2008 Reading List (43 books)
In 2008, Michael Angelo Caruso processed (read or listened to) 43 books. His recommendations are indicated with an asterisk. Here’s the complete list:
43. Deconstructing Sammy*
by Matt Birkbeck
Sammy Davis, Jr. was the consummate entertainer. Always ready with a song and an easy laugh, it was easy to believe he had the perfect life. But according to this tell-all book, Davis was in trouble most of the time, thanks to overspending, keeping bad company and bad judgment.
42. Forbidden Keys to Persuasion*
by Blair Warren
This e-class turned e-book was recommended by my friend Andrew Kuhn. As a lifelong student of psychology, I must say that Blair Warren’s book is the best material I’ve read on the subject of persuasion.
41. The Black Swan
audio book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
I’ve always been fascinated by life’s patterns. Does everything happen for a reason or is life random? Mr. Taleb is from Lebanon, so it was a little disorienting to hear David Chandler read the book in a non-Lebanese accent.
40. Confessions of An Economic Hit Man
audio book by John Perkins
The premise of this book is that developed countries like the United States, take economic advantage of third world countries, such as Ethiopia. According to author John Perkins, the “corporatacracy” hires economic hit men (EHMs) to “help” disadvantaged countries by submitting inflated growth projections and charging their “clients” exorbitant fees.
Some readers may think it’s disingenuous to participate in a program for your entire life, raise a family and travel the world on the salary from that program and then write a book denouncing it.
Brian Emerson, who sounds like he could’ve been a network newscaster, adds melodrama to the narrative as the reader of the audio book..
39. The Complete Negotiator
audio book by Gerard Neirenberg
Attorneys negotiate for a living and I’ll bet Gerard Neirenberg played hard ball. This audio book has old-style production values, possibly because I listened to an older version of the audio book. The Complete Negotiator contains corny role-play scenarios and lots of basic information such as the valid but overworked concept of “win-win” negotiation.
38. How to Sell a Ton at the Back of the Room
Audio book by Tom Antion
Most public speakers are average. Tom Antion is exceptional and this book has a ton of valuable content, including: preparing to sell, building credibility, being likable, how to pitch, selling product bundles, closing and the interesting “isolation technique.”
36. Wake’em Up Business Presentations
by Tom Antion
[Disclosure: I have met Tom Antion and attended one of his live events.]
I admit I’m not a fan of books on speaking. Reading a book on speaking is like listening to the radio to learn how to dance. Antion does a good job in providing tips for improving the beginning, middle and end of presentations. He also offers great content on how to practice. There’s a special section on using humor, using audio/visual equipment and how to use presentations to sell books and other information products.
35. The Little Red Book of Selling
audio book by Jeffrey Gitomer
Jeffrey Gitomer may be the hardest working sales guru ever. He is an extremely prodigious writer and could have achieved the title on stamina and output alone. The author likes to present his material in quick numbered lists (hmmm . . . that sounds familiar).
It can be difficult sifting through all the numbered lists, “red bytes” and “red bits, but maybe that problem is more apparent in the audio book version. In any case, you’re going to get Jeffrey being Jeffrey. He’s a little rough around the edges and by his own admission, more than a little politically incorrect. For example, Gitomer finds reasons to use the word “puke” multiple times in this book.
Still, The Little Red Book of Selling contains good ideas and some are original.
- Having trouble getting past the screener? Ask for someone in sales. Sales people operate without the pretense of a gatekeeper and will tell you what you need to know.
- The author encourages sellers to give value before providing a price. By the way, Gitomer thinks the term “value-added” is stupid.
- Want to be sure you’re talking to the decision maker? Ask, “How will this decision be made?” Then, keep asking “Then what?” until all the names of all the involved parties names are mentioned. The last name you hear is the decision maker.
The author stresses the importance of getting the prospect’s attention. If you sell sales training, for example, you might ask “What would you do if two of your top ten customers quit today?” and “How many of your sales people didn’t make quota last year?” Both of these questions will stop a conscientious sales manager in her tracks.
Gitomer is a dyed-in-the-wool seller, so expect lots of cross-selling to his other information products and terrific Web site.
34. The Great CoursesClassics of American Literature, Part 2 of 7
audio book with Arnold Weinstein
This is another fine lesson featuring the work of authors Herman Melville, Walt Whitman and Nathaniel Hawthorne. Did I learn this stuff in high school? If I did, why did I forget it? If I haven’t learned it before, why not?
Weinstein discusses Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, taking care to explain the semiosis or signage (the embroidered “A” stands for Adulterer, Artist, etc.) I learned that the word “literally” is Latin for “by the letters.” This made me wonder about the etymology of the word “literature” or the study of letters.
The author contends that Herman Melville’s Moby Dick is not only the best book on whaling, but perhaps the most perfect novel of all time. But he also admits that it’s not an easy book to read, a fact that keeps many people from enjoying it.
The poet Walt Whitman was introduced to the American public by Emerson, but Whitman, unable to attract the attention of a major publishing company, had to self-publish his first title, Leaves of Grass.
33. Dreams From My Father
audio book by Barack Obama
You probably remember that Senator Barack Obama trounced Senator John McCain in the 2008 Presidential debates. President Obama brings his considerable oratory skills to the reading of Dreams From My Father.
The book is straight-forward and forthcoming, but like many autobiographies, it reads like a cleaned-up version of the author’s life. I don’t fault Obama; I’m not sure I would ever write a “tell-all” book on myself. For example, apparently the young Obama wasn’t interested in women as a young adult and remained a virgin until he married.
The new President’s story will be told many times, but you can read the man’s own words as he discusses his upbringing and early life in various parts of the U.S. including Hawaii and Indonesia. Obama also talks in great detail about his trip to visit his father’s side of the family in Kenya.
By most accounts, President Obama’s father was quite a character. The author concludes with much subjectivity that his dad was a good man. But, is Obama’s Dad as good as a father who never deserts his family? Does it matter?
32. The Great CoursesThe History of the United States Part 5
audio book with Professor Patrick N. Allitt
Emery University loaned out Professor Allit to the Teaching Company for a series of lectures on America history featuring information on mass production in the industrial revolution, World War I, Woodrow Wilson, the Wall Street crash and the Great Depression. Allit also covers The New Deal, World War II, The Cold War, The Korean War and McCarthyism.
31. Ulysses S. Grant
audio book by Josiah Bunting III
Historians summarize most great men as complex contradictions. Lincoln, for example, was religious but may not have believed in God. Martin Luther King was a principled man who committed adultery. Bunting gives us Grant, “the Butcher,” vs Grant, the human being.
I enjoyed reading how Grant distinguished himself as a leader, eventually winning the Civil War after many northern generals had failed. All Civil War Generals went to the same school, West Point, and received the same training.
30. QEDA Play
by Peter Parnell
QED was inspired by the writings of Richard Feynman and Tuva or Bust! written by Ralph Leighton. The foreword to QED book is written by Alan Alda, who also starred in the play of the same name.
Feynman had an incredible career as a physicist that began with the Manhattan Project and ended with the investigation of the space shuttle Challenger disaster. Along the way, Feynman won a Nobel Prize for his quantum electrodynamics (QED) theory. His story tells about his first wife, who tragically died very young and the physicist’s bongo-playing, safe-cracking adventures.
29. The Great CoursesThe History of the United States Part 4
audio book with Gary W. Gallagher
Retrospection allows us to understand the staging of the Civil War even better than those who lived through it. Through anti-bellum (pre-war) reports, we learn about the “Little Giant” known as Frederick Douglas, was only five feet, four inches tall and about James Buchanan, Lincoln’s predecessor, who hoped to wait out the slavery issue. Top leadership of the day agreed that states should have the right to decide about slavery for their respective territories.
Lincoln, like another certain Illinois Senator, was a first-term congressman, experienced enough to fun for President, but new enough not to carry baggage. In the election of 1860, Lincoln won more electoral votes than the other three Presidential candidates combined. But, he was a minority President, having won only 40% of the popular vote. His name wasn’t even on the ballot in 10 of the 15 slave states. The southern states had grown accustomed to controlling the Presidency and were terrified at the prospect of having a northern President.
Many southern states seceded after the election. Lecturer Gary Gallagher offers interesting details that make the study of the reconstruction and Grant’s Presidency interesting. For example, Americans often elected war leaders as President.
- The Revolutionary War gave us President George Washington
- The War of 1812 revealed President Andrew Jackson
- The Mexican War produced President Zachary Taylor
- The Civil War gave us President Ulysses Grant
The southern states were positioned in a way that would make winning the Civil War almost impossible. For example, France and Great Britain abolished slavery years before the United States, making it difficult for them to side with the Confederacy during the Civil War. Also, the North was always referred to as the United States, while the South became known as the “Confederacy.”
28. Who’s Sorry Now?
by Joe Pantaliano
“Joey Pants” has enjoyed a storied acting career (Memento, Sopranos and The Fugitive), but this book is not about his adult life. Readers with Italian heritage may enjoy tales of Joey’s family as he was growing up, but I was hoping for more Hollywood dish.
27. The Great CoursesThe History of the United States Part 3
audio book by Allen Guelzo
The Teaching Company Web site does a good job explaining why these lectures are so interesting. The lectures come alive through colorful characters like:
James Monroe and Robert Livingston made the Louisiana Purchase, the greatest real estate deal in history, without approval from then-President Thomas Jefferson. The offer came quickly and they had no time to inform the President. Jefferson, in turn, had no constitutional authority to make the treaty of cession that finalized the purchase. He sent the document to the Senate with the comment, “The less we say about Constitutional difficulties the better.”
Carrie Nation was the savvy temperance advocate hired a publicity manager to arrange media coverage before she invaded and smashed up a saloon. She even sold autographed copies of the axes she used.
Isaac Singer invented the sewing machine and pioneered now universal business techniques such as installment plan payments and nationwide advertising.
In this version of The Great Courses, you will also learn about:
• The most influential novel in U.S. history (hint: its female author once met Abraham Lincoln)
• Why the west side became the best place to live in many older U.S. cities (prevailing winds blew smoke and fumes away from you)
• What the book The Wizard of Oz was really about (the election of 1896).
26. The Great CoursesThe History of the United States Part 2
Audio book by Allen Guelzo
The story of America’s founding fathers is rich and exciting because each of the major characters is fascinating. Washington, Jefferson, Adams all have remarkable biographies. My favorite is Alexander Hamilton, Washington’s aide de camp in the Revolutionary War and the first Secretary of the Treasury.
The Great Courses reminded me that we owe the French a debt of gratitude for helping us defeat the British and save our new country.
I’ve also learned about lesser known characters like Francis “The Swamp Fox” Marion, a renegade American soldier who made things rough for the British army.
25. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions*
by Dan Ariely
There is a new discipline called “behavioral economics.” Although standard economics presumes humans to be rational beings, behavioral economists like Ariely believe we are not only fundamentally irrational, but that we make the same mistakes over and over.
This book is not just about employees at work. The author’s information has far-reaching consequences. For example, the author is convinced that irrational consumer spending habits can errantly convince a person that he is affluent. The credit card industry has used this phenomenon to its advantage.
But credit card debt is a small problem compared to the phenomena called “wardrobing.” This type of stealing costs retailers around $16 billion per year. Wardrobing is when a shopper buys clothes, wears them and then returns the garments for a refund.
Inspired by Predictably Irrational here are some ideas for managing irrational employees. [Note: This material was originally published in an issue of Michael Angelo Caruso's 5 Cool Ideas Newsletter for Leaders.]
1. Corporate security is not just for those on the outside.
Theft and fraud in the workplace costs American businesses around $600 billion annually. By comparison, all robberies, burglaries, larceny and auto theft committed against strangers cost about $16 billion in 2004.
Stealing is a crime, so it’s especially intriguing to learn that it’s easier for most people to justify stealing when the pilfered item is one step removed from cash. Ariely offers some surprisingly statistics that show employees are more likely to steal from their employers than strangers. Employees are more likely to steal from their employers than anyone else. Keep an eye on those office supplies.
2. Tattoos cause more financial pain than physical discomfort.
A friend of mine refers to visible tattoos as “future income limiters.” Body art is as popular as ever, despite the fact that ink immediately disqualifies one from getting many types of high-paying jobs.
3. An employee can be unique to a fault.
Noting that Americans regard uniqueness as a positive character trait, Ariely writes that people with a need for uniqueness are sometimes willing to sacrifice personal utility for “reputational” utility. Fired anyone for blogging lately?
4. Never put off until tomorrow, what you can do today.
If college teaches us anything, it’s how to postpone writing a term paper until the night before it’s due. Procrastination is certainly alive and well in the service industry as employees make habits of delaying proper customer service.
Even NASA suffers from glaring inefficiencies caused by procrastination. For all intents and purposes, eight people died aboard the space shuttle Challenger because employees postponed telling management that the shuttle probably shouldn’t take off in cold weather.
5. When things are bad, there is room for a lot more good.
Ever wonder why employees decline to fully participate in your company’s 401k program? Leaders might think the concept of predictable irrationality to be depressing, but the author offers many suggestions for improving our situation.
For example, a program called, “save more tomorrow,” allows employees to save a percentage of future salary raises.
It’s worth noting that Ariely performs the bulk of his research on college students, who one might argue are even more irrational and less predictable than the rest of us.
The audio book version of Predictably Irrational is read by Simon Jones in his great British accent.
24. Great CoursesThe History of the United States Part
audio book by Allen Guelzo
This part of The Teaching Company’s fine series really came alive for me. Guelzo may be one the best college professors in the country. He’s fun, expressive and knowledgeable. Best of all, I didn’t feel like he was reading to me.
Professor Guelzo covers fascinating, obscure characters such as Gregory King (the country’s first social statistician),George Whitefield, America’s first trans-Atlantic celebrity and John Winthrop, the English lawyer and first Governor of Massachusetts. Winthrop coined the phrase, “We shall be as a city upon a hill,” to describe America.
Guelzo’s major premise is that the founding of the United States happened by accident. Many of the country’s early developments were unpredictable and happenstance. For example:
- Columbus wasn’t looking for North America when he sailed in 1492.
- Early American pioneers were castoffs and misanthropes.
- Virginia had to develop its own legislature after King James revoked its charter.
America was a problem for Spain because our continent stood in the way of riches. Columbus was looking for India or the Orient, not North America. That’s why he named the place he landed “the West Indies” and called its inhabitants “Indians.” Even after he discovered America, subsequent explorers struggled to get around or through the land mass in its persistent quest for treasure.
Early American settlers were England’s misfits and misanthropes. England was actually glad to get rid of such “losers” and were that much more chagrined when the castoffs became trade competitors. By 1721, a surprised England had an unfavorable trade balance with the new country called America.
America’s first corporation was The Virginia Company, chartered by the British Crown in 1606. The first American settlement was on the coast of what is now known as Maine. This area had the same latitude as Europe, so settlers reasoned it would have the same climate as their homeland. Oops!
The second settlement, Jamestown, was named after King James. It failed due to poor planning, Indian uprisings and disease. King James revoked the company charter in 1624, forcing Virginia to come up with its own legislature. Eventually, the pilgrims asked themselves, “If God is sovereign, why do we need a King?”
23. The Speed of TrustThe One Thing That Changes Everything
by Stephen M. R. Covey
A while back, HR guru Donnie Brown loaned me the book by the Covey kid. You can tell I didn’t have high expectations of the tome. Stephen Covey is a hard act to follow. I’ve met The Man twice and am very impressed.
But I was wrong about the kid. Stephen M. R. Covey’s, The Speed of Trust is quite good. And it tackles an important subject. As a frequent flier, I’m often reminded that I live in a country where the government doesn’t trust its citizens. Hence, we have all that airport security. A lack of trust is expensive, both at the airport and at your workplace.
Of course, low-trust environments can be improved. I almost always help improve trust as I consult with clients. It takes time to reinstate a good relationship, but then again, trust was eroded over time.
This is the best book on trust I have ever read. I especially enjoyed the corporate examples such as Nordstrom’s three-word procedure handbook (”use good judgment”) and Dell’s success celebration formula (”five seconds of praise followed by five hours of improvement”).
Here are some highlights from the book:
1. Redundancy decreases value. Employees and customers experience decreased value when companies expend time, energy and attention on managerial redundancy. Multiple layers of management are often created just so each layer can keep an eye on the layer below.
2. Bureaucracy inhibits growth. High-trust companies outperform low-trust companies in sales and profits. In 2003, the cost of health care bureaucracy in the U.S. was $399 billion, which Covey wryly notes is far more than it would cost to provide health care to all of the uninsured.
3. Office politics inhibit innovation. Competition usually promotes innovation. But, if office politics are at play, employees are usually fighting themselves, rather than the competition.
4. Low-trust companies experience employee disengagement. The only way out of this downward spiral is to encourage collaboration and empowerment. In order to get trust, you have to give it.
5. Disengagement is a leading indicator of turnover. People leave the job emotionally, then mentally and finally physically. If you keep employees engaged with variety and reward, they tend to do a better job and stay longer.
Bonus ideas:
6. Mistrust cannot be contained. A lack of employee trust almost always results in a dearth of customer trust.
7. You can pay a low-trust trust tax or collect a high-tax dividend. Low-trust eventually denigrates to a lack of integrity, which can be described as people at their worst. High-trust almost always results in heightened loyalty, aka people at their best.
22. Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea
audio book by Chelsea Handler
First, Chelsea is cute as a pushy nine-year-old. Then, she’s cute as a pushy 19-year-old. But then, the pushiness isn’t so cute. Handler’s got some comedic chops. She’s especially good with character voices and foreign accents. The material isn’t polished, however, and she has the tendency to use run-on sentences and repeat words from previous sentences.
21. NPR Funniest Driveway Moments
audio book from National Public Radio
Not all interviewers are created equal. If it’s true that a musician is best interviewed by another musician, then perhaps a funny person is best suited to interview a comedian. In any case, the NPR news folk produce some dry, unhip chats.
Not all of these National Public Radio (NPR) guests are interviewed. Some provide recorded bits. There are some hits (Dame Edna Everage, David Sedaris) and some misses (Jonathan Winters, Larry David).
20. Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition (Part 6 of 7)
audio book by the Teaching Company
The series that began with brilliant minds like Plato, Socrates and Aristotle has progressed to the relatively complicated philosophy of James, Freud. Weber, Dewey, Heidegger, Kellner and Levi-Strauss.
19. Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition (Part 5 of 7)
audio book by the Teaching Company
Part 5 of this terrific series presents some heady material from Kant, Hegel, Marx. Mill, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche
The lecture explains why Frederich Neitzche’s “God is dead” quote was misinterpreted. It also spends time discussing the German philosopher’s concept of eternal recurrence which asks the question, “If you could live your life over again, would you do it?”
A female lecturer finally appears in the series. Are there so few competent female lecturers available?
18. Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself
audio book by Alan Alda
Alan Alda reads his own audiobook in a style that is breezy and fun, yet sophisticated. This is the author’s second book and I can’t wait to read the first. Things I Overhead is a clever book concept. Essentially, Alda cleans out his desk drawer to weave together themes from his many speeches and Life Moments.
I’m a fan of how the man re-creates himself through the years, from stage actor, to star of the television show M*A*S*H to movie star (Four Seasons, The Seduction of Joe Tynan), back to the stage, then back to TV (ER, West Wing). Mr. Alda also hosted Scientific American Frontiers on television for years.
17. Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition (Part 4 of 7)
audio book by the Teaching Company
The Enlightenment and Its Critics include the work of Locke, Mandeville, Hume, Smith and Rousseau.
I particularly enjoyed learning more about John Locke and Adam Smith. Locke is known for his “blank slate” theory, which states that each of us acquires knowledge by having others write on our slate.
Economist Adam Smith is remembered for his theory of the “invisible hand,” which holds that markets generally look after themselves without a lot of intervention.
While the content is strong, it’s hard to believe this particular lecture from “the best classrooms in America.” One professor sounds so much like Jerry Lewis’ nutty professor that it’s hard to focus on the content. Another teacher seems to be reading PowerPoint slides.
16. ShakespeareThe World as Stage
audio book by Bill Bryson
Hundreds of books have been written about William Shakespeare. His writing has been analyzed. Yet, for all the research, we really don’t know much about the great playwright.
Bryson’s book is more about what we don’t know about the man. For instance, we don’t know why the playwright divorced Anne Hathaway or where he lived for long portions of his life.
The book contains fantastic trivia. In Shakespeare’s London, more people died than were born thanks to cholera. And back then, the potato was new. A review of the play- wright’s birth and death certificates reveals that he was born in Latin, but died in English.
15. The Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition “ The Christian Age (Part 3 of 7)
audio book from The Teaching Company
The lineup of philosophers in this edition of The Great Minds is extraordinary. Machiavelli (origins of political science), Sir Thomas More and his utopia, Erasmus, Galileo, Bacon, Descartes (”I think, therefore I am”), Hobbes, Spinoza, (rationalism) Pascal (skepticism), Bayle (Calvinism) and Newton.
I’ve noticed something peculiar about the audio products from The Teaching Company. The producers try to simulate a live classroom environment, but clearly the sessions are recorded in a studio, not a classroom. Each lecture begins with the same applause track. Also, what kind of learning environment doesn’t allow students to ask questions?
14. LeadershipMotivation & Inspiration From Today’s Top Success Coaches
audio book compilation published by www.MadeFor Success.com
It’s hard to tell who’s behind this project, but the author/speakers read like a National Speakers Association roster.
Chris Widener, Connie Podesta, Brian Tracy, Ron White, Dr. Sheila Murray-Bethel, Brad Worthley, Zig Ziglar, Mark Sanborn, Larry Wilson, Roxanne Emerich, Jim Rohn, Danny Cox and Laura Stack contribute one-hour CDs to this audio marathon.
Tracy and Ziglar are awesome as usual. Podesta and Cox are also quite good here. Cox speaks on leadership and tells us, “the team improves right after the leader does.”
13. The Astonishing Power of Emotions
audio book by Esther and Jerry Hicks
I knew that this book was a derivation of the 2007 blockbuster, The Secret. Wow. Wow! I’m one of the folks who found The Secret to be shallow and rather disappointing. That’s why I was so happy to find Hicks’ book to be meaty and provocative.
The power of attraction is a fascinating subject.
12. You’re Broke Because You Want To BeHow to Stop Getting By and Start Getting Ahead
audio book by Larry Wingett
Larry Wingett has never been accused of being indirect. He is also the author of Shut Up, Stop Whining and Get a Life.
If the You’re Broke title resonates with you, you are not alone. Over 40% of families are feeling the pressure, spending more than they earn, and risking retiring financially dependent on the government, family, or charity. Larry Winget says he knows your pain because he’s been where you are now.
Wingett writes about growing up poor, making and then losing a fortune to bankruptcy. But he worked his way back from rock-bottom to become a multi-millionaire.
Now Larry gets paid to help people in financial crisis on A&E’s reality series, Big Spender. On the show, he coaches people who have jobsmaybe even high-paying jobsbut are nevertheless in debt or living hand-to-mouth. His blunt take on their situations? They’re broke because they want to be. They all say they want stability, savings, and financial freedom, but their actions too often contradict their words. Larry helps them to see the contradiction, get back on track, and out of debt, step-by-step. He
can help you, too.
Whether your aim is to get out of debt, save for a house, or simply stop kidding yourself when it comes to savings (for retirement, for your kids’ college, whatever your goal) this book encourages you, through easy-to-complete worksheets and Larry’s bullying yet wise counsel, to make it happen. Larry’s motivating message: If you want to be rich, you can. But first, you have to stop being broke, and start getting ahead. And he’ll walk you through not only the necessary attitude adjustment, but the practical choices and actions that will get you there.
11. The Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition “ The Christian Age (Part 2 of 7)
audio book by The Teaching Company
Dr. Phillip Cary handles the lion’s share of this 5 CD set. The artificial endings to the segments and the canned applause can annoy, but the content usually more than makes up for these production issues.
Listening to a scholar talk about the Hebrew Bible is probably the next best thing to reading it. Did you know “Israel” literally means “to struggle with God?” Cary also talks about Plotinus, Augustine, Aquinas, Meister Eckhart from the Middle Ages and Luther’s amazing and accidental staging of the Reformation. The program closes with a profile of Calvin and other forms of Protestantism.
Luther posted 95 theses on the door of his church in Germany to induce dialog about Italy’s Catholic religion. Catholicism held that God gives grace to all unconditionally, so Luther wanted to know why citizens could be granted “indulgences” or a fast-track to heaven if they contributed money to the church. Good question.
So an early difference between Catholics and Protestants was that Catholics believe God gives grace, but Protestants believe you can earn God’s grace.
10. USS Pueblo
by Edward Murphy, Jr. and Curt Gentry
In 1968, nearly 100 American soldiers were taken prisoner by the North Koreans. Their ship, the U.S.S. Pueblo, was captured in international waters during peace time. This would be a huge deal if it happened today, but forty years ago, the event was far from cataclysmic as neither public outrage nor government efficiency played a role in the rescue.
The hostages were tortured on and off for nearly 11 months before being released.
USS Pueblo is Executive Officer Edward Murphy’s version of what happened. Murphy was second in command and his account often disagrees with Captain Pete Bucher’s version. The book is full of political and military intrigue.
Co-author Curt Gentry also co-wrote Helter Skelter, the story of the famous Hollywood murders orchestrated by Charles Manson.
9. Leadership
audio book from a collection of authors and speakers
This 15-CD set was a thoughtful gift from a gentleman who attended my Vegas session on how to become an author, speaker or consultant. The lineup features Chris Widener, Brian Tracy, Connie Podesta, Zig Ziglar, Ron White, Mark Sanborn, Larry Wilson, Jim Rohn, Danny Cox and Laura Stack.
8. The Great Courses: Philosophy & Intellectual History “ Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition, Part 1: Classical Origins
audio book by The Teaching Company
The Teaching Company’s excellent audio series is a fast, yet in-depth study of the greatest thinkers of all time. This 6-CD set traces intellectualism of the pre-Socratics.
These lectures acquaint you with the Greek Pre-Socratics (the world’s first scientific thinkers) and the Sophists (traveling teachers of rhetoric).
You then examine in detail the insights of three towering figures: Socrates, his student Plato, and Plato’s student, Aristotle. Much of subsequent Western thought and philosophy is a response to these three intellectual giants.
This course covers the Stoics, Epicureans, and Skeptics of the late Hellenistic and Roman worlds, as well as the Greek commentator Polybius and the Roman statesman-philosopher Cicero. This first part of the series furnishes the listener with a solid foundation on which he or she can build an understanding of philosophic debate.
It’s best to begin at the beginning. Socrates spoke for free. One probably got what he paid for from Socrates, since he mostly asked questions. People who listened to Socrates usually came to the conclusion that they were not very wise, which tended to scare the people in power.
Leaders of the day put Socrates to death, essentially for asking too many questions. Guess there’s a lesson in that.
7. Media Buying Secrets Revealed
By Carlos Garcia
Former Microsoft employee Rick Raddatz turned me on to Garcia and his TrafficTactics.com Web site. The author offers help in creating Internet traffic.
6. American Creation*
audio book by Joseph Ellis
I loved Ellis’ Founding Brothers, so it was easy for me to make time for American Creation. Here the author delves even deeper into the trials and triumphs of our early statesmen. Much of the research is dedicated to two serious blemishes of history: how people who stood for independence could also tolerate slavery and how the pioneers dealt with the Native Americans.
Ellis is careful to point out that the founding fathers didn’t get everything right the first time out. The concept we refer to as “America” was sorted out over a period of twelve years. Just as software companies upgrade products as they work out the bugs,
The American founding lasted 28 years, 1775-1803. Surprisingly, democracy was not a goal of the founders. In fact, “democracy” was a swear word to the founders because it was roughly equated to public opinion. That’s why America is a Republic, rather than a democracy. We elect legislators to make laws rather than count on the masses to create policy.
The real debates were whether to have Federal or State sovereignty and whether to have a formula or a framework.
While reading American Creation, I found several comparisons to Iraq. For example, it was thought that the ragtag continental army could never win against a professional fighting outfit. Yet, the outmanned, under equipped, under trained Continental Army defeated the professional British. In Iraq, the insurgents often seemed be to winning the war. These two examples fly in the face of the old adage, “the deeper purse always wins.”
The British officers were aristocrats, but the American army had to make do with the second class citizens because the more educated, higher-class citizenry opted for serving in the state militias where they could stay closer to home and avoid some of the more unpleasant aspects of serving their country.
Fighting was more brutal back then. A soldier was more likely to be killed by a bayonet than a bomb. Fighting was also more civil back in the day. There was no fighting during winter, for example. Soldiers fought standing up and didn’t ever think about lying down to create smaller target. The British, after all, wore red coats.
Ellis gives considerable attention to how George Washington interfaced with the country’s second President John Adams and how Adams interfaced with the third President Thomas Jefferson.
When Americans first voted for President, voters selected two men from a ballot. The person with the most votes became President, while the runner-up was expected to assume the Vice-Presidency.
Thomas Jefferson was a good man, but apparently an early prototype for the flip-flopping candidate of today. He was staunchly American, but spoke against the country on many occasion in language that Ellis refers to as tantamount to treason.
When it suited him, Jefferson was pro-France. Later, he reviled the French and sought allegiance with the British.
When Jefferson hired Lewis and Clark to explore the western United States, the public explanation was that the two would explore the Mississippi River border, then the western border of our young country. In reality, however, Jefferson needed intelligence on the western part of America because he was preparing to negotiate with France for a large parcel of land. Jefferson himself never traveled further west than the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.
Jefferson was against slavery, but he practiced it because there was no solution. Our third President believed:
1) Blacks and whites could never live together
2) Slavery defied resolution
3) Native Americans’ way of life was doomed to extinction
It turns out that Jefferson railed against what was then called “Federalist imperialism,” but our third President surely acted imperialistic when he almost single-handedly arranged the Louisiana Purchase.
The Louisiana Purchase, a real-estate transaction that doubled the size of the United States, was scorned by many of the Jefferson’s contemporaries as a bad business deal, even though we obtained sizable land mass for only $15 million dollars (about 4 cents per acre).
It turns out that the Louisiana Purchase, which included the states now known as Louisiana, Florida, Texas and others, was in many ways a lucky happenstance, rather than shrewd negotiation. Jefferson essentially purchased the land from Napoleon. The great French leader was both distracted and discouraged from fighting for the land after losing 60,000 French troops in Santa Domingo and an impending war with the British.
He initially offered the territory to Jefferson for $12.5 million just to be done with it.
Thomas Jefferson wasn’t the best money manager. Although he was chief critic of the Federalist’s Alexander Hamilton and the man’s concept of a central bank, Jefferson died bankrupt, as did his protégé, James Madison.
Surprisingly, the British Army was fed much better than the Continental Army, even though the foreigners, supply lines stretched 2,000 miles. Why? American farmers actually preferred doing business with the British because they paid for supplies with real money. The Continental Army bought supplies with worthless government certificates.
In 1824, Jefferson calculated total cost of relocating 1.5 million slaves at $900 million, which was 60 times the cost of Louisiana. He didn’t feel whites and blacks could co-exist.
5. Be Cool
audio book by Elmore Leonard
Be Cool was originally published in 1999. The author is known for his sharp dialogue because he writes the way people talk. I’ve met Mr. Leonard; he lives just down the street from me in the adjacent city of Michigan. As it turns out, I know the name sakes of several people in Be Cool.
Elliott Wilhelm (the Simoan thug) is named after the head of the Detroit Film Theatre. The DJ in the book, Ken Calvert, is named after the legendary Motown DJ. Journalist Mike Downey is named after the real newspaper guy, who is also a terrific writer.
I highly recommend Leonard’s fabulous story-telling for anyone who wants to escape real life for a while. This audio book was read by actor Campbell Scott, perhaps most famous for his role opposite Steve Martin in The Spanish Prisoner.
4. Practice Makes Perfect: The Professional’s Guide to Sales Success
by Marvin Montgomery with George Becker
I’m always trying to persuade people to think five and ten years ahead regarding their careers. Many sales people, for example, should plan ahead to become sales managers. Sales professionals might target a subsequent career as a sales consultant or even an author.
Marvin Montgomery, a former sales manager for J.B. Robinson Jewelers, has written a pretty good primer for young sales people. Practice covers the basics, such as the importance of knowing your product, establishing rapport and overcoming objections. It never hurts to review fundamentals sales closes such as the Order Blank Close, the Alternative Choice Close and the Free Trial Close.
Inspired by the Montgomery book and others like it, I published the audiobook, Role Model SellingClosing the Sale.
3. Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles*
by Geoff Emmerick and Howard Massey
I keep thinking that I know everything there is to know about the Fab Four. Then another clever book comes out. HT&E’s angle is courtesy of Geoff Emmerick, the longtime Beatles recording engineer responsible for a good share of the creativity on Beatles records.
True, George Martin was the Beatles’ producer, but think of it this way. Martin helped decide what was to happen, but Emmerick was responsible for how it happened. I especially enjoyed Emmerick’s anecdotes of how the Beatles interacted in the studio.
He relates the moods, temperaments and personalities of the sessions with objectivity and clarity and these tidbits:
- Paperback Writer, a guitar song, was conceived by Paul on the piano.
- Emmerick used many tricks such as recording at variable speeds.
- George Harrison was an inept guitar player well into the Beatles career.
- John Lennon was remarkably non-technical as a musician.
- Paul McCartney was quite fastidious about his bass lines, often staying late into the night to get them perfect.
Emmerick worked with Paul on solo and Beatle projects after the band’s breakup. He relates the miserable experience of recording Band on the Run in Lagos. During this time, Paul was mugged at knifepoint.
Elvis Costelloa man who seems to be here, there and everywhere himselfwrites a flowing and flattering foreword to the book. Emmerick produced Costello’s seminole Imperial Bedroom album.
Other things I learned from the Beatles’ recording engineer:
1. The “Abbey Road Studio” wasn’t known by that moniker until the Beatles recorded the album of the same name at that location. Prior to 1968, the facility was named EMI Recording Studio.
2. Microphones are actually loudspeakers wired in reverse. Emmerick uses this bit of knowledge to create interesting sounds for the Beatles, who incessantly implored the engineer to “not make the piano sound like a piano.”
3. Paul McCartney was more in control of the Beatles than I thought. After the band’s early years, Paul began playing the other Beatles’ parts. For example, he played the guitar solo on Taxman.
4. The working title of the Abbey Road album was Everest. Paul wanted to travel to the mountain to take a photograph for the album cover, but the Beatles’ were disintegrating so he couldn’t get the others to make the trip. The four musicians, their interest flagging, could only be coerced to walking outside the studio, where they were famously photographed walking away from their workplace.
2. Copy This! Lessons From a Hyperactive Dyslexic Who Turned a Bright Idea Into One of America’s Best Companies
by Paul Orfalea
Informal and not terribly well organized, Copy This! Does a pretty good job of explaining how the author took a germ of an idea called Kinkos (now Fedex/Kinkos) and created a cottage industry. There’s lots of homespun business advice such as “work on your business, not in it.”
1. The Best Things In Life Aren’t Things
audio book by Jim Tuman
[Disclosure: I know Jim Tuman through my Optimist Club in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.]
This live program isn’t particularly well recorded, but any listener can tell that Jimmy relates well to high school audiences. I love how he tells stories and gets the youngsters to appreciate lessons many of us never learn, even as adults.
This program was recorded live with very little post-production to improve its fidelity. The audio quality is a little rough, but it kind of suits Tuman’s tough, frank, “street” approach with youngsters. The student testimonials are particularly powerful and touching.
* Highly recommended
Note: Some of the books I read in 2008 are audio books but nearly all of the above titles can be found in digital and non-digital formats.
