Worth digesting, whether the reader relies on it for self-help purposes or merely for nonfiction entertainment.
An unusual hybrid work of self-help, business and narrative nonfiction.
Former Washington Post reporter Murphy (In a Time of War: The Proud and Perilous Journey of West Point’s Class of 2002, 2008) admits to his failed attempts to start businesses, but his fascination with entrepreneurship led him to learn more by researching this book. The author focuses on three students who graduated from Harvard Business School in the late ’90s. The chapters alternate between the corporate start-up sagas of Marla Malcolm Beck, Marc Cenedella and Chris Michel on one hand, and each of the ten rules mentioned in the book’s subtitle on the other. Murphy’s explication of the rules is detailed and clear, although at times painfully obvious to the point of cliché. The journalism behind the author’s entrepreneurial profiles is strong, however, and the narrative chapters are compelling even though none of the featured businesspeople is famous, and their businesses, some of which they later sold, are known more to niche consumers than to a widespread audience. The degree of cooperation Murphy received from his subjects—as well as their classmates, professors, business partners and employees—is astounding, and greatly enriches the book. Most of the HBS classmates of the three leading characters did not follow the entrepreneurial path, causing the author to wonder about the specific qualities that made Beck, Cenedella and Michel stand out from the pack. Murphy digs deep into the minds and documents of the three protagonists to delineate the lessons they learned as they launched and nurtured their companies. The author then translates the lessons into a didactic context for readers who want to start enterprises based on HBS teachings.
Worth digesting, whether the reader relies on it for self-help purposes or merely for nonfiction entertainment.Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9166-3
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
A think piece about personal choices that unearths more round holes for square pegs.
One of America’s most influential pollsters carves the present into bite-sized pieces in an attempt to reveal future trends.
Penn gained fame as an advisor to Bill Clinton during his 1996 campaign by identifying blocks of constituents like “Soccer Moms” as potential voters. Here, he and co-author Zalesne expand their trend-spotting to identify 75 burgeoning patterns that they argue are both reflecting and changing our modern world. Each chapter examines a discrete subdivision with themes ranging among politics, lifestyle, religion, money, education, etc. These easily digestible nuggets of scrutiny are fairly straightforward and primarily serve as a kind of pie chart of the human race, dividing Earth’s citizens (primarily Americans, although a single chapter is devoted to international issues) into the cliques and tribes to which they subscribe. Among the emerging classes, the authors find “Cougars” (women who pursue younger men), “New Luddites” (technophobes) and “Car-Buying Soccer Moms,” among dozens of other sub-surface dwellers. The book’s generalizations are sound and cleverly written, despite their brevity, and will undoubtedly appeal to marketing analysts and armchair sociologists, as well as fans of Megatrends and Malcolm Gladwell. Yet the book stands on an unbalanced argument. “Microtrends reflects the human drive toward individuality, while conventional wisdom often seeks to drive society towards the lowest common denominator,” Penn writes in a conclusion, explaining why such movements are important. But by dividing and isolating people into popcorn-sized kernels of experience, their innate individuality is lost in many little crowds instead of one big one. Another troubling factor is that few of the book’s observations feel new. How often have superficial features about stay-at-home workers, caffeine addicts or shy millionaires been recycled on the evening news, let alone the Internet and other mediums? Penn tries to spin the gravity of these ripples. “Movements get started by small groups of dedicated, intensely interested people,” he says. But his observation could apply to anything from the Third Reich to MySpace. More cynical readers may feel like a number.
A think piece about personal choices that unearths more round holes for square pegs.Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-446-58096-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Twelve
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2007
Almost as funny as it is infuriating, this is an impressive collection of pieces about the impact of advertising on American society. Savan, the advertising columnist for the Village Voice (where most of these pieces originally appeared) aims to illuminate the mechanics and psychological ploys routinely used by advertisers to manipulate the public into buying anything and everything. Whether ads are hocking hair products, dog food, or luxury sedans, the goal is the same—to recreate the viewer ``in the ad's image.'' To this end, advertisers invest billions of dollars in market research designed to plumb consumers' psyches. Guilt and fear are particularly effective in targeting women, who are still the primary purchasers and users of household cleaners; kids respond well to images of anti-authoritarianism and nonconformity; and everyone falls for flattery, including the too-hip-and-wise-to-be- fooled Generation Xers (just make sure the ad is ironic and cynical enough to let them know that you know they can't be fooled). Savan illustrates how little ads have to do with reality (e.g., the link they imply between self-image and soda or cigarette brands). Not satisfied with merely getting us to purchase products, Madison Avenue strives to control the very beliefs and desires that make us human. Nothing is sacrosanct: Historical moments such as the dismantling of the Berlin Wall are incorporated into lightbulb commercials; and even the one force that traditionally has battled materialism—religion, often of the New Age variety, symbolized by images of sky and clouds—is co-opted into convincing consumers that buying certain products will exorcise their guilty consciences. As a counterbalance, Savan offers advice on how to read the true messages of ads (follow the flattery, calculate style-to-information ratio, etc.). Though inevitably such a collection is sometimes redundant, this is an indispensable guide for anyone who wants to better understand how advertising presses our buttons while convincing us that we are in control. (Photos, not seen)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1994
ISBN: 1-56639-244-6
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Temple Univ. Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1994
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