Three Plums In One: One for the Money, Two for the Dough, Three to Get Deadly

Book Description

Three Complete Novels, One for the Money, Two for the Dough, and Three to Get Deadly, from the New York Times#1 Bestselling Author, Janet Evanovich!

Here's where it all began -- the three novels that first brought us Stephanie Plum, that bounty hunter with attitude who stepped out of Trenton's blue-collar "burg" and into the heart of America.

One for the Money: Stephanie's all grown up and out on her own, living five miles from Mom and Dad and doing her best to sever the world's longest umbilical cord. Her mother is a meddler and her grandmother is a few cans short of a case. Out of work and out of money, Stephanie blackmails her bail-bondsman cousin Vinnie into giving her a try as an apprehension agent. Stephanie knows zilch about the job requirements, but she figures her new pal, el-primo bounty hunter Ranger, can teach her what it takes to catch a crook. Her first assignment: nail Joe Morelli, a former vice cop on the run from a charge of murder one. Morelli's the inamorato who charmed Stephanie out of her virginity at age sixteen. There's still powerful chemistry between them, so the chase is interesting.

Two for the Dough: Stephanie takes to the mean streets of Trenton, armed with attitude (not to mention stun guns and defense sprays), to find Kenny Mancuso, who recently shot his best friend and is on the run. Aided by the enigmatic Ranger, who knows a thing or two about bounty hunting, and by her irrepressible Grandma Mazur, Stephanie forms a shaky alliance with her favorite cop, Joe Morelli, for a tumultuous chase through back alleys and Grandma's favorite funeral parlors.

Three to Get Deadly: Stephanie is having a bad hair day -- for the whole month of January. She's looking for Mo Bedemier, Trenton's most beloved citizen, who was charged with carrying concealed and skipped bail. To help her, she's got Lula, a former hooker turned file clerk. Big, blonde, and black, Lula's itching to lock up a crook in the trunk of her car. And Morelli, the cop with the slow-burning smile, is acting polite even after Stephanie finds more bodies than the Trenton PD has seen in years. That's a bad sign for sure.

Funny and fabulous, Janet Evanovich is at her sparkling best in these three novels that launched a bestselling phenomenon.

Download Description

Published to coincide with the release of Janet Evanovich's new Stephanie Plum mystery, Three Plums in One offers readers the trio of novels that launched the bestselling, award-winning Stephanie Plum phenomenon -- in a single, unabridged, hardbound edition. Introducing the madcap humor, colorful characters, and local flavor that have become Janet Evanovich's trademark, Three Plums in One invites readers to discover Stephanie Plum, America's favorite bounty hunter with attitude, at the beginning of her almost accidental career as an "apprehension agent". In One for the Money, an out-of-work and out-of-money Stephanie blackmails her bondsman cousin into giving her a job tracking down bail jumpers. Knowing nothing of the trade, she tags along with a veteran bounty hunter, Ranger, learning the ropes as they go in search of a cop on the run from a murder one charge -- a cop who happens to be Stephanie's first love. Two for the Dough and Three to Get Deadly find Stephanie back on the mean streets of Trenton, New Jersey, in hot pursuit of her bounty, each time a little more savvy, a little bit tougher, and as outrageously funny as ever. Die-hard fans and first time readers alike will delight in discovering Janet Evanovich at her sparkling, suspenseful best in the three Plums that started it all.

Customer Reviews:

Great Read!.......2007-08-16

The Stephanie Plum series is so great. I have read a few of her books that are outside the series but to finally get all the background is great! You will really fall in love with Stephanie Plum and all her antics.

Stephanie Rocks!.......2007-07-21

Fast & Easy Read! Great for airplanes, but be prepared for some funny looks when you are laughing out loud. Grandma Mazur and Lula seem to find trouble wherever they go. (Although Stephanie is not really a very good bounty hunter!) :)

Very funny series.......2007-07-01

A friend recommended this series to me; at first, I was skeptical, because I always think that mysteries are always the same. However, Stephanie Plum is completely different from the other detectives I've seen in mysteries. She's a Trenton bounty hunter with a slightly senile gun-wielding grandmother, a smoldering sexual tension with cop Joe Morelli, and a fondness for Pino's pizza. There's also Lula, a 230-pound ex-hooker-turned-file-clerk, who sometimes helps Stephanie on her cases. These three books, the first in the series, are hysterically funny; I can't wait to read more! Highly recommended for anyone who wants to get a jump start on the Stephanie Plum series. I know that my next stop will be the bookstore for More Plums In One, the collection of novels four, five, and six.

gripping suspense full of comedy.......2007-05-09

This book is so funny.... it keeps you reading to find out what other mess Stephanie is going to put her self in. I started the series by reading book 12, when I finished that one I ordered books 1 - 4. I just have to get the entire series.

Get Acquainted with Stephanie.......2007-03-09

Great way to meet Stephanie Plum. This is a quick way to get going. Stephanie is not stereotypical in any sense. She's down to earth, smart, resourceful and has a long memory. If you've always wanted to do something out of the ordinary, do it vicariously through Stephanie Plum. You won't be disappointed.

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Has history been tampered with?
Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Chinese | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Irish | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Japanese | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Doctors & Medicine | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Lawyers & Criminals | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Love, Sex & Marriage | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Assyria, Babylonia & Sumer | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

Early Civilization | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

General | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

Historiography | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

French | Erotica | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Victorian | Erotica | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Epic | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

German | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Russian | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Spanish | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Chinese | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Conspiracy Theories | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

War on Drugs | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

English (All) | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books

Science | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books

Online Research | Genealogy | Reference | Subjects | Books

Native American | Earth-Based Religions | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books

History of Science | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books

Magic & Wizards | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

Sailor Moon | Popular Characters | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Pilates | Exercise & Fitness | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

History | Fashion | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Has history been tampered with?.......2007-10-23

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RAZQNMXM4M9CL Has history been tampered with? Yes, it has! Did events and eras such as the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Roman Empire , the Dark Ages, and the Renaissance, actually occur within a very different chronology from what we've been told? Yes, they certainly did!

The history of humankind is both drastically shorter and dramatically different than generally presumed.

Why is it so? On one hand, it was usual custom to justify the claims to title and land by age and ancestry, and on the other the court historians knew only too well how to please their masters. The so called universal classic world history is a pack of intricate lies for all events prior to the 16th century. World history as we learn it today was entirely fabricated in the 16th-18th centuries. It's likely that nobody told you before, but

there is not a single piece of firm written evidence or artefact that is reliably and independently dated prior to the 11th century.

Naturally, after what you've learned in school and university, you will not easily believe that the classical history of ancient Rome, Greece, Asia, Egypt, China, Japan, India, etc., is manifestly false.

You will point accusing finger to the pyramids in Egypt, to the Coliseum in Rome and Great Wall of China etc., and claim, aren't they really ancient, thousands of years ancient? Well, there is no valid scientific proof that they are older than 1000 years!

The oldest original written document that can be reliably dated belongs to the 11th century!

New research asserts that Homo sapiens invented writing (including hieroglyphics) only 1000 years ago. Once invented, writing skills were immediately and irreversibly put to the use of ruling powers and science.

The consensual chronology we live with was essentially crafted in the 16th century by the Jesuits.

The world history was compiled from contradictory mix of innumerable copies of ancient Latin and Greek manuscripts and other irrefutable proofs delivered by late mediaeval astronomers that were cemented by the authority of writings of the Church Fathers.

Early in life, we learn about ancient history. Children love the magical lessons of history - they are like fairy tales. Teachers recite breathtaking stories; very soon We learn by heart the names and deeds of brave warriors, wise philosophers, fabulous pharaohs, cunning high priests and greedy scribes.

We learn of gigantic pyramids and sinister castles, kings and queens, dukes and barons, powerful heroes and beautiful ladies, emaciated saints and low-life traitors.

Ancient history is based documents, manuscripts, printed books, paintings, monuments and artefacts - called primary sources.

The problem is that neither these ancient documents, nor events described therein can be irrefutably dated, moreover they contradict each other for the most part.

When a school textbook tells us that Genghis Khan in year X or Alexander in year Y, have each conquered half of the world, it means only that it is so said in some of the written sources.

There are no answers to simple questions:

When were these primary sources written?

Where and by whom were these sources found?

It is wrongly presumed that ancient and medieval chronicles, written by Genghis Khan's or Alexander the Great contemporaries and eyewitnesses, are readily available. Actually, only sources written hundreds or even thousands of years after the events are there, compiled mostly in the 16th 18th centuries, or even later.

As a rule, these sources suffered considerable multiple manipulations, falsifications and distortions by editing. At the same time,

innumerable originals of ancient documents under various pretexts were destroyed in Europe under various pretexts.

The names of persons and geographical sites often changed meaning and location during the course of the centuries.

Geographical locations became clearly defined on maps only with the advent of printing.

This made possible the circulation of identical copies of the same map for purposes of the military, navigation, education and governance tasks.

Historians from Oxford say: "hey, everybody knows that Julius Caesar lived in the first century B.C.

`Julius Caesar' statement is only a point of view as

there is simply no irrefutable documentary proof that Julius Caesar or any other great name of antiquity ever existed.

Better than that - extremely rare sources that can be reliably dated back to the 10th-14th centuries A D, do not show the polished picture of classical history.

They show a picture both contradictory and confusing.

All methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts are erroneous:

Radio-carbon C14 method produces dating with exactitude of plus minus 1500 years, therefore it is too crude for dating of events in historical timeframe!

The Almagest tractate, which lies as corner stone contemporary chronology, compiled in the 2nd century A D by Ptolemy, the founding father of astronomy, contains astronomical data of 9th to 16th century!

The Bronze Age,that has supposedly began 5000 years ago. Bronze is made of 90% copper and 10% tin, but the technology for tin extraction dates back to 14th century A D!.

All eclipses contained in manuscripts, like Thucydides one, relating 'ancient' events have exclusively medieval dating. All horoscopes cut in stone or painted in Egyptian temples, like Dendera have exclusively early medieval dating solutions.

Not quite what you have learned in school? Open your eyes, and, you will find sufficient proof to reach step by step the inevitable conclusion that the classical chronology is false and therefore, that the history of ancient and medieval world universally accepted today, is also false. Have a fresh outlook on everything said or printed about "ancient" and "enigmatic" Roman, Greek and Egyptian, medieval as well as all other "lost and found" civilizations.

Antiquity and Dark Ages are phantoms invented in the 16th 18th and polished in 19th 20thcenturies. Human civilization is in fact barely 1000 years old!

This book will change your perception of History forever!
What if Ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt were invented during Renaissance?
What if The Old Testament was a rendition of events of the Middle Ages?
What if Jesus Christ was born in 1053 and crucified in 1086 AD?
Sounds Unbelievable?
Not after you've read "History: Fiction or Science?" by Anatoly Fomenko, the genius mathematician.
Armed with astronomy and computers Anatoly Fomenko turns History into a rocket science.

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

Average customer rating:

Lunch Money RULES!
Lunch Money
lunch money?! the best? chyea
lunch money?! the best? chyea
Lunch Money

Lunch Money
Andrew Clements
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Humorous | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Careers | People & Places | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

School | Issues | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0689866836

Book Description

Greg Kenton has always had a natural talent for making money -- despite the annoying rivalry of his neighbor Maura Shaw. Then, just before sixth grade, Greg makes a discovery: Almost every kid at school has an extra quarter or two to spend almost every day.

Multiply a few quarters by a few hundred kids, and for Greg, school suddenly looks like a giant piggy bank. All he needs is the right hammer to crack it open. Candy and gum? Little toys? Sure, kids would love to buy stuff like that at school. But would teachers and the principal permit it? Not likely.

But how about comic books? Comic books might work. Especially the chunky little ones that Greg writes and illustrates himself. Because everybody knows that school always encourages reading and writing and creativity and individual initiative, right?

In this funny and timely novel, Andrew Clements again holds up a mirror to real life, and invites young readers to think about money, school, friendship, and what it means to be a success.

Customer Reviews:

Lunch Money RULES!.......2007-03-15

Lunch Money is a good book for money lovers. Its about a boy who has all these good ideas to make money and then he comes up with his best idea yethe decides to make comic books!The princapal disagres but then Mrs Davenport decidesto let Greg sell comic books. I highly recomend this book!

Lunch Money.......2007-03-15

I really liked LUnch Money because it was detailed, funny and lots more!
It is about a boy named Greg, who, really, really, really likes money. For almost his whole life he has been enemies with a girl named Maura.
What will happen?Read the book to find out!

lunch money?! the best? chyea.......2007-01-25

In Lunch Money, Greg Kenton, a normal 12 year old kid, is obsessed about money. He's always trying to earn money anyway he can, collecting bottles, extra chores, the works. He then thought of an idea, selling toys to his schoolmates, but the principle found out about it and banned him from selling them at school. Even though his idea for great money making was snatched away, he quickly regained his creativity. He thought of a genius idea to earn a load of more money. Little comic books, about the size of a credit card. The only bad thing about selling these mini comics, is it's giving Greg a lot of trouble. Maura, his neighbor, reproduced his idea into her own. A mini book, short stories about unicorns. Greg became furious against Maura thinking she was copying his idea. After many arguments and a fight that ended with a bloody nose and a teacher almost passing out, Greg and Maura made a deal to publish their own combination of a comic and story for the students at school. Later, the principal then again banned the comic books. Greg later noticed a flyer for a book fair. Comic books, were advertised in the flyer. Soon after finding this out, Greg and Maura sent a request to the school committee. Hoping to get permission to sell their books, realizing how unfair it was for the school to sell comics but Greg and Maura couldn't.

This story teaches you a great lesson about being selfish and learning how to share and respect others. It's one of your typical self changing books, but with a fun twist. Lunch Money is a page turning thriller and when you start to read it, you won't want to put it down.

-S.K. :]

lunch money?! the best? chyea.......2007-01-25

Lunch Money .......2007-01-22

Have you ever wanted to be rich? Probably. Well if you have, have you ever done anything about it? I'm guessing not. In the book Lunch Money, Andrew Clements writes about a boy who wants to be rich too, but he actually does something about it.
Greg Kenton is a boy with a dream. A dream to be rich, just like any other 12 year-old kid. Except Greg actually does something about it. Greg went around school selling little toys to students until the principle caught him and told him not to sell the toys in school any more. During the next school year Greg started selling little comic books that he made himself. After a few weeks the principle caught Greg selling the comic books and almost suspended him because he didn't listen to what she said the year before. Greg knew this was going to happen sometime but he didn't know what to do now. Then he saw something, a flyer. It was a flyer for the book fair and on one of the pages it showed comic books and Greg didn't really figure anything of it, until something hit him. Greg wondered why the schoolbook fair could sell comic books in school and he can't. That got Greg thinking. Will the school committee permit Greg to sell his comic books, or will they refuse?
Something that was surprising to me was when Greg made a deal with Maura (a girl in his class who he despises) to go into business with her because her comic books were better than his. Even though Greg despises Maura me made that deal with her because all he wants money because he is greedy.
Theme in Lunch Money is not to be greedy because you could lose all your friends. Another theme in this book is not to judge a book by its cover. An example of this was when Greg thought Maura was copying him he got really mad, but when he got to know her a little better Greg realized she was sort of inspired by him.
Do you like money? Well if you do I think Lunch Money would be a great book for you because it is all about a boy who wants money and the different ways he tries to get it.

When the Mob Ran Vegas: Stories of Murder, Mayhem and Money

Average customer rating:

Great Read
Entertaining as well as informative
If you are interested in Vegas ... You'll love this book!
For Mobster Fans!
Why These Men Gave Their Money

When the Mob Ran Vegas: Stories of Murder, Mayhem and Money
Steve Fischer
Manufacturer: Berkline Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

ASIN: 0977065804
Release Date: 2005-07-07

Product Description

Vegas like you've never seen, tales you've never heard -- until now. Sizzing, behind-the-scenes stories about the men, the Mob, movie stars, and missing money that made '50s and '60s Vegas such a hot spot in the Nevada desert. On opening night at the Cal-Neva Lodge, Sinatra's guests included Marilyn Monroe, Joe Kennedy and his son, John F. Kennedy. Also there that weekend were Johnny Roselli and Sam "Momo" Giancana. Uninvited and hiding up in the hills around the casino lodge was an FBI surveillance team with long-range lenses . . . From the chapter Frank Sinatras Cal-Neva Lodge "On Sept 22, 1953, the Riviera Hotel was approved, the name was changed from the Casa Blanca to the Riviera just before this meeting . . . and the list of newly approved owners included Harpo (Arthur) Marx, movie star, comedian; his brother, Gummo (Milton) Marx, comedian" . . . From the chapter Does the Riviera Still Kill Its Executives? The Tropicana partners included Rossellis bosses in Chicago: Sam Giancana, Paul Rica, Camel Humphries, Meyer Lansky, Frank Costello, and Carlos Marcello . . . Fronting for the Chicago Outfit was Ben Jaffe. He owned the giant Fountainbleu Hotel in Miami, and also owned a little insurance company in Indiana . . . From the chapter Frank Costello Builds the Tropicana "In every showroom in Las Vegas, there are certain inviolate rules. Rule Number One the headliners go for 60 minutes. Not 64. Those extra 4 minutes represent 4 minutes of lost revenue on the casino floor . . . Then Deano came out on stage with his signature, "Who are all you people, and what are you doing in my room?" and so started the two and a half hours of the Rat Pack Show!" From the chapter Coffee Shop Stories: Rat Pack and the Sands 21 stories packed with intrigue and mystery, a thoroughly research book, vintage photos.

Customer Reviews:

Great Read.......2007-05-25

The book was excellent. A lot of names were mentioned so one should really read it twice and to get the full impact take some notes as to the persons involved as the accounts have what one might count as flash backs.
For those that want to know what Las Vegas was all about when the Mob & their associates were involved this is a MUST read. Highly recommended.

Entertaining as well as informative.......2007-03-12

I could not put this book down! A lot of nonfiction books have all the allure of required reading in school. This book is written in an almost
conversational style. I learned a lot of things I did not previously know about Las Vegas history. I have loaned it to others, urging them to read it.

If you are interested in Vegas ... You'll love this book!.......2007-03-09

I have lived in Las Vegas since 1992 and this book is very accurate for the period of time that it covers. I've met and talked to a lot of "old-timers" and they have filled me in on the "mob-run" Vegas so I knew some of the info written in the book ... however this book filled in the blanks (so to speak). A GREAT read!!

For Mobster Fans!.......2007-01-10

If you loved the Gofather, Goodfellas, The Untouchables, Sopranos... and so forth. You will love this book. Some parts to drag on but for the most part a great book. Interesting facts about the real mobsters which later were used to make movies like Casino and The Godfather. Also some great storied or I guess "myths" about President Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe.

A must read for you mob fans

Why These Men Gave Their Money.......2006-10-20

The Kefauver Committee is a 1951 flashback on the Las Vegas of the 1940's. The original charge of the committee was to combat crime of any type which crossed state boundaries. What the committee ended up investigating was gambling. One witness was Frank Costello
who raspy voice was imitated by Marlon Brando in The Godfather. "On advice of counsel" Costello took the 5th Amendment 138 times in five days of testimony. Meyer Lansky was subpoenaed as were Joey Adonis and Virginia Hill. Kefauver quizzed Hill about the death of her former boyfriend, Bugsy Siegel. Hill handled the questions easily. Then Kefauver made the mistake of wanting to know why men gave her money for no apparent reason. "Senator, are you sure you want to know why these men gave me money?" Hill asked. The Kefauver Committee hearings were broadcast live on network TV. There was no time delay to censor Hill's response.

What is now the commonly conceived of view of Las Vegas began in 1945 when an attorney by the name of Bautser bought the Folsom Guest Cottages on US 91, which were at that time six miles south of Las Vegas. The buyer was one of Ben (don't call me Bugsy) Siegel's men. The planned project was The Flamingo. Siegel got lumber and pipe for the project from movie studios in Hollywood and Culver City. Marble came from the Mexican black market. Siegel made friends with a US Senator named Pat McCrarran who reprioritized the building needs of southern Nevada so that Siegel get copper fixtures and tiling in time for the Flamingo to open by Christmas 1946. Siegel had a competitive racing service in Vegas run by James Regan. During the Flamingo's grand opening, Regan was shotgun blasted in half.

Siegel had already begun to scare off the movie stars. Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn declined the Flamingo's grand opening. Clark Gable got a cold. Marlene Dietrich sprained her ankle. Gary Cooper said his mother had become very sick. At this time these stars were MGM stars and William Randolph Hearst ran the studio. Hearst hated Siegel because the latter had had a series of one night stands with starlet Marion Davies. Siegel in turn owned the Screen Actors Guild. The opening night of the Flamingo was disastrous. George raft was the only well known loser. Raft said he lost $75,000, but that didn't matter as the house was down $200,000 on just its first night. The next night was worse. Rose Marie (remember her from the Dick Van Dyke Show?) played to fewer than 20 people. Jimmy Durante played to the smallest crowd he had ever seen. New Year's Eve faired a little better with Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez. In 65 days the Flamingo closed while losing close to three quarters of a million dollars.

It will be quite a number of pages before Fischer finishes his story. Along the way one will run into Meyer Lansky, Elvis, Joe Kennedy and his son John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Howard Hughes, Marilyn Monroe, Harpo Marx, and on and on. There are more big names than in front of Grumman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Fischer ends his story with Lefty Rosenthal leaving Las Vegas in the early 80's. There was no question that the Sands just had to close. Fischer and his wife take one more trip to Vegas and have to put up with a Jerry Lewis who is way too loud. Buddy Hackett does a show that under 18's can not enter and which has Frank Sinatra rolling on the floor. In the Rat Pack years of the early 60's the sands was "mobbed up." The Sands closed in 1996.

Pigs Will Be Pigs: Fun with Math and Money (Aladdin Picture Books)

Average customer rating:

Alexandra D Pima Student Tucson
Pigs will be Pigs
Pigs will be Pigs Review
Pigs need money to pig out
Great math book for kids

Pigs Will Be Pigs: Fun with Math and Money (Aladdin Picture Books)
Amy Axelrod
Manufacturer: Aladdin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Humorous | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0689812191

Book Description

The pigs are very hungry, and there's no food in the house. Mr. Pig suggests eating out -- but oh, no! The Pigs are out of money!

So the family goes on a money hunt. In beds, under the carpet, even in the washing machine the coins and bills add up, and soon it's off to the Enchanted Enchilada.

How much money did the Pigs find? What can they afford to order from the menu? Join the fun and pig out on math and money concepts with the Pigs!

Customer Reviews:

Alexandra D Pima Student Tucson .......2005-03-12

I read this book to a group of kindergarten students. Right now they are learning about money just coins they know penny,dime and nickel. Some of the students were able to point out the coins and do some of the adding with the pig family. But majority of them just enjoyed the pictures and the storyline. They were unable to follow the hidden math problem. But overall it is a fun story to read with the students.

Pigs will be Pigs.......2004-11-15

A very creative way to teach money concepts. I liked the way the book reviews the way to make change. I read this to a group of 3rd graders. I don't know that they found the book entertaining, but it did help them review money. I think 2nd graders would probably enjoy the story more, but may not understand all of the math concepts as well as the third graders.
I thought the part with the pigs trying to figure out what they could buy etc was a great way to show children how important it is to understand money. Coin especially can be difficult for children (a quarter is the same as two dimes and a nickel, etc).
I would definitely use this book as a review, or an extention to a lesson, not an introduction to money.

Pigs will be Pigs Review.......2004-09-23

I read this book to children in first grade and they LOVED IT!! The children thought that this book was so hilarious. The book did such a great job incorporating money and counting into it. The illustrations were awesome as well, the pictures kept the children's attention while I was reading the book. I kept a tally of how much the pigs found and where they found the money. The children loved helping me keep track and they all participated in naming all the different locations of where the pig family kept the money. I do recommend this book for a circle or group reading, the children will love it!!

Sara
(...)

Pigs need money to pig out.......2004-04-21

I and the kids I read this too enjoyed it. I thought it had a cute storyline with the pigs needing money to eat. This book provides a good introduction to give math an everyday meaning and relate it to a real-life scenario. The kids laughed as the pigs went frantic trying to find money and ordering food. The menu was very cute and this brings in background experience with kids ordering from menus, which can lower anxiety about learning a math lesson about money.

Great math book for kids.......2004-04-20

This book is a great math book for kids. It is a great tool for teaching children about money. It has lots of diffrent types of money problems. It would be a wonderful to read the book with a child or a classroom of students and then work out the problems in the story.

I read this book to a second grade class during the school's love of reading week. The students enjoyed the book and I could see them working the problem out in their heads. This book made the students think.

Customer Reviews:

Regarding Thomas Greco's Review.......2005-09-05

I believe that "The Lost Science of Money" is a very well written, serious, and thorough book. If you can't afford the cost based upon reviews then check it out of a library first, and judge for your self.

Please, note that Greco's review is by an author(Greco himself) who is sideways attempting to promote his own book ("Money") by pulling Down Zarlenga's book. Yes, Stephen Zarlenga does not delve deeply into alternative and community based currencies in these current times, but the basis for a solid understanding of monetary history and principles is fully accessible and clearly written, unlike Greco's exercise in muddling through without an outline.

Massive historical detail with a cogent message.......2004-11-18

This book provides a huge service to understanding one of the most central and powerful artifacts in human civilization: money. The brilliance of Zarlenga's treatment of this subject and what makes it stand out from others, is that while including massive historical detail and richness, he brings a cogent message about money that anyone (viz. the non-specialist) can walk away with. And it is, that money systems are designed by the intelligence of humans and established and empowered through a collective authority. Thus, the more all of society understands money and willingly participates in backing its authority, the greater the possibility that it will serve all people, and not private elites who may be tempted to structure its design in their favor. This single human innovation - money - has many alternative ways of being socially constructed and politically established as a means of exchange. Get the design right, and the quality of life for all people can be dramatically altered. The structural design of money will directly affect the degree to which individual market action will be morally and socially responsible. Getting the money system right can lead to the alignment of individual and collective action of people. This understanding that money is a human-specified tool (and not some mystical object that we all use but don't really know where it came from or how it works) is so important in birthing a new awareness around emergent economic and market behavior. To me, this kind of writing is a great examplar of how economics should be performed: taking a historical perspective to see what worked and what didn't work. The metaphysical clap-trap around money, as well as the professional economist's mathematical obfuscations are avoided. Seeing it for what it truly is - a designable artifact - is really the gift of this study. Highly recommended, and in my recent reading, complements Kevin Phillips', Wealth and Democracy.

If you only read one book about money this is the one........2004-11-13

Having read numerous books on the issues of money systems I can say without equivocation this is the best by far of any I have come across including many of the Austrian economics books and those by Rothbard. All of them have their perspectives but Zarlenga's work and conclusions are a synthesis from history, well documented, and ring true on deep gut level. He makes his case very well and there is no hype or misplaced emotion as there are in many works on the money issues. Taken as a history book alone I would give the book 5 stars. Too many people, including me, have been ignorant of the historical roots of money and Zarlenga helps us to learn the dramas, political games, and debasement of money systems through the ages. It is fascinating and shocking story. What is taking place in the world now, including the Federal Reserve and World Bank is a slight variation of the historical power struggles over the control of money that go back thousands of years. The most informative issues that come out of this work is the history of gold and silver as money and how they are fiat currencies just like any other proclaimed currency. The money powers, governments, and kings have at various times decreed gold to be money (fiat) as they stood to benefit from it. Yes, gold can't be created out of nothing but it is just as fiat as a dollar bill. As a defender of the gold standard I have to admit that my notions of the gold standard have been flipped upside down even though I have read many of the Mises Institutes books. I can't say that a commodity-based money may not be useful or that the connection between paper money and its basis in gold adds integrity to the system but I do believe now that the issues is not black and white, gold or paper money. What Zarlenga elegantly makes clear is that all money, short of direct barter of goods, has always been a creature of law, i.e. someone decrees it so. As such it is open to abuse and perversion. The book, Subtitled " The Mythology of Money, the Story of Power", does a great service in taking the mythology issues and presenting them in a factual and understandable way. What I like about this book is it is common sense, down to earth, expertly researched and presented in a way that avoids the curse of too much economics jargon and pseudo-science. Money is not particle physics and it is an issue that touches each and every one of us every day. Money has, and continues to shape culture and the direction of life. Leaving the control of money, which seems to me to function as a sort of cultural economic DNA, to a private and secretive group of world elites is a recipe for life out of balance on all levels. It invites exploitation and abuse and as history show there has been much of that concerning the control of money.

Regarding the comments from a prior reviewer of the book who was somewhat critical of the work I disagree with his comment that the book does not give specific solutions. I got the sense that the reviewer wanted economic equations and esoteric pogroms that he could espouse as a scientific look at money. Money, at its roots is no more scientific than sex. Sure, you can define sex with all the science in the world but the gist of it is personal and well known to all of us. People get heated up over the issue of sex and everyone has an opinion. Money is no exception and taking the understanding and control of money and wrapping it up in academic polemics is simply a way to convince us that we need accredited experts to help us. Try that with sex and see what happens. The kinds of solutions that are needed are social and political. Zarlengas effort was not to micro-manage the topic but to show us the lay of the land and give us the broader concepts and tools to regain the control of societies money. It belongs to all of us and is part and parcel to human life and commerce. Just as "We The People" are the foundation and source of the authority for our constitution, we should also be the foundation and final arbiter of our money system. There is little difference between a dictatorship of the societal political process or the societal money process. Concentrated in the hands of the few leads to perverse distortion and societal destruction.

In my 50 years or so of life I have only a handful of books that I think are must-reads and this is one of them. With three sons all out of college and in their twenties this is one of the books I am getting for each of them to read. It is that important. I give this book 5 stars. It is a tour de force of excellent research and common sense analysis.

The History of Money Redeemed.......2004-11-02

After a decade-plus of intensive research in the monetary arena, Stephen Zarlenga has authored a book titled "The Lost Science of Money." It is a truly monumental work that, I believe, reconstitutes the history of money, and the essence of its nature, in a way that does not, and might not ever, otherwise exist. It documents this crucial, but long neglected field of study, in a manner that does justice to the finest standards of scholarship, while at the same time rendering in a subject that in lesser hands might produce a tedious tome, a lively narrative that is accessible to the interested layman. It is a good read; a page-turner even. It paints a sensitive and intelligent historical panorama that transcends the gaudier narrations of wars, rulers and empires commonly proffered by more orthodox historians. To state that it constitutes an urgently needed service to the human race is more understatement than hype. It provides the intellectual basis for comprehending the monetary undercurrent that has shaped and driven civilization. It is simply not possible to realize who we are, how we got here, and the options for the future without an understanding of what is delineated in this epic work.

A good historical perspective but little science or solution.......2004-09-26

- A Book Review by Thomas H. Greco, Jr.
The Lost Science of Money: The Mythology of Money - the Story of Power by Stephen Zarlenga
(The American Monetary Institute, PO Box 601, Valatie, NY, 2002. Hardcover, 724 pages. ISBN 1-930748-03-5)

Zarlenga's book attempts to do two things, first, to describe the dimensions of the "money problem" by tracing its roots, not only in economics and finance, but also in ethics, religion, and politics; and second, to prescribe, in broad outline at least, a solution. In the first instance it is mostly successful, but in the second, it falls far short.

This massive treatise (more than 700 pages) recounts the history of money from early times, providing an interesting historical overview based on a wide variety of sources. It is a scholarly, well researched, and insightful account of the evolution of money, banking, and finance, in which the author argues that "a main arena of human struggle is over the monetary control of societies..," and shows how the money power has historically rivaled that of governments. All that is well and good; the story of money IS the story of power, and the author tells it well. It is, indeed unfortunate that few people today realize the important political implications that are inherent in the control over money and banking, or that such control has typically been in the hands of elite private interests. This well researched history goes a long way toward clearing away the fog that has enshrouded that bastion of privilege.

The title promises to tell us about "the lost science of money," but there is little in it that would qualify as scientific. The author's subtitle, "The Mythology of Money - The Story of Power," would have been far more appropriate as a title. While I can appreciate the author for the major contribution he has made to our understanding of the evolution of money, banking, and centralized power, I must also say that the conclusions he draws and his proposed reforms are less than helpful.

It is not until the very last chapter that we see anything of proposed solutions. That is just as well, for his reform proposals are ill considered and anything but original, directing us into another blind alley of centralized control.

In a mere 28 pages, he manages to dismiss every other approach to a solution which he has ever heard of, then propose that the money monopoly be reestablished under new management. He gives short shrift to the whole alternative exchange movement - mutual credit clearing associations, LETS, and community currencies, and, does not even mention the commercial "barter" industry, thus revealing that he has not yet educated himself about the essential nature of the exchange process, contemporary methods, and the possibilities offered by voluntary, popular, and private approaches.

His critique of the "free money" movement covers less than a single page. If Zarlenga has any knowledge at all of the free money and free banking theories, it is not apparent. Likewise, his critique of the local currency movement is similarly uninformed. Again, in less than a page he dismisses it as worse than irrelevant, seeing it as a distraction from the "real" work of reform (the centralist, government-oriented approach).

His approach is both reformist and centralist, and shows no appreciation for the role of scale in making the system dysfunctional in the first place. Nor does he offer any strategy for achieving the massive reform he proposes. Having described so carefully the corrupting effects that result from centralizing the money power, it is curious that the author asks us to accept it when under the control of politicians and bureaucrats. Does he not see that the political and financial elites are in cahoots, and indeed are the same people.

Well, no one volume can hope to be competent in addressing all aspects of a problem, so we should appreciate this book for what it is rather than condemn it for what it isn't. Despite it's shortcomings, this is an important book. In sum, it is an admirable contribution to our understanding of power dynamics in today's world, and the singular importance of the democratization of the monetary power to enabling lives of dignity, freedom, and fulfillment for all.
# # #

Average customer rating:

Love, love it!
Max does it again
another good Max and Ruby book
Cute Kid's book, Great Math Lesson!!!
Like Bunnies? Read This Book!

Bunny Money (Picture Puffins)
Rosemary Wells
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Humorous | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 014056750X

Book Description

It's Grandma's birthday, and Ruby knows exactly what Grandma would love-a beautiful ballerina box. Max also knows what she'd love-a scary pair of ooey-gooey vampire teeth. Ruby has saved up a walletful of bills, but as unexpected mishap after mishap occurs, money starts running through the bunnies' fingers.... Will they have enough left for the perfect present? Wells' adorable story is also a fun and lively introduction to early math.

"Wells' droll humor is right on the money." -School Library Journal, starred review
"A very funny birthday story." -Booklist, starred review

Customer Reviews:

Love, love it!.......2007-02-13

If you are a fan of Max and Ruby, or just looking for a book for a young reader, this is it! Max always finds a way to win, and grandma always makes it fair.

Max does it again.......2004-01-18

A cute story about kids and shopping...and the things that can go wrong! Includes pages that you can copy so your child can have "bunny money". Very cute.

another good Max and Ruby book.......2003-09-04

I think this is one of the better Max and Ruby books, along with Bunny Cakes and Bunny Party. Has play money on the end pages that you can photocopy and cut out for your kids to play with. Neat concept and fun to discuss who the "famous rabbits" on the different bills are supposed to be.

Cute Kid's book, Great Math Lesson!!!.......2003-06-13

Cute! Max and Ruby go shopping for their Grandma's birthday, but are disappointed when their dream gift costs $100. They do not have much money and Max keeps wasting it. (Food, trip to the laundromat, bus fare, etc.) They manage to buy two "great" presents~ from Ruby, singing bluebird earrings, from Max glow in the dark vampire teeth. But their money is all used up. So Grandma picks them up and she wears the gifts all they way home.
It is a math lesson because they show how much money they have before and after the buy. (Like they have eight dollars, they spend two dollars, they have six left.)

Like Bunnies? Read This Book!.......2003-04-08

In the book Bunny Money by Rosemary Wells, bunnies Max and Ruby are trying to buy their grandmother a present for her birthday. Max and Ruby spend a lot of money. Will they be able to get what they want? Find out in Bunny Money. I really like Bunny Money because the book shows how much money the bunnies have.

Book Description

Little Critter learns the importance of saving money in this charming addition to Mercer Mayer's best-selling line of picture books.

America at Night: The True Story of Two Rogue CIA Operatives, Homeland Security Failures,Dirty Money, and a Plot to Steal the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election- by theFor

Average customer rating:

Excelent story and well written
Fiction Is Stranger Than Truth
criminals, no conspiracy
becomes weird
FASCINATING

America at Night: The True Story of Two Rogue CIA Operatives, Homeland Security Failures,Dirty Money, and a Plot to Steal the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election- by theFor
Larry J. Kolb
Manufacturer: Riverhead Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Military & Spies | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Criminals | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Conspiracy Theories | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Elections | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Espionage | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

True Crime | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1594489009

Book Description

The True Story of Two Master Criminals Aiming to Take America's Biggest Prize and Our Security Agencies' Systematic Inability to Stop Them by the Former Intelligence Agent Recruited to Foil Their Plan

Robert Sensi has worked for the CIA, the Republican National Committee, and, as cover, for Kuwait Airways and the Kuwaiti royal family. He has twice served time in federal prison for embezzlement and fraud. Richard Hirschfeld, originally recruited to the CIA by Sensi, boasts an equally illustrious past: in the seventies he duped investors out of millions of dollars, later allegedly stole a $12-million payoff from Ferdinand Marcos intended for Ronald Reagan, and came within a hairbreadth of conning the U.S. Senate out of $50 million.

When the Department of Homeland Security suspects that Sensi and Hirschfeld are at the center of an investigation involving money laundering and the funding of Al Qaeda-and when their supposedly comprehensive database turns up little to no information on either man-it takes onetime spy Larry Kolb to crack the case, ultimately orchestrating Hirschfeld's spectacular capture. But when Kolb begins to connect the dots, he realizes something even more sinister is afoot, and that he's on to the biggest possible con with the highest political stakes.

Customer Reviews:

Excelent story and well written.......2007-05-14

This book has some very interesting insight into a real story that depicts how some things work in this world... how someone can get all the way to the "kitchen" with the Bush's and be an outlaw. Very well written novel also! Only con would be some far fetched conspiracy theeories laid out at the beginning of the book and never proved during the book.

Fiction Is Stranger Than Truth.......2007-04-23

I'm sure most of what Mr. Kolb says is true about Hirschfeld and Sensi but I suspect he uses this capital to serve his ultimate goal -- to trash everything Republican. As a hit piece of this magnitude he is unconvincing. Ironically, if the picture Kolb has painted of these two con men is accurate and their abilitiy to use powerful figures is proven, then why is he not looking to find innocence in the many Republican politicians that seem to have been used? Why does he automatically see conspiracy on a wider scale within the GOP?

He seems to trust "The Gray Eminence" and other people he has actually talked to like Engin Yesil. John Kerry is a war hero (Bush a poseur). He uses the term neo-con as a perjorative. Wolfowitz, Rice et al are war mongers out of touch with what....the omniscient benevolence of the Kerry team? A balanced outing of the "facts" would have at least included some rebuttal. There is none. He says at the beginning he is non-partisan. Nice try.

He believes he is saving the world from evil. Has Kolb read Bill Sammon's book "At Any Cost - How Al Gore Tried To Steal The Election"? How that egalitarian and progressive organization, the Chicago Daley Machine was called in as a fixer for the Florida recount? There is no paucity of evil in America. Why be seletive?

The fact is that both parties have operatives. Both parties are involved in scullduggery. And because of the hightened political climate both parties have a stake in deeming the other an enemy. I think the day of a mere advisarial relationship between left and right is over.

We all pick sides. Kolb is on the Democratic team.

criminals, no conspiracy.......2007-03-19

An entertaining book, as long as you don't believe the far-fetched conspiracy theories. The author takes a fact here, a factoid there, on and on and tries to put them together for a grand conspiracy. As far as I could tell, it's really just the story of some con men, talented and interesting though they were.

becomes weird.......2007-03-12

This started off as interesting, but I lost interest when he started writing page after page about Muhammud Ali as the greatest man who ever lived. Toward the end, the book became a reason to bash the right, although the author claims he isn't. Kold is a left wing partisan, and it shows. Too bad, as the books holds real promise.

FASCINATING .......2007-03-08

America at Night is one of the most riveting books I've read in a long while. I absolutely couldn't put it down. Not only is the story completely intriguing, but Kolb--unlike many true crime authors--can really write. The man is obviously a born storyteller. And in this case, the story he's telling happens to be true--which makes the book all the more fascinating. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in how politics really works in this country, or anyone that just enjoys a compulsive, compelling read.

Money from Thin Air: The Story of Craig McCaw, the Visionary who Invented the Cell Phone Industry, and His Next Billion-Dollar Idea

Average customer rating:

A good story, but you never get close enough to McCaw
Sleeper in Seattle
Reads fast
Boring...
The Boring Billionaire

Money from Thin Air: The Story of Craig McCaw, the Visionary who Invented the Cell Phone Industry, and His Next Billion-Dollar Idea
O. Casey Corr
Manufacturer: Crown Business
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Company Profiles | Biography & History | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Entrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0812926978
Release Date: 2000-06-13

Amazon.com

"With cellular telephony... we saw an enormous gap between what was and what should be. I mean, [the fixed phone system] makes absolutely no sense. It is machines dominating human beings. The idea that people went to a small cubicle, a six-by-ten office, and sat there all day at the end of a six-foot cord, was anathema to me" So says Craig McCaw, who staked what once amounted to $3.5 million dollars of long-term debt on the idea that in the not-too-distant future, America would be ready to cut that six-foot-cord... and whose epic risk paid off big in 1994 when AT&T bought for $12.6 billion the nationwide cellular-phone empire McCaw had for the past decade stealthily patched together, leveraged buyout by leveraged buyout.

His story is told here by O. Casey Corr, who covers business and technology for The Seattle Times. Corr starts with the 1969 death of McCaw's broadcasting-tycoon father, whereupon Craig and his superrich Seattle family realize they are actually flat broke. At once risk-loving and shrewd, young Craig starts buying one small cable outfit after another in the Pacific Northwest as the fledgling industry picks up steam through the 1970s. But sensing the real wave of the future is the wireless phone, McCaw seizes on the FCC's mid-1980s decision to jettison its Byzantine application process for wireless regional franchises in favor of a lottery system--a move that transformed wireless speculation from a sleepy insider's game dominated by AT&T into a nationwide feeding frenzy, all at a time when cell phones and their transmission were still wildly expensive and their mass popularity more than a decade away. Leveraging one high-risk purchase against the next, eventually with the help of junk-bond king Michael Milken, McCaw gobbles up most of the infant markets. But he's smart enough to dodge his debt by selling off the entire thing to AT&T in 1994 for a dazzling $12.6 billion. He has since moved on to future-minded projects such as Teledesic, his $9 billion partnership with Bill Gates, Boeing, and Motorola to create what the book calls "an Internet in the sky, a satellite network that provides fast, cheap Internet access worldwide."

The dissolution and triumphant reconstruction of the McCaw family fortune is an intricate tale of shrewdly choreographed deals, and Corr tells it well, in an assured, crystal-clear and tautly paced entrepreneurial narrative. That said, Money from Thin Air does a better job of dissecting the technical minutiae of McCaw's empire-building than it does at dramatizing or interpreting the personalities or psyches of its main players, foremost McCaw. Corr tries hard to paint McCaw as another of those quirky, New Economy, redwood forest visionaries à la Bill Gates, full of complexities. But Corr fails at making much of a vivid character of McCraw or hitting the essence of what drives him to take such vertiginous risks. Perhaps that has to do with the one quality in his subject he seems to nail--McCaw's seeming desire to be as invisible (or, many of his employees would say, inaccessible) as possible. By Corr's own admission, McCaw agreed to all of two interviews for this book before he got bored and politely waved Corr away. You may not get caught up in the characters of Money from Thin Air, but you'll keenly follow McCaw as he profits his way across the frontier of an emerging telecommunications market. --Timothy Murphy

Book Description

From Jay Gould to John D. Rockefeller to Bill Gates, the titans who change the world have set themselves apart by seizing the high ground before anyone else even knew it existed. Gutsy, shrewd, and ruthless, they were, above all, visionaries who saw whole new industries where others saw only chaos. Today, another visionary is seizing control of the vast new world of telecommunications, an elusive entrepreneur named Craig McCaw. Money from Thin Air is the story of how he created a new industry literally from thin air, and how he will do it again.

Journalist O. Casey Corr vividly portrays here for the first time how McCaw created a cellular communications empire from the disarray of his father's failed cable business and went on to sell it to AT&T in 1993 for a stunning $12.6 billion. And he shows how McCaw is now creating another new industry that could dwarf the accomplishments of Gates and Rockefeller put together, an "Internet in the Sky" that will provide high-speed data access to any point in the world. Most of all, Corr captures the heart of a new kind of executive -- mercurial, brilliant, extremely flexible, always entreprenurial -- who is changing the way business works forever.
A Leadership Style for the Twenty-first Century: McCaw's radically different approach to management--based on hard-nosed negotiation, shrewd borrowing, and a rare willingness to change business plans on a dime--is the new model for anyone who wants to survive, let alone thrive, in the new economy. This book shows how McCaw's unique management style evolved by instinct and from periods of intense personal reflection and self-scrutiny.
Insight into the Emerging New Media Landscape: Today, the telecom world is in turmoil. Giant companies are vulnerable because of their entrenchment in old technology and high cost. So they merge; bigger must be better. At a different level, start-ups tap new pools of capital and maneuver to exploit opportunities created by stumbling giants and collapsing regulation. Increasingly, it's a game for the nimble and the daring. The telecommunications world has come around to Craig McCaw's way of business.
An Amazing Life: Rarely does a family make and remake a fortune. Craig McCaw's father literally ran his multimillion-dollar radio and television business out of his hat, and when he died suddenly at an early age, the family's bank declared the estate insolvent. McCaw, then only twenty years old, rejected the advice of more experienced businessmen and began investing the money he got from his father's life insurance in a series of businesses most thought worthless, or at best, extremely risky. His career since then has been a series of increasingly large-scale ventures based on a unique personal vision of an emerging human society in which all of us will be freed by technology.
The Next Big Thing: McCaw made one fortune in cable TV and another in cellular telephones. Now he's building a telecommunications empire of staggering potential through a collection of companies he controls: Teledesic, a satellite partnership with Microsoft's Bill Gates that is building a global "Internet in the Sky"; Nextlink, a company positioning itself to rival the Baby Bells with its own vast network of fiber-optic cable and switching systems; CablePlus, a company that provides voice service, Internet access, and TV signals through coaxial cable; and Nextel, an international wireless-telephone company with an expanding role in data services. Each company alone is breathtaking in its ambition, hunger for capital, and risk-taking management style. Together, they provide a glimpse at the depth of McCaw's ambition: one company capable of providing high-speed data access to any point in the world.

Odd, mysterious, yet public-spirited, McCaw is a technological visionary who sees profit where others see thin air. His amazing, ongoing story is required reading for anyone wanting to understand what it takes to build an industry from scratch -- twice.

Customer Reviews:

A good story, but you never get close enough to McCaw.......2004-03-11

As Corr tells it, McCaw has always operated by a unique, hands off managerial style, often absent from key negotiations and busy flying his plane and paddling his kayak through British Columbia. For an author of a business biography, such a subject presents a real problem, because it makes it virtually impossible to paint a nuanced, subtle, in depth profile of the subject, and Corr's book suffers from this flaw. Michael Lewis had the same problem with Jim Clark in "The New New Thing," and I think there are few biographers of sufficient skill to really help us understand a mercurial figure like McCaw.

That said, the book is still worthwhile, especially for the excellent early history of the cable and cellular phone industries. The explosive growth, relentless deal making, constant capital shortages, and sudden, inexplicable abandonment by the financial community might ring a chord with anyone who has lived through the last five years. Revolutions in the communications business seem to follow such a hype-hysteria-despair-rebuild path, and today's investors and entrepreneurs can learn a lot by studying the early history of these industries. For this purpose, Corr's book is a worthy addition to a business person's library.

Sleeper in Seattle.......2003-08-24

This book provides limited facts that are not already available in the newspaper. The writing style is monotone and does not compel the reader - definitely not something that will keep me up at night reading.

Reads fast.......2001-08-03

Very insightful, quick reading book about one of the nation's most unique business leaders, a real character. There should be a sequel about McCaw handling the big shakeout in telecom and about his pet project, saving Keiko the whale. I hope Corr does another book.

Boring..........2001-06-09

The long title first struck me very impressively. However, as I went on reading the book, I find it frustrating and uninteresting. It's hard to write a book with a boring life (no offense, Mr. McCaws). But rather than diving into how the McCaws from not a nerd, a technologist, or futurist becomes successful, the author tries really hard (but unsuccessful) to make McCaws as a great visionary. If you look at the reference section in the book, you will see that most materials for this book came from newspaper. The author has to admit in his book that McCaws didn't spend much time to be interviewed either. Besides, some readers might find the book funny and silly in a technical point of view. Well, I have a feeling that the author doesn't have much insights on the wireless industry. I just read "AOL.COM" before reading this book. And in comparision, this book is really a frustration even though I really want to know more about McCaws, a local well-known family.

The Boring Billionaire.......2000-12-18

This book is obviously the story of Craig McCaw and how he made his fortune in the cellular phone market. The book does a good job of summarizing Craig's life from a family tragedy that shaped his business life, to his strong belief in cellular communication and how that made him a millionaire.

The good news/bad news is that he eschews the fame and glory of a typical egomaniac like Donald Trump. It's great from a role model standpoint but since McCaw is so protective of his privacy and is around so few people, it was difficult to write a glamorous tale of an unglamorous life. Particularly since there is no mention of McCaw ever being interviewed by the author. Therefore, you are left with the history of cellular phone development in America coupled with mention of McCaw's unique management style.

That was enough for me as I had no knowledge of the business and it was interesting to see how a conservative man leveraged himself to great wealth. But don't buy this book if you want stories of drugs, models or other scandals. This story is nothing more than a successful business tale and that is enough.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books

Payment Technologies for E-Commerce