Irritatingly superficial and discursive evangelism from a pair of lay preachers touting the quality gospel of W. Edwards Deming as the salvation of a backsliding US. Deming (who died at 93 in December) was a consequential prophet largely without honor in his own country until Dobyns and Crawford-Mason featured him in a 1980 NBC-TV documentary on the emphasis on quality in Japanese business management (Deming was considered a national treasure in Japan). At any rate, the authors became apostles, eventually writing a book about the master's teachings (Quality or Else, not reviewed). In April, moreover, the PBS television network is slated to air a program on Deming, which will be narrated by Dobyns and produced by Crawford-Mason. Viewers and others seeking profounder detail on the Deming canon (which is rooted in statistical-sampling theory) won't find it in the reverential text at hand. After opening with a paean to the all- encompassing virtues of quality assurance, the authors offer a once-over-lightly interpretation of the deceptively simple Deming credo, which sets a demanding 14-point agenda for corporate executives and other managers sincerely committed to renewing and transforming, not simply changing, their organizations. Using past competitions for the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award as a reference point, they go on to cite as object lessons the variant fates of two commercial enterprises that embraced Deming's precepts (constancy of purpose, continuous improvement, elimination of numerical quotes, etc.). These true believers close with a hit-or- miss survey of the socioeconomic benefits that can accrue from adoption of Deming's principles in business, education, government, health care, and even the media. Paradoxically, perhaps, if the authors had adhered to Deming's philosophy in their own work, it might well have been worth a look.
Pub Date: April 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-8129-2392-8
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Times/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1994
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
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
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