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WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?

Name: WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?
Author: Jon Yates
ISBN: 978-0-06-200988-3

CUT THROUGH RED TAPE, CHALLENGE THE SYSTEM, AND GET YOUR MONEY BACK

by Jon Yates ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2012

A goldmine of hand-picked information for those trying to navigate today’s tough consumer terrain.

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The Chicago Tribune’s problem-solving advocate hacks through the bureaucratic roadblocks of the contemporary customer experience.

Yates admits that he’s come a long way from his roots as a sheepish kid and reticent college student to becoming Chicago’s solutions guru. He effectively distills his years as the Tribune’s “consumer conscience” in a book that tackles a variety of thorny and universal buyer-beware issues. As a common consumer, Yates sympathizes with those given the circuitous company runaround when simply seeking problem resolution. Refreshingly, the author doesn’t mince words about today’s fiercely competitive marketplace. Companies are in business to make money, they routinely avoid confrontation and being nice only goes so far when aiming for real results. The author dispenses pages of practical information on how consumers can avoid being taken advantage of whether by circumnavigating circuitous call centers, initiating small-claims court cases or battling utility providers and banks. He provides cautionary counsel on too-good-to-be-true product deals, service contracts and automobile financing, exposes cunning scamming operations and, perhaps most importantly, provides a definitive listing of “consumer commandments.” Elsewhere, Yates directs readers to resources like junk-mail removal websites and offers counsel on the most effective way to complain, and he reiterates that dogged determination is often the key to a successful negotiation. Rather than solve consumer problems, as in his newspaper column, the guidebook supplies the necessary tools to empower consumers to help themselves. “At some point,” Yates writes, “we all must become our own best advocates.”

A goldmine of hand-picked information for those trying to navigate today’s tough consumer terrain.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-06-200988-3

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2011

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.