Editorial Review

In this autobiography, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson says one of his prime business criteria is "fun." Fun made Branson a billionaire, and few business memoirs are one-billionth as fun as Branson's, nor as niftily written. Not only does it relate his side of near-death corporate experiences, it tells how the chairman literally cheated death by gun, shipwreck, and balloon crash.Read more

Reviews (104)

Thouroughly Impressed, Learned a LOT
After being amazing by Virgin Megastore and Virgin Airlines, I wanted to get to know the man behind the sloping red graphic.Anyways, reading this book was a joy.I am rarely found reading bios or auto-bios for that matter.Branson has such a casual approach and style of speaking, it makes for a nice read.
Business And Pleasure
After having read and thoroughly enjoyed Richard Branson's "Screw it, Let's Do It", this book (an autobiography)helps to fill out the details about this great adventurer and entrepreneur.
Rockstar Entrepreneur
From his 16 year old days of publishing a Student publication, smoking spliffs, and squatting with 20 peers in a London tenement, to his around the world balloon attempts, Richard Branson has never done things the conventional way. Starting off with a description of the rise of Virgin Records with the signing of acts such as the Sex Pistols, Oldfield's Tubular Bells, and Boy George, and ending with the entrepreneurial conglomerate branded "Virgin I Rule the World" - airlines, cola, cell phones, retail, publishing - Branson's journey is a swashbuckling treat. With his fun-loving personality and taste for adventure, Branson corales the reader into his exploratory view of the world.
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Subjects:  1. Airlines    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Business    7. Businesspeople    8. General    9. Great Britain    10. Music trade    11. Biography & Autobiography / Business   

Reviews (56)

I wanted to like it I really did
The first three chapters have nothing to do with the overall concept, its just some crazy manifest dynasty that's been rehashed time and time again.
Insightful and fair work
Behind the scenes of the hellish fights on Iwo Jima in 1945, another bloodshed was taking place just nearby. The American Air Force planned to fly B-29 strategic bombers from Iwo Jima to Japan, but it faced another peril, Chichi Jima. The island served as critical radar station to detect any enemy aerial activities for the Japanese and held even greater forces than infamous Iwo Jima. This book is a story about the fate of nine Chichi Jima raiders who were shot down, captured, slaughtered, and erased from the history until re-discovered recently.
Flyboys
I had a difficult time with this book. Having ready "Flags of Our Fathers", I had hopes this would be as well written and informitive. However, from early on this book came across as just another piece of "pagan liberal propoganda". The ethnic cleansing of American Indians by the United States was an early warmup of typical pagan propoganda and it headed downhill from there.
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Subjects:  1. Atrocities    2. Biography    3. Chichi Island    4. History    5. History - Military / War    6. Japan    7. Military    8. Military - Aviation    9. Military - United States    10. Military - World War II    11. Prisoners Of War    12. Prisoners and prisons, Japanes    13. Prisoners and prisons, Japanese    14. World War II - East Asia    15. World War, 1939-1945    16. Biography & Autobiography / Military   

Reviews (116)

YES!
For all who want to read a no holds barred critique of how the West simpers and grovels before the tower of political correctness read this. For those who say that is to harsh, I just watched today on the news that The London Star has just pulled a parody of itself because it might offend some Muslems. Never, never, never would a newspaper think of doing that for anyone else. As for the guy who trashed it after admitting he hadn't read it Huh? Nuf said. This should be required reading in every classroom in Europe and the U.S. It is time the truth is yelled from the rooftops as Fallaci does so well. One piece of advice, read it straight through in 1 sitting (it will take 4 or 5 hours) I wish I had. I think you will feel the full force that way. By the way, as it is wrong about the entire book so is Publisher's Weekly wrong about her translation. She explains it in the beginning ( they must have missed that part ) and it makes it all the more real, as well as reminding us that she is writing to Italians which I forgot occasionally.

The Rage and The Pride
I have been a fan of Oriana for the last 30 years. Her objectivity, fairness and compassion has impressed me when reporting on Vietnam, Mexico City, her interviews with History, her letter to a child never born.
Publishers Weekly has a distinct bias of its own
A forceful and emotional "sermon" - we see ourselves in the looking glass through the words of Fallaci.Laughably, Publishers Weekly declares (in a statement thoroughly fearful and utterly dripping of politically correctness - exactly what Fallaci chastizes us for) that the book "will not sit well with American readers".Such utter rubbish from Publishers Weekly... If you think we're not facing a war for the soul of this nation and you want to sit around the campfire and sing happy songs and hold hands, then please, by all means, have at it.
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Subjects:  1. 1995-2005    2. Biography    3. Fallaci, Oriana    4. History    5. History: World    6. Italy    7. Journalists    8. Middle East - General    9. Modern - 21st Century    10. Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism    11. Politics / Current Events    12. September 11 Terrorist Attacks    13. September 11 Terrorist Attacks, 2001    14. World politics    15. History / General    16. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT   

Reviews (4)

How to Have your Cow and Eat it Too
While Dr. Grandin's poignant unraveling of the mysteries of autism deserves the accolades it has received, her perspectives on animals are deeply tainted by her research into "humane" slaughter techniques, which ultimately have an economic rather than a purely scientific rationale. After all, the meat industry cares not one iota about whether animals are treated humanely or not, only whether they can be "disassembled" as quickly and efficiently as possible. Thus, while Grandin's work may indeed make the treatment of farm animals more humane when they reach their brutal demise, it nevertheless facilitates the expansion of an industry that is anything but humane, bringing ever greater numbers of animals under the sway of its remorseless logic of bloodthirsty death. History does not judge the petty functionaries of the Final Solution, the ones who devised more efficient means of killing human beings, to be heroes; nor should history judge Temple Grandin to be a savior of animals. If her concern for animals goes as deep as she claims it does, she should turn the wealth she garners from the meat industry against its practices, donating all of her meat industry earnings to animal rights causes. Ultimately that is the only way she can begin to free herself of the moral stain of responsibility for the brutal death of innocent creatures.

An enlightening glimpse into the autistic mind
I have a 6-year-old autistic son.Though we love him tremendously, my wife and I have struggled greatly in raising him.This breakthrough book has helped us approach our interactions with him in a more effective manner.It also sheds precious insight into the autistic world for any curious or thoughtful person with an interest to know more.Thank you Temple Grandin for your remarkable achievements in life, which give us great hope for our son.And thank for giving us invaluable perspective on autism.You have blessed the lives of countless people.

Insightful and beautiful!
This book is an incredibly insightful view into the world of autism and animals. I've read a few books written by autistic authors just because I am extremely curious of neurological conditions that drastically alter one's perception and experience of the world and Temple Grandin being a highly intelligent and sensitive person is able to articulate her world with great detail and poetry. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Autism    3. Autistic Disorder    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. Cognitive Psychology    9. General    10. Patients    11. Personal Narratives    12. Social Scientists & Psychologists    13. United States    14. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Reviews (16)

A guide to success in advertising
Dubbed "the King of advertising" by Advertising Age, David Ogilvy shared his thoughts and stories on being successful in the adverting industry in this book.His ideas are often overflowing with self-confidence, but for a man who reached his level of success, he's definitely earned the right.
More than just advertising
An advertising guru writes more than just advertising. One can benefit from the general management skills said in the bok. Anyway, it's an interesting book.

Lessons from a Master
Ogilvy might have made his mark starting over 40 years ago, but his approach is timeless.It is often helpful to harken back to the sage advise of the kings of business from an earlier and more genteel time to try to identify the things we have forgotten -- and are worse for having done so.Ogilvy reflects class, an ethos of hard work, and an appreciation for what it takes to be competitive.This book is not about advertising per se -- it's about how to start and run a business that will capture and hold clients for decades, and at the same time make the founder proud of his or her achievements.You'll be proud to place it next to your Benjamin Graham tomes on your bookshelf. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Advertising & Promotion    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Business    4. Business & Economics    5. Business/Economics    6. Corporate & Business History - General    7. General    8. ADVERTISING_BIOGRAPHY    9. Advertising    10. Biography & Autobiography / Business    11. Biography: general   

Editorial Review

Ron Chernow, whose previous books have taken on the Morgan and Warburg financial empires, now turns his attention to the patriarch of the Rockefeller dynasty. John D. was history's first recorded billionaire and one of the most controversial public figures in America at the turn of the 20th century. Standard Oil--which he always referred to as the result of financial "cooperation," never as a "cartel" or a "monopoly"--controlled at its peak nearly 90 percent of the United States oil industry. Rockefeller drew sharp criticism, as well as the attention of federal probes, for business practices like underpricing his competitors out of the market and bribing politicians to secure his dominant market share. Read more

Reviews (123)

Bigger than life personalities?
Rockefeller is reported to have searched endlessly for golf balls lost in an attempt to recover them, yet could nearly buy the world - why?
Lessons from a Self Made Billionaire

Good Stuff In This One!

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Subjects:  1. (John Davison),    2. 1839-1937    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Business    8. Capitalists and financiers    9. Historical - U.S.    10. Industrial History    11. Industrialists    12. Philanthropists    13. Rich & Famous    14. Rockefeller, John D    15. United States    16. Biography & Autobiography / Business    17. Biography: general    18. USA   

Editorial Review

Over time, Tim O'Brien has used both art and artifice to shape his fictional accounts of Vietnam. Award-winning novels such as Read more

Reviews (24)

Wonderful!
I thought this book was very well composed and it make me realize the harsh raalities of the Vietnam war. O'Brien sure captured my heart and thoughts. I would highly recommend this book to any history fan!
Great memoir
This book, titled after a line in a military march song, is O'Brien's memoir of his time in Viet Nam. It's divided up into shorter essays--most narrative, some more philosophical--which together create the tangled web of dilemmas that Viet Nam was. The book chronicles O'Brien's tour of duty chronologically, from the pressure and shame that kept him from not fleeing to Canada when he adamantly opposed the war, throughbasic training and combat and his eventual move to a job in the back. Each essay tackles a theme or issue: friendship, courage, fear, getting a desk job, the morality of a shooting or not shooting a civilian who may or may not shoot you.
A must read for one who doesn't know much about 'Nam
"If I Die in a Combat Zone: Box Me Up and Ship Me Home" was very a well written book. I'm in a generation that doesn't know a whole lot about the Vietnam War. My idea of Vietnam is based off of the movie "Platoon". Tim O'Brien does an awesome job of portraying a soldier, and what each soldier has to put up with mentally and physically everyday.
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Subjects:  1. 1946-    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Historical - U.S.    5. Literary    6. Military    7. O'Brien, Tim,    8. Personal narratives, American    9. Vietnam War, 1961-1975    10. Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975    11. Biography & Autobiography / General    12. Reading Group Guide   

Editorial Review

Like the carefully engineered dies which created his company's first products--steel pitons and carabiners which climbing enthusiasts would recognize as primitive forerunners of today's sleeker gear--Yvon Chouinard is if nothing else an original. How many other shy French-Canadian boys become surf-and-climbing bums, then blacksmiths forging their own play tools, and eventually founders of world-renowned sports equipment and apparel companies like Patagonia? How many other heads of multi-million dollar enterprises open their memoirs by stating bluntly, "The Lee Iacoccas, Donald Trumps, and Jack Welches of the business world are heroes to no one except other businessmen with similar values. I wanted to be a fur trapper when I grew up." The proverbial mold from which Chouinard was cast got broken.Read more

Reviews (28)

Practical and Inspiring
Chouinard provides both an historical account of Patagonia's (and his) growth and a point-by-point account of what he sees as the important aspects of each part of his business.Chouinard has developed a full understanding and appreciation for how brand and customer experience touch every aspect of a business, from materials selection to returns.This is a quick and valuable read for any entrepreneur, especially if manufacturing is part of your business plan.It will save you from making a few mistakes.

All businesses should be run this way!
I was enthralled with this book--it's refreshing, entertaining, and a wonderful tale of how one can operate a business with ethics, making a lot of money and doing a lot of good. I love the freewheeling atmosphere he creates in his workplace - there are pictures of barefoot employees in relaxed positions working on computers. Patagonia hires people who actually use the products involved in adventure sports--rock climbing, surfing, etc. Their flex time is really flex time--Chouinard says you don't plan to go surfing next Tuesday at 2:00 - you go surfing when the surf is up! A great read, with an environmental message for all of us that will spur you to action.

Change Your Worldview
This is a book that every businessperson should read, in fact must read, for the future survival of our planet.I run an environmental organization and, before beginning the book, thought that I would already know most of what Yvon has to say.I was wrong.His words opened many new doors for me, and made me think about the world in a completely new way.He is the zen master of corporate responsibility, the guru of a worldwide movement towards a more sustainable way of living.Pass this book along to your friends.He has proven that the world can be both pro-business and pro-environment, and if all CEO's ran their companies like he does, we would most certainly live in a better world, and leave a better legacy to our children. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Business    3. Business & Economics    4. Business Ethics    5. Business/Economics    6. Entrepreneurship    7. History Of Specific Companies    8. Industries - Textile Industry    9. Personal Memoirs    10. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs   

Subjects:  1. 19th century    2. Cholera    3. Diseases - General    4. England    5. Europe - Great Britain - General    6. History    7. History - General History    8. History: World    9. Life Sciences - Biology - Microbiology    10. London    11. Scientists - General    12. British & Irish history: c 1700 to c 1900    13. History / Great Britain    14. Infectious & contagious diseases    15. London, Greater London    16. Personal & public health    17. c 1800 to c 1900   

Reviews (50)

Books and bullets have their own destinies
My first impression upon completion of this classic World War I memoir is one of amazement. I am amazed that Mr. Junger-or anyone in those trenches-survived the hellish onslaught of trench warfare. In gruesome yet elegant detail, the author recounts his experiences as a front-line German soldier in his battles against the French and English. As the book proceeds, it seems that virtually everyone around Junger is killed or critically wounded. He is wounded himself on a regular basis, and between the constant sniping and merciless artillery bombardments, it is a wonder that anyone survived. There is no discussion of politics or even the reasons behind the war. It is simply the story of a front-line soldier doing his duty. Junger writes about his experiences in war as an almost mystical event that at times transcends the physical senses and becomes almost spiritual. I personally found this fascinating. And while the details of the book are often gruesome, the author's writing is downright exquisite. So whatever you think of him, Mr. Junger certainly had a way with words, and this memoir is a masterpiece that deserves the title of "Classic."
Very good
I enjoyed this book very much. In some reviews people comment that the book was hard to get for many years because it glorifies war. I didn't find that it glorified war. What I got was an incredible respect for any of the WW1 soldiers fighting in the trenches & Ernst Junger in particular. He wasn't just a regular trench soldier - many, many times he risked his life in daring raids on the enemy lines.
A hidden gem of a war novel
Storm of Steel is an unusual contradiction of a war novel. As a description of trench combat on the Western Front of WWI, this book has the immediacy and authenticity of direct reportage, or at least battlefield notes. It was written soon after the author's own service in the German army, and has the unconstructed feel of a series of direct experiences.
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Subjects:  1. 1895-    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Diaries    5. Fiction - General    6. General    7. Germany    8. Junger, Ernst - Prose & Criticism    9. Junger, Ernst,    10. Literary    11. Military    12. Military History - World War I    13. Personal Memoirs    14. Personal narratives, German    15. Soldiers    16. World War, 1914-1918    17. Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs   

Reviews (63)

Praise
It is a very good book , but it has too much praise about Warren Buffet too much introduction stuff and Warren Buffet's praises

Agood basic introduction to Warren Buffett Investing
Buy this book if you are looking for a very basic book to start learning Warren Buffett's investing style. You will only get information on the companies he has purchased and their performance and a very basic explanation on why Mr. Buffett thought they were such great values when he bought them.There is no technical explanation here on how to figure book value or how to find your own value stocks. It reads like "The history of Warren Buffett" not "How to invest like Warren Buffett".
Not much depth, but interesting for a casual reader
Unlike many reviewers of this book, I did not expect an in-depth analysis of Warren Buffett's investment methods when I read this work.In fact I approached it as casual reading-at the time I wasn't really interested in finance and was just reading it more for biographical reasons.I enjoyed the book because of that-I didn't really expect much and therefore wasn't let down.The book is fairly well written and goes into enough detail for the casual reader.There's enough information about Buffett's investment strategy to have a basic understanding of why he's so good at what he does, but not so much information that someone uninterested in finance would find it tedious.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Buffett, Warren    4. Business    5. Business & Economics    6. Business / Economics / Finance    7. Business/Economics    8. Capitalists and financiers    9. Finance    10. Investment Analysis    11. Investments    12. Investments & Securities - General    13. United States    14. Business & Economics / Investments & Securities    15. Finance & Accounting   

Reviews (2)

Pioneering Style, Extraordinary Story
Isaiah Wilner's new biography, The Man TIME Forgot, does for Time Magazine what Time Magazine did for the news - it is less concerned with "how much it includes between its covers - but in how much it gets off the pages into the minds of its readers." Wilner indeed gets his remarkable story off the pages - and how! Though the conflict and tragedy at the core of the book help make it a page turner, what really marks this book as a must-read are Wilner's stylistic innovations. He fuses the pioneering sumptuousness of Indian author Arundhati Roy's God of Small Things and the irreverence of the 1920's "Timestyle" in a way that transforms what might otherwise be a dry corporate history into a poetic delight. He's bringing the beauty of the Roy style to non-fiction, paying as much attention to the art of writing as to the information he's relating. But the style never obscures the fascinating epic at the core of the book. Instead, the sparkling sentences illuminate how the titanic personal and professional battle between Time's two founders generated a creative tension that was a prerequisite for Time's transformation of American journalism and the 20th century mind.
Richly detailed and fun
I found The Man Time Forgot on a friend's recommendation, picked it up and could not put it down. Read it in less than a day. I think it's going to be a huge success. It's a suspenseful narrative that grabs you from the start--a deathbed scene--and never lets you go right up til the end, a party that has to rival Truman Capote's "black and white party" as the best of the century.
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Subjects:  1. 1898-1929    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    7. General    8. Hadden, Briton,    9. Magazine Management    10. Periodical editors    11. Time    12. United States    13. Biography & Autobiography / General    14. Biography: general   

Editorial Review

In 1985 William Styron fell victim to a crippling and almost suicidal depression, the same illness that took the lives ofRandall Jarrell, Primo Levi and Virginia Woolf.That Styron survived his descent into madness is something of a miracle.That he manages to convey its tortuous progression and his eventual recovery with such candor and precision makes Read more

Reviews (109)

Little insight into Styron's "madness"
I have just finished reading Styron's book Darkness Visible and I have to say that I was quite under whelmed. The reader is left with little insight into Styron's battle with severe depression. Maybe this is just me, but I find that writers seem capable of expressing their feelings of despair and suicide in only in the loftiest of literary terms. Their writing screams, "I'm famous, well respected and admired, therefore I cannot express myself the way that an ordinary person would. That would be too plebeian." That and the frequent name dropping made me feel alienated from the author. For this reason the reader gets no clear understanding of the nature of his depression. We get glimpses but don't feel privy to his deepest thoughts. In fact, I cannot fathom why he even wrote the book. It certainly doesn't speak to the common people - especially those of us who have spend our lives trying to get the mental health system to advocate for us. Many of us are treated more like criminals than someone with a disease that needs adequate treatment - something that is not going to be found in the state mental health institutions in which the ordinary person is held.
Eloquent - isms
As I read this book, what became evident was that his story was an eloquent rendering of deep stage alcoholism and drug addiction and that his depression was not the cause of those things, but a result of those things.Pity that the author doesn't arrive at this understanding, as it may have helped him.

Not Impressive
I have to strongly disagree with the editorial and reader reviews on this essay, even though it was a national bestseller. The book is touted as possibly the most rational description of a descent into morbid, clinical depression and suicidal despair. I didn't find it so. Styron was descriptive but rather than probing and baring the depths of his mind and emotions during his depression, I felt he only hinted at the tip of the iceberg. I didn't find any riveting, palpable tracing of his depression. It was rather moribund for a subject with such potential. There is a detachment throughout that many attribute to Styron's calculating dismantling of his own emotions to throw light into the abyss. I found the detachment sort of hovering over the pond, unwilling to dive in, which robs the reader. Candor, yes in some aspects. Precision, somewhat missing.
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Subjects:  1. 1925-    2. Authors, American    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Depressed persons    8. Depression    9. Literary    10. Mental health    11. Social Scientists & Psychologists    12. Styron, William,    13. Suicidal behavior    14. United States    15. Biography & Autobiography / Literary    16. Biography: general    17. Literature: History & Criticism    18. Styron, William   

Reviews (50)

Inspirational and instructive
Mountains Beyond Mountains really helped me to understand the immense poverty faced by the people of Haiti. Paul Farmer's quest to provide these people the healthcare they deserve is an inspiration that should be required reading for young people or anybody leading a self centered and materialistic life. Americans need to be reminded of how fortunate they truly are and how we all take things like healthcare, housing, clean water and job availability for granted. My son "read" the audio book for his summer reading assignment and finished it in about one week. Highly recommended!

Inspiring and interesting
Reads like a gripping novel.It is reassuring to know that someone like Paul Farmer exists in this cynical world.

Inspiring!
A well written book about a 'saintly' person.It's nice to know there are people like Paul Farmer in this world.We need people like this to get things done.The author did a wonderful job telling Pauls story and about the realities of life in Haiti. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1959-    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Farmer, Paul,    7. Health Care    8. Humanitarians    9. Medical - General    10. Medical - Physicians    11. Medical care    12. Missionaries, Medical    13. Physicians    14. Poor    15. Practice Of Medicine    16. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Reviews (104)

A Teacher's View
I had high hopes for this book.An excerpt was read to me at a teacher training and I thought it would be a great book to inspire my students to care about their education.I rushed out and bought it that same day.However, I found the book badly written.It jumps back and forth and has a few grammatical errors in it.Also, the quotes in there seem very fabricated and idealized.It doesn't read as a real story, even though I know it is.