A well-written and insightful business memoir that informs with humor and thoughtfulness.
A longtime business owner shares methods and advice for entrepreneurs at all levels.
In this book, Howroyd (The Art of Work, 2009) discusses the principles and techniques that she used to build a multinational staffing agency. With a combination of anecdotes and exposition, the author guides readers through questions of leading, risk-taking, developing confidence, and networking, among other topics—some of which are unexpected, such as the importance of always having a fully charged cellphone. The volume discusses the significance of data-driven and strategic business decisions (“You’re dispensable unless you’re so necessary to the client’s business that they can’t function without you”) and encourages readers to take a holistic approach to making the most of both their professional and personal lives. One of the work’s particular strengths is its approach to diversity; Howroyd writes about being a black female entrepreneur while also urging readers not to define her by demographics. Sections on resiliency and respect in the workplace are particularly well done. The book’s easy, conversational tone makes for an enjoyable reading experience. The author’s voice blends down-home humor (many stories from her North Carolina childhood appear throughout the text along with descriptions of her high-powered work life) and professional sophistication (“Self-discipline you own. Self-discipline isn’t federally regulated. It isn’t taxed. You don’t need anyone’s permission”). Asides—“Mama Says,” featuring tips from her mother; “Janicisms,” delivering Howroyd’s key insights (“You lead people; you manage processes”); and “The Art of Bernie,” showcasing her husband’s advice—appear in callout boxes throughout the text. Several of the author’s mnemonics (“Our employees live by their F.E.E.T.”) may be too cutesy for some readers, but others will likely appreciate the structure for presenting memorable concepts. The volume will be most useful for readers in search of big-picture business counsel presented in an open-ended format that offers few concrete answers but plenty of inspiration, motivation, and starting points for self-awareness. Howroyd’s passion for work and well-defined voice combine to make an effective vehicle for valuable information.
A well-written and insightful business memoir that informs with humor and thoughtfulness.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5445-0456-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Lioncrest Publishing
Review Posted Online: Sept. 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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