the sleeping around, etc. Don't get me wrong-- sometimes there is a purpose to these topics in the book-- like observing how the Christians around them have witnessed to bring them out of their sinful lives. Think you know what I mean. Dee Henderson is one of those authors that I can count on for a good clean story--exciting and clean. True Honor was no exception. It is a wonderful love story and both main characters happen to be Chrisitans. Throughout the entire book both Darcy and Sam look to the Lord for guidance and strength throughout trials. If is evident from the first moment they meet that there are "sparks" between the two of them. Do they act on those sparks by hopping in and out of bed? No! This is a thrilling story of espionage, danger, murder, terrorism, friendship, relationships, families and patriotism. It is also current-- as Ms Henderson's story begins just prior to that day in history we recently lived thru--9-11. An easy read that you won't put down until you are finished.

Donohue's very enjoyable autobiography goes into considerable detail about his racing career while understandably ignoring his personal life. His descriptions of the early days, when engine dynos were uncommon, and suspension setup was by guess and by God, are eye-opening.

It would have been nice to have some more technical details, but as he points out, they are a part of his team's "Unfair Advantage".

If you are a fan of Mark Donohue, or a racing fan from the era of the CanAm series, I believe you will enjoy this biography. It has enlightened me to the complications and hardships in preparing and maintaining a proper race care. There is much insight into the business side off the sport as well, and demonstrates Roger Penske's determination and acuity in running a top flight team.

I saw this book last weekend at a Vintage Race being held ther by HSR-West and figured it would be a great collectos item. But it is a lot more than that; it is a real insight to the trials and tribulations of racing and race car development. Donohue comes out as a very humble driver and he is not afraid to admit his mistakes and that of the team. This is a book that you don;t to put down but you also don;t want to be finished with it. I did see Mark Donohue at one of the Riverside Trans-Ams in 1968. I was always wondering what really happened at the end of the 69 season to make Penske swith to that AMC junk and now I know.. Do not miss this book.

This book is easily one of the best narratives about racing I've ever come across. It is a personal and honest account of the late Mark Donahue's racing career from his impromptu start to the zenith of his career in Formula 1, Indy Racing, and Can Am to his retirement.

Anyone who races or aspires to race will delight in his firsthand recollections of his racing exploits and his perspective on one of the great programs in motorsport history (the Can Am Porsche 917).

Highly recommended.

There are very few motorsports books extant that can be called true classics or world-changers. This is one of them, and it's one of the best on top of that. Mark Donahue was an extrordinary individual, not only a blindingly fast driver, but also a talented, disciplined, and most importantly, curious engineer.

To have the virtues of both top-level driver and top-level engineer embodied in the same person is a very rare combination. To have been present - indeed, to be one of the driving forces behind - a revolution within a sport and an industry is even rarer. To have this person write about his experiences while busy changing the world is precious beyond price.

To put it simply, you cannot be a student of the profession of motor racing without reading this book.

I offer this as evidence: while I am by no means an autograph hound, I do, from time to time, have occasion to encounter people within the motorsports family whom I admire enough to want to collect an autograph from. I use my copy of The Unfair Advantage as my autograph storage device. Putting this book in front of people like Jackie Stewart, Carroll Shelby, and Carroll Smith results in a shock of recognition, followed by praise for the author. What greater endorsement could you want?

As a publicist who has worked on the journalism side like T.S. Peric, I learned that he "gets it". I devoured this book as a refresher for myself and to learn what others are doing to generate publicity for their clients. I found Peric's tips and advice sensible, simple to understand and applicable to any product or service. It's one of the most thorough and user-friendly books about publicity that I've ever read.

"Wacky Days" is a book that leads you through the many steps you can take to obtain huge amounts of free publicity.
Anyone who has a business, product, or book is sure to find this will become their Bible to return to time and again gleaming nuggets of information from it's pages.
The author uses examples from his own experiences to show how it can be done. The information can be easily adapted to fit your need for publicity.
An interesting and entertaining read that is a definite keeper which will sit on my reference shelf to be used whenever I am doing publicity. In my opinion, Tom Peric does for publicity what Dan Poynter does for self-publishing.

Great book on ideas and practical ways to generate PR for any type of business. From straight-forward tasks to some strategic planning like offering reporters story ideas for future reference or how to get seated on a Board, Peric' has something for everyone in Wacky Days.

Highly recommended.

Wacky Days... explains how to get free publicity and to be recognized as an expert in your chosen field. Mr. Peric' shows you how to approach the media through Tip sheets, professional looking Press releases, and of course the names, dates, and e-mail addresses needed to create your very own holiday!( Mine is going to be "Buy a piece of thrift store art day", 3rd Thursday in June!)his book is a must read if you spend money on advertising your business.
If you are an independent publisher, like me, YOU MUST OWN A COPY!
All fans of Dan Poynter should have this book right next to The Self-Publishing Manual.
Everyone else talks about getting publicity, but Tom holds your hand, and takes baby steps until your goals are reached, 37 small chapters.

His journalism background has really given him a true insiders edge.

At the end of the book there is a section that explains how to affordably hire Mr. Peric' himself by drawing up a plan from Wacky Days..., gathering up media list, writing your press release and allowing T. S. to assess the plan.
This book explains what journalists love to write about,(People and Ideas)

He also explains why stories get written (they were relevant, useful, or interesting!)

I fully recomend you buy this book.

I've never met or spoken with Tom Peric but as I read this book, it felt like I was listening to a trusted friend give me step by step advice on how to publicize my business. I liked his straightforward writing style and how he educates and empowers the reader so that even the most media-shy business owner can read this book and apply its suggestions about how to publicize his or her business. A great book, you'll be glad you read it.