In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Book 6)

In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Book 6)
Average customer rating:

Delight in Cheerful Ladies!

Mystery and Laugh Out Loud Funny

Excellent Author

Pumpkins, green dancing shoes, and decrepit white vans...

If this is your first time reading the series -- it's wonderful. Otherwise, repetitive & tedious.

In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Book 6)
Alexander McCall Smith
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Women Sleuths | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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The Full Cupboard of Life (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Book 5)

Blue Shoes and Happiness (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Book 7)

The Kalahari Typing School for Men (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Book 4)

Morality for Beautiful Girls (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Book 3)

Tears of the Giraffe (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Book 2)

ASIN: 0375422714
Release Date: 2005-04-19

Book Description

In the newest addition to the universally beloved No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, the charming and ever-resourceful Precious Ramotswe finds herself overly beset by problems. She is already busier than usual at the detective agency when added to her concerns are a strange intruder in her house on Zebra Drive and the baffling appearance of a pumpkin. And then there is Mma Makutsi, who decides to treat herself to dance lessons, only to be partnered with a man who seems to have two left feet. Nor are things running quite as smoothly as they usually do at Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. Mma Ramotswe’s husband, the estimable Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, is overburdened with work even before one of his apprentices runs off with a wealthy woman. But what finally rattles Mma Ramotswe’s normally unshakable composure is a visitor who forces her to confront a secret from her past. . . .

All this unfolds against the sunlit background of Mma Ramotswe’s beloved homeland, Botswana–a land of empty spaces, echoing skies, and an endless supply of soothing bush tea.

Customer Reviews:

Delight in Cheerful Ladies!.......2007-08-14

In the Company of Cheerful Ladies, the sixth book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith continues to delight the reader, by allowing us to visit the enchanted world of Botswana through the eyes of the number one lady detective Precious Ramotswe. We peak into a foreign world which seems oddly familiar. It is a world we knew during days of Andy Griffith and Leave It to Beaver. This time however we see the world through African eyes.

Precious Ramotswe, is a Botswanan lady of traditional build and traditional values, even so she is modern enough to establish her own detective agency, something unheard of in Botswana. Precious is a shrewd woman with an innate sense of right and wrong . She holds to traditional Botswanan values, while solving any puzzle or predicament which her clients may present her.

She is not with out help and support. Precious is newly married to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni who is a mechanic with strong values of service and care. Also in the cast of characters is Mma Makutsi, Precious' associate. Mma Makutsi is a more modern woman, but one who values hard work. Together they create a truly delightful mix of personalities.

When the personalities combine with the everyday details of Botswana, slices of each characters life and personal dilemmas and the puzzles which the clients present , the reader can delight in a true literary dish that is not to be missed.

A reader of In the Company of Cheerful Ladies cannot help but wish to travel to Botswana and meet Precious Ramotswe.

Mystery and Laugh Out Loud Funny.......2007-08-09

O Boy! Want some mystery? Good clean humor? No violence? Precious Ramotswe, a traditionally-built woman without apology, and her pals are here for us. She and her assistant, Grace (who gets advice from her colorful designer shoes), are very entertaining and many times, laugh-out-loud funny. I read the entire Ladies' Detective series in a couple of weeks. The books average about 200+ pages each. Set in modern Botswana and written by Alexander Mccall Smith, the reader may be encouraged to visit Botswana and Her people.

Excellent Author.......2007-07-05

Keeps your interest all the way through the book, in fact, throughout the whole series.

Pumpkins, green dancing shoes, and decrepit white vans..........2007-05-16

Alexander McCall Smith has outdone himself in this book! Even if you haven't read the entire Ladies Detective Agency series, you could dive in with this one and be totally satisfied. Don't be put off by a slow start...the beginning will slow you down to Botswana time, but unexpected things soon begin to happen and by the end of the book, several different plot threads are nicely tied up with bows (except for two, which remain unresolved...perhaps for the next book).

Precious Ramotswe and Grace Makutsi usually solve the problems of others, but in this book Mma Ramotswe has a terrible problem which at first seems insoluble. It threatens her marriage...but ultimately, with help from an unexpected source, it is resolved.

Grace decides to go to dancing school -- to dance, certainly, but also possibly to meet a cultivated man. She does meet someone. If you have ever done likewise, you will love the description of the first dance lesson, Grace's feelings at what transpires, her decision to be kind even though she gets stuck with someone who seems to have no dancing ability whatsoever. McCall Smith is unparalleled at setting up moral dilemmas full of the complexity and the humor of everyday life, and resolving them in ways that warm the heart and delight the brain.

The relationship between Grace and Precious (glimpses of their differences and their mutual judgments of each other, coexisting with their loyalty and devotion) takes on new depth in this book, as does the relationship between Precious and J.L.B. Matekoni, and between J.L.B. and Grace, who make a surprising discovery together (one of the two plot threads left unresolved).

Several lesser subplots twine around these stories like morning glory vines. At the end of the last chapter, Grace says to Precious, "We have never had so much happen all at the same time. It is better for things to happen separately." Precious agrees...but I think the reader may disagree! McCall Smith delights us with his plot juggling and I for one can't wait to see what comes next.

If this is your first time reading the series -- it's wonderful. Otherwise, repetitive & tedious........2007-04-28

The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series is charming. This is the sixth installment I've read. Unfortunately, 60% of the content of this edition has been covered in the first three books, which I found frustrating.

If you have read other novels in the series, you may skip wholesale passages of this book -- literally turn over pages and just scan them. The plot is not advanced, and the book is cluttered by the repetition. I became frustrated with the lack of plot movement over entire chapters. What was sweet and tender in the first three books has become tepid and stagnant by the sixth.

However -- if this is your first time reading the series, you may become entranced and probably will want to read the rest as fast as possible. Read the first three books next.

In the Company of the Courtesan: A Novel

Average customer rating:

A Masterpiece of Accuracy
Richly Descriptive Period Piece.
Diluted Sexuality in the Company of the Courtesan?
Audio to text: Bravo!
In the Company of the Courtesan

In the Company of the Courtesan: A Novel
Sarah Dunant
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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The Birth of Venus: A Novel
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ASIN: 0812974042
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Book Description

My lady, Fiammetta Bianchini, was plucking her eyebrows and biting color into her lips when the unthinkable happened and the Holy Roman Emperor’s army blew a hole in the wall of God’s eternal city, letting in a flood of half-starved, half-crazed troops bent on pillage and punishment.

Thus begins In the Company of the Courtesan, Sarah Dunant’s epic novel of life in Renaissance Italy. Escaping the sack of Rome in 1527, with their stomachs churning on the jewels they have swallowed, the courtesan Fiammetta and her dwarf companion, Bucino, head for Venice, the shimmering city born out of water to become a miracle of east-west trade: rich and rancid, pious and profitable, beautiful and squalid.

With a mix of courage and cunning they infiltrate Venetian society. Together they make the perfect partnership: the sharp-tongued, sharp-witted dwarf, and his vibrant mistress, trained from birth to charm, entertain, and satisfy men who have the money to support her.

Yet as their fortunes rise, this perfect partnership comes under threat, from the searing passion of a lover who wants more than his allotted nights to the attentions of an admiring Turk in search of human novelties for his sultan’s court. But Fiammetta and Bucino’s greatest challenge comes from a young crippled woman, a blind healer who insinuates herself into their lives and hearts with devastating consequences for them all.

A story of desire and deception, sin and religion, loyalty and friendship, In the Company of the Courtesan paints a portrait of one of the world’s greatest cities at its most potent moment in history: It is a picture that remains vivid long after the final page.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

A Masterpiece of Accuracy.......2007-08-09

a well researched, documentary quality history, entriging, believable charcters, engaging story.

Thank you Sarah Dunant, another good read.

Richly Descriptive Period Piece........2007-07-30

This book has most everything you would want in a period piece. It contains unique richly developed characters, intrigue, humor, & a deep plot. The sights, sounds, smells, & ambiance of 16th century Venice are almost lifelike. There is a fine mingling of social mores & politics that leads to many types of betrayal that keep the reader guessing. The author tells Fiammetta's story through the eyes of Bucino, a clever dwarf who shares her lodgings. He eventually will be the main character. The story begins in 1527 with the sacking of Rome. Fiammetta, is ravaged by the invaders & flees the city with Bucino{a loyal caretaker, & sardonic, resourceful spy}, with little else but the clothes on their backs, & some swallowed jewels. They reach Fiammetta's deceased mother's home in Venice. Soon La Draga, a mysterious, blind woman comes into their lives to nurse Fiammetta back to her original health & beauty. After a long recuperation she sets out to be the highly desired Courtesan she had been back in Rome. But, clearly she has not recovered as she gets more businesslike & cold as the book advances. Her lovers & friends are well done 7 most have an impact on the general theme. The most interesting relationship in the book is between La Draga & Bucino. their relationship will eventually put Fiammetta into the background, while these two characters play out their dramatic fates. The only minor flaw is that it was a too long, had it been a bit shorter in reaching the end I would have given it 5 stars.

Diluted Sexuality in the Company of the Courtesan?.......2007-07-25

Dunant is a brilliant and poetic writer, which makes the book well worth the read. However, I agree with other reviewers that, for a book about sexuality and intrigue, it certainly lacks passion. While "The Birth of Venus" was provocative, this book was disappointingly tame. The most beautifully written passages of the book concern Bucino's thoughts and memories, and he also happens to be the only intriguing character. Fiammetta, who was supposedly so charming, certainly failed to impress. Only in the first chapter was she as mesmerizing as the author wanted her to be. The ending was rather anticlimactic, abrupt, and unsatisfying. These criticisms aside, the book was still entertaining, yet not quite as memorable as "The Birth of Venus."

Audio to text: Bravo!.......2007-07-09

I have to say the audio of this fine book is the first book I've listened to on CD, and I had a fine time of it! So much so that I bought the hardcover book and am now immersed in that. I didn't just want the abridged version. I wanted the whole cake.
--James Conroyd Martin, Author of PUSH NOT THE RIVER Push Not the River and AGAINST A CRIMSON SKY Against a Crimson Sky: A Novel

In the Company of the Courtesan.......2007-07-04

I had just read "Birth of Venus" by this author and decided to try a second one. That period of history in Italy interest me, and I think she does an outstanding job of weaving history and fiction into both novels.

Average customer rating:

Husband and other managers barely mentioned
Tough Choices A Memoir
Pure Carly
Tough to put down
Carly, Who Treated Everyone with Respect Deserved Better!

Tough Choices: A Memoir
Carly Fiorina
Manufacturer: Portfolio Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 159184133X

Amazon.com

For her six years as CEO of technology giant Hewlett-Packard, Carly Fiorina was one of the most public faces in business, consistently chosen as the most powerful woman in corporate America. But after being ousted by the HP board of directors in early 2005, she stepped away from the spotlight. She returns to the public eye with her new memoir, Tough Choices, the story of her tenure at HP and of her unprecedented--and unexpected--rise to the top. While much of the early attention to the book will no doubt focus on her battles with the HP board and her dismissal--and she lays out her side of that story in full detail--what is more likely to give her book a wide and lasting readership is her account of the choices she made to get to that point. As she says, she never expected to become a captain of industry; she never planned to go into business at all. But what she found, as she tells in a straightforward, personal style, was that she had a talent and a taste for working with people and making the kinds of decisions that business leadership requires. In a series of "tough choices" that give her book its name, she gravitated toward the most challenging paths that were offered her. Those choices, which many around her told her not to make, were what led her to the top in record time.

She visited the Amazon.com offices to give a talk to our employees about the book before it was published, and we were so impressed with what she had to say--and the open and focused way she said it--that we wanted to share some of her visit with you. Click on the image below to watch a section of her talk that explains what fear and choice have to do with leadership:

Watch Carly Fiorina talk about Tough Choices

Two Tough Choices

We also asked her to tell us here about two of the many tough choices she writes about in the book:

Amazon.com: Why did you decide to drop out of law school, and why was that a hard decision?

Fiorina: I went to UCLA Law School mainly because my father was a lawyer and he encouraged me to follow in his footsteps. From the very first day it left me cold. Although I could respect the law, I felt no passion for it. I had terrible headaches every day and barely slept for months.

When my father came to visit, I told him I hated it. He was concerned, but he didn't want me to quit. He had always taught me that quitting was the same as failure--you stuck it out, even in a tough situation. And so, although I had planned to tell him I'd decided to leave law school, I didn't. I went back and stuck it out for another month.

Then I came home one weekend to visit. I was in turmoil. As dramatic as it sounds, I had an epiphany while taking a shower on Sunday morning. My body had been trying to tell me something with all those months of headaches. I suddenly realized I had no idea why I was in law school at all. At twenty-two, at that moment, it finally dawned on me that my life couldn't be about pleasing my parents.

I think of that as the day I grew up. I had made a truly difficult decision on my own.

Amazon.com: Tell us about the time when you were a junior sales person at AT&T, and you had to choose whether or not to attend a meeting at a strip club.

Fiorina: One day my senior colleague, David, let me know that the two of our most important customers were coming to town for a meeting. I was delighted. It would be great to have my first introduction to these customers come from a veteran like him.

The day before the meeting, David came to my cubicle. "You know, Carly, I'm really sorry. I know we'd planned to have you meet the two directors. The thing is, they have a favorite restaurant here in D.C., and they've requested that we meet there. It's the Board Room. So I don't think you'll be able to join us."

This didn't make any sense to me, until someone else explained that the Board Room was an upscale strip club for businessmen. Between acts, the young women who worked there would dress in see-through baby-doll negligees and dance on top of the tables while the patrons ate lunch.

I was both very embarrassed and very anxious. I sat in the ladies' room to think about it in private, and worked myself into a state of near panic. I had no idea what I was supposed to do in this situation. I couldn't tell myself it didn't matter--it clearly was important to meet these clients and to convince David that I should be taken seriously. It never occurred to me to be outraged and demand that they not go--and that wouldn't have worked anyway.

Finally, I went to David's desk and said, "You know, I hope it won't make you too uncomfortable, but I think I'm going to go to lunch anyway. I'll meet you all there." You could have heard a pin drop in the office as everyone watched this scenario unfold.

What happened the next day at the strip club is a funny story, but I'll save that one for the book.

Book Description

Behind the headlines—one of the most talked-about business leaders in the world tells her own story

By accepting the CEO job at Hewlett-Packard, an iconic company that had lost its way, Carly Fiorina confirmed her status as the most powerful businesswoman in America. But she also made herself a target for everyone who disliked her bold leadership style and resented her rapid rise.

For six years, as she led HP through drastic changes and a controversial merger, Fiorina was the subject of endless analysis, debate, and speculation. She appeared on the cover of every major magazine and her every word was scrutinized. Yet in all that time, the public never got to know the person behind the persona.

Tough Choices will finally reveal the real Carly Fiorina, who writes with brutal honesty about her triumphs and failures, her deepest fears and most painful confrontations—including her sudden and very public firing by HP's board of directors.

It's an amazing life story: Fiorina was a liberal arts major and law school dropout who didn't even consider a business career until her mid-twenties. But soon she was blazing through big jobs at AT&T and then Lucent Technologies, with a growing reputation as a creative, hardworking, visionary leader. Her career path would have been remarkable for anyone, but in an industry dominated by men, it was unprecedented.

Tough Choices shows what it's really like to lead a major corporation in a time of great change while trying to stay true to your values. It's one woman's inspiring story, along with her unique perspective on leadership, technology, globalization, sexism, and many other issues.

Customer Reviews:

Husband and other managers barely mentioned.......2007-10-10

Egomaniac. It is all about her. Her husband and the managers who reported to her are barely mentioned.

There are successful women running companies. Would like to see books by them but they are too busy doing a good job to waste time on ego trips.

Tough Choices A Memoir.......2007-09-25

Carly is an awesome example of a organized
person with clear goals. She puts things
in perspective.

Pure Carly.......2007-09-15

Every aspect of Carly Fiorina's personality is displayed in this surprisingly personal account of a remarkable business career. Bold, confident, smart, driven and tough yet also ambitious, impatient, condescending and determined - all these traits spring forth from the pages of this memoir. Mixed in is a dose of frustration and some lingering disbelief about the suddenness of her demise at HP.

Some truly humorous anecdotes and wise lessons are imparted along the way as the author earnestly recalls the triumphs and trials she has encountered as a trailblazing woman executive. Although it's true that she was often held to a different and unfair standard than her male counterparts, she fails to acknowledge that her uniqueness was also part of her allure.

In the end, the pettiness and poor judgment of some HP board members is in glaring contradiction to the cool, professional style of the CEO. So far, history has been on Carly's side as her strategy continues to be implemented by her successor and her antagonists on the Board have been swept out in a most scandalous fashion. The next chapter to be written in this legendary career may prove to be even more intriguing.

Tough to put down.......2007-09-14

I was inspired to read Tough Choices after hearing Carly Fiorina interviewed by Bill Hybels at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. She is obviously extremely intelligent and an excellent writer and communicator. It is a riveting story told from a unique point of view over an interesting period in the history of women in business, particularly in leadership in business. What really shines through are her insights into human nature gained through sometimes harrowing and sometimes hilarious experiences in her professional journey. I appreciated her candor throughout her story, whether addressing the problem of a clueless coworker or graciously crediting her mentors. If she wanted to do something besides CEOing, she would make a great college professor, and I'd be happy to take any of her classes.

Carly, Who Treated Everyone with Respect Deserved Better!.......2007-07-30

I was so moved by Carly's story. She clearly is someone who always tries to do the right things for the right reasons. Every move she made throughout her career was carefully considered and it was always about what was best for the company. She cared about people and it showed. Dysfunction is no excuse for bad behavior and the HP Board behaved very badly. Carly deserves our applause and I highly recommend her book to anyone who is looking to enter the business world, men and women alike. For those of you who are already there, you too will gain much from reading this book.

Thank you, Carly, for your leadership--you are an inspiration!

Kathy

The Real Deal: My Life in Business and Philanthropy

Average customer rating:

No Deal at All
Good Read but nothing New and Quite Biased
GREED CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS
The Real Deal is really a well written book.
Horrendous - self excusing with no real content

The Real Deal: My Life in Business and Philanthropy
Sandy Weill , and Judah S. Kraushaar
Manufacturer: Business Plus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0446578142

Book Description

The Sandy Weill story is truly one for the ages. Starting with$30,000 in borrowed cash in 1960, and relying on uncanny entrepreneurialinstincts in the corporate world, he made himself a billionaire and becameone of the most powerful bankers in the world. After rising to become thepresident of American Express, Weill saw his empire crash and burn.Undaunted, he started over with a second-tier consumer loan company calledCommercial Credit, which eventually led to his position as CEO and thenchairman of Citigroup. While at Citigroup, Weill delivered an astounding2,600% return to investors--better than legendary CEO Jack Welch orinvestor Warren Buffett during that same period. But success is never aneasy path, and Weill shares all the high and low points along theway--warts and all. His ascent to power has been documented by the businessmedia over the years, but never before has Weill gone on the record,revealing his brutally honest and unvarnished side of his astounding lifeand career trajectory.

Customer Reviews:

No Deal at All.......2007-05-16

For all its girth, this book is shockingly shallow and a huge disappointment for anyone hoping to learn real secrets behind the author's successful business career. There is a lot of score-settling and finger-pointing at those who he felt mistreated him (like proteges Peter Cohen and Jamie Dimon), but very little in 'take-away' value about what to look for in building a successful business. I was reading this book simultaneously with Danny Meyer's "Setting the Table" and the contrast could not be more striking. In a much shorter but infinitely richer and more rewarding volume, Meyer painstaking reveals all his business success secrets; the reader feels totally cared for which emulates the experience of being in his restaurants, whereas the Weill volume left me feeling that Mr. Weill cared not one whit for his readers because it imparted so few useful insights.

Good Read but nothing New and Quite Biased.......2007-03-02

This is actually quite an interesting book and a fairly good and fast read. However compared to the previous two books on Weill, this offers maybe only 5% new information and some extra personal view on events that were reported by other authors.

My main grip with this book is that it shows everything in a very biased view. Everyones "leaving" Sandy for whatever reason gave him a feeling of betrayal and someone who did not appricate what was done for them.
Jamie Dimon is depicted as a strong personality, maybe inflexible (Joan Weill also cites this as reason for why everyone close to Jamie left him), but this is not the view for why everyone (and really everyone) close to Sandy did not continue working for him.
While a lot of associates were described as people who could not change the way they worked, Sandy himself writes about having "issues" leaving day to day runnning of Citibank to Chick Prince.

Maybe the only way for a really different perspective on this will be if other executives (especailly Jamie Dimon) ever pen down their side of the story.

GREED CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS.......2007-02-21

I have read in the past biographies of famous businessmen of the 19th/early 20th century. Names of businessmen that can be easily recognized because their names were immortalized with their products and/or services (Chrysler, Gillette, Ford, Edison, Marconi, etc.). The driving force behind the success of those men was innovation/creativity in their products and services that resulted in great benefits to the public in general.

After reading this book, you can only conclude that Sandy Weill's driving force in life has been Greed. The only innovations and creativities displayed by Sandy where those directed to play or manipulate the stock market, and those for self-promotion. Create, merge, inflate the stock value and profit from the above.

It did not matter what the name of the company was, or the benefits to the customers, just merge make a big name, inflate stock value and reap the benefits of that. His practices were investigated by the Federal Trade Commission. He says he was exonerated, but very likely Feds were unable to put a case together.

Family life with his children did not appear to have any meaning. Although he names and blames many others for having poor inter-personal skills for team work within the company, I think he top them all. People who helped him to progress in his "career" within the company ended without jobs.

His name will be forgotten soon, if ever recognized. His only legacy will be the billions of dollars left to his progeny. Money created in a quite bizarre way, jumping from company to company, morphing in this and morphing in that. Is that business?

Good psychotherapy book for those who value other things in life, beside money and power.

Frank (bids2005@aol.com)

PS. The "philanthropy" word in the title of this book is deceiving. Philos= Love; Anthopo= Humans. Love for Humans, this is the only thing lacking in this book. He only loves money.

The Real Deal is really a well written book........2007-01-22

Sandy Weill is very open about details, both business and personal, regarding his rise from an insecure youth with bad school grades to Ivy School grad and creation and subsequent loss of a business empire. Mr. Weill then relates his discomfort in failed attempts to re-enter the business world, which he finally realizes one year later. Remarkably, he creates another business empire, which eclipses the prior empire. I liked that Mr. Weill was very open about his relationships in business, both positive and negative, as well as personal relationships. He often discussed his relationship with his wife and her support of him, as well as the hardships she endured, and also the hardships his children endured, as a result of his career. Having previously worked for Aetna, I had hoped for details in the background of the purchase of that company. Unfortunately, I was disappointed, because only two or three sentences in the booked mentioned it. It was not one of his major accomplishments.

I would recommend this book not only for people seeking insight into successful business tactics, but also for enjoyment of the historical background of how some of the biggest business deals evolved in the last quarter century.

My hat is off to Joan, Sandy's wife. She appears to be not only a true sweetheart to her man, but also a successful business/charity executive in her own right.

Horrendous - self excusing with no real content.......2007-01-11

Sandy spends all his time blaming others for the problems he encountered with personal interactions and does not give any insight as to how he made and negotiated the actual M&A deals. 6 discs of Sandy patting himself on the back with no real content. Don't waste your time and money.

Average customer rating:

Loved it!
Totally Endearing
We loved it
Who can resist Tiffany blue!!!!!! An endearing memoir!!
A Sweet Book

Summer at Tiffany
Marjorie Hart
Manufacturer: William Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0061189529
Release Date: 2007-04-03

Book Description

SUMMER AT TIFFANY is a memoir of the summer of 1945, when Marjorie Jacobson and her best friend Marty travelled from the Kappa House at the University of Iowa to New York City, hoping to land sales jobs at Lord and Taylor or Sak's Fifth Avenue. Turned away from the top department stores, they made their way to 57th Street where refusing to be deterred, Marty lead Marjorie into the legendary Tiffany store, and somehow these best friends talked their way into positions as pages–the first women to ever work on the sales floor. Their salary left them penniless and pondering the "Wheaties and Celery Diet," but their diamond filled day–job was the envy of other romantic minded girls who had flocked to New York City that steamy June. Their dream was made complete by their Manhattan apartment–conveniently close to the dashing Navy Midshipmen at Columbia University, and their college friends summering on Long Island.

Their workdays found the girls dazzled by the likes of honeymooners Judy Garland and Vincent Minnelli, Marlene Dietrich in her USO uniform, and legendary playboy Jimmy Donohue. They delivered and modelled priceless jewels, nearly lost precious pearls, and encountered Old Man Tiffany himself during a rare visit. In between getting lost in Harlem , witnessing the Eisenhower Parade, VJ Day in Times Square, and mingling with the Cafe Society–Marjorie Hart fell in love, learned lessons and made decisions that would impact the rest of her life.

Customer Reviews:

Loved it!.......2007-09-26

I absolutely loved this book. It was well written, funny and an interesting look at life at the end of World War II. I will read it again.

Totally Endearing.......2007-09-21

I delighted in this book. SUMMER AT TIFFANY is a gem that its namesake jewelry store can look to with pride.

Very simply, it is a memoir by author Marjorie Hart of the summer of 1945, that last summer during which World War II was raging, when she spent a college vacation working in New York City.

Knowing next to nothing about Manhattan, Marjorie and some of her sorority sisters left Iowa for their big break, having heard that jobs were plentiful in the Big Apple.

Yet finding a position proved more difficult than expected. More unexpectedly, because of the shortages of male staff during wartime, she and her roommate ended up being hired as the first "girl" pages at the elegant jewelry store.

This is a loving, lovely book. Her reports of adventures, innocent and fun, are as evocative as the old movies "My Sister Eileen" or "The Way We Were." Of course, in SUMMER AT TIFFANY, all of these episodes actually took place.

New York in 1945 seems as far away a planet in another galaxy; I was born there myself not more than ten years later, and nothing now remains the same. Still, Marjorie's dreams then, and her memories now, always will be touching--and her fond retelling makes for a wonderful read.

We loved it.......2007-09-12

My two daughters and I (and my cousin's daughter) loved this book. It was fun to read this wonderful book written by my mother's cousin. But even if she weren't related, we still would have enjoyed the great story and Mrs. Hart's easy, flowing writing style. Reading about her adventures and the references she made to family were quite fun. Thanks for a great memoir that I am anxious to pass on and recommend to my friends and their daughters.

Who can resist Tiffany blue!!!!!! An endearing memoir!!.......2007-09-10

Okay, let's be honest, YES, it was the Tiffany blue book cover that drew me to this book!!! Beyond the cover the subject captured further attention.
This memoir is a wonderful story of two best friends who decide to leave their Midwestern lives and head into the challenge of life in the big city. They head off to NYC and find jobs working at Tiffany's. This story is wonderful and heart warming and gives an open and honest look at life through the eyes of two young women during a time of change. The friends meet the challenge of limited budgets, proper dress codes, new boyfriends and the backdrop of WWII as it comes to an end. This is a delightful story that is so much fun to read and it gives an understanding of life in the 40's that is impossible not to enjoy.

A Sweet Book.......2007-08-31

This is a great story of a young woman's summer in New York in 1945. It's a sweet little read.

Average customer rating:

Triangle
If you missed it the first two times, let me repeat....
Pretentious and annoying, albeit occasionally absorbing
Could have been much, much better
The tragedy that reformed working America...

Triangle: A Novel
Katharine Weber
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

Triangle: The Fire That Changed America
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ASIN: 0374281424
Release Date: 2006-06-13

Book Description

Esther Gottesfeld is the last living survivor of the notorious 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist fire and has told her story countless times in the span of her lifetime. Even so, her death at the age of 106 leaves unanswered many questions about what happened that fateful day. How did she manage to survive the fire when at least 146 workers, most of them women, her sister and fiancé among them, burned or jumped to their deaths from the sweatshop inferno? Are the discrepancies in her various accounts over the years just ordinary human fallacy, or is there a hidden story in Esther’s recollections of that terrible day?

Esther’s granddaughter Rebecca Gottesfeld, with her partner George Botkin, an ingenious composer, seek to unravel the facts of the matter while Ruth Zion, a zealous feminist historian of the fire, bores in on them with her own mole-like agenda. A brilliant, haunting novel about one of the most terrible tragedies in early-twentieth-century America, Triangle forces us to consider how we tell our stories, how we hear them, and how history is forged from unverifiable truths.

Customer Reviews:

Triangle.......2007-09-08

Prior to my reading TRIANGLE, which is a fictional account of the Triangle Fire of 1911, I read TRIANGLE,THE FIRE THAT CHANGED AMERICA, by David von Drehle. Given the precise facts of this horrific event, TRIANGLE is a beautiful story which captures the essence of that terrible day. It may be confusing to some readers who cannot understand the repetitive questions of the journalist but this is a reflection of an attempt to discredit the primary witness at the actual trial of the factory owners by repeatedly asking her to tell the story of the fire, subtley suggesting the similarities in her testimony proved it to be rehearsed.
As an amateur pianist, I found the musical descriptions fascinating but I can certainly understand that for someone with no knowledge of music theory that this could become tedious (hence my 4 star vs. 5 star rating). The sequential development of Botkin's music is an integral part of the book's finale; the reader can feel the tension created in "Triangle Oratorio" and although Douglas Moore is quoted in his discussion of music as saying "....a thing which only exists in sound..." the reader hears and feels this amazing piece of music.
I highly recommend TRIANGLE and suggest also reading about this time in our country's history as this event caused tremendous change in America.

If you missed it the first two times, let me repeat...........2007-08-30

A young woman's quite elderly grandmother is the last survivor of the infamous "Triangle" shirtwaist factory fire in 1911, and as she enters her final illness, the granddaughter and a journalist both get involved in the past and the grandmother's shifting accounts of what happened on the tragic day she lost her sister and fiancé in the fire. The granddaughter and her composer boyfriend defend and protect the grandmother while the nosy journalist worms her way into their lives and starts poking holes in discrepancies she has found in transcripts and former testimony. Except for the pages (too many) devoted to Grandma Esther's retelling the same story, with only subtle changes one might catch, this is a good read. Characters are well drawn and the mystery of what Esther really went through is gradually and satisfyingly revealed (albeit not surprising by the time it's told).

Pretentious and annoying, albeit occasionally absorbing.......2007-07-16

A rather flawed work. The aspects that I found the most annoying were:

1. The endlessly pretentious descriptions of character George Botkins' brilliant musicianship! Weber came across as a musician wannabe trying to show off her in-depth knowledge. I would have quit reading the book midway through Chapter 2 - the first one focused on Botkins' career - if it weren't for the fact that my long-time friend had urged me to read this book.

2. At the end, character Rebecca Gottesfeld has suddenly given up a rewarding career in the medical field after 20+ years so she can be a stay-at-home mom, all with absolutely no explanation for her major change of heart.

3. There were many incomplete story lines. Where did the $20,000 come from? Why was it accepted? What was the connection (if any) between the Triangle fire and the death via car accident of Esther's son and his wife fifty years later? Did her son know his father's identity? Did Rebecca learn her grandfather's identity? Who was the common ancestor three generations back that George Botkins and Rebecca shared?

4. The author didn't seem to have enough of a story to fill even a slim volume so she had Esther repeat her story about the day of the fire many times. In Chapter 10, a "transcription" of her testimony at a 1911 trial, she is asked to repeat the story *three* times, all three recitations of which appear word for word! No explanation is given as to why the lawyer had asked her to repeat her testimony three times, leaving this reader with the idea that the author needed "filler." And Chapter 10 is not the only one in which Esther recites her memories of the fire.

5. The author's depiction of the feminist "herstorian" was way more of a caricature than a portait. As someone who once did a short stint of historical research into a feminist topic, I winced at the shabby treatment accorded this character by the other characters and the author.

So, why did I give this book 2 stars instead of 1?

1. The author gave Esther quite a beautiful death, both in terms of the physical environment in which it occurred, and Esther's last thoughts.

2. Parts of the book were absorbing.

3. Most importantly, it actually motivated me to go looking for a non-fiction book on the Triangle Shirtwaist fire to learn more.

Could have been much, much better.......2007-04-14

This is a good but often annoying book. Parts of it are fascinating (George's lengthy discursions into the theory of musical composition), but parts of it have nothing whatever to do with the main narrative (the lengthy discursions into musical composition). Esther's constant recitation of the facts of her escape from the fire is unnecessarily repetitive, even when you know to look for disconnects in what she purports to remember. The reader is left to wonder whether Esther did, in fact, take a $20,000 bribe from the management of Triangle Shirtwaist (there are numerous other possibilities for the money's origins), and the last-minute revelation that, apparently, Rebecca and George, are related three generations back doesn't seem to have anything to do with anything. (Or maybe I just missed something, I dunno.) The characterization is generally quite good, though Ruth Zion comes across as more of a pastiche of a feminist scholar. This novel needed a much more rigorous editor.

The tragedy that reformed working America..........2007-03-06

I had read about the Triangle fire of 1911 many years ago, so when this book popped up and was recommended by amazon.com I could not resist. This was an interesting book in more ways than one. It centers on the last living survivor of that disaster, who is now dying from natural causes of old age. She had apparently given numerous interviews to reporters concerning what she remembered about the fire, but as an old curmudgeon she really knew how to put reporters with inappropriate suggestions in their place (and shut them up!) To bad, we can't all take lessons on how to deal with such annoying people, whether reporters, nosy neighbors, invasive bosses, etc.

Anyway, the story of the fire is intertwined with the current day through the old lady's granddaughter who she raised by herself after her only child died in a car accident. Of course, she spoke to her granddaughter about that time period, and about the loss of her beloved sister and her fiance. This woman did the smart thing, and did not lose her cool under pressure, maybe partly because she was bearing a child. So instead of screaming and running for the main door which would only open inward instead of outward, she headed toward the dooor the bosses used.

In reading the nonfictional accounts of this disaster, it becomes all too clear that there were those men and women who showed bravery in the face of danger, and then there were those whose only thought was for themselves. To make matters worse, there were young children involved who sewed by hand, even though by that time, child labor was being banned. The horrendous conditions which made it only a matter of time before a disaster of this proportion occurred, were once again done at risk of lives just to make a profit. Sound familiar? Think about the recent mining 'accidents' in West Virginia, as well as the ongoing fight against pharmaceutical companies who push their medications for things those medicines were not intended for and whose contents had not been analyzed.

This book followed a current fad in 'stream of consiousness' in which the older woman who is dying is rambling and her thoughts run into one another, similar to how we think without placing periods or commas at the end of one sentence and one idea, then immediately going on to another topic. This alternated with regular and descriptive chapters dealing with the granddaughter of this dying woman, who is trying to best handle her grandmother's wishes, while trying to stave off the reporter 'vultures' who are circling to get that lst piece of information that will mean a best-seller (even if the ideas are slightly less than truthful or a bit scandalouse in order to attract readers).

This isn't my usual reading fare, but it was a good, fast-paced and well written book. It did not dwell too much on the fire, but focused instead on the heroics of many, and the continued lives of those who survived the fire. Life did go on, though many lives were forever changed because of the fire. And ultimately, the fire did lead to changes in rules, changes in how the rickety outer stairs were built, changes in fire departments and their equipment to make it more likely to save more lives. It also brought back the disaster of the Challenger, which was similar to the Triangle Fire in the push for necessary corrections. It still bothers me to this day, that those responsible for the Triangle fire, the Challenger fiasco, and other such catastrophes such as the Johnstown flood would never face real prison time. Instead they were able to buy themselves out of their predicaments. One can only hope that their memories and happy times were forever altered becauseof the lives they took.

This story would make a good movie...

Karen L. Sadler

In the Company of Women: Indirect Aggression Among Women: Why We Hurt Each Other and How to Stop

Average customer rating:

Interesting reading
Wishing everyone (men and women) would read this!
Interesting theories, apply as you will
This Book has Changed my Life.
Women Working Wisely

In the Company of Women: Indirect Aggression Among Women: Why We Hurt Each Other and How to Stop
Pat Heim , Susan Murphy , and Susan K. Golant
Manufacturer: Tarcher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1585422231
Release Date: 2003-05-22

Book Description

Two leading experts on gender issues in the workplace describe how indirect aggression among women undermines their professional and personal success, and explain how to change conflict into cooperation.

Following the success of Queen Bees and Wannabes and Odd Girl Out, about aggression in girls, In the Company of Women explains how indirect, or "relational," aggression can hurt women and hinder them from achieving success and harmony in their adult lives. Gender studies have shown that when a goal is in sight, men generally use direct action to attain it. Women, on the other hand, have been socialized to express aggressive actions through indirect means-using behavior such as shunning, stigmatizing, and gossiping to emotionally cripple those standing in the way of the achievement they seek.

With startling insights into the meaning of our everyday behavior, this book offers straightforward techniques to change conflict among women into cooperation by resolving discords peaceably, building relationships, and making the most of women's unique leadership and communication skills.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting reading.......2007-09-18

This book was pretty good. The first part validated what I pretty much figured out for myself the hard way. At least with the knowledge you get from this book that this type of behavior and attitude is universal among women everywhere and is "normal," you can deal with it more constructively or let it go more easily instead of dwelling on it. I did enjoy reading the first part of the book - probably 3/4 of the book was helpful because it validates what you know or can sense about what is going on around you, and that is empowering and reassuring. The guidance given in this book for dealing with other women is somewhat like remembering difficult algorithms though. And, unless you can convince every other woman you ever deal with to read the book and follow precisely the "rules" you have to follow in order to have perfect harmony among the women in your life, you still have to just use your gut instinct on how to deal with each particular woman or...well, you already know what will happen or you wouldn't be interested in reading this type of book! To be honest, I started reading the last part of the book (which directly relates to being in a supervisory position) and just couldn't read any more.

Wishing everyone (men and women) would read this!.......2007-05-08

I have struggled my entire life in relationships with women. This book opened my eyes.

Interesting theories, apply as you will.......2007-02-04

This is a thought-provoking book, and I recommend it for any woman, whether you work in an office or not. It says much about the conflicts that arise between us, the reasons behind them, and some solutions on how to handle them.

One of my favorite chapters was "Handling Conflicts With Style." I recently covered conflict styles in a college freshman seminar course, and I appreciated how they were expanded in this chapter. There are some interesting paragraphs on ow to handle sabotage and deliberate distractions, two things I have experienced firsthand and was poor at resonding to.

There are many wonderful suggestions in the chapter "How To Be An Effective Female Leader." Several aspects of leadership are discussed, and skills are suggested in detail, to balance the troubles many female leaders experience.

There are some parts of the book, however, that I do no agree with.

Although the Power Dead-Even Rule is absolutely true in every respect, it does little to solve the problem that I have with power-hungry, conrolling women in my work environment. Honestly, why should I care what gets a co-worker to turn against me? Of course, having some knowledge of the root of the problem is extremely beneficial at maintaining some sort of balance. At the end of the day, however, I am able to put my head on the pillow and fall asleep based simply on the advice I received from a dear friend:

It's not my business what other people think of me.

This may sound like foolish advice at first, but you know what? It's TRUE.

And the advice to use gossip as a tool is WAY off the mark. I have been able to maintain my position at my job for many years based on a principle that I believe deeply in - that gossip does NOTHING to improve anyone's character. You want to build trust among your coworkers? Don't gossip!! Find something else in common to discuss.

I'm a little irritated at the excuses given for indirect aggression - you know what? A person's personal issues should be worked out before or after work, there's no excuse for a bitch.

Downplaying your achievements is good to keep in mind. But ultimately, you really should be yourself, not a puppet. My point is, when you apply what you gain from this book, don't forget what you have learned before.

This Book has Changed my Life........2006-05-08

I have to say, I felt pretty disgusted with myself, having to pretend to be insecure and self-depreciating, just to get other women to like me. But by God it works.

I tested the techniques out on my very next female customer. I refused to accept her compliments, kept downplaying myself and my accomplishments, while praising her instead and pointing out all the ways in which I felt she was better.

Result: She LOVED me. We actually linked arms and skipped! No kidding! She convinced her husband to give me $500 on a job that wasn't worth half that much money.

Not only is this book helpful in avoiding petty jealousy, the evil eye, and female sabotage, applied to business situations it can be a real cash cow!!! $$$

Take those psychology books that advise you to "Project Self Confidence!" and "Toot Your Own Horn!" and throw them in the garbage. If you are not a man, that will not work for you.

This one tip alone will save your friendships: Don't you dare ever tell a woman good news. If you have good news tell a man. If you have bad news tell a woman.

If you're just bustin' to tell all the girls how your new boyfriend is rich, famous and hunky, DON'T, unless you a have your own personal security detail and somebody willing to start your car for you.

If they find out anyway, make your good fortune sound negative. Tell them he beats you and he slept with your sister. : P

I can sum the whole book up for you: Women can't stand to see another woman happy, especially if they're not. Better learn how to operate within the "Power Dead Even" Rule.

Women Working Wisely.......2006-02-06

This book has been an invaluable reference and resource for me. Pat Heim's experience in addressing relationally aggressive behaviors between women in the workplace shows through in every page she writes. With "In the Company of Women" she adds one more feather to her impressive cap and advances each reader's understanding of this important issue.

Average customer rating:

Glad I didn't marry in to the mob!
A salutary tale for our times
You won't be able to put it down!
The Book Of The Century
A Must Read!

The Company She Keeps
Georgia Durante
Manufacturer: Borgata Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Mafia Marriage
No Questions Asked: The Secret Life of Women in the Mob
Secrets of Life and Death: Women and the Mafia
On the Run: A Mafia Childhood
Mafia Wife: My Story of Love, Murder, and Madness

ASIN: 0974654000

Book Description

Georgia Durante was "The Kodak Girl" in 1968, the most photographed model in the country. Her journey found its way into the world of The Mob. As in many aspects of her life, Georgia stood out from the rest in the world of the Wiseguys. She became a trusted driver in a part of society where only men played the game. Georgia's time in The Mob also brought to her the man that stole her heart. He later became the man that wanted to take her life. He was abusive. He was controlling. He was darkness in a human form. He was her husband.

The Company She Keeps illustrates how negatives can be turned into positives in our lives. Georgia turns her getaway driving skills into a lucrative Stunt Driving business in Hollywood.

Customer Reviews:

Glad I didn't marry in to the mob!.......2007-09-16

This is a brave book. I can't imagine going through some of the things the author went through and not have a heart attack from fear! My sister loved the book too!

A salutary tale for our times.......2007-07-29

When I was in my last year at school I used to pass a life-size cardboard cut-out of Georgia Durante every day. It's hard for a man to remember exactly what he thought and felt when he was a boy of seventeen, but I do recall two things very strongly. The first thing was Georgia Durante as an icon of perfect pulchritude. The second thing was Georgia Durante as a person of considerable depth. At his first sight of the photograph any viewer will find his gaze ranging over the subject, but before long he will be drawn to the subject's eyes. If I didn't know exactly what those eyes were saying in 1969, they spoke to me obliquely of a profound personality. While they were not in any way sad, they were certainly not frivolous. There is a powerful innocence about the photograph, and in spite of the subject's costume and pose there is nothing coquettish or come-hither about it. The subject appears to be neither taut nor relaxed. She holds herself with an innocent pertness, as if to say that she is what she is and she doesn't really care if people want her to be something else. In short, the photograph remains one of the most powerful icons of the last half-century.

Reading Georgia's book has helped me to articulate the person behind that icon. She writes clearly and intelligently. While posssessing what sounds like a near-perfect memory, she never descends into triviality or inconsequence. Her book is a good read, unputdownable and entrancing. A great deal of it is related to unhappiness, but Georgia is artist enough to paint the unhappiness in a decorous manner. Self-pity is simply not there. She could easily have gone for the gutter vote by describing certain things in unedifying detail. Instead, she paints these things deftly with a few brush-strokes. A case in point is her description of the very worst thing that ever happened to her.

I see Georgia's book as far more than a good read. I see it as a tract for our times. To some extent it is a sermon against male conceit. While the excesses of the feminazis variously disgust and amuse me, I'm forced to concede that throughout human history men have treated many innocent women (like Lucretia) with terrible wickedness. There is something in the unregenerate male bully which enjoys causing pain to a woman. People need to be made aware of how common such bullies are.

Innocent womanhood has a tremendous gravity which seems to attract some of the worst and most dangerous elements of the unregenerate male character. Georgia's book demonstrates this fact more clearly than any other book that I have ever read.

Shakespeare wrote 'The Rape of Lucrece' ( = Lucretia). The author of II Samuel 13 wrote the story of Tamar. Georgia Durante has written her own tale, and it is an epic in its own right. She belongs in the company of Lucretia and Tamar.

'The Company She Keeps' is not a book for women. It is a book for men and women, and perhaps especially for men. Let me amplify something which I've said already. Over the last fifty years we have seen in the West the almost complete feminization of the male. An Absalom-like obsession with personal appearance goes hand in hand with a regime of no exercise and weak self-indulgence. When I was growing up I looked forward to acquiring a workshop full of good quality tools, but many of today's adolescents aspire only to a set of car-keys and a comb. By contrast, against that general background of wilful unmanliness there stands a substantial number of young men who model themselves neither on the American eagle, nor on the Brtish bulldog, but on the peacock and the rooster. They strut around in a haze of self-love and self-importance. Before long they begin to express their phoney 'virility' in gangsterism, hard drinking, dangerous driving, and immorality. Georgia's book is in some ways a case study of this pitiable kind of man. To that degree it may be construed as a salutary warning to the youth of today.

But don't listen to me. Buy the book, and read her story for yourself. Georgia has not written a sermon: she has written a tale, and told it well.

You won't be able to put it down!.......2006-06-15

This book grabs you from page 1. If you didn't know better, you would swear it was fiction. Georgia Durante has created an excellent portrayal of her life in the fast lane. You feel as if you are with her in the room as these things are going on---that's how "real" of a writer she is. The good thing is you're NOT with her during the dangerous parts. She is painfully honest throughout the book. You'll find it entertaining at the first level. At the second level, you'll realize what a strong, sensitive person she is. Georgia Durante is the life-size definition of "survivor." You'll like Georgia and you'll love this book. Find a comfortable reading chair and order dinner in...you'll get hungry and you will NOT want to put the book down. I highly endorse this book.

The Book Of The Century.......2006-04-29

Georgia Durante had the courage to write a book that will keep you spellbound. From the moment you start you to read "The Company She Keeps" you'll find yourself unable to put it down. I didn't want it to end. With Sopranos coming to an end this book should be the next movie to take it's place. A different look at the mob underworld as only seen through this amazing woman's eyes. She lived to tell it like it really is. Now let's see it on the big screen.

A Must Read!.......2006-04-19

Georgia Durante may not have had the best company but she certainly had some interesting, intense company during her lifetime! I applaud Georgia for having the courage to tell it like it is. There is nothing romantic about abuse. As you read the book you feel as if you are in the room watching. You can see the characters and feel Georgia's fear and pain.

I admire strength, honesty, guts and stamina. Georgia has it all and then some! Treat yourself to a GREAT book and hopefully we'll see it on the big screen one day! It should be!!

INTRIGUE, EXCITEMENT, CHILLING, EMOTIONAL, EXPLOSIVE, IMPULSIVE!

Office Ladies and Salaried Men: Power, Gender, and Work in Japanese Companies

Average customer rating:

Subvert the dominant paradigm.
Very good study of gender and power in Japanese business

Office Ladies and Salaried Men: Power, Gender, and Work in Japanese Companies
Yuko Ogasawara
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520210441

Book Description

In large corporations in Japan, much of the clerical work is carried out by young women known as "office ladies" (OLs) or "flowers of the workplace." Largely nameless, OLs serve tea to the men and type and file their reports. They are exempt from the traditional lifetime employment and have few opportunities for promotion. In this engaging ethnography, Yuko Ogasawara exposes the ways that these women resist men's power, and why the men, despite their exclusive command of authority, often subject themselves to the women's control. Ogasawara, a Japanese sociologist trained in the United States, skillfully mines perceptive participant-observation analyses and numerous interviews to outline the tensions and humiliations of OL work. She details the subtle and not-so-subtle ways that OLs who are frustrated by demeaning, dead-end jobs thwart their managers and subvert the power structure to their advantage. Using gossip, outright work refusal, and public gift-giving as manipulative strategies, they can ultimately make or break the careers of the men. This intimate and absorbing analysis illustrates how the relationships between women and work, and women and men, are far more complex than the previous literature has shown.

Customer Reviews:

Subvert the dominant paradigm........2002-09-20

This book (actually a dissertation) describes the power-hierarchy in Japanese companies. Throughout modernity-and into post-modernity- women in the professional Japanese workforce are often given jobs of menial nature. These women, so called "office ladies" or "office flowers", are not given the opportunity for career advancement. Instead they are bounded to their male superiors for whatever clerical jobs these men may desire. Ogasawara, however, posits that "office ladies" actually hold more power than is perceived on the surface. These women, because of their ability to make copies, types documents, and in some cases write detailed reports for the men, are highly valued. These men must, in a sense, "curry favor" with these women in order to: 1) Prove that they will be competent managers in the future and 2) handle all that is required of them from their superiors. (The abundant workload often leaves male employees with little time for making copies, running errands etc.)

The methodology the author uses is participant observation. A great book for anyone interested in Japanese societal structure

Very good study of gender and power in Japanese business.......1999-07-11

The author writes clearly and convincingly about the experience of being an office lady. She explains her entry into the work place, the importance of pecking order among both men and women, and more interestingly, the interaction between men and women in the workplace.

A fascinating study on formal gift giving between men and women, and the opportunities to give strong feedback to workers who have displeased the gift giver is worth the price of the book.

Book Description

During her twelve years with Ballet Society and the New York City Ballet, Barbara Milberg worked under the direction of George Balanchine. She rose from corps de ballet to soloist, danced leading roles in Swan Lake and Illuminations, and performed in celebrated world premieres. In this observant and poignant memoir, she shares her recollections of Balanchine, his craft and his values, and lends insight into surprising aspects of his personality. Fisher gives readers a rare glimpse inside Balanchine's artistry, including vivid accounts of the makings of such important ballets as Schoenberg's Opus 34, AGON, and the world-famous Nutcracker. Told through the eyes of a young dancer in what seemed a truly magical place and time, In Balanchine's Company is ideal for ballet fans young and old. Rich in anecdote, insight, and humor, it offers a unique perspective on one of the twentieth century's cultural giants.

Customer Reviews:

Dancer's memoir is a joy to read.......2007-08-13

Barbara Fisher is obviously a remarkable person who has a lot to tell us about the rigors of a life in dance as well as delightful stories about her interactions with Balanchine and many other key figures in the dance world, including Stravinsky. The book is a perfect gift for anyone who cares about the art of dance.

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