Book Description
After 3 years of success with The Complete James Bond Lifestyle Seminar and audio-book, author and speaker Paul Kyriazi has put the entire seminar down in book form.
If you couldn't get to one of his 4-hour seminars, here it is in a 5x8 261-page book. All organized in easy to find chapters and sub-headings. From Money, to the Ultimate Secret of Women. Easily seven times the material of the successful audio-book, How To Live The James Bond Lifestyle.
Learn how to turn your fantasies into reality. Learn how to not just look cool in a casino or checking into a resort hotel, but how to be cool, as cool as James Bond.
This Complete Seminar Book won't make you 007, it will make you YOU, the real you, the individuality that is you. A you that will enjoy the style, confidence, and the resort experiences of James Bond. A you that will continue your education and make thing happen in your life. To not dream it, but be it. After all, you're on the planet too. Why should James Bond have all the fun?
Chapters include: Re-invent Yourself, Your Appearance, Your Bond Car, Bond Girls, Exotic Hotels, Casino Gambling, Your Mission, Upgrading Your Image, The Greatest Adventure, and The Ultimate Secret of Women.
Get it today for yourself and then pass it on to someone that is important to you, to help him go after his dreams and get his piece of the James Bond Lifestyle.
Customer Reviews:
Two thumbs up !!!.......2007-07-17
If you want to improve your lifestyle, you need this book.
If you want self-improvement, you need this book.
If you want to gain a happier life, you need this book.
The book is a step-by-step guildline to improve your LIFE. It is practical and easy to follow. It really works.
Thanks Mr. Kyriazi, you wrote a great book.
Smart, Original, and Useful!.......2007-07-03
You'd expect this to be a joke, but Kyriazi takes his Bond very seriously. This is an amazing book, one that gets you excited just thinking of all the possibilities that the techniques could open up for you. Highly recommended!
I'm not Bond, but I'm improving........2007-03-09
Kyrazi's Bond seminar book offers a lot of good, practical advice that, upon first glance, seems like a no-brainer. But just the fact that one has purchased this book shows that he or she is motivated to improve his or her lifestyle, and the advice offered in this title becomes more realistic and attainable than it was before with that first step.
Although the text is not the great American novel by any stretch of the imagination, and I would go so far as to say that it is poorly written as far as books are concerned, this is not the point of the book; nor is it the point of the book to turn someone into James Bond or even to get someone to accomplish all of the things suggested therein (you have to be able to pick and choose things that are relevant to your life, personally, as we are all unique individuals). The book is, however, meant to help someone achieve his or her maximum potential as a unique human being, and this is what Paul Kyriazi does extremely well in the book. I have seen immediate results, and I haven't looked back since. The only place to go is up.
Bond by osmosis.......2007-01-22
I hadn't expected a curious thing that happened while reading "The Complete James Bond Lifestyle Seminar" book: I was already doing a lot of what I found there. But I'm in my early 40's and I've been watching and rewatching the Bond films for most of my conscious life (I'm currently rereading all of the novels and just finished Andrew Lycett's wonderful bio of Ian Fleming), so it stands to reason that something had to rub off.
But if you're in your 20's or 30's, I'm sure you'll pick up a lot of very helpful tips about the style of your new cool life. The author doesn't limit his seminar to 007 but also includes very cool and swingin' insights from Bond's American cousins--Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack.
I have to disagree with the author on page 217. He writes, "I've never seen Bond running out the door yelling, 'I'm late. I'll never make it.'" The section is called "Be Early." Good advice. And it's true that we've never seen Bond rush out late...but that doesn't mean he's always on time either. In THUNDERBALL, M chides him in front of the other double-O's with, "Now that we're all here!" And how many films have shown a flustered Moneypenny trying to track him down?
He might be late once in a while...he just doesn't get excited about it, even if the world hangs in the balance.
But that's a quibble, along with typos and the first half of the book mentioning "Blowfeld" instead of "Blofeld" (it's corrected in the second half).
So with tongue firmly planted in cheek and open to improving your coolness, you'll have a good time reading through this seminar for tips. I did.
Starting a New Lifestyle.......2007-01-16
Fantastic read, Paul Kyriazi has something to offer everyone. I must admit, that I did not expect as much from this seminar as I recieved. This seminar serves as a road map to success, for the young man just starting out, or the older man preparing for a fresh new start. Insightful and witty, can't wait for the cd collection.
Book Description
Women with Attention Deficit Disorder addresses the millions of withdrawn little girls and chronically overwhelmed women with ADD who go undiagnosed because they don't fit the stereotypical notion of people with ADD. They are not fast-talking, hyperactive, non-attentive, and they are not male. Though the book focuses on ADD, much of what is said also applies to women with ADHD - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Introduction by Kate Kelly and Peggy Ramundo, authors of You Mean I'm Not Lazy, Crazy or Stupid? Foreword by John J. Ratey, MD, co-author of Driven to Distraction.
Customer Reviews:
Women with Attention Deficit Disorder.......2007-09-27
I am 42 years old and was just diagnosed with ADD. After starting medication I was able to read - something I hadn't done in years. I voarciously poured through books on ADD.
As a woman with ADD Sari Solden's book was by far the best. Every page gave me an opportunity to see myself in a different light - making it possible to reframe my guilt and shame...
I had always believed myself to be different - now I know I am and can nuture the strengths of my differences and accomodate my challenges.
Thank you Sari - your book reminds me that my challenges will not disappear upon diagnosis or treatment - but that I need not allow them to define me.
Very Helpful.......2007-07-03
The author explains the disorder clearly and completely, providing very practical advice on how to deal with it.
Every woman should read it.......2007-05-16
I had no idea that girls and women with ADD were so different from boys and men. Very eye opening. It answered a lot of questions in my life...and in my child's life.
Women with ADD.......2007-04-02
Incredibly helpful, uncannily accurate and surprisingly thorough handbook of the profound effects of ADD in every aspect of the lives of affected women. Thoroughly explains how the primary cognitive dysfunction causes many secondary problems in relationships, self-esteem, achievement, and emotional reactivity. Goes on to offer practical and immediately useful information on many ways of dealing with the effects of the disorder to improve quality of life. Wish I'd read it a lot sooner! Would recommend highly to any woman with ADD and to all those who care about her.
Some parts were very helpful........2007-01-04
I didn't feel a strong connection to Sari Solden or her writing style. I felt much more in touch with the book "Delivered from Distraction". The first chapter (I think) of "Women with Attention Deficit Disorder" addresses the differences that young girls experience in school, as opposed to young boys. I felt that was the most helpful part of the book.
I read the book and gave it to a family member to read. I think it was a good book, but there were numerous gramatical errors, and I had a hard time becoming engrossed in the text. I felt that it didn't describe my ADHD experiences and personality as well as other books that I have read.
Book Description
In a nation recovering from economic turmoil, today's business men and women need every advantage to keep precious jobs and get new and better jobs. In the CHIC SIMPLE DRESS SMART books, veteran style mavens Kim Johnson Gross and Jeff Stone walk readers through the basics of building a work-appropriate wardrobe that provides a look of confidence and competence, and expresses personal style. Whether its buying the right blazer for a middle management position, or assembling the most versatile pieces for someone just entering the workforce, these savvy and informative guides provide the straight answers to how people can put their most positive image forward at work.
Customer Reviews:
Is not worth it.......2007-06-15
Common sense dress code. I read more informative book about dressing.
Found help to professionalize my image.......2007-02-20
My coworkers see a person destined for clerical glory when they interact with me. My wardrobe needs a serious makeover. However, my concern is not so much "the interview, succeeding in the job, and getting a better job". I'm starting a home-based business and I purchased this book to help me to kick up my image as a businesswoman. I didn't know how to put together a serious professional wardrobe until I purchased it. I love the pictures, the suggestions - I love everything about this book. I'm going to obtain the black, navy, gray, and beige suits in the high-quality fabrics recommended, as well as in a couple of other colors. I'm also going to follow pretty much all of the advice in here tweaked to my personal professional style. I most highly recommend this book.
One of the Best.......2007-02-19
I have been purchasing various books on how to dress and this is my favorite book. I love how the information was presented. I bought both the Women and Men books and I have enjoyed both. These books are essential for me in improving my dress from my current wardrobe. I also really enjoy the travel tips, very useful. I dress both my boyfriend and myself from the great tips these books offer. GREAT BOOK.
I have enjoyed and employed this book since the eighties.......2006-11-21
This book is spot-on accurate. I grew up in an exclusive area full of well-to-do people and long-time "well-bred" families. The information in here may seem outdated at times but it is still the right info if you want to make it big-time. There are people and companies that still follow these styles. If you just want to do-alright or be happy in an average job, this book will make you shine above the rest and will give you the extra push needed during an interview. If you are applying to an ivy league college, this book will help you fit in. If you have some common sense and can adapt the information in this book to your current job needs, then use this book as a guideline. Remember, don't outshine your superior! If they dress like a slob or like they shop at ross or macy's, your brooks brothers suits might intimidate them. Many jobs may require you to be less formal, but the information here reminds you that you are an employee, not a prostitute, college kid or someone who has no idea how to dress. Your job as employee is to inform your employer that you are capable and NOT to tell them what music you like, what style you wore in high school and cerainly not to tell them that you are a hottie, even if you are.
Oh, and navy is not always the right colour. Dark grey should be the first choice, navy is the second choice.
Have fun being the best you can and looking it, too!
Good buy.......2006-08-24
If you're fresh out of college and are looking for a guide to how to dress in the workplace, this book is pretty useful. If you've been in the workforce a while then it can be used to enhance your wardrobe. The tips are abundant, the language clear with lots of illustrations. It's a good gift for any college graduate and the male version is good too. Of course job culture is always evolving and sometimes the book can appear dated. In conclusion, this book is a good place to start a professional looking wardrobe but common sense is also needed to fit the adivce to the specific character of your workplace.
Book Description
The
Second Edition of this best selling book provides a comprehensive examination of the role that gender plays in work environments. This book differs from others by comparing women’s and men’s work status, addressing contemporary issues within a historical perspective, incorporating comparative material from other countries, recognizing differences in the experiences of women and men from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. Relying on both qualitative and quantitative data, the authors seek to link social scientific ideas about workers’ lives, sex inequality, and gender to the real-world workplace. This new edition contains updated statistics, timely cartoons, and presents new scholarship in the field. It also provides a renewed focus on reasons for variability in inequality across workplaces. In sum, the second edition of
Women and Men at Work presents a contemporary perspective to the field, with relevant comparative and historical insights that will draw readers in and connect them to the wider concern of making sense of our dramatically changing world.
Product Description
To move ahead in your career you need to be concerned about many issues that are not taught in school or the company handbook. What You Don't Know and Your Boss Won't Tell You covers a wide range of topics explored candidly by experienced female executives who learned how to navigate the unspoken and often debilitating rules of corporate life. This book will show you how to actively manage your career, communicate in the language of business, find leadership opportunities and good mentors, and develop a personal style that projects confidence and competence. The book also shows how you can handle the nuances of dating, emotions, and office politics, how to understand the rigors and rules of business travel, and ways to balance work and family comfortably. Unlike other books geared toward women on how to succeed in corporate life, What You Don't Know and Your Boss Won't Tell You offers specific advice from a group of successful female executives that will help empower women to take charge of their careers, instead of letting their careers take charge of them.
Customer Reviews:
What you don't know and your boss won't tell you.......2007-09-07
This book really didn't tell me anything that I didn't already know. Kind of dry.
Current & Accurate, I identified with every page.......2006-08-26
Worth a read for all females in business (and males for that matter). It covers the stuff that you usually wonder about -- and confirms how you should handle those situations. I'll pass it along to my friends for sure.
If you're entering the workplace.......2006-03-24
Drawing from her 30 years of business experience and personal interviews with 35 women executives, Pamela Lenehan offers a practical perspective on the "unwritten rules" for getting ahead in the corporate workplace.
Lenehan shares helpful advice for career novices by acknowledging that career management is a personal responsibility. One has to rely on more than just hard work in order to get ahead. A successful professional must also balance the sound use of self-promotion, good communication, personal leadership, relationship building, and a solid understanding of the corporate culture. Workplace hazards such as dating co-workers, emotional displays, attire, business travel and worklife balance are also covered adequately in subsequent chapters.
While the book helps readers navigate the turbulent waters of corporate politics and relationships in the workplace, the author's repetitive use of quotes and qualitative approach to the research made it difficult for me to follow the logic in her arguments. I found myself putting the book aside often, attempting to make sense of how the quotations and experiences of these unknown women Lenehan interviewed had relevance for me personally.
At times, language like "a significant minority of the women... confused me since significant minority seems like a contradiction. Although the takeaways nicely summarize the content, I found the "career-limiting moves" unnecessarily restrictive when they cautioned the reader to "never" take certain actions.
In a time where organizations are struggling to attract and retain good employees, it will be interesting to see if the same rules the author discusses in her book will apply in the future, particularly as diversity and inclusiveness rise in importance. Will multicultural employees have to change in order to "fit in" to corporate cultures, possibly losing the precious perspective they offer? Or, will companies change their cultures to truly embrace the value diversity brings rather than expecting talented employees to always "play by the rules"?
Regardless of what the future holds, this book provides valuable insights and suggestions for career management and planning in today's job market.
Armchair Interviews recommends this book for those who are just entering the workplace and desiring to fit into a corporate culture.
Expert Advice from Those Who Know.......2006-03-13
This easy-to-read book is the bible of what you need to know as a younger woman - or man - in the business world. Filled with great advice from senior executives, it provides lessons learned which remind us all what we should, and should not, do to succeed. I am sending it to colleagues and friends as gifts!
Book Description
As China has evolved into an industrial powerhouse over the past two decades, a new class of workers has developed: the dagongmei, or working girls. The dagongmei are women in their late teens and early twenties who move from rural areas to urban centers to work in factories. Because of state laws dictating that those born in the countryside cannot permanently leave their villages, and familial pressure for young women to marry by their late twenties, the dagongmei are transient labor. They undertake physically exhausting work in urban factories for an average of four or five years before returning home. The young women are not coerced to work in the factories; they know about the twelve-hour shifts and the hardships of industrial labor. Yet they are still eager to leave home. Made in China is a compelling look at the lives of these women, workers caught between the competing demands of global capitalism, the socialist state, and the patriarchal family.
Pun Ngai conducted ethnographic work at an electronics factory in southern China’s Guangdong province, in the Shenzhen special economic zone where foreign-owned factories are proliferating. For eight months she slept in the employee dormitories and worked on the shop floor alongside the women whose lives she chronicles. Pun illuminates the workers’ perspectives and experiences, describing the lure of consumer desire and especially the minutiae of factory life. She looks at acts of resistance and transgression in the workplace, positing that the chronic painsâsuch as backaches and headachesâthat many of the women experience are as indicative of resistance to oppressive working conditions as they are of defeat. Pun suggests that a silent social revolution is underway in China and that these young migrant workers are its agents.
Customer Reviews:
Treat workers as human beings for better results.......2006-10-30
Anyone working on CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), with NGOs, or otherwise on development issues in China and most developing countries should read this book. I only wish Pung Nai had a shorter version where she cut out all the intellectual references to supposed `great thinkers' of the past century and actually kept it to its GEMS, which are her own insights into the true life realities for women factory workers.
This book came from Pung Nais PhD as she tells us. This is unfortunate as it makes what is otherwise fantastic material hard to read and slow. But the well written sections tell us stories of individual workers odysseys to Shenzhen from far away provinces, and explain social issues in China, and factory language providing insights few other writers have provided.
To those working on improving factory conditions, there are a lot of great tips here about what Not to do. Pung Nai talks about worker slowdowns due to frustration at dogmatic authoritarian pressure to work faster, or have music turned off, etc, and of workers being less efficient and regularly fainting from working excessive overtime. Reading this book gives those of us working to encourage factory managers to give their workers more reasonable hours and wages, more force in our argument that doing so will improve productivity and quality.
Regardless, Pung Nai points out the terrible toll on peoples lives of excessive overtime, particularly the physical and psychological impacts on young women, who are not only burdened by the work pressure, but also familial pressures back home to marry and have sons. It helps us understand the value of programmes such as Nikes high school graduation programme for factory workers in Asia, to give workers a chance to gain self respect and pride in an environment in which the very essence of who they are, country girls, is looked down upon.
Marxist retoric in disguise.......2006-06-16
By in large, to explain this book, "Made in China" by Pun Ngai, I have to look first at several different issues: the politics behind it, the assumptions they draw upon, and the things she leaves out. First off let me go into the politics behind this book. The more and more I read this book, the more and more I hate it. I'm sorry for saying that--well, not really. Maybe Pun Ngai has good intentions by pointing out only the negatives in every instance, but I couldn't help but be reminded of some transient theme behind all of her pessimisms. If I didn't know any better, which I obviously don't, I would say that Pun Ngai was defaming China not for being against the US and world cohesion, but for being for it. By that, I mean, that this book is extremely Marxist, anti capitalist, and anti US--to stand behind this book, while still maintaining any sense of American patriotism or pride is contradictory. This response may seem to be merely a defensive stance in terms of capitalism versus Marxist communism, but I'd like to think that it's more than that. The type of thought from this book isn't rare in China, Pun Ngai is only a part of a widely criticizing faction growing within China that likes to point out all the negatives of globalization, free trade, or neo-liberalism by pointing out the exploits and the harsh conditions being subjugated upon the workers, while disregarding any and all positive benefits they receive personally as well as any benefits towards the government as a whole. In this way, it is kind of like focusing in on only one part of a government's policies, focusing in on only one company still undergoing reform in the face of a more global privatized free trade open market economy, focusing in on only the lower echeloned workers most of whom are uneducated towards global perspectives, and focusing in on only the negative aspects of their lives. It is in this way that Pun Ngai was able to write such a completely negatively slanted defamation to all logical and true global debate. When the benefits of a society's system out weigh the negatives, in order to make a Marxist argument for conflict, one has to actually dig down to the bottom of the barrel and scrape the conflicts out with a spoon. The term "spoon" I am using is a metaphor for the subtle way Pun Ngai is trying to prove her points. It was written to incite outrage and to depict a sense of rebellion or resistance, which may or may not have actually been there, just to further her own party or social group's political ideologies. However, though, in the face of actual research and more information, for lack of a better way of putting this, Pun Ngai is just digging up dirt. This book was not written to discuss whether globalization is ultimately more or less beneficial to society, it was written to persuade people in how globalization is only negative.
Customer Reviews:
a femenist perspective, but superlative work.......2006-03-19
The problem with sociology of gender is that the work seems to be dominated by a femenist perspective, instead of a value nuetral perspective. However, the field of gender sociology has been covered more assiduously (and thus remains more valid and relevant)then many other fields of sociology.
Otherwise, this is a fantastic book. The authors Dubeck and Dunn use a vast amount of resources to create a highly valid book that adresses gender and race inequality (from a female perspective). The first edition is really not too much different from the 2nd, but the articles are on different pages. The purpose of this second edition (like most updates) is to get more money from college students.
Book Description
This woman's experience is far from unusual. As authors Pat Heim and Susan Murphy have learned through twenty years of corporate consulting on gender differences, time and again, professional women fail to support one another and even actively sabotage their female colleagues with subterfuge and "catfights."
The fact is, relationships can be either the best or the worst things to happen to women at work. Studies have shown that women have a greater capacity than do men to encourage and improve each other's professional performance-with better results for all if their relationships are good, and worse results if they are not.
In In the Company of Women, Heim and Murphy draw from the latest research on brain structure, evolution, and socialization to explain why women's workplace relationships are unique. They describe what makes catfights happen-and how to avoid them. With startling insights into the meaning of everyday behavior, they offer straightforward techniques to change female conflict into female alliances by resolving discord peaceably, making the most of women's unique leadership skills, and building relationships with female superiors, colleagues, and employees.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting reading.......2007-09-18
This book was pretty good. The first part validated what I pretty much figured out for myself the hard way. At least with the knowledge you get from this book that this type of behavior and attitude is universal among women everywhere and is "normal," you can deal with it more constructively or let it go more easily instead of dwelling on it. I did enjoy reading the first part of the book - probably 3/4 of the book was helpful because it validates what you know or can sense about what is going on around you, and that is empowering and reassuring. The guidance given in this book for dealing with other women is somewhat like remembering difficult algorithms though. And, unless you can convince every other woman you ever deal with to read the book and follow precisely the "rules" you have to follow in order to have perfect harmony among the women in your life, you still have to just use your gut instinct on how to deal with each particular woman or...well, you already know what will happen or you wouldn't be interested in reading this type of book! To be honest, I started reading the last part of the book (which directly relates to being in a supervisory position) and just couldn't read any more.
Wishing everyone (men and women) would read this!.......2007-05-08
I have struggled my entire life in relationships with women. This book opened my eyes.
Interesting theories, apply as you will.......2007-02-04
This is a thought-provoking book, and I recommend it for any woman, whether you work in an office or not. It says much about the conflicts that arise between us, the reasons behind them, and some solutions on how to handle them.
One of my favorite chapters was "Handling Conflicts With Style." I recently covered conflict styles in a college freshman seminar course, and I appreciated how they were expanded in this chapter. There are some interesting paragraphs on ow to handle sabotage and deliberate distractions, two things I have experienced firsthand and was poor at resonding to.
There are many wonderful suggestions in the chapter "How To Be An Effective Female Leader." Several aspects of leadership are discussed, and skills are suggested in detail, to balance the troubles many female leaders experience.
There are some parts of the book, however, that I do no agree with.
Although the Power Dead-Even Rule is absolutely true in every respect, it does little to solve the problem that I have with power-hungry, conrolling women in my work environment. Honestly, why should I care what gets a co-worker to turn against me? Of course, having some knowledge of the root of the problem is extremely beneficial at maintaining some sort of balance. At the end of the day, however, I am able to put my head on the pillow and fall asleep based simply on the advice I received from a dear friend:
It's not my business what other people think of me.
This may sound like foolish advice at first, but you know what? It's TRUE.
And the advice to use gossip as a tool is WAY off the mark. I have been able to maintain my position at my job for many years based on a principle that I believe deeply in - that gossip does NOTHING to improve anyone's character. You want to build trust among your coworkers? Don't gossip!! Find something else in common to discuss.
I'm a little irritated at the excuses given for indirect aggression - you know what? A person's personal issues should be worked out before or after work, there's no excuse for a bitch.
Downplaying your achievements is good to keep in mind. But ultimately, you really should be yourself, not a puppet. My point is, when you apply what you gain from this book, don't forget what you have learned before.
This Book has Changed my Life........2006-05-08
I have to say, I felt pretty disgusted with myself, having to pretend to be insecure and self-depreciating, just to get other women to like me. But by God it works.
I tested the techniques out on my very next female customer. I refused to accept her compliments, kept downplaying myself and my accomplishments, while praising her instead and pointing out all the ways in which I felt she was better.
Result: She LOVED me. We actually linked arms and skipped! No kidding! She convinced her husband to give me $500 on a job that wasn't worth half that much money.
Not only is this book helpful in avoiding petty jealousy, the evil eye, and female sabotage, applied to business situations it can be a real cash cow!!! $$$
Take those psychology books that advise you to "Project Self Confidence!" and "Toot Your Own Horn!" and throw them in the garbage. If you are not a man, that will not work for you.
This one tip alone will save your friendships: Don't you dare ever tell a woman good news. If you have good news tell a man. If you have bad news tell a woman.
If you're just bustin' to tell all the girls how your new boyfriend is rich, famous and hunky, DON'T, unless you a have your own personal security detail and somebody willing to start your car for you.
If they find out anyway, make your good fortune sound negative. Tell them he beats you and he slept with your sister. : P
I can sum the whole book up for you: Women can't stand to see another woman happy, especially if they're not. Better learn how to operate within the "Power Dead Even" Rule.
Women Working Wisely.......2006-02-06
This book has been an invaluable reference and resource for me. Pat Heim's experience in addressing relationally aggressive behaviors between women in the workplace shows through in every page she writes. With "In the Company of Women" she adds one more feather to her impressive cap and advances each reader's understanding of this important issue.
Book Description
"The ethnography of Japan is currently being reshaped by a new generation of Japanologists, and the present work certainly deserves a place in this body of literature. . . . The combination of utility with beauty makes Kondo's book required reading, for those with an interest not only in Japan but also in reflexive anthropology, women's studies, field methods, the anthropology of work, social psychology, Asian Americans, and even modern literature."—Paul H. Noguchi, American Anthropologist
"Kondo's work is significant because she goes beyond disharmony, insisting on complexity. Kondo shows that inequalities are not simply oppressive-they are meaningful ways to establish identities."—Nancy Rosenberger, Journal of Asian Studies
Customer Reviews:
A poorly written piece, lax in style and weak in intellectual rigor.......2006-05-01
Dorinne Kondo applies loose academic standards to her writing. She is unabashed about it: hers is "a strategy that expands notions of what can count as theory", and her "emphasis on complexity, power, contradiction, discursive production, and ambiguity is invoked in part to demonstrate complexity and irony in the lives of the people I knew, in order to complicate and dismantle the ready stereotypes that erase complexity in favor of simple, unitary images."
I will not tire the reader with more quotations; suffice to mention the apprentice anthropologist's record of people's "bewilderment at having to deal with this odd person who looked Japanese and therefore human, but who must be retarded, deranged, or--equally undesirable in Japanese eyes--Chinese or Korean." This may be her conception of irony and subtlety; to me, this sentence only reinforces stereotypes about the Japanese, who certainly do not all hold these views, as well as it is offensive to persons living with mental disabilities or to Korean and Chinese residents in Japan.
As she herself confesses, D. Kondo was one of those graduate students who constantly change their dissertation topic according to the last passing fad or research opportunity that happen to cross their way. She first attempted to study the relationship between kinship and economics in family-owned enterprises, in order to counter the view of the diligent and anonymous Organization Man associated with Japan, Inc. The focus of her research then shifted to the broader social and cultural context, and she attempted to write an ethnographic monograph of Arakawa, the popular ward of downtown Tokyo where she had settled to live and work. Working part time in various settings also tempted her to study labor relationships on the shop floor.
She then had her epiphany during a corporate ethics retreat organized by the confectionery factory in which she was working part time: plunging into icy baths, walking barefoot on jagged rocks and screaming expressions of filial piety in front of Mt. Fuji somehow made her realize that selves are artifacts "crafted within shifting fields of power and meaning." Exit her old research project, enter her new topic: "the Japanese concept of self." As her research advisor may have suggested to focus and problematize a bit more, she came out with a first-person narrative that adds layer upon layer of description with some theoretical developments.
While her references to Michel Foucault and Jacques Derrida give a postmodernist cachet to her ethnographic account, a firm theoretical backing didn't inform the design of her fieldwork or generate research hypotheses that she would have put to the test in a rigorous way. Her poststructuralist/feminist agenda seems to be placated as an afterthought, the result of a vernis de culture that she acquired while rubbing shoulders with Judith Butler, Joan Scott and other luminaries during the postdoc fellowship she spent at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton, almost ten years after her fieldwork.
Her use of colloquial Japanese expressions, words uttered by "real people" as she says, will only add obscurity to the text for those who do not know the language, while it will prove only redundant and somewhat conceited to the readers who are conversant in Japanese. On the other hand, the paucity of Japanese sources in her bibliography shows that she wasn't able to progress much beyond that colloquial level. This bars her from confronting her hypotheses to results attained by Japanese social scientists, with the exception of well-known sources available in English, such as Chie Nakane and Takeo Doi, that the author reproduces uncritically. Although I cannot pinpoint any act of plagiarism, her indiscriminate use of these and other well-known sources left me with a sense of deja lu all over again.
Crafting Selves is advertised on its back cover as a "textually experimental book." To me, it is only a poorly written piece, lax in style and weak in intellectual rigor.
Kondo is fascinating.......2002-10-26
If you see the world in black & white, then this book probably is not for you. If, however, you are interested in challenging any preconceived notions you may have about Japan, for example, this book is an important contribution. Not a waste of paper!
A big yawn.......2002-02-25
If you are into ethnographies where lots of words have ominous quotation marks around them, then this book is for you. If you find post-modernism a whole lot of nonsense perpetuated by people who see Al Gore as a deep thinker, then you may just pick up a used copy of Let's Go Japan or Lonely Planet-- more readable and useful that this "ethnography". All those poor dead trees which died for this book...Shame!
A Successful Postmodern Ethnography.......2001-04-30
Kondo's work is a much needed example of "how" to do postmodern ethnography. There have been many theorizations about alternative ethnographies, but few good deliveries. Kondo's narrative ethnography about power and its cultural effectivity at the level of everyday life delivers. In fact, her informative and creative work was never far from my on writing table during my ethnographic research which resulted in the recent release of my ethnographic monograph, Native Americans in the Carolina Borderlands: A Critical Ethnography. Kondo's work is essential reading for anyone attempting to do ethnography about the complexities of cultural and personal identity formation and their hegemonic articulation in everyday practices. In short, Kondo takes the complicated and, oft-times, abstract theoretical renderings of poststructuralism/postmodernism and points to a way in which they can be enlivened through thick descriptions of everyday lives and situations. One of the finer and insightful aspects of her work is found in her tact of avoiding simplistic theoretical categorizing through the ethnographic utilization of irony and the notion of unintended consequences. A must have for those interested in feminist studies, Japanese culture and society, Cultural Studies, Postmodernism/Poststructuralism, and critical and alternative forms of ethnography.
Excellent ethnography of work.......2000-07-06
This is a complex and intelligent cultural ethnography of the many-layered, multi-tensioned ideas of self and identity among female Japanese factory workers. It is a "thick description," heavy on pondering the minutiae, and with little in the way of broad cross-cultural comparisons; this is neither good nor bad, just Kondo's style. The detailed nuances she brings out are wonderful; it is rare to see such careful attention to detail in a study of the workplace. However, readers rooted in traditional "rational management" traditions may want to look elsewhere, as this volume takes its inspiration from anthropology and lit-crit, not business and economics.
Book Description
Rocked by a flurry of high-profile sex discrimination lawsuits in the 1990s, Wall Street was supposed to have cleaned up its act. It hasn't. Selling Women Short is a powerful new indictment of how America's financial capital has swept enduring discriminatory practices under the rug.
Wall Street is supposed to be a citadel of pure economics, paying for performance and evaluating performance objectively. People with similar qualifications and performance should receive similar pay, regardless of gender. They don't. Comparing the experiences of men and women who began their careers on Wall Street in the late 1990s, Louise Roth finds not only that women earn an average of 29 percent less but also that they are shunted into less lucrative career paths, are not promoted, and are denied the best clients.
Selling Women Short reveals the subtle structural discrimination that occurs when the unconscious biases of managers, coworkers, and clients influence performance evaluations, work distribution, and pay. In their own words, Wall Street workers describe how factors such as the preference to associate with those of the same gender contribute to systematic inequality.
Revealing how the very systems that Wall Street established ostensibly to combat discrimination promote inequality, Selling Women Short closes with Roth's frank advice on how to tackle the problem, from introducing more tangible performance criteria to curbing gender-stereotypical client entertaining activities. Above all, firms could stop pretending that market forces lead to fair and unbiased outcomes. They don't.
Books:
- The Economics of World War II : Six Great Powers in International Comparison (Studies in Macroeconomic History)
- The Economics of World War II : Six Great Powers in International Comparison (Studies in Macroeconomic History)
- The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels
- The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-from-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series--and America's Heart--During the Great Depression
- The Grapes of Wrath (Centennial Edition)
- The Handbook of Fixed Income Securities
- The Irresistible Offer: How to Sell Your Product or Service in 3 Seconds or Less
- The Landmarks of New York: An Illustrated Record of the City's Historic Buildings
- The Loyalty Effect: The Hidden Force Behind Growth, Profits, and Lasting Value
- The New Division of Labor: How Computers Are Creating the Next Job Market
Books Index
Books Home
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- Building Trust at the Speed of Change: The Power of the Relationship-Based Corporation
- Winterkill
- Newport Through Its Architecture: A History of Styles from Postmedieval to Postmodern
- The Architectural History of Venice: Revised and enlarged edition
- The Great Lakes Berry Book: The Great Lakes Berry Book
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