Book Description
How did Kevin O’Connor help create DoubleClick, the innovative marketing technology company...two software companies...dozens of products...and now the “disappearing” DVD, a product that will turn the home video market on its head?
Sheer brilliance? While O’Connor is very smart indeed, he credits his success to applying Thomas Edison’s famous saying that “genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.” In other words, the breakthrough product or service that is the result of sheer genius alone is the exception.
Great ideas that form the basis of new companies or that can make a hero of someone toiling in the corporate world are within reach of us all.
“But wait,” says O’Connor, “ideas are cheap.” Just as important is doing something with them—a process that will turn the best ideas into something that people need. In other words, O’Connor argues convincingly, innovation can be systematically forced.
The Map of Innovation is O’Connor’s step-by-step approach to devising lucrative new products and services and bringing them to market, through a process that has proven itself time and again in many different industries. Too often, people trying to innovate focus on things that don’t matter or waste their time trying to find answers to questions that can’t be answered. O’Connor shows why the map of innovation centers on getting right the five make-or-break fundamentals: creating a large number of viable ideas; picking the right idea to pursue; creating a highly focused strategy to bring the idea to market; getting the money to fund the strategy; and hiring the best people. With Kevin O’Connor, the proof of the value of methodical innovation is in the pudding. He helped start companies that have employed thousands of people and created billions in shareholder value.
Anyone can get lucky once, but for success to strike three times and to include many successful products, there has to be a method and map, and any company, big or small, working on any product or service can benefit from O’Connor’s time-tested tactics.
Customer Reviews:
Practical Book if you get over his self-aggrandizement.......2005-02-27
I almost threw up on the intro and the first chapter with the amount of praise the author heaped on himself. All the while I was thinking that I have never heard of his companies ICC or ISS, and I routinely block the 'doubleclick plague' from all my web browsers, so what has this guy really done? I almost threw in the towel when he claimed he invented the internet but didnt do anything about it.
Also heaping praise on Ford, Edison and bill gates for creativity, when it is generally accepted that these people used others' ideas albiet with good marketing.
Anyway there are some good suggestions in here if you can force yourself to read through it. Im glad I didnt buy the book and got it from the library.
I doubt the author is going to come up any anything substiantial due to his self-aggrandizement, which also also undoubtly make this book far less than a best-seller.
Trite. I expected much, much more........2004-02-02
I bought this book on the advice of a good friend--a friend whose recommendations have been uniformly spot-on; until now.
I found the book trite, pat and predictable. It seemed to reek of Kevin O'Connor's desire to show off his past companies' successes while also proving to the poor reader that the author was just a "normal" guy--that if he could do it, anyone can.
Perhaps I was just put off by the two grammatical errors I noticed in the first 10 pages. Or maybe it was the unpleasant, ironic feeling that Kevin O'Connor's real next money-maker was not starting a new company; it was peddling this book to unsuspecting people who expected something substantive and helpful. (Though I hope folks reading this review realize that there is no "secret recipe" for business success. I wonder how many people who have read The Map of Innovation have subsequently achieved significant business success; my guess is: zero.)
In any case, to my friend's dismay, I couldn't even finish the book. I hope my experience with it helps others to avoid wasting their money and time on it. I wish I could recommend another book in its stead, but I'm afraid I'm not very familiar with this genre in general.
--- Ron Rothman
This has probably become my most underlined book.......2003-10-22
This is one of my best business innovation, entrepreneur, start up books.
Each page is packed with practical wisdom for the new business startup, and the established business.
His information on how to innovate was very good. The author believes in always adding technology to a need. I thought his methods of creativity were somewhat simplistic. But the way he applied them to searching for business solutions was excellent.
The most important advice that I received from the book was in hiring. He suggests that you "Hire Smart At......". You'll be surprised with his recommendation. I had always thought that A. David Silver's advice on start up entrepreneur's was right on (find someone with a hurt), but O'Connors is closer to what I was trying to elucidate but couldn't.
Highly recommended, one of my current favorites.
John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX
One of the best books on creating something new.......2003-09-16
I admit I read this book with a good bit of skepticism. I read Twyla Tharp's new book on creativity with even more. How does one "teach" innovation and creativity? It has to happen organically, doesn't it? Well, this book shows exactly how to create an environment in which product development can evolve naturally. The author has a number of major products, services, and companies under his belt, and there are really sound checklists for encouraging a workplace in which creativity and innovation can happen - and be recognized and rewarded.
What an intriguing idea..........2003-09-02
...that innovation can be forced. That is, that there is an actual template you can follow to come with better products and services.
If a consultant posed the premise, I'd have my doubts. But this is written by a guy who has started a series of successful companies and who is actually in the business of being an entrepreneur (and not writing books.)
Well worth your time.
Book Description
"It's like this: all my friends are something. Stephanie is a Unitarian, Suzy is Jewish, Michelle is a Catholic, and Lucy is a Presbyterian. So I just want to know, what am I?"
"We're nothing." My father was looking right at me; he had a pleasant, friendly kind of expression. "Nothing," he said again.
In this intimate, funny, and sincere memoir, Lalli chronicles her experiences while confronting the broader issues of faith, tolerance, and respect in the confusing religious landscape of America. With touching humor, Lalli reflects on her childhood memories full of mishaps and misadventures as she tries to fit into communities populated with religions and true believers: bargains she makes with God to test his existence, "Jesus Freaks" intent on evangelizing at every opportunity, and teenage skiers more interested in Bible-thumping than hitting the slopes. In her adult life, her difficulties with religion continue as her family's spiritual ambivalence conflicts with a new, Christian in-law. In the end, Lalli finds the courage to define what she is rather than what she's not. By delving into these universal themes through the lens of family relationships and the culture of "God Bless America," Lalli finds that nothing is a philosophy to be embraced rather than feared.
Customer Reviews:
Great look inside the life and mind of an atheist.......2007-09-24
This book is different than most of the atheist books on the market today, because it includes no arguments against religion or the existence of god. It has no arguments at all, except for those that Nica had with her family members in the past. This book is the story of Nica's personal journey from being uncomfortable as the only child in her school who was "nothing" to her coming to terms with the fact that she really does have many things to believe in, but none of them have anything to do with god or religion.
The book is well written, funny, touching, and always interesting. Nica is open and honest about the twists and turns in her own spiritual adventures and search for meaning outside of the religious American mainstream. Sometimes a personal story does more to get to the heart of an issue than pages and pages of logical argument and polemics. I think Nothing should be required reading for both believers and unbelievers because it shows that we actually have more in common than is often acknowledged.
Not much.......2007-09-17
I am impressed that somebody thought this book worth publishing. Can I get Prometheus Books to fund a rant against my in-laws too?
Read the whole book and it comes down to this: she believes in the human spirit. HOLY CRAP!!!!! HAS ANYBODY EVER THOUGHT OF THAT????
Memo to Amazon atheists: somebody send Nica a copy of The Portable Nietzsche.
Nice book.......2007-09-09
It was fun to read, being an atheist since birth myself I recognized some situations but contrary to her I hardly ever even came into contact with religion while growing up.
I feel like Nica Lalli is sometimes too soft on religion and I think she secretly wishes god does exist. Still that is her right and I do recommend the book!
It's Really Not Bad.......2007-08-08
While I agree with many of the other reviewers of this book that Nica Lalli's details and anecdotes about her life, her family, her schooling, her marriage, etc, can be tedious and sometimes boring, I applaud her for writing a book that tackles the atheism vs. religion debate from a personal perspective. Lalli's book is not about "making the case" against religion from a scientific standpoint as so many other authors have done. If you are looking for that type of book, try David Mills, Richard Dawkins, or Sam Harris. Lalli's book is more about the struggles of growing up as an atheist (or in her words, a person who believes in nothing) in a religious world and feeling out of place and many times downright wrong, and finally discovering that the act of not believing in god and not being religious is itself a belief system, and one that she should not be ashamed of. Lalli refuses to define her beliefs in negative terms. It is not that she DOESN'T believe in god, it is that she DOES believe in nothing. Her book is really a memoir, and when read in that context, the stories and anecdotes don't seem so out of place and many of them are very humorous (she could, however, benefit from staying a little more focused on her subject as she gets rather long-winded at times). All in all, her book is a refreshing take on this issue and it was particularly interesting to me to read about a person who has always been an atheist and was raised by atheist parents. Most of the atheists that I am aware of (including myself) have all come into atheism after "de-converting" from whatever religion they were raised under. Nica Lalli did not have this experience. She was never indoctrinated with religion as a child, so religious ceremonies, holidays, iconography, rituals, and sayings seem completely bizarre to her. Her perspectives on these topics are both humorous and thought-provoking.
A Disappointment.......2007-07-07
I'm glad I'm not the only one why noticed the irrevelant babbling inside this book. It's like the author thought about random, yet extremely ordinary and uninteresting, events in her childhood to herself and decided to write it down just to keep her memories in print. It certainly digresses from the religion topic many times. I kept waiting for it to pick up, but it let me down. I read this book to find a new perspective, not to judge the author in any way. The writing is choppy at times, and when it isn't, it is filled with meaningless anecdotes. The only passage worth reading came at the end when she comes to terms with her religion.
Book Description
Mr. Shulman has developed an enhanced understanding of kleptomania, based on an addiction model. It offers the best hope we have today for effective treatment of this baffling disorder.@ - Dr.David August, D.O., Lewes, Delaware
Any therapist, judge, probation officer, or any professional who deals with shoplifters needs to read this book. Mr. Shulman=s understanding of and personal experience with this behavior makes this book an invaluable tool in helping to understand and rehabilitate people who shoplift. Winona Ryder should read this book.@ - Judge Richard Halloran, Wayne County Circuit Court, Detroit, Michigan
Customer Reviews:
Best info I've found on shoplifting!.......2006-07-10
Dr. Shulman has done an exemplary job of defining the REAL HIDDEN reasons why people shoplift and the BEST way to recover. He dares to share his own story of how he became a recovering shoplifter, and how he has turned his "mess" into a "message" to help others with similar problems. I appreciated his honesty and genuine empathy for people who shoplift, and his rational approach to the "cure." Anyone who has ever shoplifted or who loves someone who shoplifts needs to read this book NOW!
Helful and Heartfelt.......2006-03-09
I found this book to be very honest, heartfelt and helpful. Anyone who is either suffering from or interested in the affliction of shoplifting should read this book!
An enlightening and user-friendly book.......2006-02-10
As there is little out there on shoplifting addiction, I found "Something for Nothing" to be a very helpful guide to why people shoplift and what can be done to help them. I found the 4 stories in the book, especially the author's own story, enlightening and moving. I appreciated the statistics, the theories, and the exercises as well. I admire Mr. Shulman for his devotion to his own recovery as well as to his efforts to help others, especially by writing this book and starting a support group. I wish there was a group where I am from but it seems there are so few. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand shoplifting addiction and how to get help.
Disappointing Read.......2006-02-07
I purchased this book after reading an article in the Detroit news and looking at the author's website. Because I have a daughter with a shopping and shoplifting problem I thought this book would provide me with some help in understanding the dynamics surrounding the behavior from a mental health perspective. I should have looked closer at the book and realized that it is a personal story and not a self-help book. The points provided in the book are repeated over and over and there is just alot of "fluff" in the book. I expected more indepth information on studies, hopeful treatments, legal standpoints, intensive treatment options, etc. the book did not address any of this. It barely scratched the surface of addressing questions and concers about the acts.
This is the only book on shoplifting addiction that has helped me.......2005-11-12
After seeing Mr. Shulman and the topic of shoplifting addiction featured on Prime Time Live and The Early Show recently, [...]. It was a godsend! I'd been looking all over for help and finally I have hope. I appreciated Mr. Shulman's honesty in telling his story of recovery from this addiction. The other stories in the book were helpful as well. This book has something for everyone--theories, statistics, exercises, resources, and even how to apply the 12 Steps to recovery from shoplifting addiction. I applaud Mr. Shulman for his bravery and for being a pioneer in this field with little understanding and little compassion. I can see in the most recent reviews what I and others are up against. I highly doubt that these reviewers have even read his book as it does, indeed, include mention of the 12 Steps and certainly does not make excuses for anyone who steals. I doubt noteworthy programs like Prime Time Live and The Early Show would have featured theft addiction as legitimate topics if they didn't believe Mr. Shulman was onto something. I am still reading this book and intend to read it over and over again. I encourage anyone truly interested in this problem to read it and judge for yourself. Thanks, Mr. Shulman. For the first time, I feel hope that there is someone who understands me.
Book Description
Robert Ringer's books have created a revolution in the self-development genre and shown millions the way to personal and professional achievement. Filled with humorous and enriching anecdotes Action!, exhorts the reader when you close the book, to get up out of your chair and take action now. Action is life, and life is meant to be lived.
Customer Reviews:
Lots of Gems in this mine..........2007-02-11
Robert Ringer's Action! is a surprisingly--to me, anyway--deep yet conversational meditation on the nature and mystery of the principle of action in human life. Why "surprising"? Well, as just one example, Ringer's brief discussion of how "Action Produces Genius, Magic, and Power" improves upon the contemplations of no less than the great poet and philosopher Goethe. No small achievement in a breezy few pages! His reflections on the many facets of action, combined with often charming anecdotes, are worth coming back to--often. If the illustrations and some of Ringer's opinions and stories don't speak to you (some didn't to me), don't let that keep you away from the gems to be mined here. If you're already a person of action, this book will ground your motion in wisdom; and if you're more of a thinking or feeling type, it'll help you get your contemplative pedal onto the action--and results!--metal.
--Saniel Bonder, author, Healing the Spirit/Matter Split, The Spiritual Entrepreneur
Get Moving and Make Something Happen.......2007-01-10
This is one of the best books I've read in a long time. The title alone is motivating and is in fact a quote from Albert Einstein. The author makes a strong case for making bold moves to get change in your life. It is written in an easy to read format, yet has deep content with spirituality and some science. This is different type of book from his first one "Winning Through Intimidation" now called "To Be or Not to Be Intimidated". This book shares the author's years of experience about what it really takes to be successful. I highly recommend it.
couldn't even finish it .......2006-12-29
I'm a Ringer Fan, looking out for #1 is my favorite of his, with intimidation as 2nd.
But this gave me headaches, on and on about racial issues and other topics that give me headaches. Who cares? I just want to make money . . .
A little disapointing.......2006-07-17
the first 50 pages are good and explore interesting philosophical concepts, based upon Robert Ringer's life. The rest of the book is frankly mediocre. We do live in a different world indeed, and its seems that the "turtoise" has a hard time dealing with it.
Action.......2005-09-23
Overall, I would give the book 4 stars. First few chapters were excellent. The remainder of the book was essentially supporting stories. Solid "recommend".
Customer Reviews:
One of our all-time favorites..........2007-03-12
Something from Nothing is a classic folktale retold by Phoebe Gilman in a delightful, playful way. My children love repeating Grandfather's refrain "Hmm, he said as his scissors went snip, snip, snip and his needle flew in and out and in and out. There's just enough material here to make..." along with me as I read and they love discovering new things the mouse family are up to under the family's floorboards or out on the town. They find something new every time! Joseph Had a Little Overcoat tells the same story but we like Something from Nothing much, much better.
Something from Nothing.......2006-07-11
This is one of my favorite children's books. I love the artwork and the retelling of an old story. It is a wonderful gift for all your best beloved children.
Something From Nothing.......2006-03-10
I love this book! I am now reading it to my young grandson.
It is such a heartwarming tale. It is really two stories in one because the little mice at the bottom of the pages are an important part of the story going on during the main portion of the book.
The pictures are charming and beautiful. This is my second copy of the book because as a teacher, I wore out the first one and didn't want my grandson to miss out on this special tale.
Wonderful.......2005-10-25
Ever since I was very small I loved this book. Once when I came home from a vacation it was gone. We heard it was out of print. But after a while it reprinted, we found our old book and have given the book to multiple people since then.
beautiful.......2005-08-21
beautiful story, and the illustrations by the author are spectactular. Children will LOVE creating their own text from the hidden story along the bottom of each page:)
Book Description
Marie Curie’s story has fascinated and inspired young readers
decades. The poor Polish girl who worked eight years to be able
to afford to attend the Sorbonne in Paris became one of the
most important scientists of her day, winning not one but two
Nobel Prizes. Her life is a fascinating one, filled with hard work,
humanitarianism, and tragedy. Her work with her husband,
Pierre – the study of radioactivity and the discovery of the
elements radium and polonium – changed science forever. But
she is less well known for her selfless efforts during World War
to establish mobile X-ray units so that wounded French soldiers
could get better care faster. When she stood to profit greatly
from her scientific work, she chose not to, making her methods
and findings known and available to all of science. As a result,
this famous woman spent most of her life in need of money,
often to buy the very elements she discovered.
Marie Curie’s life and work are given a fresh telling, one that
also explores the larger picture of the effects of radium in world
culture, and its exploitation and sad misuse.
Customer Reviews:
A great read!.......2007-09-28
I purchased this book for my grandniece, to demonstrate what women can achieve, and ended up reading it first. I loved how the author presented Marie Curie and her discoveries. I loved how she presented all of the hardships she encountered along the way, yet prevailed in her work. I learned a lot about Madam Curie from this very wonderful book. I hope my grandniece and other young girls will get inspiration from the story and the woman it is about.
Delightful Reading!.......2006-12-19
I always say that if all history-based textbooks were written like some of the best nonfiction books I've read in my day (ON THE REZ by Ian Frazier, FS&G, being one of them), then kids would gobble up history in school! Carla McClafferty's SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING is one of those books. It reads like a STORY, in a delightful but informative way that painlessly imparts the facts about Marie Curie and her life's work. I read it straight through, like I would an entertaining novel! I would recommend this book to kids looking for a biography to read--and to adults, too. Excellent job.
Radium: It slices. It dices........2006-10-17
The biography for children is rarely done well, if at all. It's too easy to take the life of someone famous, slap a few facts together, and then sell copies of your newest creation to countless school libraries around the country. When it comes to bios for small fry there are two modes of thought. Either you're going to do the least interesting, simplest biography (thereby boring both your child reader and yourself), or you're going to put some work into your creation and place the subject of your biography within the context of their times. Ms. Carla Killough McClafferty has opted for the latter. "Something Out of Nothing: Marie Curie and Radium" starts slow and then builds and builds until you find yourself in a remarkable world of radium drinks, pills, and miracle cures. McClafferty is no stranger to the world of radiation, having penned a history of the X-Ray for kids before. Now she turns her sights to one of the greatest female scientists in the history of the world. From stage frightened Polish child, to Parisian researcher, to her death at the age of sixty-six, Marie Curie's life is propped before us with just the right combination of kid appeal and facts.
She was born a poor Polish girl on November 7, 1867. Smart from the start, Marie Curie, born Marya Sklodowska, dreamed of someday being given the chance to study at the University of Paris. After many years of saving and unpleasantness, she was able to come to France to fulfill this dream. While there, she met and married Pierre Curie and together the two of them set about discovering a couple elements and the true nature of that most mysterious of substances, radium. Author Carla McClafferty takes Marie's discoveries and counterpoints the rise in radium popularity with the high-profile Marie reluctantly had to adapt to. She was a celebrity of her time so that just as radium caught on with the public, so too did Marie's personal life. Remarkable in more ways than one, this is a story of a scientist who broke with convention to become extraordinary. This telling matches her in magnificence.
I admit that in my ignorance I didn't think there'd be much to say about Marie Curie in a book for kids. I mean, she grew up, married Pierre Curie, discovered radium, and died of radiation poisoning, right? I thought maybe Ms. McClafferty would have a chance to make a long book if she simply stretched out Marie's early life for as long as possible. So when I got to page 32 and found the book's subject already studying uranium rays, I couldn't help but yell at the narrator, "Slow down, McClafferty! There isn't much more to say! You're going too fast!" Of course, she wasn't. This book goes at exactly the right speed, never dwelling on a dull factoid or pulling to inordinate length a moment in Mrs. Curie's life that needed no stretching. And while I knew the basic "first woman" facts surrounding Marie, I had no idea what a great person she was as well. This is someone who refused to patent radium because she felt the element belonged to the world and not just the people who happened to find it. A woman who drove mobile X-ray units into war zones to aid doctors. Who named a new element Polonium after her beloved Poland. I knew none of this before and with McClafferty's snappy writing helping me along, I feel any kid that reads this book will learn so very much.
A couple years ago I had a chance to visit Minneapolis, Minnesota's now defunct Museum of Questionable Medical Devices. Besides the exhibits featuring ear candles and phrenology machines, there was a large section of the museum dedicated to the radium fads. It never would have occurred to me to think that Marie Curie had an indirect connection to the bottles of Radithor or the Revigator jars on display under glass cases. Even the Museum, though, didn't have half the fascinating items shown in photographs in this book. Radium was the original glow-in-the-dark paint, making everything from watch dials to crucifixes shine when the lights were low. The most frightening of all of these? The "Atomic `Bomb'" ring. Says the book, "You could see tiny flashes of light come and go as individual atoms of a radioactive material gave off energy and lit up the zinc sulfide in the ring." McClafferty knows to pepper her book with stuff of this nature, giving the book just the right amount of zing and zazz for the kiddies reading it.
One problem I do have with the book is that McClafferty doesn't really drill home the danger of all these radioactive consumer products. Take, once more, the Atomic Bomb ring. Was it really dangerous to kids or was it as harmless as the manufacturers said? Obviously McClafferty wouldn't be able to say just how harmful each and every product shown in this book was (there are, after all, quite a lot of them) but I would have liked a little clarification on a couple points. It isn't until we get to the end of the book that we learn exactly what it is that radium poisoning does to the human body. Even then, to what degree is radium outside of the body dangerous? We hear that when someone wants to view the original notebooks of the Curies they must, "sign a form releasing the library from responsibility for any `possible risks of radioactivity'". But to what extent would those notebooks be dangerous? A little more clarification on contact with radium without ingesting it would be welcome in this title.
And yet nothing eases my fears faster than an author who knows the importance of displaying their source materials. Right from the start a "Note to the Reader" explains why the author chose one spelling of Marya Sklodowska over another. Later on, Ms. McClafferty gives us copious Source Notes, a rather impressive Selected Bibliography, Illustration Credits, an Index, and (most impressive of all) a wonderful list of well-selected Recommended Web Sites. Kudos all around. What I want to get through to you is that this book is equal parts fun writing and great factual info. Sure it's chock full of great info about this great woman. But it also happens to be a gripping read and a great story to boot. Marie Curie appears here to be the kind of woman authors dream of writing biographies about. Ms. McClafferty just happened to be bright enough to tie in Mrs. Curie's life to the world around her and the fads that came about due to the radium hype. A great book and well worth adding to any and every collection in the country.
Easy To Read Fascinating Biography.......2006-06-08
I've always loved to read biographies. If you have a middle reader, you'll appreciate Something Out of Nothing. Carla McClafferty has combined solid research with excellent writing.
In the final pages of this book, she writes, "The life of Marie Curie demonstrates that one person can make a difference in the world. She overcame obstables of poverty, fear, depression, discrimination, personal grief, and public humiliation to accomplish groundbreaking scientific work."
The storytelling combined with photographs will make this a valuable book for any young reader. It's an ideal addition for any library or home.
Book Description
America's greatness comes from people working hard to fulfill their dreams. But today that greatness is being undermined by people using the government to steal other people's dreams (and money). Rather than participate and innovate in the marketplace, generating goods and services that benefit society, people are increasingly vying for political advantage to live at the expense of others. Something for Nothing reveals the social and personal threats inherent in this emerging "grabbing match" culture, juxtaposing free-market virtues against government vices, explaining how the something-for-nothing mentality corrupts the political system, undermines corporate success, and stifles the individual's ability to prosper and contribute long-term to society. More than exposing the dangers, however, Tracy helps readers set a personal and culture-wide agenda for change.
Download Description
"The worst day in a man's life is when he sits down and begins thinking about how he can get something for nothing." -Thomas Jefferson The United States of America is the greatest country in the world, and perhaps in all of history. Amricans are the most generous people on earth. They give more money to help others than all the countries of the world put together. America takes in more immigrants each year than all other countries. America produces 25% of all the goods and services in the world with only 5% of the population. America is the most powerful country on earth militarily, and the only country that has never sought to expand by conquest and imperialism. And yet today, America is in great danger of loosing its moral, ethical and political bearings than at any other time. In the headlong rush to get something for nothing, America is becoming a national "grabbing match" where everyone is trying to get money and benefits at the expense of everyone else. In this block-busting book, Brian Tracy explains, step-by-step how we got into this financial fantasyland, and how we can get out -starting today.
Customer Reviews:
An Eyeopener!.......2007-08-28
This is a bit of a different book than Brian Tracy's usual but I found it great! Brian has researched into how many people in society are not taking responsibility and what we can do about it. Too bad Brian isn't running for the US Presidency, he'd be great in the White House
Vitriolic discourse on responsible living.......2007-08-10
"Something for Nothing" is Brian Tracy's cry for a social reform in America where people are encouraged by law to live responsibly and everyone is taxed equally. Throughout the book he poses a question "where did people get a notion that the world owes them a living" and then points finger to different elements from the universal law of least resistance that is wired in everything in nature, including in human beings (when it gets to humans he is labelling it either "laziness" or "expedience"), to upbringing of children, and then to laws, regulations and social customs. He gives examples of situations where people who were receiving financial assistance from welfare miraculously found jobs when the support from welfare was discontinued. He sounds bewildered and enraged because the governmental system is essentially punishing people who are willing to work by taxing them and then giving that money to those who are unwilling to work - and he has a point there. It is a ridiculous system and the system should be changed to encourage all people who are mentally and physically capable to work to contribute to society in some constructive way and to be responsible for their
financial needs. I think that instead, people should be helped to discover their talents, to develop abilities and to contribute to the wellbeing of the society by sharing their skills.
Some people are more self-motivated or spiritually conscious and feel propelled to contribute to the world in some constructive way through the inner drive, an urge to justify their existence in this world through the contribution they can make, some people's souls cry for creative expression louder than those of others, while some act more like little children who need motivation and direction from the outside.
In spite of some good points, the tone of this book is rather condescending and cynical, which I found surprising coming from a man who wrote a book on the power of charm, and many other motivational books.
look, if you are a liberal AND are CLOSED minded, you won't like what you will read, because your world will come tumbling down.......2007-01-06
Look, if you are a liberal AND are CLOSED minded, then you won't like what you will discover in this book, because your world will come tumbling down. And if you are in support of large government and think that world owes you something, then you also won't like this book either. BUT, that's the worst problem about this book. The people who will hate it are actually the same people this book was intended to help.
Next, if you are open minded, and want to read some of the most compelling arguments of what is plaguing out western democracies, then this book is a must and absolutely the best place to start. I liked it so much i bought 7 of them to give out as gifts.
The next huge point to understand,,, this book is NOT just about politics. Sure, politics is the stage which Brian uses to get his point across, BUT, if you were to read this book and internally reflect about how it applies to you personally, and how it applies to those around you, you will be amazed at how powerful the societal influences have been upon all of us up until now. This book is really a book about human nature. But then again, I am just a Lazy, Greedy, Ambitious, Impatient, Selfish, Vain, Ignorant, and Expedient,,, so what do I know?
Additionally, even though Brian says that it is estimated that I am wrong at least 70% of the time, I am banking on being part of the 30% this time and I couldn't recommend this book any more highly.
The way I see it, your thoughts lead to your feelings, and your feelings leads to your actions, and your actions lead to your results. Let's face it, if you keep doing what you are doing, you are going to keep gettting the same results your are getting right now. So, if you want to get different results than you are getting now, then you need to start thinking differently. This book might just be that wake up call you need to change your perspective on some key things. If you adopt to even some of this new thinking, the change and results in your life will be tremendous.
A small price for a big reminder about character.......2006-09-09
I recommended this book to the President--not because he himself lacks character, but to remind us all that WE lack character, and large numbers of us keep expecting it to show up in the mailbox every month. How DARE we allow the government to set such minimum mediocre standards for us to achieve and be happy with! How dare we settle for such mediocrity in our lives, and then scream for more "something for nothing" in the form of handouts.
This book is full of lessons about the elements of character, how to put it all together, and finally, what to do with it. We as a nation need to turn in our rested laurels for a pair of bootstraps, and PRONTO!
If you are already in possession of a pair of bootstraps, you'll find this an inspirational read. If not, then you will find it a disgusting finger-pointing accusation of what you AREN'T doing to help this nation thrive--and you SHOULD be disgusted with what you AREN'T doing!
Manipulative rhetoric.......2006-06-24
I am (had been) a huge Brian Tracy fan. For years I've read and benefitted from his work on personal development, but this (his first political) book has really turned me off him.
I would stress that it is not his political views that make this a poor book, but the manner in which he expresses them. It starts out fine with some basic stuff about human nature leading to a predisposition to laziness and greed. It takes on this theme and explains how the US had developed into a 'something for nothing' culture which threatens it's very future. Underlying all this is an argument for a free market economics. He provides much persuasive evidence to support his case.
The strange thing is I agree with him on all this. The problems come in the last few chapters when he begins to use the manipulative rhetoric of the far right that so often damages their case. By the end of the book he is coming across as an angrier, more bitter verison of Rush Limbaugh. One example of his ridiculous and misleading generalisations is when he criticizes the environmental movement. He alludes that the movement is based on "junk science", that all they are after is "free money", and that they go on "junkets to conferences where they often travel in limousines and stay in beautiful hotels". Either Brian know this sort of generalistaion is nonsense and he is dishonest, or he thinks it is true and and is ignorant. And this from a man who spend an entire chapter discussing the importance of character and integrity.
Sorry Brian, while I agree with your views, I abhore your methods. I think it was Stephen Covey who said you can not achieve a worthy ends with an unworthy means.
Anyone interested in this type of stuff should stick to Milton Friedman's 'Free to Choose' and people who are able to display some integrity.
Book Description
Everyone needs something to blurt out during uncomfortable silences and ice-breaker moments. This fascinating handbook of hilarious, arcane and bizarre tidbits will make its bearer a hit in party conversations and trivia contests.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting !.......2007-07-27
The best one... in my opinion..
"All U.S. Presidents, from the start, have had blue eyes."
Every single one!
Now what is up with that? Very strange and it cannot just be called a coincidence.
I am interested in hearing others thoughts on this. If you think you have a good explanation add your comments to this review please.
This book is horrible.......2007-01-25
I decided to buy this book after seeing the cover. My mother taught me when I was younger not to do things like that, because sometimes you'll be wrong, but she was barely literate and didn't know who my father was, so I ignored her and this book arrived in the mail.
The first sign that something was wrong was the way the mailman was walking when he brought this enormous package up to my house. It says that it's 220 pages, but these fancy art designers fail to mention that they are incredibly thick pages, so the book itself weighs about thirty pounds. It isn't even a good centerpiece, either, because its existence means you're worried about ice breaking, and my friends got offended. They wanted to know why I didn't feel comfortable around them, speaking and interacting in the banal, juvenile ways I had been doing for years, but I was tired of so I bought this book which I thought I could read in the privacy of my room.
Anyway, the facts, as mentioned by a bunch of other reviewers are either way off or stupid. "'Birds of a Feather' do NOT actually flock together!", "It is against the law for a baby to occupy a uterus without a signed permit in Tallahassee, FL, after a mistake in the text of the cities [sic] laws!" This stuff isn't even readable, and sometimes it borders on dangerous. What is this supposed to be, "Carmel was invented in the middle ages as an experiment by Gypsies to start blood libel myths about themselves, after they saw how well it worked for the Jews!", or in their "Hand Myth" section (at least fifty of the super-thick pages are devoted specifically to "hand myths", which I thought was a joke at first, but it kept going and going and going) they told me that my little boy was more prone to psychosis because his ring finger is slightly shorter than his pointer finger, and that he was possibly retarded because his hand could stretch over his face.
Looking back, I would probably have preferred that this book been lost in the mail and I just got ripped off. Then I could be steamed at Amazon and these NICOTEXT goons, but now I'm angry and I've read this book. Talk about a double whammy. Which, by the way, the book says was originally an obscure term for bestiality in Middle Persian.
This book is excellent!!!.......2007-01-10
Your review should focus on the book's content and context
The best reviews include not only whether you liked or disliked a product, but also why. Feel free to talk about other related products and how this item rates in comparison.
What not to include:
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Different kind of book.......2006-06-20
This book had some interesting tid-bit facts. Would have been nice if I had received it as a gift rather than purchasing it myself. I read through the book once a lot of the facts I had already known and some were very suprising.
terrible.......2006-02-28
Save your money, if i could get mine back i would want it doubled. Filled with spelling and grammer errors (page 27 "The Big Kahuna Burger" was not only eating in pulp fiction". I'm pretty sure that should be eaten, and a comma not a period at the end.), i run across several facts that are just plain wrong (page 17 "In Fairbanks Alaska a law forbids elks to have sex on the streets"... ok first off elks isnt a word, its just elk, and second off there are no Elk in fairbanks alaska, the law is about Moose. I live in Fairbanks, its a well known law from the early 1900s with a funny story about why it is a law, but there are NO ELK in interior of Alaska) Save your money and buy a book that at least went through a spell checker or a grammar check, and for God's sake, if you are gonna call them facts , at least make sure they are facts!
Customer Reviews:
Engelbreit Genius.......2003-01-31
Yet again Mary has found a way into our homes. If you are tired of coloring in your children's books, or they have just plain told you to stop hogging their pages, this is the coloring book for you! Each page is made of heavy paper stock and high-contrast images. This one is a winner! Color to your hearts content, and while you're at it, pick up a frame or two and show off your very own Mary Engelbreit masterpiece.
A lot of fun.......2002-04-28
I am a nanny for three children and have often wished for a more adult coloring book. I was thrilled to have found this one. Not only is it Mary Engelbreit, whom I love, but the pictures are so much more fun to color than in the average book. There is a lot of detail in the pictures, and the pages are thick enough so you can use marker. It is fun for children, but a lot of fun for adults. The activities are fun for my charges and me to do together. We all recommend this book, for the adult child too.
Average customer rating:
- jump-start your creative side
- Chico, California writer journeys through loss, to creativity, to play
|
Foolsgold: Making Something from Nothing and Freeing Your Creative Process
Susan G. Wooldridge
Manufacturer: Harmony
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Creativity
| Self-Help
| Health, Mind & Body
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| Health, Mind & Body
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Personal Transformation
| Self-Help
| Health, Mind & Body
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Creativity
| By Topic
| Psychology & Counseling
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Similar Items:
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Living the Creative Life: Ideas and Inspiration from Working Artists
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Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life with Words
-
Mixed-Media Collage: An Exploration of Contemporary Artists, Methods, and Materials
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In This House: A Collection of Altered Art Imagery and Collage Techniques
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Wreck This Journal
ASIN: 0307341488
Release Date: 2007-06-05 |
Book Description
In this personal, inspiring guide to a creative life, Wooldridge shares her own journey of the heart—from loss and grief to a return to wholeness and joy. Offering poetry exercises, journal writing, and other practices to encourage creative play—including foraging and assembling collages with found objects—Foolsgold: Making Something from Nothing and Freeing Your Creative Process will motivate you to reevaluate what’s most important in your world.
Through intimate stories about transforming what life brings your way, the book will help open your heart to more creativity—DELIGHT AND VITALITY—whether it’s through photography, dance, gardening, cooking, songwriting, or poetry. Foolsgold includes dozens of suggestions to help you free the artist within by cultivating a creative lifestyle that will not only expand and inspire you but may also ground and heal you.
Customer Reviews:
jump-start your creative side.......2007-09-03
I purchased this book yesterday, hoping it would reach the stellar heights of Poemcrazy, and so far, Susan has not let me down. I have read about one quarter of the book and the only thing preventing me from being further along(I'm a fast reader)is the fact I have been writing furiously in my journal. My hand is aching, my neck is sore, my dog wants to play, and dinner is not even a figment of my imagination. But, I write on - spurred by the intensely personal and motivational words of Susan. So, go out and buy this beautiful, healing book. But get all your chores done first!
Chico, California writer journeys through loss, to creativity, to play.......2007-06-15
About a decade has passed since Chicoan Susan Wooldridge published "poemcrazy," a book about the magic of words that was a longtime offering of the Quality Paperback Book Club. Words still beckon, but times have changed, and now the creative impulse is called to sustain her in the midst of loss, failure, death. In "Foolsgold: Making Something From Nothing and Freeing Your Creative Process" ($22 in hardcover from Harmony Books), Wooldridge takes the reader into her sanctuaries: Chico Creek, One-Mile, the Upper Crust Bakery.
"When I started the book," she says in her introduction, "I was grieving the death of my father, the end of my long marriage, and the breakup of a subsequent romance. & I began writing these pages when I decided to make a small collage box each day for a year with what I found on my walks -- often the most ordinary, seemingly worthless bits of nothing. That's when fool's gold became foolsgold for me, a field around us, or state of being, where everything can be transformed by our seeing and creativity.
"Merged into one word, foolsgold describes a paradox, the value in what may seem to be worthless. Foolsgold reminds us to look beyond appearances, even in ourselves. What seems to loom in us most darkly may finally be what brings the most light. Everything can be transmuted by attention, play, love." Wooldridge's maiden name is "Goldsmith."
The book contains almost 50 short meditations on life, loss and creativity. Wooldridge wonders how best to celebrate the life of her Poppa Julien, "the renegade bright-star atheist scientist who fled the Jewish fold. ... Sifting through small pebbles as Chico Creek rushes past, playing with juxtaposition, I feel as if I'm engaged in a kind of primitive and almost unconscious creekside alchemy. I search for a way to contain, classify, make sense. & I suspect this is what Poppa, a geochemist, was up to when he was studying mineral & structures in a high-pressure lab with ominous warnings on the door." Poppa is honored by the family with a telephone Kaddish from cousin Harold -- an embrace of ritual -- and, a year later, a scattering of his ashes in Chicago, the day the author's divorce is final.
The spontaneity of creativity, Wooldridge realizes, must be given form by ritual. The chapters of her book "help me wrestle emotions into shape. Frame them." The community she has built, with her two children and the 30 families where she now lives in Valley Oaks Village, has freed her to dance.
It is enough.
Copyright 2007 Chico Enterprise-Record. Used by permission.
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- The Peebles Principles: Tales and Tactics from an Entrepreneur's Life of Winning Deals, Succeeding in Business, and Creating a Fortune from Scratch
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- The Shadow of the Wind
- The Ski Mask Way
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- The Weather Makers : How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth
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