An entertaining saga about “the power of second chances,” and resetting life and management priorities.
With his top clients involved in crises, a PR “kingmaker” realizes that he has lost sight of true leadership and purpose in this business/self-help fable.
Kyle Ellis is jogging in Central Park, musing on what his confidant/driver Parker “Mac” Macintosh II calls “The Collapse.” Kyle, CEO of a hugely successful, self-named PR firm and dubbed “the kingmaker” for spotting and supporting leadership potential, has two clients requiring extra-special damage control. Kit Jackson, a Wall Street finance CEO, is accused of stock manipulation that particularly hurts his one true friend. Prime Networks chief Michael Allan receives death threats targeting him and his family after tussling with Russian mob types over a land deal. Kyle rushes to Kit’s office and flies to Michael’s Wyoming ranch. He helps to address his clients’ situations, yet also observes that both are caught up in their own power, failing to lead with integrity or purpose. But the kingmaker achieves the ultimate awakening when his wife tells him over dinner that their marriage is in trouble. Kyle realizes that he has lost his way, taking responsibility for his clients’ behavior and his own lapsed priorities. After an eye-opening health scare and with the particular encouragement of Mac and a congresswoman, one of two “kings” who have remained effective, true leaders, Kyle tries to convince Kit and Michael to join him in getting back on track. By fable’s end, there is much to celebrate—but also differing choices. Dallas-based management consultant Bridwell (The Difference Maker: A Simple Fable About Making A Difference In The Life Of Others, 2013) concocts a jet-setting corporate fable (Kyle also travels to his own ranch in Texas) that offers some sweet and simple precepts to live a more other-directed and purpose-driven life. Occasionally, the tale’s focus on glitz (dining at swanky Per Se in Manhattan, etc.) feels at odds with its overall message, although these details and some charming character nuances (particularly Kyle’s friendship with Mac) also enliven what in other hands might have been dry, didactic text. Bridwell also helpfully provides a seven-point summary of his takeaway points at the book’s end.
An entertaining saga about “the power of second chances,” and resetting life and management priorities.Pub Date: June 14, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-943425-30-3
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Elevate
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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