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CORPORATE GAMES

Name: CORPORATE GAMES
Author: Michelle Edith Jones
ISBN: 978-0989663809

OUTTHINK THE COMPETITION AND TAKE IT ALL

by Michelle Edith Jones ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 14, 2014

A feisty, real-world guide to getting ahead in corporate America.

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A savvy corporate worker shares her secrets of success.

Debut author Jones fell into the corporate world by accident. After graduating from high school, she worked a variety of menial jobs in Denver. She moved to Chicago in 1984 at age 22 for what she thought would be a short-term stint; her aunt worked for an insurance company there that offered a $300 referral fee, and she convinced Jones to try out for a temporary file-clerk spot. The author didn’t want the gig, and did all she could to sabotage the interview, including wearing ripped clothing. To her surprise, however, she got the job; a manager said, “She’s here. We need someone today. It’s temporary. How bad could it be?” Thus began Jones’ corporate career in which she “clawed [her] way up” to various higher-level positions in the insurance industry, eventually also earning her bachelor’s degree. In this memoir, she offers a host of cynical yet practical navigation tips for other go-getters, using her own experiences to illustrate her points. She outlines how to leverage entry-level jobs (including when to read other people’s mail and what to do with that information), how to take down your competition (she once called a headhunter while pretending to be a colleague, leading to the latter’s exit) and how to spot the “weak gazelles”—less-threatening colleagues to bring with you in your ascent. However, her tales of helping such colleagues seem more benevolent than self-interested, and readers may suspect that she achieved what she did largely by being a smart, hard worker instead of a Machiavellian power player. Overall, the book seems more interested in money and power than it is in the insurance industry. However, the author’s energy and ambition is infectious, and her proclamation at the end of this book (“I have a little less than twenty years left in this industry, and I plan to make every day count”) may prove inspirational to striving workers everywhere.

A feisty, real-world guide to getting ahead in corporate America.

Pub Date: March 14, 2014

ISBN: 978-0989663809

Page Count: 196

Publisher: B I C Book Publications

Review Posted Online: June 5, 2014

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

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.