Average customer rating:
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New York Times Film Reviews, l983-l984
Random House St
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
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ASIN: 0824075889 |
Book Description
The great American fantasy is about leisure: wooded getaways, Caribbean cruises, white-water rafting, thelights of Las Vegas. Yet one in four Americans does not take a vacation at all. We know how to work hard but not how to play.
What we really need, argues Al Gini, is some time off. The Importance of Being Lazy takes us on family road trips, to Disneyland, on shopping sprees, on extreme sports adventures, and into the ultimate vacation - retirement -- showing why we venerate vacations and why "doing nothing" is a fundamental human necessity.
In a witty, breezy tour of our workaholic society, where the summer at the seashore has been supplanted by the long weekend, Gini draws on studies of Americans' vacation habits as well as interviews, personal stories, and the wry observations of philosophers, writers, and sociologists from Aristotle to Mark Twain to Thorstein Veblen.
Without true leisure, Gini says, we are diminished as individuals and as a society. The Importance of being Lazy is our road map for learning how to play, doze, gaze, amble, and goof-off without guilt.
Customer Reviews:
One of the most critical but least discussed topics in North American sociology.......2007-08-23
Gini's "Lazy" is a comprehensive record of rise or North America to become a nation of workaholics, and how this attitude affects the notion of leisure and play.
His main argument is, that North Americans are so obessed with being over-worked (or "busyness" as one of his references puts it), whether by choice or by circumstance, that they carry the same mentality in leisure, which deprived them the opportunity for rest, both mentally and physically.
He write about how North Americans spend their leisure time (e.g., week-ends, vacactions) as well as where they spend it (e.g., shopping, sports and travel). The reader will agree with him on many of his arguments, and this is also supported by the statistics he presented.
Parallels from his experience is also drawn into the book, making it a much more interesting read than some scholarly work. His presentation is unintrusive, and lets the reader make up his mind about the arguments. It is overall a very well written book, on one of the most impotant and yet least discussed, subjects in the North American collective consciousness.
i love laziness............2007-05-23
I am from Indonesia, and on vacation. I grab this book during a short visit at University of California Berkeley campus bookstore. This is my time of laziness, so it seems perticulary fitting!
The book's argument is good and sometimes witty. I like the idea of laziness. Some parts are perticulary funny and sooo true, i love the "shopping as leisure and play" section.
One critic i have is that the narative is a bit difficult to chew, it is not a page turner. This is a good book with good grounded arguments, if you are like me, in love with laziness, or need some reasons to have funs, get this book.
"Go outside and Play!" the wise and imperative words of my mother........2005-08-21
Al Gini's book is not about the nature and characteristics of Play, but rather, it is a `working' diatribe against work; with only scant attention given to `Play, Leisure and Vacation'. Paradoxically, Al Gini failed to grasp his own message. He needs to lighten up his message and play more, either that, or change the title (a much easier solution).
His book starts with the chapter "The Problem," and the problem is, of course, that we work too much; we work ourselves out of both health and holiday. I believe the problem started with Walt Disney and his seven dwarfs, those midget miners who plagued America with that addictive workaholic song - "Whistle while you . . . "
In other chapters Gini covers various social attitudes, such as "The Overspent America." This is an interesting chapter on how TV and shopping are the chief cultural activities in America. In another chapter he discuses our national addiction to sports, "the spectacle of sports anesthetizes us to that which we are either unable or unwilling to deal with, in our own lives." Other chapters include: Retirement, The Sabbath, Weekends and Traveling. All interesting and serious stuff, but . . .
In "The Importance of Being Lazy," we have a commendable sermon, with serious stats, against work; but, there is little new insight on "how" to play, neither does Gini bring any new ideas regarding leisure that challenge the reader to chill out and vacate their busy lives.
So, fellow workaholics, if you are going to be speaking at Toastmasters, the week before Labor Day, then this is the material you will want to quote: "The workaholic lacks boundaries," "We made a fetish out of work," "Work preoccupies our life" and "Workaholics no longer show up for life," etc., etc., etc. On the lighter side consider Dale Anderson's playful book "Never Act Your Age." Conditionally Recommended.
Slow Lifestyle Primer.......2005-05-31
This well-researched book is a great place to start to learn about the slow lifestyle. Al Gini is Professor of Philosophy at Loyola University Chicago. He's also a business consultant. He previously explored a mixture of business, work, and philosophy, in his book My Job, My Self. Be warned, he describes himself as addicted to work.
The Importance of Being Lazy is about personal identity in culture. Our most frequent response to the question, "who am I", is to say what we do for a living. The book is about who we are and what we do when not at work. Professor Gini's own university has only a few books on leisure but thousands on work, jobs, and careers. We value work, we don't value leisure.
If vacations are a project of self-definition, then what does it mean to not even take vacations? Vacation starvation becomes a malady. The consequences, as Joseph Piper pointed out, is the destruction of culture. The idea of leisure time was to refresh and renew to have a life outside of work. But market forces have largely been against this.
Adam Smith said, "Consumption is the sole purpose of all production." Al Gini says, "To Shop is to be. " Our culture has degenerated from a society based around people to those around things."
There are five problem areas:
1.Lack of Self Development. Without adequate time and energy we become passive consumers of entertainment. This makes us dull.
2. Lack of Autonomy. Time away from constraints and conformity of work is necessary to build a more authentic sense of self. Spending all our time at work makes us compliant, and often against our own best interests.
3. Effects of Social Life. Less time means more superficial interactions with others. Lack of social involvement degrades our social environment. We are too busy to be courteous. We are too busy for civic involvement.
4. Positional Competition. In other words, "Keeping up with the Joneses." Our focus is on the superficial. We self identify through our buying habits.
5. Cognitive and Valuational Confusion. You might expect a title like this from an academic. However, the book is wonderfully free of academic writing. What does Professor Gini mean? Advertisers create discontent by holding up impossible promises and standards to which consumers aspire.
Professor Gini cites a host of thinkers including, Hegel, Kipling, William James, Marcuse, and Aristotle. My own favorite is Mark Twain, "I do not like work even when someone else does it.
We need to find a balance between work and leisure. We are responsible for at least some of the choices we make.
The notes are a wonderful resource for further reading.
Highly recommended.
Interesting concept........2004-03-01
Americans are overworked compared to their European partners. They work for "addicted organizations" that push them to work harder, produce more, and take less vacation time. The end results are unsatisfying workplaces, boring and repetitive jobs, and bitter employees.
The author tells us to take our time and work in a leisurely fashion. This attitude refreshes our mind, uplifts our moral, and makes us a better worker. We also need to have a balanced life.
The problem is that it will be hard to convince many employers to allow their employees to work in a leisurely fashion. They would be fired for being slow and unproductive.
Book Description
They are the dregs, the lost and the forsaken. They are loyal only to each other. They are the mudslogging mercenaries of Force Nomad, Alien Legion's worst of the worst, and they are the stars of this planet-busting new series!
Lost for 15 years in a black hole, Force Nomad returns to combat as little more than the plaything of mega-corporations whose business transactions are paid for in Nomad blood. However, being used as pawns for the idle rich is something they won't stand for — as their paymasters are about to find out!
With new cover artwork by Alan Davis and an introduction by Chuck Dixon, make sure your infra-red sights have been calibrated to capture this one!
Product Description
Rifts® World Books are back. And with the single most requested part of the world, China. We when sat down to plot the book, we quickly realized the vast amount of material that we wanted to cover, so we are releasing Rifts China One and Two. Rifts® China, Book One presents the Hell on Earth setting, monsters, demons, villains and more. That says it all. The Yama Kings bring Hell on Earth, making China one of the weirdest places on the planet. The Yama Kings' Minions: Demon Legions and armies of human warriors and assassins. Weapons of magic and evil. The setting, conflicts and key people and locations.
Average customer rating:
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Legion of hell,
James Mackinley Armstrong
Manufacturer: D. Appleton-Century Company, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: B00085TXG4 |
Customer Reviews:
Great Premise; LOUSY book.......2006-10-08
I TRIED and eventually did get through this awful book. The characters took forever to develop; the writing was overly formulaic; leaden and completely derivative. The writing could barely keep my attention as I plodded through the text. It qualifies as one of the worst, if not THE worst, book I ever read. The one star is only because the premise was excellent and could have gone so many places, but just failed to get off the ground. Someone told me that female fantasy authors use their initials to disguise their gender, since many people sterotype female authors at being no good at fantasy. Well, I had no idea what the author's sex was until two minutes before writing this review, and the book still sucked - no excuses. Save your money.
Damnation's Never Been So Appealing...........2001-01-29
This book was my introduction to the shared Hell books. I found it very, very intriguing. I'll confess myself a huge CJ Cherryh fan, so I bought the book on the virtue of her name and, believe me, it was worth it! Just another day in Hell, huh?
What book could be more fascinating than one about a Hell in which Julius Caesar, Kleopatra, Mark Antony, Machiavelli, Napoleon, Ramses and Hatshepsut can interact freely in the midst of high-tech warfare and seething political intrigues? And then Brutus shows up...somehow lacking a few vital memories of his life, mainly a bloody March 15th...
Politics and war, history and sci-fi, this book has all of it. I enjoyed it thoroughly. And CJ Cherryh is the only author I can think that makes this stuff believable. I think Hatshepsut is my favorite character. Now there's one lady only CJ Cherryh and her excellent writing can do justice to. I intend to acquire the rest of the series and if you're into sci-fi and up on your history(and your Latin!), then I suggest you give it a try. You won't regret it!
Brutus in the Eye of Hell's Storm.......2000-06-12
Excellent Sc-Fi/Fantasy reading in a setting that allows for unexpected characters and story twists. I really felt that the series was rolling along with great momentum with this volume of the Heroes in Hell Series (aka "the Damned Saga"). Julius Caesar's Legion's and household (Kleopatra, Dante, Machiavelli to name a few) try to survive while Brutus is trying to work out his place in Caesar's household (and heart). It seems every power structure in Hell (Roman, Egyptian, Infernal...) is trying to use Brutus against Caesar. With plenty of intrigue, and combat, the book is a very fun read.
Average customer rating:
- A good manual
- Going beyond the actual...
- Don't buy the audio version from audible
- A persuasive sell, packed, practical and fast paced.
- Why did I go to B-school?
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The Portable MBA in Marketing (The Portable MBA Series)
Charles D. Schewe , and
Alexander Hiam
Manufacturer: Wiley
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Binding: Hardcover
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Similar Items:
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The Portable MBA in Strategy (Portable Mba Series)
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The Portable MBA in Finance and Accounting
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The Portable MBA in Management, Second Edition
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The Portable MBA, 4th Edition
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The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship
ASIN: 0471193674 |
Book Description
Companies flying high on economic good times may be in danger of forgetting the business fundamentals that underlie their success. Increased focus on the bottom line, competitive strategies, and financial goals divert attention from the primary source of every company's good fortune-the customer. The Portable MBA in Marketing, Second Edition is dedicated to the principle that the only guarantee for continued success is a consistent focus on and attention to customer needs, preferences, and expectations.
This powerful tool for business success in the twenty-first century furnishes bright, ambitious managers with a solid grounding in MBA-level marketing theory and practice. Fully updated and expanded, this new edition emphasizes fresh marketing strategies and cutting-edge marketing concepts and techniques that help keep you in touch with your customers. It focuses on the key issues facing companies today, including how to outperform competitors, anticipate future trends, improve advertising and sales, build customer loyalty, and market on the Internet.
Witty, well-written, and packed with plenty of new real-world examples, The Portable MBA in Marketing, Second Edition brings you up to date with the latest marketing ideas and techniques, including:
* New negotiation skills for salespeople
* Current marketing strategies
* Innovative approaches to qualitative research that deepen your understanding of your customers
* Hot topics such as cohort marketing, person-to-person marketing, and marketing on the Internet.
Written by two leading educators/marketing consultants and drawing material from the world's finest MBA programs, The Portable MBA in Marketing, Second Edition covers all the marketing innovations of the past decade in an engaging, accessible format that gets you to the information you need quickly and easily. It's the fastest way to give yourself the intellectual currency you need to market your products, services, and ideas at a whole new level.
The Portable MBA Series
The Portable MBA, with over 350,000 copies sold, continues to provide instant "MBA literacy" to managers, professionals, and business owners. Wiley's Portable MBA Series now takes this idea one step further by providing readers with a continuing business education. Titles provide comprehensive coverage of the primary business functions taught in MBA programs, as well as focused coverage of today's vital business topics.
SERIES TITLES: Core Curriculum
The Portable MBA, Third Edition
* The Portable MBA in Economics
* The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship, Second Edition
* The Portable MBA in Finance and Accounting, Second Edition
* The Portable MBA in Investment
* The Portable MBA in Management
* The Portable MBA in Marketing, Second Edition
* The Portable MBA in Strategy.
Vital Business Topics
Real-Time Strategy
* New Product Development
* Total Quality Management, Second Edition
* Psychology for Leaders
* Market-Driven Management.
Also Available
The Portable MBA Desk Reference
The Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship Case Studies
Praise for ThePORTABLE MBA in Marketing, second edition
"I'm really 'gung-ho' about this book. If you follow its advice, your customers will become your 'raving fans.' Everyone needs to understand and apply these essential principles to attract and retain delighted customers." -Ken Blanchard author of the bestseller The One Minute Manager.
"Helps you keep your eye on the all-important marketing ball. Infused with turbocharged examples and the latest cutting-edge concepts. . . . [You'll learn] winning strategies and actions that will propel you successfully well beyond the millennium. This fully revised book will do wonders to improve your marketing game!" -Scott H. Creelman, Executive Vice President Spalding Sports Worldwide.
Customer Reviews:
A good manual.......2007-08-28
This book is good introductory manual to marketing, it covers the basic concepts you need to understand or that you cannot forget. In an MBA you will see exactly the same, nobodys will give you by reading a book or taking an MBA the Know How only the "Know" part, the "how" well, its a matter of practice and opportunity. But if you are in command of a MArketing unit this book will give you the "Knowledge" you need to focus your "how".
Going beyond the actual..........2006-02-09
As an undergraduate, I studied political science; as a graduate student, I studied history (among other things) - however, few if any of my classes ever dealt with the actual mechanics of business, despite dealing with business in a more general sense (as it would fit in the context of history and politics). I decided that it was important to learn some of the basic concepts of business administration, and the Portable MBA series by John Wiley & Sons publishers fit the bill.
This book on marketing covers the topic from the conceptual, research, and practical angles. Dealing with customers, potential and actual, is the key aspect to marketing. There are strategies that work and strategies that fail, and many of these are discussed and analysed. Companies included in the case studies include Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Colgate-Palmolive, Kawasaki, Campbell Soup, A.C. Nielsen, and literally over a hundred more. Just what is the magic that makes Nike a household word? How does one really assess the success of the cola wars between Pepsi, Coke, and other contenders?
In the foreword, Ken Blanchard (author of the 'One-Minute Manager') states, 'I have come to believe that the secret to competitive success is to give customers service so far above their expectations it becomes legendary.' Part of this strategy is to become a better listener (which is an art that is lost for many, particularly in the corporate world), and part of the strategy is to look beyond the actual and explore the possible.
The authors who contributed to this volume have both academic and professional experience, and tend to do a good job at explaining things in terms that the non-professional can understanding. Anyone with a basic undergraduate background should find this volume accessible. This book can also give one ideas for everything from garage sales to major marketing campaigns.
I taught marketing and advertising, having worked as a public relations/marketing director for a college and for a seminary. Had this book been available at the time I was teaching, I would not have hesitated to use it.
Don't buy the audio version from audible.......2004-06-26
Don't buy the audio version from audible.com .
Their programming skills are terrible. I could not download some of the books I bought, could not burn into cd the ones I could download, and forget about making it work with an mp3 player, unless you're lucky.
I know about 5 people who bought stuff from there and only one had the luck of downloading a working file and burning it successfully to a cd.
The quality of the narrations is awful, at least in the books I managed to hear (only on windows media player, nothing else worked). If you're used to books on cd or tape, you're up for a big disappointment buying from audible.
On top of all that, they have the worst customer service I have ever witnessed. The site was not working right when I tried to purchase there for the first time. I sent them a message with no answer.
In a second attempt, I bought the stuff and some files never downloaded (which means they just stole my money and I don't know what I can do since I don't live in USA). I sent another message with no answer again.
Then their weird program, which turns Windows Media Player automatically on instead of working alone, showed no compatibility to Itunes and no possibility of burning cds or dreaming about hearing books on Ipod. I sent them a third message and nothing. A fourth and guess what? Nothing again.
So I am at least trying to warn other people here to avoid being caught by such scheme. I hope Amazon gets rid of audible as soon as possible. I always got great service from Amazon and the affiliated bookstores, or even other stores selling electronics, health products and others, but audible is just the worst company I ever wasted my money with. Too bad we cannot give notes to them like with the affiliated booksellers.
Sorry by the poor text, I am just mad with them.
A persuasive sell, packed, practical and fast paced........2003-05-16
Just like all the other portable MBA books. This book is packed with pretty useful ideas. It is very focused and so you 'll need to be as well when you read it.
Why did I go to B-school?.......2001-07-13
This book boils all of the marketing concepts I learned while in B-school(and some I didn't) into an easy read format. The only thing missing is that annoying quant-jock who sat behind my chewing gum the entire semester! If you just want a great introduction to marketing, or are an MBA looking to refresh your understanding of the 4P's, pick-up this book. You won't be disappointed.
Book Description
It all started with one book that had a simple goal: bring the wisdom of today's top MBA programs into the home libraries of business professionals everywhere. In a nutshell—offer the skills, ideas, and power of the MBA without the time and cost. The idea took hold. And now, over 300,000 copies later, The Portable MBA has become a staple on the business shelf.
Since then, the '90s have brought revolutionary changes to the business world. We've seen management fads come and go, technological revolutions, organizational restructuring on a grand scale, the global expansion of most markets—in short, a total shattering of conventional business wisdom. The business world of the '90s and beyond is vastly different from what we saw in the last decade... And here to meet that new world is The New Portable MBA.
Designed to carry tomorrow's leaders into the 21st century, The New Portable MBA capitalizes on the strengths that made its predecessor a classic. It offers contributions from an international all-star team of experts from today's top business schools, and it provides readers with overviews of all the major business school topics, including managing people; finance, economics, and accounting; marketing management; information technology; leadership; strategy, and much more!
So what is different about The New Portable MBA? Plenty. It's been thoroughly revised and revamped to help you sort out and understand the new concepts, techniques, and strategies driving business. You'll find completely new or enhanced coverage of such crucial topics as:
- Process management
- Change management
- The new role of the manager as leader
- The customer-driven organization
- Business process reengineering
- New forms of organization design
- Quality and productivity and many other topics that are redefining business today.
The New Portable MBA is for businesspeople who want to improve their understanding of the workings of the business world. It's for managers who want to sharpen their decision-making skills, professionals who want to make the leap into management, young men and women just entering the business world, business students, MBAs who feel they can use a refresher course.
Above all, it's for anyone who wants to further their business education and stay on top in today's constantly changing world of business.
"The Skills, Ideas, and Power of the MBA, without the Time and Cost . . ."
"...Seeks to give the reader 'instant MBA literacy,' an understanding of today's business environment and language. The book's chapters are written by scholars from premier graduate schools of business: they are designed to provide readers with knowledge equivalent to that which would result from attending the first year of a typical MBA program...A literate, concise coverage of key issues." —Choice magazine
"...Provides a framework for making reasoned business decisions and judgements." — Reference Reviews
"Useful as a starting point for learning the language and concepts [of business], refreshing a rusty subject or creating a framework for decision making." — Library Journal
"If you need the knowledge behind an MBA, but can't afford the tuition or time, this book can serve as a temporary substitute while you concentrate on other aspects of your career." — Women in Business
"...A particularly helpful resource for anyone who is an achiever in an organization..." —Memphis Business Journal
"...Should not only be read cover-to-cover but should command a place at the desk of every business professional." — Entrepreneur
"...Must reading for all business leaders. The book provides the basic building blocks for global competitiveness." — Noel M. Tichy, PhD Professor, University of Michigan Graduate School of Business Administration Coauthor of Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will
Customer Reviews:
Best MBA overview available.......2000-10-15
Best preparation for your first year and great over view of the core subjects by the top professors. A must have for MBA candidates and a great referesher for MBA's.
Comprehensive review of business practices and buzz words.......1999-06-09
Comprehensive review of business and management practices. I enjoyed listening to it.
Very difficult to find what you're looking for........1999-02-19
There are 8 sides of tape. Yet there is no Table of Contents and the tapes are not organized by topic. You need to listen to them as though they comprised a novel. It is so difficult to navigate to the topics you wish to listen that these tapes are a waste of time and money.
Very Informative.......1997-02-21
I have read plenty of business books and this is by far the most informative. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in what it takes to have an MBA
Book Description
Combines important new academic thinking and research with evidence of `best practice' in the field of management by foremost business persons and consultants. Provides an invaluable strategic perspective of what is working in corporate marketing cultures and what isn't. Contains authentic examples from Webster's research at leading American and Japanese companies, focusing on the interrelationship of corporate culture, customer orientation and business performance.
Customer Reviews:
The history of Marketing and recent developments........2004-07-02
Webster gives a lot of detail of the history of Marketing in this book. It includes all the recent develpments in Marketing and how it has affected the customer. For those interested in how Marketing focuses on the customer, this is a great way to understand the marketing of a particular product. That said, this fact packed book is about as dry as can be. If you read this book, you will see how the reader has to slog through this material. Lots of facts and theory, but little in the way of interesting the general public.
One market for this book is to university students in Marketing. This book is a great summary of where Marketing will go in the future, and this could help the student. Few people would find this book interesting, other than sales people and Marketing.
Books:
- People Sharing Jesus: A Natural, Sensitive Approach to Helping Others Know Christ
- Pierce Brosnan: The Biography
- Producers: Money, Movies And Who Really Calls the Shots
- Proust at the Movies (Studies in European Cultural Transition)
- Screening Violence (Depth of Film Series)
- Sean Connery:A Celebration
- September Song: A Cronicle of the O'Malley's in the Twentieth Century (Family Saga)
- Shakespeare, from Stage to Screen
- So You Wanna See Cowboy Stuff?
- Speeding to the Millennium: Film & Culture 1993-1995 (S U N Y Series in Postmodern Culture)
Books Index
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