An iconoclastic, consistently wise breakdown of the inanities of corporate life.
A short report on the pitfalls of American business culture.
In this brief, fast-paced work, Harrison (The Great Divide, 2017, etc.) draws on lessons and insights that he’s gleaned from decades spent in the corporate world; he’s worked as a writer, editor, and communications executive for several organizations in the Chicago area, including the Fortune 500 health care company Baxter International. He first takes readers through the hiring process, including “onboarding”—the often slipshod initial orientation process for new hires. He then runs through various types of bosses—including “the ‘credit grabber,’ who takes credit for all successes but blames others for failures” and “the ‘cool boss,’ who tries too hard to be one of the team”—and the varying degrees of humiliation involved in reporting to them all. He also dissects touchy subjects, such as exit interviews, performance reviews, and pay rates, from the viewpoint of someone who’s seen it all and is happy to write about it—and he does so with a frankness that’s often missing from books of this type: “The day I learned how worthless performance reviews are,” he writes at one point, “was the day I got fired…immediately after receiving a stellar performance review.” Several faddish concepts in the corporate world come in for gentle (and not-so-gentle) ribbing; for instance, he dismisses the idea of “facilitators”—outsiders that some businesses bring in to run meetings—although he acknowledges that somebody has to ride herd on the inevitable “loudmouth/blowhard/know-it-all” at such gatherings. According to the author, many corporate problems are ultimately rooted in “companies’ inability to hire the best people to run their various departments and functions.” But his diagnoses of corporate pitfalls and idiocies range far beyond human resources, touching on such things as the semantics of job titles and how faking interest is “a necessary evil in the business world.” In all cases, his stern common sense and irreverence—as in the chapter title “Shaking Hands (and other stupid protocols by which you’re judged)”—will strike readers as a breath of fresh air.
An iconoclastic, consistently wise breakdown of the inanities of corporate life.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4575-6614-1
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 5, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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