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Buffett, the Bard of Omaha, is a genuine American folk hero, if folk heroes are allowed to build fortunes worth upward of $15 billion. He's great at homespun metaphor, but behind those catchy phrases is a reservoir of financial acumen that's generally considered the best of his generation. For example, in an essay on CEO stock options, he writes, "Negotiating with one's self seldom produces a barroom brawl." This is his way of saying that an executive who can give himself compensation totally disproportionate to his performance surely will. There are uncountable gems of financial wisdom to be harvested from these essays, taken from the annual reports he writes for Berkshire Hathaway, his holding company. Just to pick one more, here's a now-famous line about those he competes with when making stock-market investments: "What could be more advantageous in an intellectual contest--whether it be chess, bridge, or stock selection--than to have opponents who have been taught that thinking is a waste of energy?"
While Buffett has a policy of seldom commenting on stocks he owns--he feels public pronouncements will only lead to the public's expectation of more public pronouncements, and he likes to keep his cards close to his vest--he loves to discuss the principles behind his investments. These come primarily from Ben Graham, under whom Buffett studied at Columbia University and for whom he worked in the 1950s. First among them is the idea that price is what you pay and value is what you get--and if you're a smart investor, the first will always be less than the second. In that sense, the value of the lessons learned from Buffett's Essays could be far greater than the book's price. --Lou Schuler
Book Description
The definitive work concerning Warren Buffett and intelligent investment philosophy, this is a collection of Buffett's letters to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway written over the past few decades that together furnish an enormously valuable informal education. The letters distill in plain words all the basic principles of sound business practices. They are arranged and introduced by a leading apostle of the "value" school and noted author, Lawrence Cunningham. Here in one place are the priceless pearls of business and investment wisdom, woven into a delightful narrative on the major topics concerning both managers and investors. These timeless lessons are ever-more important in the current environment.
Customer Reviews:
A brilliant book for the beginng investor or corporate executive.......2007-10-23
Mr. Buffet does a remarkable job of simplifying the complexities of investing. His homespun stories and self-deprecating humor make the subject matter entertaining, easy to understand and very useful.
It is remarkable for a man of his stature in the investment world to openly discuss his many mistakes and bad investment decisions and yet, we should all be so lucky as to have the fortitude and the wisdom to invest with the same degree of success that he has experienced - even with much smaller sums of money.
I highly recommend this book to everyone that owns common stock.
An MBA by reading one book.......2007-10-17
Want the equivalent of an MBA - read this book! Skip the first 26 pages and get right into reading Buffet directly. After reading the rest of the book go back and read the first 26 pages for a great summary.
A must read for anyone interested in business.
Perfect.......2007-08-14
Lucid and brilliant, a clear lesson on capital allocation. The only objection would be the repeated content, but truthfully it helped the ideas sink in a bit.
Thank you for editing this collection Professor Cunningham.
Real Wisdom at a Good Price.......2007-08-05
I work for a financial services company, and I'm subjected to corporate gobbledegook on a daily basis. Warren Buffett gets to the point. His explanations of financial transactions seem so effortless, I can't imagine how others get so confused and obtuse. Here's a mind worth delving in to, and this book lets you sit on the shoulder of a modern genius to see how he thinks. Good stuff.
excellent.......2007-07-09
These are the actual words penned by Buiffett. Not as dry as one would think, he's actually a wonderful writer. The Oracle of Omaha can turn a phrase and while parts of this are slow going, I enjoyed it throughly.
I heartily recommend this book for those desiring wealth. I also strongly recommend The Millionaire Mind by Tom Stanley. The Millionaire Mind
Book Description
As one of the first titles in Atlantic Monthly Press’ “Books That Changed the World” series, America’s most provocative satirist, P. J. O’Rourke, reads Adam Smith’s revolutionary The Wealth of Nations so you don’t have to. Recognized almost instantly on its publication in 1776 as the fundamental work of economics, The Wealth of Nations was also recognized as really long: the original edition totaled over nine hundred pages in two volumes—including the blockbuster sixty-seven-page “digression concerning the variations in the value of silver during the course of the last four centuries,” which, “to those uninterested in the historiography of currency supply, is like reading Modern Maturity in Urdu.” Although daunting, Smith’s tome is still essential to understanding such current hot-topics as outsourcing, trade imbalances, and Angelina Jolie. In this hilarious, approachable, and insightful examination of Smith and his groundbreaking work, P. J. puts his trademark wit to good use, and shows us why Smith is still relevant, why what seems obvious now was once revolutionary, and why the pursuit of self-interest is so important.
Customer Reviews:
A Waste of Time if You Want to Understand Adam Smith.......2007-10-02
I got this book because I wanted to read something on Smith, an author who is not, contrary to what is repeatedly said by other reviewers, difficult to read or superseded by later writers. What I quickly realized was that O'Rourke has no intention of seriously engaging with Smith at all and that the book might easily have been written without his having read the Wealth of Nations at all using a research assistant to pull out some quotes to sprinkle around. That he didn't read the book is the only explanation for the presence of so many gross errors in the book, such as when O'Rourke lumps labor unions together with chartered companies, etc. as a market distorting institution that Smith abhors; whereas, as any reader of the book knows, Adam Smith is quite explicit in his defense of collective bargaining for workers and condemns the laws of his day that impede workers' ability to organize. Whatever one thinks of these matters, Smith was clear as to his own view.
There is also a generally philistine and puerile element to O'Rourke's style and humour which I found extremely grating. If you are interested in work of Adam Smith, don't waste your time with this book. Just because O'Rourke didn't read the original doesn't mean you ought not to. So save your money and but a copy of the Wealth of Nations itself if you haven't read it already.
Recommend highly.......2007-09-02
P. J. O'Rourke makes Adam Smith's master work come alive with witty asides and modern examples to succinctly illustrate principles that Smith had expanded upon at daunting length. Everyone who thinks they might someday want to go into business, run for office, vote, or engage in intelligent conversation should read it, as should those who just want thought-provoking entertainment. The lengthy "dictionary" of quotations in the back is an added bonus.
A terrific guide to the ideas and writings of Adam Smith - with some jokes, too.......2007-08-13
Adam Smith has been written off my many people who find themselves too sophisticated for his 18th Century views. Each time, it is they who prove themselves and their ideas dispensable. Adam Smith continues to influence new generations of people trying to understand not only economics, but what Smith called Moral Sentiments. Was Smith a Prophet? Of course not. Did he get everything right? No. But there is more right there than you will likely find in a library full of most other writers on economics who think they know more than Smith.
However, there are many fundamental concepts that have become central to our understanding of how human beings interact and create wealth that some of us treat him with a kind of devotion and veneration. We probably overdo it. Still, like scripture, he is more often talked about than read. And that is why the wonderful humorist P.J. O'Rourke wrote this book. It is a short guide through Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" (a much shortened title).
O'Rourke also gives us a brief view of Smith's "The Theory of Moral Sentiments" and a very brief look at Smith's life and times. As O'Rourke quote William Kristol, most of us only read in Smith. It is just so long and dry and tied to his times, it takes a special reason to read every darn word. O'Rourke did so he could write this book.
While there is much to enjoy in the book, O'Rourke has created a dictionary of Smith's best sayings (lightly edited). He also provides a list of other readings and points you to the best editions of Smith's works.
This book isn't just a funny book that riffs on Smith. Yes, O'Rourke is great at making things funny, to the point you will laugh out loud. But his humor is most often insightful rather and it is a way of getting the reader to take in the point thinking he is getting dessert. I like this insight from page 62:
"A recurring lesson in "The Wealth of Nations" is that we shouldn't get greedy. And no people are as rapacious and grabby as those who work for the public good. They don't want mere millions or billions of dollars to satisfy personal avarice. They seek the trillions of dollars necessary to make life on earth better for everyone. The World Bank should content itself with private good, from which all good things flow"
Yeah, it isn't that funny. But it is concise and right with a nice bite.
Get it, read it and enjoy it. And, hey, you will probably learn something. Especially if you haven't read Smith (or even read much in his writings).
This was my O'Levels assignment!.......2007-07-25
This is the best book I have read so far this year. The author succeeds in presenting this heavy work in an entertaining and humorous way. I think anyone reading this book will be encouraged to read the Wealth of Nations and inquire more on Adam Smith, if they haven't already done so.
The Wealth of Nations, a book of free-market thinking and a book that shapes the world to this day, was first published in 1776, the year The United States of America gained its independence from Britain. The book was instantly recognized as being fundamental to an understanding of Economics. The original edition totaled over nine hundred pages in two volumes, which was considered long. It is a large volume because Adam Smith felt he was at the end of his life and he wanted to say all he could. In fact, The Wealth of Nations was orally dictated, significantly contributing to its length.
According to P.J. O'Rourke, to understand The Wealth of Nations, you also need to read Smith's first book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments. But now with On The Wealth of Nations, you don't need to read either, or so the book back cover claims. In fact, this book reads like a Cliff Notes, with laughter added.
Adam Smith only wrote three books, the third, on law, being left uncompleted.
P.J. Rourke shows us why Smith is still relevant today, why what seems obvious now was once revolutionary, and how the division of labor, freedom of trade, absence of government interference (the famous two words, `invisible hand'), and pursuit of self-interest espoused by Smith are vital to the welfare of mankind. There is nothing inherently wrong with the pursuit of self-interest. That was Smith's best insight. Smith further gives suggestions on how governments should be run, and how various classes of men should behave. Smith illuminated the mystery of economics in one flash: "Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production."
Far from being an avatar of capitalism, Smith was actually a moralist of liberty. O'Rourke says, "it's as if Smith, having proved that we can all have more money, then went on to prove that money doesn't buy happiness. And it doesn't. It rents it." (I just love this quote!)
I had to read Wealth of Nations for my O-Levels, and I got a B, the highest score in my class. I was hoping for an `A' actually, but I didn't have O'Rourke's book at the time.
Some interesting quotes from the book:
"Every tax, however, is to the person who pays it a badge, not of slavery, but of liberty. It denotes that he is subject to government, indeed, but that, as he has some property, he cannot himself be the property of a master."
"To improve land with profit requires an exact attention to small savings and small gains, of which a man born to a great fortune...is very seldom capable."
Never complain that the people in power are stupid. It is their best trait. In recent years we've seen a variety of powerful figures barter their authority for the gratification of childish vanities. Perhaps the Saudi royal family will be next to suffer the fate that Adam Smith described: "Having sold their birth-right, not like Esau for a mess of pottage in time of hunger and necessity, but in the wantonness of plenty, for trinkets and baubles, fitter to be the playthings of children than the serious pursuits of men, they became as insignificant as any substantial burgher or tradesman in a city.
In 1776, Britain was the most powerful country on earth. The reason for this, wrote Smith, was plain: "That security which the laws in Great Britain give to every man that he shall enjoy the fruits of his own labour, is alone sufficient to make any country flourish."
Military power depends on economic success. Economic success depends on freedom. "No regulation of commerce," Smith wrote, "can increase the quantity of industry in any society... It can only divert a part of it into a direction into which it might not otherwise have gone."
The rulers of Great Britain have, for more than a century past, amused the people with the imagination that they possessed a great empire on the west side of the Atlantic. This empire, however, has hitherto existed in imagination only. It has hitherto been, not an empire, but the project of an empire; not a gold mine, but the project of a gold mine...It is surely now time that our rulers should either realize this golden dream, in which they have been indulging themselves, perhaps, as well as the people; or, that they should awake from it themselves, and endeavour to awaken the people. If the project cannot be completed, it ought to be given up...Great Britain should free herself from the expence of defending those provinces in time of war, and of supporting any part of their civil or military establishments in time of peace, and endeavour to accommodate her future views and designs to the real mediocrity of her circumstances."
"What institution of government could tend so much to promote the happiness of mankind as the general prevalence of wisdom and virtue? All government is but an imperfect remedy for the deficiency of these."
One reviewer on Amazon.com had the following to say:
"Socialism can work, but it requires people with the qualities of saints. The difference between O'Rourke's rant and the reality of earthly socialism was aptly seen by Leacock, who explained `socialism won't work except in Heaven, where they don't need it, or in Hell, where they already have it.' "
Adam Smith died on July 17, 1790, leaving us a book that is still shaping our way of thinking! His stoic attitude toward death, recorded in his Moral Sentiments, was as follows: "Walk forth without repining; without murmuring or complaining. Walk forth calm, contented, rejoicing, returning thanks to the Gods, who, from their infinite bounty, have opened the safe and quiet harbor of death, at all times ready to receive us from the stormy ocean of human life."
If you find The Wealth of Nations too long or too hard to read, then read P.J. O'Rourke's On The Wealth of Nations, and you will understand all the major concepts of Smith's book.
Interesting and VERY funny.......2007-07-12
I really, really enjoyed this Book on CD.....I think it made it much better than if I had just read the book. Listen to the jokes was really cool. Lots of very good information.
Book Description
There are very few American coaching heroes better known than Coach K. The long-time head coach at Duke University is at the top of the class when it comes to those who believe in doing the right thing and who stress leadership, accountability, responsibility, and academics to his players. Now, in this powerful collection of essays, written with one of his daughters, Jamie K. Spatola, readers will discover this incredible leaders personal philosophy on winning, losing, and sportsmanship, as well as dozens of everyday lessons that apply to life on and off the court. On trust: There are four words that, when said, will bring out the best in your team, your employees, and your family. They are: I believe in you. On discipline: All leaders, whether they be coaches, CEOs, or parents, should be wary of relying too much on predefined rules.
Customer Reviews:
Real Leadership.......2007-04-10
Learn great leadership skills that apply in the business world, sports world, or anywhere else in life. This book makes a great gift.
Doug.......2007-04-10
Coach K is an awesome coach but an even better person. I encourage everyone to read his books.
Just what I expected.......2007-01-16
Coach K says a lot in a few pages. Everything I read applies to me or it also can apply and be enjoyed by my 13 year old son or 11 year old daughter. I appreciate Coach K and his daughter taking the time to share the insights contained in this book.
Real words; real meaning!.......2007-01-11
COACH k HAS AMPLIFIED THROUGH LIFE EXAQMPLES THE REAL MEANING OF WORDS THAT ARE TOO OFTEN USED CARELESSLY. HE GIVES "COURAGE" AND "LOYALTY" AND ALL OF THE OTHERS HE ADDRESSES IN HIS COMPACT BOOK REJUVENATED MEANING! i GAVE COPIES TO BOTH OF MY GROWN CHILDREN WHO, THEMSELVES ARE IN THE BUSINESS WORLD AND THEY LOVED IT
Great reading!.......2007-01-11
I purchased this book as a gift for my daughter. I started to skim thru it and could not put it down! My daughter loved the book so much she ordered one for her basketball coach as well. Great book on leadership and would highly recommend it to share with coworkers, family and friends.
Average customer rating:
- unavailable...
- A must have
- A woman's liberation classic
- a room for what?
- To get a room of one's own
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A Room of One's Own
Virginia Woolf
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To the Lighthouse
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Mrs. Dalloway
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ASIN: 0156787334 |
Amazon.com
Surprisingly, this long essay about society and art and sexism is one of Woolf's most accessible works. Woolf, a major modernist writer and critic, takes us on an erudite yet conversational--and completely entertaining--walk around the history of women in writing, smoothly comparing the architecture of sentences by the likes of William Shakespeare and Jane Austen, all the while lampooning the chauvinistic state of university education in the England of her day. When she concluded that to achieve their full greatness as writers women will need a solid income and a privacy, Woolf pretty much invented modern feminist criticism.
Book Description
Why is it that men, and not women, have always had power, wealth, and fame? Woolf cites the two keys to freedom: fixed income and one’s own room. Foreword by Mary Gordon.
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" A remarkable work in both the history English literary criticism and feminist theory, Virginia Woolf?
Customer Reviews:
unavailable..........2007-09-09
after i ordered this book, the distributors let me know instantly that they no longer had the book on shelf, and instantly refunded my account. speedy service is one thing, but keeping the customer informed is another...thanks
A must have.......2007-01-03
A timeless essay not only for women. Good hard binding that will keep. It's a must have if you like English literature.
A woman's liberation classic .......2006-05-23
This is a beautifully written and highly enjoyable exploration of the history of women in writing. It is also a plea for the liberation of women, and their full entrance into the world of Literature. Woolf argues that a woman needs financial independence, a room , that is a space of her own, if she is to be able to truly create. She also needs the kind of access to everyday life that women confined to hearth and home were as she sees it, traditionally denied.
She urges that Woman enter into all fields of writing, and develop in directions they had no opportunity to develop in before.
She also perhaps reflecting on her own experience and nature argues for the androgynous nature of the creator, seeing in Shakespeare, Keats and certainly Proust a strong feminine element.
Woolf anticipates and perhaps in some sense helps creates the vast flourishing of Literature written by women which will come in the decades after her.
a room for what?.......2006-03-14
This essay reunites several works from Virginia Woolf about the right of women to possess a place - a room- to read, write and work, intended that not as domestic work as was usual for women during many times.
This book is very good. The problem with it today is many people uses this work only as a vindicating feminist weapon, while few people has truly read it, but remember, Virginia Woolf wanted that room not for itself, but for a finality: to do an intellectual task inside. Some people forgets this fundamental fact.
To get a room of one's own.......2006-02-17
Woolf's argument that "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction," holds true not just for fiction but for any activity a woman wants to pursue. The early 20th century essay is still widely relevant, and not just in developing countries.
On the reading style, this essay is much more accessible, compared to say `Mrs. Dalloway' and `To the Lighthouse'. Reading it felt like having a conversation with someone who was not just erudite, but also reflected some of my own thoughts and beliefs. Especially as I believe that economic independence and resource availability could be key to overturning the notions of sexual inequality.
Many thanks to Woolf for airing these thoughts and inspiring the rest of us.
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
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History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
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Similar Items:
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They Cast No Shadows: A Collection of Essays on the Illuminati, Revisionist History, and Suppressed Technologies
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:
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Uncertainty, Information and Communication: Essays in Honor of Kenneth J. Arrow, Volume III
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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Economic History
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Book Description
Professor Kenneth J. Arrow is one of the most distinguished economic theorists. He has played a major role in shaping the present state of the subject and now is to be honored by the publication of three volumes of essays on economic theory. Each volume deals with a different area of economic theory. The books include contributions by some of the best economic theorists from the United Stated, Japan, Israel and Europe. This third volume is entitled Uncertainty, information, and communication.
Average customer rating:
- could have been great . . . but isn't
- Upset by Disney urbanizing the State
- Not at all what I expected
- Just the thing to read while you wait for the parade!
- Fundimentally flawed, but a fun think piece.
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Team Rodent : How Disney Devours the World
Carl Hiaasen
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ASIN: 0345422805
Release Date: 1998-05-05 |
Amazon.com
Let's get one thing straight: Carl Hiaasen doesn't like the Walt Disney Company. Whenever the giant entertainment conglomerate stumbles, as it did with its proposed Civil War theme park in Virginia, Hiaasen cheers. When a rhinoceros mysteriously dies at Disney's new theme park, Animal Kingdom, Hiaasen secretly hopes for the worst, because, as he writes, "no scandal is so delectable as a Disney scandal."
A native of Florida, author of such thrillers as Lucky You and Strip Tease, and a journalist for the Miami Herald, Hiaasen comes by his dislike for Disney honestly. He has witnessed the relentless success of the Disney machine firsthand with the development of Disney World and other properties around Orlando. In Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World, Hiaasen paints a witty and sarcastic portrait in this nonfiction account of a company who can control the press, manipulate local governments, and because it's Disney, get away with it. Team Rodent is a quick, entertaining read that even the most loyal Disney shareholder (except maybe Michael Eisner) will find enlightening and amusing. --Harry C. Edwards
Book Description
"Disney is so good at being good that it manifests an evil; so uniformly efficient and courteous, so dependably clean and conscientious, so unfailingly entertaining that it's unreal, and therefore is an agent of pure wickedness. . . . Disney isn't in the business of exploiting Nature so much as striving to improve upon it, constantly fine-tuning God's work."
--from TEAM RODENT
TEAM RODENT
How Disney Devours America
"Revulsion is good. Revulsion is healthy. Each of us has limits, unarticulated boundaries of taste and tolerance, and sometimes we forget where they are. Peep Land is here to remind us; a fixed compass point by which we can govern our private behavior. Because being grossed out is essential to the human experience; without a perceived depravity, we'd have nothing against which to gauge the advance or decline of culture; our art, our music, our cinema, our books. Without sleaze, the yardstick shrinks at both ends. Team Rodent doesn't believe in sleaze, however, nor in old-fashioned revulsion. Square in the middle is where it wants us all to be, dependable consumers with predictable attitudes. The message, never stated but avuncularly implied, is that America's values ought to reflect those of the Walt Disney Company, and not the other way around."
Customer Reviews:
could have been great . . . but isn't.......2007-07-20
I've never read anything else by Carl Hiaasen, but I know that he's a well-regarded novelist, and judging from the quality of (most of) his prose is this extended essay, it's a well-deserved reputation.
However, this book falls way short of the mark if you consider its aim to be exposing the Disney coprporation as a monstrous devourer of world culture. There's nothing fundamentally flawed with Hiaasen's approach -- he just didn't go far enough.
Look, I'm a Disney fan. I've got a Disney DVD collection consisting of nearly 100 titles, a soundtrack CD collection of nearly as many, and I've been to the Florida theme parks nine times. I've also got a decent collection of books about the place, which is what led me to "Team Rodent." So count me firmly in the pro-Disney column. That doesn't mean that I'm going to blindly lash out at anti-Disney material, however, especially if it's well-researched and fair-handed.
I'm not sure that Hiaasen's book is either. He obviously despises Disney and all that they represent, but he can't really seem to come up with a reason -- good, poor, or otherwise -- WHY he hates Disney. He spends the first few pages talking about Disney's store in Times Square and its proximity to smut shops, and praises the smut shops in comparison -- not for their virtues in and of themselves, which he seems to find nonexistent, but for the mere fact that they represent the dark underbelly of life that has no place in Disney's world. Hiaasen's beef seems to lie is his assertion that Disney is attempting to clean up the entire world by virtue of selling its brand of purity across the globe. But why is this a problem? Obviously, that dark underbelly of base human desire and wants -- which probably ARE essential to our very natures in some way -- can never and will never be purged. It's not like Disney is attempting to purge it (except maybe from Times Square, according to the book), so why should people despise Disney for providing a safe haven for people to avoid the seamier side of life? Hiaasen's argument, such as it is, makes little sense.
The worst section of the book relates the sad tale of a female rhinoceros purchased by Disney for its Animal Kingdom theme park. The rhino died in captivity, and the autopsy revealed that the death was caused by infection resultant from a large piece of wood having been forcibly put into the rhino and left there in a place where no foreign object belonged. It was also proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that this had happened prior to Disney's purchase of the rhino, and that it was IN NO WAY Disney's fault. Hiaasen points all of this out, and yet the tone of his writing makes it very plain that he wants us to associate this tragedy with Disney; he actually wishes that it HAD been Disney's fault. This is the worst kind of muck-raking.
That's not to say that the book is all of that type, however. There are good passages about raunchy lyrics on a Disney-released CD, and a couple of scary parts about Disney security. It's obvious that the Disney company has made some serious mistakes in its history, and all of those stories deserve to be told.
But make no mistake. This book, though entertaining and easy to read, is overpriced, underresearched, and deficient in its reasoning. It is a screed, nothing more. That it is a screed with at least some basis in truth, and one written by an obviously talented writer, makes it of moderate interest . . . but that's ALL it is.
The definitive anti-Disney tome has yet to be written, as far as I know. When it is finally produced, I will welcome it with great interest.
Upset by Disney urbanizing the State.......2007-04-17
A novelist and Florida columnist laments the overwhelming presence of the Walt Disney Company, especially in his state.
Hiaasen blames Disney for the ugly sprawl that is Orlando while pointing out that Disney World itself is not subject to urban planning regulations. On this count he is accurate. When Disney moved in, all land they purchased seemed to be exempt from many regulations. But as much as he laments on the evils of the Mouse, the largest damage is done by all the smaller companies that build up around Disney to take advantage of the millions of tourist flocking to the Magic Kingdom.
But he fails to mentions all the jobs they provide. Though many employees say they do not like their rules and regulations. All successful companies must have them, especially when your business is the entertainment and safety of children. And lets be clear, all children love the Disney experience.
Hiaasen asserts that Disney building their store was the genesis that cleaned up Time Square in New York. While in truth, they only agreed to open their store if Giuliani promised and followed through to clean up that part of town. And the Mayor was able to accomplish the required goals, at least on the surface.
It is worth reading, but it is not up to his normal standards. It would have been better if the author used his investigative skills to gather some facts. This small book it is a very short and easy read. There is strong language.
Not at all what I expected.......2007-03-22
To begin with, it was a lot shorter read than I had hoped. For the price of the book, it seemed more like a phamphlet than a book.
Secondly, it certainly wasn't very Hiaasen-like. As an admirer of his fiction, it seemed that he abandoned his writing style for this book. It appeared to be more of a personal rant than an enlightening look at Team Rodent.
Just the thing to read while you wait for the parade!.......2007-01-11
The basic premise of this little treatise is solid. The Walt Disney Company is too big for its britches, too controlling, to paranoid and just not as good for society as they'd like you to think. Okay, so a few more details to back all of that up would be nice. But too many details would probably make this book far less readable and not nearly as enjoyable.
To be fair, Carl Hiassen lays a lot of the damage wreaked on his beloved state of Florida on the neighbors that Disney attracts. Of course, as Hiassen points out, the mouse guys insulate themselves with a healthy buffer of manicured "wilderness" between them and their lower class hangers-on like the outlet malls, themed dinner theaters and miniature golf courses. But he rightfully takes Team Rodent to task for their anal desire to control the information and image that filters out of their controlled environment in exchange for gazillions of dollars from tourist and entertainment seeker wallets.
Even though this book is almost 9 years old, Hiassen's wit and style make it an enjoyable (albeit a very quick 83 page read). If anything, time has simply validated a lot of the points that he makes. Something tells me that you won't find it at many bookstores in "the World" as they like to call it, so order it before you head to Orlando. And just for fun, make a show of reading it on one of the benches at EPCOT.
Fundimentally flawed, but a fun think piece........2006-07-22
In Team Rodent, Carl Hiaasen delivers an honestly entertaining picture of his own reservations at what he sees as the Disney Corporation's attempts at becoming a culturally omnipotent force. This piece is more of a political pamphlet in format: it's too long to be considered a simple essay, but it's certainly short enough to be read in a single sitting.
As I suggest in the title of my review, Hiaasen's biggest issue with this piece is the fundimental flaws that underlie this work. Hiaasen's thesis isn't really much of a thesis at all: Disney sucks, and they're gradually taking over the world. Whether or not Disney sucks is certainly a matter of taste. The largest part of Disney's product and service line is devoted towards entertainment for children and families, which is naturally not the preferred choice of entertainment for intelligent, literate adults, myself included. No one is obliged to love Mickey Mouse. If a parent who dislikes Mickey finds themselves buying products bearing Mickey and Co., it's certainly regrettable but they're hardly the only parents who have found themselves suckered into supporting obnoxious and bewildering children's entertainment.
Whether Disney is taking over the world is yet again a matter of perspective. Disney certainly acts like the megacorporation that it is, but it's hardly the only megacorporation out there. This doesn't necessarily exempt Disney from well-intentioned criticism, and Hiaasen does present some fairly potent items: Disney's maintenance of an autonomous hegemony over its occupied land in Central Florida, the notorious dictatorial micromanagement of now-former Disney Chairman Michael Eisner, Disney's shoddy business practices and shady legal dealing surrounding its 1980s Country Walk housing development, and Disney's ethically sketchy policies of bribery for positive news coverage, among others.
Yet, some of Hiaasen's criticisms seem misdirected, if not elusive. Hiaasen spends the early part of the book bemoaning the notorious Disneyfication of Times Square, and seems to place the blame squarely on Disney for this. Yet, he ignores the facilitation of the Disney takeover through Rudolph Giuliani's policies, which it could be argued are vastly more malignant than the simple presence of a Disney Store on the Great White Way.
Hiaasen also points to the example of the Insane Clown Posse's short-lived recording career with a Disney-owned record label. Hiaasen does little here but muddle his point--he certainly dislikes Disney's Bowdlerization of culture for blatant kiddie-centric consumerism, but he sees nothing hypocritical in ridiculing Disney for both releasing and recalling the Insane Clown Posse. Hiaasen neither advances nor supports any clear, cogent points other than his distaste for rap music and his drive to engage in gleeful schadenfreude against Disney whether it's journalistically sensible or not.
In yet another part of the book, Hiaasen criticizes the opening of a Disney cruise line which docks at a private island which had previously been used as a stopover for drug smugglers (which it should be noted, obviously had no connection to Disney's later purchase of the island). Hiaasen criticizes Disney for providing a tourism option so far removed from the actual cultural environment of the Carribean, but it seems unlikely that Disney would be making unrealistic promises of an authentic Carribean cultural experience. Even Jamaica, an island noted for its poverty and unrest, has sanitized resorts just as far from authentic as the Disney experience, operated by companies with no relationship with Disney.
Hiaasen makes it clear that he finds the environment around Disney World to be ugly, describing the tourist-oriented sprawl of central Florida. Yet, just as ugly would be a Florida deprived of the jobs which Disney supports--Sure, Disney is a big, soulless company, but they are a massive force in the Florida economy, likely providing the livelihood for any number of families.
It should be noted that, despite these flaws, the book does not suffer from lack of readability. Hiaasen is engaging with his material, despite the problematic nature of his core ideas. His descriptions of his experiences at a Disney-sponsered press event featuring a journalist who faced KGB detention in the Soviet Union. Hiaasen's work would have made a much better long magazine article than a book, but it's still very enjoyable.
If you're fond of relatively skilled op-ed writing, Hiaasen's work here is certainly worth prerusal. This is not a piece of investigative journalism per-se, and there are many better examples of extensive critical writings on Disney corporate culture. Hiaasen's book is at least worthwhile as a quick and easily digestible version of the arguments.
Book Description
The contributors to this volume examine how things are sold and traded in a variety of social and cultural settings, both present and past. Bridging the disciplines of social history, cultural anthropology, and economics, the volume marks a major step in our understanding of the cultural basis of economic life and the sociology of culture.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting.......2005-03-30
This collection of essays is insightful but far from comprehensive, a good starting point for further discussion on commodification.
Average customer rating:
- Great history with medium depth on the cigar review
- Great work. One of the "must haves."
- Excellent historical reference
- Best havana reference available in the US
- Unquestionably the finest book available on Cuban cigars
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The Havana Cigar: Cuba's Finest
Charles Del Todesco
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ASIN: 0789203278 |
Customer Reviews:
Great history with medium depth on the cigar review.......2006-05-31
I really appreciated this book for the photography and the explanation of the manufacturing process. Del Todesco does a great job of walking the reader through the myriad processes of creating a puro. The only thing about this book that left me a little disappointed was the review of cigars in the back. It seems a little difficult to review a cigar in one sentence, especially cigars that are as complex as a Montecristo #2 or a Hoyo de Monterrey...but time and again, he sums up an otherwise world famous cigar as "suitable for a beginner" or "mild, not much to recommend about this cigar". It just struck me as odd to have a compilation as deep as what is presented in this book and then give the cigars an extremely indifferent and passing glance en masse. The first 130 pages were interesting no matter what level of aficianado you are...the encyclopedia could use a good second edition enhancement.
Great work. One of the "must haves.".......2005-11-26
I agree with Van55. (What else is new?!) This is a fantastic book. I bought my copy used through Amazon over a year ago, and I am still making reference to it. If you are a fan of quality Cuban cigars, you need this volume along with Min Ron Nee's work. In contrast to Min Ron Nee's book, this one has much more on the history and production of the cigars. The photos, many full page, are colorful and moving.
While this book does have descriptions and evaluations of various vitolas, the ones in MRN's book are much more thorough and complete. That does not mean that the ones you will find in the book are not useful, but they are best treated as an overview. Don't look for detail here. But then again, this book is less than half the price of the MRN book, and it is much easier to find.
Again, you probably need both books, but buy this one first. You won'd be disappointed. Makes a great coffee table book too!
Excellent historical reference.......2005-06-13
I found this book at Amazon while searching for the second printing of "An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars" by Min Ron Nee, that I understand is soon to be released for sale within the United States.
Mr. del Todesco's book, though now nearly ten years old, remains a valuable addition to the library of anyone who has an interest in Cuban cigars. The first 130 or so pages contain a detailed history of Cuba's cigar-making as well as a seed-to-cigar description of the creation of Cuban cigars. Most of these pages consist of excellent photographs of Cuba and of the farmers, torcedors and others whose skill and knowledge contribute to the manufacture of, arguably, the best cigars on earth. The last half of the book consists of sepia photgraphs and brief descriptions and tasting notes of the brands (marcas) and sizes (vitolas) of Cuban cigars that were in commercial production in 1996. Comparing these notes to more recent reviews of examples of later productions of these cigars is fascinating.
I'm glad that I happened to have stumbled onto the existence of this beautiful volume.
Best havana reference available in the US.......2004-12-10
This is a great reference book for specific havana brands. Life sized images of most cigars from nearly all brands is included along with vitola information and author's tasting notes/suggestions. This is in addition to general cigar information like history of tobacco, tobacco cultivation and creating a cigar. The specific details are a bit dated (1997) but still the best I have seen published in the US. However, Min Ron Nee's text is superior if you can obtain it.
Unquestionably the finest book available on Cuban cigars.......1999-07-05
With the plethora of books currently available on cigars in general and on Habanos in particular, this is (still) the one item no cigar aficionado dare be without.
Book Description
Groundbreaking essays on the new global economy from an "expert observer" (Forecast). Saskia Sassen is an internationally recognized expert on globalization whose writings have appeared in journals and magazines worldwide. Now available in paperback, Globalization and Its Discontents is a collection of Sassen's essays dealing with topics such as the "global city," gender and migration (reconceived as the globalization of labor), information technology, and the new dynamics of inequality. Sassen brings together cultural and literary studies, feminist theory, political economics, sociology, and political science, showing how vast the chasm between metropolitan business centers and low-income inner cities has become. Incisive and original, she takes on common political, cultural, and economic misconceptions of globalization and offers a thoughtful, provocative new look at our increasingly global society.
Customer Reviews:
brilliant ideas, mediocre writing.......2005-11-08
This is probably as good an introduction to Sassen's work as any, as she covers most of her major ideas with relative brevity. The title is rather misleading (as is the case of Stiglitz's (later published) work of the same name)--she focuses on the dynamics and effects of globalization and does not discuss organized resistance by social movements to it. Sassen sees three macro-level phenomena at work--the hypermobility of capital, the "unbundling" of state sovereignty, and the rise of global cities. It is the last of these ideas for which she is probably best known. She does not really get into an analysis of the hypermobility of capital here, but many other authors have covered that matter. Her analyses of the unbundling of state sovereignty and the rise of global cities are far more original. Against the background of these macro-phenomena, Sassen also analyzes the rise of the service economy, immigration patterns, and the changing roles of women.
I'm not sure how to fairly summarize Sassen's ideas in a brief review. To hit the high points, she argues that as systems of international law grow, the traditional sovereignty of the state is transformed, with its pieces of it being unbundles and some elements being transferred to international organizations, such as the UN and WTO. There are actually two distinct international law regimes--the human rights regime and the more powerful neoliberal regime, enforced by the likes of the WTO and IMF. This neoliberal regime has enabled the rise of the global economy.
Contrary to all the hype about globalization, the internet, and a "dematerialized" economy though, Sassen argues that the politics of place remain as important ever. This brings her to her analysis of global cities. If we are to have the high speed communications created by the internet, we need a physical infrastructure for it, fiber-optic cables and all that--a seemingly obvious point, but one often overlooked. This infrastructure is not evenly distributed either internationally or nationally. It is in fact concentrated in global cities, most of which are, not coincidentally, in the first world. The three chief global cities are, in fact, New York, London, and Tokyo. These global cities are at the heart of the new service sector that is so important to the global economy. As corporations' operations are more globally decentralized, power--control of these operations--has become more centralized in the global cities, which have the telecommunications infrastructure to do all the necessary coordinating of information.
Much of this coordination is in fact outsourced to specialized corporations providing services to the other corporations, in such fields as accounting, insurance and--the truly dominant force in gloablization--finances. These corporations are staffed by a new professional class, which has moved to the city, abondonning the suburbs, demanding upscale services. The downside of this is the shrinking of the traditional middle-class and the old economy based on mass production, mass consumption, and mass prosprity. Instead what is growing is a poor working class of workers providing personal (as opposed to corporate) services (such as house-cleaning, child care, janitorial services, or retail), often to the professionals who work doing corporate services. Thus there is a growing economic divide in the global cities. A disproportionate number of the people working in the poorly paid personal service sector are women and immigrants.
Sassen notes that, not only is globalization responsible for the rise of the poorly paid service sector, but immigration as well. Contrary to popular myths that the best way to stop immigration is to encourage foreign investment in immigrant-sending countries and create jobs there, Sassen actually argues that this creates more immigration, not less. Current patterns of foreign investment tend to exacerbate poverty, not cure it. And by working for foreign companies, workers gain some familiarity with the cultures of the US, Europe and increasingly Japan. This familiarity makes it easier for them to then immigrate to the first world in search of work. And there are a lot of other ideas I'm leaving out.
So, if I think this book is so brilliant, why am I only giving it four stars? Poor writing. As a previous reviewer noted, all the essays in this book were previously published elsewhere. I don't think this makes this book worthless (and therefore worthy of only one star)--it is convenient to have them gathered all in one place--but it does make the book somewhat disjointed and repetitive. But original works by Sassen, such as /Global City/, have the same problem. The fact is, despite her intellectual brilliance, she is a poor writer. Mind you, she is not like some writers, such as Hegel or Baudrillard, who seem to revel in their own incomprehensibility. She can be understood, but her writing is often something of a slog. She needs a good editor or some writing lessons.
Despite that, this book is definitely worth reading if you want to explore in-depth some important, unorthodox ideas about globalization.
Warning: Contents Older than Globalization.......2002-09-29
What purports to be a book on globalization is actually only peripherally about globalization writ large. Sassen is interested in more specific aspects of globalization: its impact on migration (the huge theme of this book), its place-specificity, and its resultant dispersal of powers that used to belong solely to the nation-state. Her points are good, but you don't need this book to get them, since she's made them all elsewhere and ages ago; in brief, the occasional new insights are not worth it.
Sassen's biggest contribution to the theorization of globalization is her attention to the global city, which she posits as a site of the physical infrastructure that enables the more diffuse projections of the world market. In these cities (like New York, L.A., Tokyo, London, Rio, etc.), high-wage, white-collar workers brush against the low-wage, largely immigrant diasporae that keep the global city running; immigrants form blocs that see a certain degree of enfranchisement and force adjustments in transnational immigration law; and globalization marches on. It's interesting stuff, but it's not new. Sassen's own book on "The Global City" scoops these chapters. And that's pretty much true of the rest of the book.
The two chapters on gender and globalization are much more valuable (and more recent) here, as she starts in on what she calls "the unbundling of sovereignty," the appropriation of political punch from nation-states and the relocation of it into the hands of NGOs and the global market. Unfortunately, while she opens up a great area of inquiry, she doesn't take it very far at all, "since the effort here was not to gain closure but to open up an analytic field." As they stand, these chapters are frustratingly suggestive but ultimately not very thorough or useful. Hopefully she'll revisit the theme later.
The stylistic question is a thorny one; several reviewers have already blasted Sassen for the way she writes. She's certainly not the easiest read, and her incessant neologisms are annoying. ("Operationalizing"? Can we not say, "making operational"?) You can fault her for that. But you can't fault her for writing like a sociologist, and that is largely how she writes. It's dry, there are charts and facts and figures, but the prose is economical and fairly clear (fake words aside!).
By and large, though, this isn't a must-read. If you're really interested, check out her books, "The Global City" and "The Mobility of Labor and Capital." They treat the same subjects, but in more useful detail.
Muddled and Confused.......2002-02-21
This book suffers from the kind of obfuscated language that a growing number of scholars seem to be able to get away with. Don't get me wrong: there are some interesting ideas in here. But their rewards do not outweigh the costs of sifting through the jargon-laden prose. The author should take a basic writing course.
Globalization and Its Disappointments.......2000-11-16
I had much hope for this book. I was expecting a work which would shift debates about globalization in a new direction. What we get, on the other hand, is poorly written, badly argued, and repetitive work that offers very little in the way of substantive theory or analysis.
The book is a collection of essays that Sassen has published elsewhere between 1984 and 1997. Except for the introduction, there is no new material here. Furthermore, in many cases the content of one article is reproduced in another article in the book. Rather than reinforcing important arguments, it seems clear that Sassen is trying to get as much mileage possible out of her work. It doesn't work.
The book contains hundreds of endnotes (in many cases they contain the most important information) which should have been incorporated into the text. Furthermore, she offers no conclusion to her analysis and the last chapter itself is quite unsatisfactory.
In short, this book is poorly written, tedious, and unoriginal.
Actually 4 and a Half.......2000-06-13
An excellent overview of the changing conditions of the Global Cities and a fresh look after her excellent book "Global Cities". Especially liked the essays about the concentration of power and wealth in cities like New York, London or Tokyo amid the exploitation of cheap immigrant labor.
Essential fro everybody who's trying to understand the processes that have lead so many to oppose globablization trends the GATT and NAFTA agreements and others that keep changing the worl we live in
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