Book Description
The thought of meetings makes most business people miserable, but they're a critical and unavoidable part of what we do. Through fictional narrative, modeling, and practical solutions, Lencioni shows how to turn meetings from painful and tedious to productive, compelling, and even energizing. The story follows an executive who finds his job on the line and his future dependent on his ability to dramatically improve his disastrous meetings. An irreverent graduate student comes into the picture with fresh ideas and a new perspective to help the executive turn things around. This engrossing and concise audiobook will help improve morale, effectiveness, and the bottom-line at the office.
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Casey McDaniel had never been so nervous in his life.
In just ten minutes, The Meeting, as it would forever be known, would begin. Casey had every reason to believe that his performance over the next two hours would determine the fate of his career, his financial future, and the company he had built from scratch.
“How could my life have unraveled so quickly?” he wondered.
In his latest page-turning work of business fiction, best-selling author Patrick Lencioni provides readers with another powerful and thought-provoking book, this one centered around a cure for the most painful yet underestimated problem of modern business: bad meetings. And what he suggests is both simple and revolutionary.
Casey McDaniel, the founder and CEO of Yip Software, is in the midst of a problem he created, but one he doesn’t know how to solve. And he doesn’t know where or who to turn to for advice. His staff can’t help him; they’re as dumbfounded as he is by their tortuous meetings.
Then an unlikely advisor, Will Peterson, enters Casey’s world. When he proposes an unconventional, even radical, approach to solving the meeting problem, Casey is just desperate enough to listen.
As in his other books, Lencioni provides a framework for his groundbreaking model, and makes it applicable to the real world. Death by Meeting is nothing short of a blueprint for leaders who want to eliminate waste and frustration among their teams, and create environments of engagement and passion.
Customer Reviews:
Pointed and on topic.......2007-09-09
The book was pointed, on topic, and did what I think it intended to do, show that meetings don't have to be and truly shouldn't be boring. He gave some solid reasons why meetings end up that way and provided ways to avoid these pitfalls. I don't think he exhausted the reasons for boring meetings (i.e. trouble employees) but he hit some highlights. He didn't stray off course or try to cover too much. I tend to agree with one reviewer that by keeping it short and sweet the possibility of co-workers actually reading the book goes way up and thereby their buying into the multiple meeting strategy goes up as well.
Also, his suggestions can impact a company in ways beyond making meetings more fun. His suggestion to engender conflict/"working out issues" leads to everyone being less confusion about what is expected. I truly liked the book and would recommend it to my co-workers.
Meetings are a snap-shot of an organization's culture.......2007-08-23
The quickest way to identify a company's culture is to observe their key meetings. One of the most impactful ways to change a company's culture is to change the way they handle meetings. In this parable (cannot be a fable, as it lacks the necessary animal cast) by consultant Patrick Lencioni, these truisms provide the platform for Lencioni's theory of meeting management. This theory addresses what Lencioni sees as the two key problems with most business meetings; lack of drama, and lack of contextual structure. He looks to the meeting owner to provide `The Hook' (set-up the plot for the drama), and the meeting facilitator to `Mine for Conflict'. Then he recommends contextual structure can be established by segregating meetings according to the time-frame they address; the daily check-in, weekly tactical, monthly strategic, and quarterly off-site review.
Great title, easy read, but misleading if you think this book is about how to reduce the number of meetings within your organization. Lencioni, in fact, recommends more and not less meetings; but without explicitly stating it, he implies that every meeting must have a clear purpose (context), identified objectives for each topic, and that the meeting owner and the meeting facilitator roles must be clear. His story also illustrates the importance of pre-meeting planning and content preparation. Lencioni makes the point that meetings are not a necessary evil; they are an opportunity to focus and engage people if done well. The book is recommended as a reminder of the value that meeting management can bring to an organization.
How to reduce (if not eliminate) one of the major causes of organizational waste.......2007-07-17
This is one in a series of "leadership fables" in which Patrick Lencioni shares his thoughts about the contemporary business world. His characters are fictitious human beings rather than anthropomorphic animals, such as a tortoise that wins a race against a hare or pigs that lead a revolution to overthrow a tyrant and seize control of his farm.
In this instance, Lencioni focuses on probably the single greatest waste of organizational resources: meetings. Although they are "the closet thing to an operating room, a playing field, or a stage that we have...most of us hate them. We complain about, try to avoid, and long for the end of meetings, even when we're running the darn things! How pathetic is it that we have come to accept that the activity most central to the running of our organizations is inherently painful and unproductive?" Nonetheless, in most organizations, meetings comprise the single greatest cause of waste of resources and, yes, of opportunities as well.
Briefly, here's the fictitious situation. Lencioni introduces Casey McDaniel, generally viewed as "an extraordinary man - but just an ordinary CEO" of Yip Software, a designer and manufacturer of sports-related video games company he founded. What is perhaps most significant about Casey is the fact that conducts lethargic, unfocused, and passionless staff meetings that his colleagues understandably dread, as does he. For reasons best revealed within the narrative, he sells his company to Playsoft, the second-largest manufacturer of video games. Enter J.T. Harrison who serves as a liaison between Yip and Software. Almost immediately, Casey's inadequacies as a CEO and, especially, the consequences of the executive staff meetings he conducts become obvious to Harrison who becomes increasingly concerned about Yip's underperformance. Casey's career and the fate of his company are in jeopardy when Casey hires Will Petersen to be his temporary administrative assistant while his permanent administrative assistant is on maternity leave.
What then happens - and does not happen -- throughout the ensuing weeks enables Lencioni to dramatize the importance of scheduling, preparing for, conducting, and then following through on meetings that are never boring nor ineffective. Hence the great emphasis Lencioni places on having different kinds of meetings (e.g. daily check-in, weekly tactical, monthly or as-needed ad hoc strategic, and quarterly off-site), each of which has a different context, purpose, structure, and timeframe. Obviously, some meetings will generate more conflict, excitement, drama, etc. than will others. Over the years, many (if not most) of the staff meetings I have participated in (including those I conducted) wasted time on discussion of what to discuss rather than on making decisions about what to do.
At least 8-10 years ago, Lencioni apparently made a conscious decision to address especially important business issues by creating a human context for each rather than merely offering answers to questions or prescribing solutions to problems. To me, this is one of the greatest benefits of a business narrative, in this instance of a leadership fable: Creating a series of real-world situations (albeit portrayed fictitiously) that readers can identify with emotionally as well as rationally. He is a brilliant business thinker but he also possesses the skills of a master raconteur as he introduces a cast of characters, develops conflicts between and among them, and then allows "rising action" to build to a climax that is also best revealed within the narrative. Unexpected plot developments engage the reader even more.
Of special interest to me is Will's role in this business fable. He serves as an especially effective means by which Lencioni articulates his insights and suggestions. Eventually, in ways and to an extent also best revealed within the narrative, Will has a profound impact on Casey's leadership style as well as on Yip Software's fate. Although Casey and his colleagues as well as J.T. Harrison are fictitious characters, each is credible as a human being rather merely functioning as a literary device. Their values, concerns, personalities, anxieties, and behavior will be very familiar to anyone who has been involved in non-productive group discussions.
As is Lencioni's custom in each of the other volumes in the series of "leadership fables," he also includes (after the Fable) a "Model" section, consisting of supplementary material (Pages 221-254) whose value-added benefits will help his reader to make effective application of the lessons learned from the experiences shared by Casey and his colleagues at Yip Software. Lencioni leaves no doubt that there are direct correlations between enjoyable as well as productive meetings and effective leadership and management to establish and then sustain a "healthy"organization.
Those who share my high regard for this volume are urged to check out Patrick Lencioni's other "leadership fables" as well as Michael Ray's The Highest Goal, David Maister's Practice What You Preach, Bill George's Authentic Leadership and his more recently published True North, James O'Toole's Creating the Good Life, and Michael Maccoby's Narcissistic Leaders.
Good for learning the basics of a meeting.......2007-07-17
This gives a great layout of the many meetings that take place in work places. For those who have managed or lead people and organizations for more than a few years it will be a review.I recommend it for any new manager or leader. The movie analogies work well too.
Great book.......2007-07-02
I enjoyed this quick read. I found it paralleled some issues I was facing in my meetings. I can't wait to give these models a try.
Amazon.com
Arthur Miller's 1949 Death of a Salesman has sold 11 million copies, and Willy Loman didn't make all those sales on a smile and a shoeshine. This play is the genuine article--it's got the goods on the human condition, all packed into a day in the life of one self-deluded, self-promoting, self-defeating soul. It's a sturdy bridge between kitchen-sink realism and spectral abstraction, the facts of particular hard times and universal themes. As Christopher Bigsby's mildly interesting afterword in this 50th-anniversary edition points out (as does Miller in his memoir, Timebends), Willy is closely based on the playwright's sad, absurd salesman uncle, Manny. But of course Miller made Manny into Everyman, and gave him the name of the crime commissioner Lohmann in Fritz Lang's angst-ridden 1932 Nazi parable, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse.
The tragedy of Loman the all-American dreamer and loser works eternally, on the page as on the stage. A lot of plays made history around 1949, but none have stepped out of history into the classic canon as Salesman has. Great as it was, Tennessee Williams's work can't be revived as vividly as this play still is, all over the world. (This edition has edifying pictures of Lee J. Cobb's 1949 and Brian Dennehy's 1999 performances.) It connects Aristotle, The Great Gatsby, On the Waterfront, David Mamet, and the archetypal American movie antihero. It even transcends its author's tragic flaw of pious preachiness (which undoes his snoozy The Crucible, unfortunately his most-produced play).
No doubt you've seen Willy Loman's story at least once. It's still worth reading. --Tim Appelo
Book Description
Arthur Miller seemed to capture the sometimes tragic plight of the common man with his Death of a Salesman. Bloom suggests the strength of the play is puzzling but beyond dispute, lying more in its presentation on stage than its written form. The play's continued vitality is unquestioned.
The title, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, part of Chelsea House Publishers' Modern Critical Interpretations series, presents the most important 20th-century criticism on Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman through extracts of critical essays by well-known literary critics. This collection of criticism also features a short biography on Arthur Miller, a chronology of the author's life, and an introductory essay written by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University.
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Miller's most famous play, it is the story of the American Dream gone awry when a small man is destroyed by society's false values.
Death of a Salesman won the Pulitzer Prize in 1949 and continues to shine on stages throughout the world even today.
This concise supplement to Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman helps students understand the overall structure of the play, actions and motivations of the characters, and the social and cultural perspectives of the author.
Customer Reviews:
A Modern Tragedy.......2007-09-20
"Death of a Salesman" is a modern American tragedy. Yet, it can apply equally to any society where individuals become self-obsessed, lose touch with the bigger picture and allow themselves to be deluded by dreams of riches whilst ignoring the beauty of the day to day world.
Poor Willy Loman is a very sad figure. He wallows in the past. He has grandiose dreams about himself and his two adult sons, Happy and Biff. But these dreams are not rooted in any reality. Quite simply, Willy is lost and lonely.
Arthur Miller's play is a masterpiece. Few other 20th century playwrights have been able to surgically dissect society so well. Miller's work is not for those seeking a happy ending where everything is resolved and the characters happily fade away. No, this work is brutal in comparison. Willy Loman is an anti-hero. He is hard to like. He is, however, worthy of our pity. His life, at least through his own eyes, is one of failure. But, in reality, Willy is no failure. He is simply deluded. He has swallowed the American dream to the point where its goals merely impoverish him. The dream, any dream, is what you make of it and should not be imposed upon the individual. Willy allows the dream to ruin his life. Willy is the ultimate tragic.
Many deem "Death of a Salesman" to be a critique of American society. This is unfair. Miller's work is the précis of a tragic life. Willy is that tragedy. To dream is magnificent. To allow a dream to dominate your very existence is a disaster.
Take a Second Look.......2007-09-19
I wasn't terribly impressed with "Death of a Salesman" while I read it. The play simply didn't live up to its acclaim, its noble status in American literature. I've heard Salesman referenced countless times over my life, all 22 years of it. Salesman was written in 1949, a post-war era that supported the belief that starting anew was possible and wishes do come true. My first impression of the play was that it attempted to shatter the ubiquitous belief of an American dream, making it merely a quixotic fantasy. But after rereading certain passages and thinking about it for this review, I saw how very human its message is and how it is actually an incredibly despairing masterpiece that throws a new light at the idea behind the American dream. Through the utterly destroyed and distraught protagonist, Willy Loman, Miller represents the demise of the American dream and suggests the need to reassess such a unrealistic dream.
Loman is a revised, twentieth-century version of the classic tragic character. He does not display the typical chivalrous characteristics that many literary tragic characters do, such as Beowulf and Oedipus Rex. Loman, in fact, is pathetic and repugnant. As an older aged, crazy, and impoverished character, Loman isn't close to the traditional heroic figure. He cheats on his wife; builds up impratical hopes for his two sons; and makes imprudent business and life decisions. Such characteristics are sinful and generally not seen in the traditional tragic literary figure. But these traits are also very real and humanistic. Miller deftly jumps from the present to the past and back again, slowly "peeling the onion" (as Grass would call it) of the true Loman. This peeling process reveals what went wrong and what should've been avoided to prevent this most tragic ending. It appears that Miller is suggesting that seemingly innocuous decisions can--and do--destroy the American dream.
Such a bleak perspective on the American dream shouldn't come as a surprise to the reader/viewer. The late 1940s was a period of transition: America was forced to adjust from the war-driven, ration crazed society to a very corporate-driven, forced-fed consumer culture. Post-war America was full of tenuous hopes to climb the corporate ladder and to acclimate to a life of plenty, i.e. family members and money. For an ordinary, hard-working American, like Loman, this proved to be too much. Despite the play having a backdrop in the 1920s and '30s, it takes place in the late '40s, in the very much consumer focused society. It is fitting that the land of plenty left Loman and his family with nothing.
The play is very much alive today as it was nearly sixty years ago. Do read it. I'm going to try to see the play the next time it comes to town.
Questions for life's inventory.......2007-07-30
Poor Willie; he's just as much a victim of capitalism as the people he's screwed in business all those years. Long before American business became the global conspiracy of recent years (Enron, Haliburton,), business rested on the efforts of the little guy who thought big. Willy Loman is just such a man: in fact, he's the poster boy for the dark side of the corporate psyche in America, from 1949 (when the play had its first production) right up to today. Loathed by his colleagues, avoided by his family (Biff and Happy, his sons, leave him hallucinating in a public toilet), and haunted by his life (which is portrayed in flashback episodes generated within his own troubled mind)--
willy finds himself asking, "Why?" Trying to answer this question leads him through psychosis to eventual suicide . Only Linda, his long-suffering wife, pays him homage: "Willy Loman was a Good Man...," she says over his grave near the end of the play. I can only imagine that universities across the country began developing classes in business ethics soon after this play hit Broadway. ( Ken Lay and Dennis Kozlowsi, for, example, must have missed the play altogether, and it's obvious they cut their ethics class). But, you DO get the feeling that Willy started out as Linda sees him, a good and honorable man. His slide through capitalism has left him critically wounded. When I first saw this play performed on television, Lee J. Cobb played Willy like a wounded bear; he reminded me of some of the business people I knew, both friends and family; so, when I read the play later, I was blown away by it again, amazed that Miller could get it so right. This play should be required reading in all ethics classes. Anyone who reads the play will never feel the same about American business again. It begs the big question: When it comes time to take our own life's inventory, as Willy has, will we look back with pride and a sense of accomplishment? Or will we find ourselves sidestepped and alone, lost to despair? Arthur Miller poses some of life's key questions in this wrenchingly powerful play. It's up to each of us to answer them for ourselves.
I read this play last year for my high school ap english II class........2007-06-25
It was a very well written play. It's major theme is the American dream. The main character Willy Loman is a very depressed man with a wife and two sons.
Loman doesn't like how his life has turned out which is what makes him depressed. When reading a play in class it is best to go and get a chance to see the play live or see the movie of it. The movie with Dustin Hoffman as Willy really does justice to the play. Plays aren't intended to be read like a book. They are intended to be performed and watched by everyone.
thank you for your time,
Loran
Death of a Salesman.......2007-06-12
Death of a Salesman slaps me back to reality, as it includes realistic suppositions about a family's and society's expectations. As the father won't settle for anything else but success, his family falls apart, reminding me of the potential result of any family.
Attempting to effect change in the new American society, brainwashed in an even newer American Dream, Arthur Miller hopes to vanquish the false illusion of that fact that everyone and anyone can succeed in America with wealth and fame. Miller argues that American society puts so much emphasis on financial success that it actually drives people the other way, into insanity. Because everyone thinks he or she can succeed, people begin to unrealistically face an overly ambitious approach towards making a fortune. In the end, when only a few can actually succeed, the rest fail in misery. In order to battle this false notion in American society, Arthur Miller writes of this fact and warn people not to submit to the American Dream and create one, in which everyone can succeed without monetary domination.
Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman argues that even if an individual is determined enough to chase a dream to the ends of the earth by any means necessary, his social status would remain the unchanged and perhaps even diminished. Left with no choice, Willy Loman is forced to dream big in order to gain monetary success. Because of societal pressures, he is coerced to think of a way to succeed, and the best way is gain a financial fortune to gain respect. However, the fact that he thinks of himself as a self-important individual really causes him to feed on his ego. His confidence grows increasingly grander, until it becomes overwhelming for both his family and himself. As he becomes more greedier, his dreams become more grandiose. This false illusion he creates of his world actually set himself up for a disastrous collapse. Eventually, he admits that he has never achieved anything at all in his life. Consequently, he notices he has nothing left to do but to give up, when he has actually wasted his whole life chasing after an unrealistic goal. Ultimately, he ends up in a suicide. Because of this tragic ending, Arthur Miller argues that a society with this kind of emphasis on materialistic success sets people up for a catastrophic downfall. Subsequently, Miller contends that America should rebuild society's foundation, and create a country, in which wealth does not entail success.
Because the book does appeal to me, I recommend this book only if you're into themes about the pressures from society - applauding those who succeed materialistic.
Average customer rating:
- A wonderful paranormal romance
- If I could rate this book higher, I would!
- The Damask Circle moves to Australia
- extraordinary supernatural romance
- KERI ARTHUR KEEPS ON GETTING BETTER
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Circle of Death
Keri Arthur
Manufacturer: ImaJinn Books
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ASIN: 1893896773 |
Book Description
In one, vicious night, Kirby Brown's world is torn apart. Her best friend is dead, killed by a madman who is now after her. And she has no idea why.
Doyle Fitzgerald has been sent to Melbourne, Australia to hunt down a killer. What he doesn't expect to find is a circle of witches capable of controlling the elements and a sorceress determined to take that power for herself. And he certainly isn't expecting to play bodyguard to a woman who is more than she seems.When the police prove incapable of protecting Kirby from the monsters that chase her, she has no choice but to place her safety in Doyle's hand. And while she finds herself inexplicably drawn to him, she fears to trust him because of the magic that lies in his soul.It quickly becomes evident that the reason behind the killings lies in Kirby's past. But it is a past she has no wish to remember.
Because Doyle isn't the only one with magic in his soul.
Only her magic is capable of destroying the world.
Customer Reviews:
A wonderful paranormal romance.......2003-06-23
Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques
Kirby Brown has only had one person she could ever count on, her best friend. When her friend was brutally murdered by a psychotic, and otherworldly, killer, Kirby was left all alone and scared, for the same killer was after her. She has no idea who is after her or why, but she does know her life is in serious danger. She goes on the run, with only a few meager possessions, and her magical powers as her defense. That is not enough and just as she fears her life is about to be snuffed out, her rescuer arrives.
Doyle Fitzgerald is in Melbourne, Australia, per the orders of the Damask Circle, a special and elite ring of magical beings who are sent to handle special cases all over the world where magic is concerned. His latest mission is to hunt down and destroy the very murderer who is after Kirby. He comes to her rescue, just as she is about to be killed, killing the monster that was after her, but having no idea how to track down the being that is using the creatures.
Kirby has no idea why someone is after her, but Doyle is, and she is shocked to hear the story. She has no memory of her childhood, or of the incident that seemed to spark this string of serial murders. What she doesn't know, is Kirby is one of a circle of women... witches... who have the power to control the elements. Kirby is the last remaining witch of this circle, the only person standing in the way of her ultimate enemy having all the powers at her disposal, and causing awesome destruction in her wake.
Doyle finds himself completely attracted to Kirby, as she is to him, and he will do anything to protect her. However, she isn't the only one with secrets and gifts, for Doyle has some special powers of his own. Powers he is hesitant to share with her just now. Her nerves are at the breaking point already and he fears she couldn't handle his secret on top of everything else. As much as she is drawn to him, she fears getting too close, for she knows the awesome strength of her abilities and she doesn't want him to be threatened by what she has little control over. Will they overcome their secrets? Will they defeat the person stalking Kirby? Or will the world end in the ultimate battle of good versus evil?
What a fabulous read! This story has all the elements of good paranormal romantic fiction. There is plenty of driving action and suspense to keep one's attention right up to the very end. There is love and romance, magic, good and evil. There is also any number of paranormal beings found between the covers. It is populated with vampires, witches, demons, and shapeshifters galore; it will make the readers wonder what secrets their friends and loved ones are carrying.
Ms. Arthur shows in this book why she is rising through the ranks of this sub-genre quite rapidly. She shows impressive talent in her writing, with snappy dialogue between the characters, and enough surprises in the plot to pack a wallop. One will be moved by the plight of Kirby and Doyle, as well as their friends. This book will keep a reader on the edge of the seat, eagerly awaiting the next book by an up and coming author.
© Kelley A. Hartsell, February 2003. All rights reserved.
If I could rate this book higher, I would!.......2003-01-07
Kirby Brown is heartbroken and stunned when she returns home to find that her roommate and best friend, Helen, has been viciously slaughtered. Kirby is shocked and petrified, but is immediately taken into police protection because they believe she might be in danger as well.
They're right.
Doyle Fitzgerald had been a thief, but is now a coveted member of the Damask Circle. He has been sent to investigate the murders in Melbourne, Australia, because it appears that dark magic is involved. He barely arrives in time to save Kirby from the killer, and from that point on, they are on the run for their lives.
Kirby has never learned to trust anyone outside of Helen, and now she has to trust Doyle with her life. She's learning things about herself she never before knew and remembering a past she's tried desperately to forget. And through it all Doyle stands by her, protects her, and teaches her how to use the powers that are rightly hers.
But can they survive the evil that is now after them both?
I have been a fan of Keri Arthur since her very first book. And, with each successive book she only gets better and better, which just blows me away because I love each book so much! CIRCLE OF DEATH is an action packed, paranormal love story that should be on every readers "must read now" list. If you love paranormal romance, than there is no doubt in my mind that you'll love Keri Arthur's books. Read and enjoy!
The Damask Circle moves to Australia.......2002-10-15
Kirby and Helen are orphans raised together by the foster care system. They are also witches. Helen developed her gift as a storm witch, and Kirby supressed hers. When Helen is killed by a monster, she is devastated. Then she is attacked herself and escapes, she is aided by the Damask Circle, particularly Shapeshifter Doyle Fitzgerald. The Circle is in the area because of the deaths of witches, someone is killing them and absorbing their powers. Kirby is on the monster's hit list.
This novel is just as good as Circle of Fire. Doyle, Russell and Camille are believable (if that's possible) as paranormal detectives. There is alot of action of all kinds in this one, I finished it in one sitting.
extraordinary supernatural romance.......2002-09-13
Kirby Brown and Helen Smith are as close as sisters are so when Kirby comes home to see Helen and her lover's body savaged, she's bereft and horrified. Helen was a witch and Kirby has powers of her own so she knows that the two policemen that are guarding her are something evil. She escapes from them only to see them come after her in their true form, reptilian like monsters.
She would have died if shapechanger Doyle Fitzgerald hadn't appeared on the scene. He dispatches the two monsters and the vampire that comes after them. Doyle is part of the Damask Circle; an organization consisting of people with paranormal powers that fight the evil forces that are loose on the world. His current assignment is to track down a witch who is targeting other practitioners of magic and the only one who can stop her is Kirby. Doyle, who loves Kirby, tries to protect her but he can't guard her from her own fears for only she can do that if she dares.
Keri Arthur is one of the better writers of supernatural romances and her Damask Circle series is a perfect example of how she makes the extraordinary seem believable. CIRCLE OF DEATH will appeal equally to paranormal, romance and mystery fans. The characters make the paranormal seem normal; the romance between the shapeshifter and the witch is utterly believable; and the mystery will key the readers into turning the pages, eager to find out who is doing the killings and why.
Harriet Klausner
KERI ARTHUR KEEPS ON GETTING BETTER.......2002-08-25
IF LIKE ME YOU LOVE KERI ARTHUR... THEN YOU'LL LOVE THIS BOOK CIRCLE OF DEATH - 2ND IN HER DAMASK CIRCLE FOLLOWING CIRCLE OF FIRE.. ITS AN ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT READ.. I FOUND MYSELF HOLDING MY BRIEF CONTINUALLY... ITS HARD TO PUT DOWN. I AM NOT SAYING ANYTHING ABOUT THE STORY APART FROM THIS INVOLVE SHAPESHIFTERS AND MAGIC OF THE WITCH KIND... EXCELLENT CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE...
Customer Reviews:
excellent source.......2007-05-17
not sure why a teacher would want to read 50 research papers on Death of a Salesman, but mine does. This book will fill several lines on the works cited page.
Real vs. Virtual American Dream.......2003-06-02
DRAMA
Real vs. Virtual American Dream
By Kevin Biederer
Arthur Millerýs 1949 drama basically revolves around the American dream of a father who makes many mental errors that lead to his downfall.
The inner life of the father, Willy, is presented by the use of monologs in his head. He is a washed up salesman that does not realize it, and tries to rub off his overwhelming cockiness on his two sons.
Biff, one of his sons, transforms from a cocky, young football player into a doubtful, young man. Biff understands the reality of life through the falseness of the American dream, which ultimately, destroys his father who is living a virtual American dream. If Biff had listened to his father his whole life, he would still just be a cocky, young football player. Instead Biff realizes what a, ýridiculous lie [his] life has been!ý (104). He
Death of a Salesman
By Arthur Miller
139 pages
realizes he does not want to follow in his fatherýs footsteps and become a washed up salesman. Biff just wants to live a normal life where Willy is not pressuring him about everything. Willy is one of those fathers who think their child is the greatest at everything no matter what. That is good in some cases, but not when Willy sets unrealistic goals for his child.
This drama portrays how many parents treat their children. Most parents try to push their children, but some go over the line, as seen in this drama. But what Willy has truly failed in is his family life and his married life. That is the corruption of the true American dream.
This drama deserves five stars because it always keeps you on your feet just waiting to see what will happen next. Brooks Atkinson of the New York Times says, ýthis is one of the finest dramas in the whole range of the American theater.ý
The theme of this drama is seen in the mental approaches Willy has in his life. You have to think about what you say to certain individuals and spot errors. Could Willy Lomanýs downfall have been avoided or not?
This drama has a tragic but far-fetched ending that puts a twist on the entire novel. Willy does something drastic, which he thinks is best for his children. We will leave that for you to decide if this decision was the best one he could have made.
Review on Death of a Salesman by Kristina S........2000-12-05
You could call the play a critic on capitalist system but it is also simply the story about a man with a fatal error that leads to his downfall. Arthur Miller presents a complex and difficult character: Willy Loman. Willys mind and inner life are presented dramatically by the use of flashbacks and inner monologs.It is an interesting trip through psychology for the audience,to find out why Willy escapes into the past. Miller perfectly creates the illusion of the past and makes the audience experience a fusion of past an present by verbal and non-verbal theatrical technique.The audience can reach a deeper rational and emotional understanding of Willys situation during the play. The requiem interrupts this identification to make the audience have an objective view on Willys fate. Miller makes the audience realize the psychological development to make them critisize and think actively about it: Could Willy Lomans downfall have been avoided or not? By analysing Willys character his fatal error gets clear.Willy makes his own bad situation worse,e.g.by refusing his friends offer of a job. There for the play gives an advice to the audience:Think objectively about your behaviour and spot errors,like you spot Willys fatal error.
The best version I've seen.......2000-01-29
When you get down to it, really, the only reasons for buying one version of a play are 1) price, 2) readability (i.e., the font, size of print, etc.), and 3) accompanying analysis/essays. As for myself, the third reason is the most important. This version is the best I've seen for accompanying analysis. It has a number of essays and an interview by Arthur Miller himself and reviews of the play by others. The works written by Miler were of the most interest to me, but there is plenty here. Admittedly, if price is most important to you, there are cheaper versions out there, but you won't get what this version offers. To me, though, this version is worth the money.
And do I need to mention this is a damn good play? But, as I said, you'll get the same play regardless of which version you pick up (at least, I would hope...).
If you're going to buy a copy.......1999-12-25
of "Death of a Salesman", this is the one to get. In addition to the play itself and some introductory remarks, this version includes a good variety of reviews, criticism, and essays concerning "Death of a Salesman". Of particular interest (in my view, anyway) is the essay "Tragedy and the Common Man" written by Arthur Miller himself (there are other writings by Arthur Miller and part of the transcripts of an interview with Arthur Miller, too). It's true that this version is a little more expensive than others (clocking in at about $13), but, if you like to read what others (and even the playwright himself) have had to say about a particular work, I strongly suggest that you buy this version in favor of a cheaper version with less criticism.
Customer Reviews:
excellent introduction to Bony and Australian bush folklore.......1999-05-24
Death of a Swagman was written in the mid point of Arthur Upfields career and shows in his attention to detail and his ability to capture the feling of Australian country towns in the early part of our century. The story is a good detective novel in its own right with plenty of plots and action and red herrings. Bony's relationship with Rose Marie is used as a strong pivot point throughout the novel giving a useful viewpoint of the running of the town from a child's perspective. The advantage of this book over other bony novels is the character development of the subjects. This gives a depth and humanity which remains after the story is finished. The narrative of the swagmans lifestyle and its mythology is addressed here with great detail and provides a refreshing glimpse of a bygone era.
Customer Reviews:
I really liked this book!.......2007-08-30
A very moving book. That every adult man or woman should read about the relationship between adult child and their parent/s
An important book to read.......2000-05-09
After his father was diagnosed with cancer, Blake Morrison & his family watch him quickly deteriorate & die within a matter of weeks. In trying to come to terms with his death, the author takes you back to the times he spent with his father through childhood to adolescence & adulthood. He writes an honest account of his feelings towards his father both good & bad, alternating between memories of the past & the current trauma of watching him fade away.
His experience is not unique which makes this a very important book to read.
The love hate relationship of a son with his father........1998-08-01
I very English book, a small social commentary on the parts of Britain and a class of British life that the foreign visitor rarely sees. Until recently, all through Britain the local Doctor ( or G.P. as he would also be known) was looked up to as being something else, something better and yet had contact to all classes. In the days up until the 1960's, he was perhaps the only person in a village other than the local Church of England clergyman that had been to a University; as a result the Doctor's son was considered something unusual. In my English schooldays in the 1950's, the sons of Doctors were certainly regarded so. Blake Morrison has written a book of childhood to adulthood memories of his father. The fact that the book is based on the few weeks between his father being diagnosed to be suffering terminal cancer to his death, it is in many ways not a light subject, but everywhere there is a glimmer of humour. For anyone like me, who has lost one or both parents i! t underlines that feeling you have that you have from time to time , in good and bad times , that you would like to be able to have a short chat with the old man... but now it's too late.
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Readings on Death of a Salesman (Greenhaven Press Literary Companion to American Literature)
Manufacturer: Greenhaven Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1565108396 |
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Cruelty, Violence, and Murder: Understanding the Criminal Mind (Library of Object Relations)
Arthur Hyatt-Williams
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ASIN: 0765701286 |
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The line that separates those who kill from those who only think about it and those who injure themselves is often thinner than we imagine. Convicted murderers, their sentences commuted to life in prison when England abolished the death penalty, are some
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Understanding Death of a Salesman: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents (The Greenwood Press "Literature in Context" Series)
Brenda Murphy , and
Susan C. W. Abbotson
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ASIN: 0313304025 |
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This collection of social, cultural, and historical documents and popular materials, with linking explanations and commentary, will help the reader to study the play in the context of its time and cultural background. The collected materials are designed to work with the play to highlight inherent conflicts within American society which lie at the heart of Death of a Salesman, and to explore how the play affects and is affected by social mores and beliefs. Salesmanship and the changing face of business, along with perceptions of sports, gender, and families, are explored through selections drawn from a rich variety of sources that help provide forceful evidence of the play's influence. Documents include essays, articles, and fiction, which have created or explored the social expectations of a typical American family in the late 1940s; unusual selections such as a self-analysis chart, an obituary, and a diary, which help to trace the history of salesmanship from the nineteenth century to the present day; and advertisements, song lyrics, speeches, how-to books, and other readings that promote an interdisciplinary study of the play. More than 70 short primary documents illustrate the cultural, social and historical milieu of the time in which the play takes place. Topics explored under Cultural Myths and Values include the Protestant work ethic vs. myths of success, the myth of the golden West vs. urban myth, and the culture of youth vs. the culture of age. A chapter on economic forces provides materials on business vs. morality, humanity vs. technology, the haves and the have-nots, American business culture, the Depression, and how to be an effective salesman. A chapter on family and gender expectations includes documents on the roles of fathers and mothers, providers vs. cowboys or playboys, and homemakers vs. call girls. A chapter on sports and leisure features documents on amateur football and sports and American values. A final chapter examines the impact of Death of a Salesman on American culture. Each chapter is followed by study questions, topics for writing and discussion, and a list of suggested reading. This work is an ideal companion for interdisciplinary study of the play.
Books:
- Escape from Slavery: The Boyhood of Frederick Douglass in His Own Words
- Everything Corgi: Wit and Wisdom for Lovers of Cardis and Pems
- Experiencing the World's Religions
- Fahrenheit 451
- From Caterpillar to Butterfly (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 1)
- From Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict over Palestine
- Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae
- Goodnight Moon
- Gulliver's Travels (Signet Classics)
- Hamlet: The Texts of 1603 and 1623 (Arden Shakespeare: Third Series)
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