THE TIME OF MY LIFE
by Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi (Atria, 2009)
New York Times Best Seller list, October 2009
Number 15 best-selling hardcover nonfiction book of 2009
“The writing is as raw, intense and honest as it gets…”
— Publishers Weekly
“[Swayze's] life story is presented with somber pathos juxtaposed with a sense of humor that was true to Swayze himself… Each page of this book is filled with Swayze’s passion for life.”
— Bookreporter.com
“[Swayze's] crowning achievement.”
— EW.com
“Their endearing story of moving to New York from Texas to pursue dance careers will have you turning pages at a rapid rate…”
— Los Angeles Examiner
“Heartwarming and brave.”
— The Daily Mail
*****
THE DEVIL WE KNOW: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower
by Robert Baer (Crown, 2008)
New York Times Extended Best Seller list, October 2008
“Baer, the former CIA agent turned best-selling author, is such a talented, clear-thinking writer that this book, which tackles a complex issue of global political import, is a genuine pleasure to read.”
— Booklist
“An important text studded with keen insights into a nation about which America remains dangerously misinformed.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“[T]imely and provocative… adds an important perspective to a crucial international debate.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Baer’s broader case for engaging Iran is a welcome reality check…”
— Bookforum
*****
BASIC BLACK: The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life)
by Cathie Black (Crown, 2007)
New York Times Best Seller list, November 2007
New York Times Paperback Best Seller list, October 2008
Business Week Best Seller list, #1 ranking
Wall Street Journal Best Seller list
“Black’s insights on topics ranging from risk to passion to fear to leadership are hard-won, and her wisdom… has the potential to enrich careers and lives.”
— USA Today
“[Basic Black's] conversational style makes it a quick read… Whether you buy it for yourself, a friend or a colleague, Basic Black is worth every penny.”
— Bizjournals
“This is the book I wish I’d received as a college graduation gift, or maybe even for high school graduation… a good, basic business book packed with important lessons.”
— Soundmoneymatters.com
“When I picture Cathie Black, I think equally of her blunt-as-a-bullet approach to business and her quick, warm laugh. Those qualities come through in this book, which is, above all, a virtual mentoring campaign.”
— HeadButler.com
“I agree with her fans. This makes my Top Shelf must-read list.”
— Entrepreneur.com
“A tasteful blend of solid advice and personal stories.”
— Audiofile
“Smart, true, and reassuring.”
— Suze Orman
*****
BARN BURNING, BARN BUILDING: Tales of a Political Life, From LBJ to George W. Bush and Beyond
by Ben Barnes with Lisa Dickey (Bright Sky, 2006)
New York Times Extended Best Seller list, May 2006
“A fascinating window into a bygone Democratic era.”
— Dallas Morning News
“A must-read for current conversation… a rollicking read.”
— Houston Chronicle
“It’s Barnes’ rocket rise and fall that rings of history in ‘Barn Burning Barn Building’…”
— Austin American-Statesman
“Let me be perfectly blunt with you. I didn’t think that I would like your book at all, and I couldn’t put it down. Your background, your life, is pretty fascinating… you were there for a lot of history.”
— Sean Hannity, Hannity & Colmes
“[Barnes] has amassed a wealth of experience and wisdom that his party should be listening to this election year.” — Wichita Eagle
“Reminds us of a time when government and politicians believed in more than their own self-aggrandizement.”
— Blogcritics.org
“Regardless of your political leanings, those who are interested in politics, as well as those who personally knew Ben Barnes, will find his recollections most fascinating.” — De Leon Free Press
*****
THERE MUST BE A PONY IN HERE SOMEWHERE: The AOL Time Warner Debacle and the Search for a Digital Future
by Kara Swisher with Lisa Dickey (Crown, 2003)
“Swisher narrates human foible and brilliance, a train-wreck tale brightened by plenty of personality — including her own, sparkling through in laugh-out-loud observations on almost every page.”
— Boston Globe
“Swisher displays a finely honed hogwash detector and maps AOL’s inevitable fall with the perfect amount of cynicism and whimsy.”
— Newsday
“Swisher delivers a readable account of the gigantic merger and why it didn’t work. She mixes in distinctive humor with hard-core reporting to expose a monumental exercise in ineptness.”
—Dallas Morning News
“[Readers] will be entertained by Swisher’s barbed wit and carried along by her expertly constructed narrative.”
— Forbes.com
“Swisher moves her narrative along swiftly and adopts a pleasingly irreverent tone…Better yet, Swisher diligently reconstructs the optimism with which many Time Warner officials (including Ted Turner) greeted the merger. The merger was not a total loss… Swisher has produced an enjoyable book about it.”
— The Washington Post
“Swisher explains in her excellent new book why the merger turned out to be a rotten egg…Pony is a wickedly funny, insider-y tale…Swisher deftly paints the characters of the top executives, then exposes all the bickering and backstabbing.”
— San Francisco Weekly
“Swisher has a wicked sense of humor and a keen eye for human foibles and folly.”
— Chicago Sun-Times
“[An] entertaining and sharply written analysis of the fateful AOL Time Warner merger.”
— Variety.com
“In an always lively, sometimes glib style, Swisher, writing with Dickey, recounts the forces that led to the biggest media deal in history and then traces the downward spiral of the combined AOL Time Warner… Swisher uses her access to most top AOL executives and Levin to deliver a story that races along in Internet time about one of the seminal events in media history.”
— Publishers Weekly
“In this tightly written documentary about the creation and cataclysmic failure of the resulting merger, a Wall Street Journal columnist uses her considerable knowledge of both companies to create a fascinating portrait of what happened and why… It’s essential history on the growth of the Internet, enlightening and entertaining to hear.”
— Audiofile
“The most important book to come out about AOL thus far… a fast-paced, well-told story… a must-read for anyone in danger of forgetting that success comes from pleasing customers, one customer at a time.”
— Book Reporter
“Journalists Swisher and Dickey have an ear for the comic and an appreciation for the larger-than-life personalities that propel the drama.”
— LearnOutLoud.com
“A pleasant read, informative as well as entertaining.”
— Slashdot
*****
THE WOMAN WHO WOULDN’T TALK: Why I Refused to Testify Against the Clintons, and What I Learned in Jail
by Susan McDougal with Pat Harris (Carroll & Graf, 2003)
New York Times Best Seller list, February 2003
“Moving and compelling, composed … with dignity and compassion.”
— The New York Times
“A page-turner of a memoir…”
— Biography Magazine
“Wry… [McDougal] knows what readers want to learn about – her experiences being grilled, then jailed for contempt for refusing to give Starr his smoking gun – and she lays on the horrific details with righteous fury… Looks back on her travails with humor… Her account [has] a historical and emotional perspective many of her predecessors lacked.”
— Publishers Weekly
“There are some fresh takes on Bill Clinton… and her views on how prison changed her for the better add texture to an interestingly told tale.”
— Booklist
“McDougal has written an engaging, sometimes gossipy, insightful biography, notable for its accounts of her different trials and more so for the depiction of life in women’s prisons… McDougal herself comes across as a spirited and forthright person… [an] appealing memoir.”
— Library Journal
“Leaves the reader with considerable insight into how a two-bit land deal (Whitewater) involving a one-bit (though real) conflict of interest on the part of then-Gov. Bill Clinton was turned into a scandal that nearly deposed a president… an emotional page-turner.”
— Newsday
“Susan tells her story in wry, candid tones. Once you read it, you realize what a travesty federal justice can be.”
— Liz Smith
“Engrossing, often funny… a deeply humane account of one woman’s unlikely heroism.”
— Gene Lyons
“It is a measure of this book’s quality that Helen Thomas, the renowed Queen of the White House press corps, consented to write the foreword to it… And it’s a riveting story indeed.”
— American Politics Journal
*****
WIRELESS NATION: The Frenzied Launch of the Cellular Revolution in America
by James B. Murray, Jr. (Perseus, 2001)
Top Ten Business Book of 2001 (Booklist)
“Reads like a Gold Rush novel…[Murray is] an astute analyst and canny observer, as well as a gifted prose stylist… highly compelling.”
— Miami Herald
“What a story…[Murray] masterfully captures the history of an industry that made him and dozens of other business executives rich… Replete with exhaustively detailed scenes, a wacky cast of characters, intriguing plot twists, and a climax that few telecommunications ‘experts’ imagined, it reads more like a collection of short stories than a work of nonfiction.”
— National Journal
“Takes readers through the wild ride of the cellular industry’s history…[Murray] adds details and color only an insider could…Wireless Nation should be essential reading for those who want to understand the telecommunications business.”
— Dallas Morning News
“No industry has even seen more explosive growth than that of cellular communications. Murray’s colorful account recognizes that cellular communication is still in its infancy, and he speculates about the future of telecommunications.”
— Booklist
“Carefully documented and well-researched, Wireless Nation is a must-read for anyone interested in communications issues… business reading at its best.”
— BookPage
“This highly readable book gives us an intimate look at the individuals who helped shape the industry, the costly mistakes and missed opportunities, and the shrewd business deals.”
— Upside
“Highly recommended.”
— Library Journal
“A breezy, engagingly written story of the communications shift to wireless…a fascinating tale, told with a reporter’s eye for detail and an insider’s knowledge of the industry.”
— Choice
“A solid history of a technological gold rush, as narrated by an early prospector…Useful reading for investors, inventors, and students of technological history.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Murray treats us to a detailed look at how a ragtag band of media upstarts often risked their futures on a new and mostly unproven technology and established a multibillion dollar industry.”
— Publishers Weekly
“The first definitive account of an industry that has forever altered the way we live… compelling enough to warrant your full attention.”
— Austin American-Statesman
“Murray is well informed, and his history of the avaricious schemers and their strategies is comprehensive and detailed.”
— Boston Herald
“Entertaining… Murray’s book is peppered with revealing anecdotes.”
— Virginia Business
“[Wireless Nation] gives an incredible picture of the cellular explosion viewed from the level of the players…it reaches a level of breakneck speed that accurately reproduces what was happening as America entered the cellular age…[an] action-packed, very detailed saga of America tumbling in a crazy, almost brainless manner into the 21st century of an increasingly digital, wireless world.”
— Newport News Daily Press
“Murray writes about a gold fever of our time…an action-packed history full of surprises through which parade diverse characters.”
— Latin Trade
“With the acrid taste of the dot-com debacle still in the mouths of many people, it’s uplifting to read about a gold rush that didn’t fall on its face. Wireless Nation is the story of that gold rush skillfully rendered in an engaging style.”
— Mass High Tech
“Wireless Nation is a highly enjoyable book…a real page turner…interesting and educational. It is, simply put, a good book.”
— Tacoma Reporter
“A must-read for anyone interested in new technology, contemporary history, and the American business landscape.”
— TechDirections
“Murray captures a time when small players made a difference—or at least made their fortunes—in a nascent industry.”
— Industry Standard
“A lively journey through some of the spectacular, unbelievable and important events that formed the foundation of the cellular industry…The stories Murray tells are rich with details and focus on the human element of the events.”
— RCR Wireless News
“Murray describes the smarts, the stupidities, and the shenanigans of the singular characters and corporations that have chased spectrum over the last 20 years…A history of how America both blazed the trail and lost the race…a chronicle of both the glories and pitfalls of free-market capitalism.”
— Knowledge at Wharton
*****
CONFESSIONS OF A VENTURE CAPITALIST: Inside the High-Stakes World of Start-Up Financing
by Ruthann Quindlen (Warner Books, 2000)
“The apparent ease with which she conveys her minimalist vignettes belies Quindlen’s considerable literary talent; readers will find themselves recalling her phrases with satisfaction… a brilliantly illuminating window into how venture capitalists think.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Quindlen is a VC who isn’t encumbered by literary pretension; she’s simply speaking from experience. In conversational prose, she lays out exactly what venture capitalists look for when an entrepreneur comes knocking on their doors in search of funding and guidance.”
— Newsweek
“A female venture capitalist speaks frankly here, and with a sense of humor…Her advice, sprinkled with Silicon Valley names and legends, is sound…Expect long lines of readers in Silicon prairies, valleys, and alleys.”
— Booklist
“Quindlen has loaded this book with humor as well as practical information for anyone looking to launch a business.”
— Wired
“A how-to volume for the budding entrepreneur who wants to start a venture-financed company…Most amusing are the real-life business plans that didn’t make it – the “portable backyard nuclear reactor,” a must for every modern family!”
— Salon
“We know what you’re thinking: Not another Silicon Valley tome! Well, Quindlen is an unusual breed of VC. She’s a real player, and she can write. Read it on your next flight aboard the Nerd Bird.”
— Fast Company
“A venture capital primer… If you’re a budding entrepreneur or a member of the general public wondering just what VC is, Ruthann Quindlen penned a book with you in mind.”
— San Jose Mercury News
*****
AOL.COM: How Steve Case Beat Bill Gates, Nailed the Netheads, and Made Millions in the War for the Web
by Kara Swisher (Random House, 1998)
“A fascinating and instructive story….a detailed, warts-and-all history of one of the great capitalist success stories of all time…well researched and comprehensive.”
— Richard Bernstein, The New York Times
“Maybe Swisher has a knack for bringing personalities to life on the page, or maybe there just aren’t any boring people at AOL; either way, the result is a story inhabited by brash, bold characters….In many ways, aol.com reads like a corporate disaster movie; it depicts entrepreneurial bodies falling everywhere, a hero whose sole desire is survival and experiences we’d much rather read about than live through.”
— David Pogue, The New York Times Book Review
“Swisher makes excellent use of her resources to show how Steve Case and his hand-picked management team met these challenges, rebuilding their rocket not once but several times.”
— Washington Post Book World
“The adventures of AOL contain the raw material for a riveting tale….Swisher excels in relating the chronology of AOL’s endless perils and occasional triumphs….aol.com is a faithful chronicle of the considerable surface drama of a surprising victor that continues to face down challenges….”
— Business Week
“The best tech-scene book of the year.”
— Jim Coates, The Chicago Tribune
“Excellent…Swisher vividly recreates AOL’s roller-coaster ride to the top, and her lucid book will surely entertain Netheads and novices alike.”
— Fred Hamerman, The Chicago Tribune
“Swisher’s book is a meticulous, step-by-step tracing of the birth growth and evolution of America Online. The personalities of the players–many of whom make the term ‘eccentric’ seem like oatmeal—crackle with clarity….One of the more impressive efforts I have found in the last several years.”
— Michael Pakenham, The Baltimore Sun
“Surprisingly gripping….this is very much a book about a company, and a pretty peculiar one, too.”
— The Economist
“The almost surreal inside story of the world’s biggest online company is told with a ripped-from-the-headlines energy that matches the intense drama of market-share maneuvering, delicate negotiating, and disastrous errors in this high-tech, high stakes world.”
— Modern Maturity
“Swisher trenchantly documents the company’s quixotic journey from a ragtag collection of cybervisionaries to a corporate powerhouse….Swisher’s breezy read is brimming with colorful quotes and anecdotes on how AOL withstood the catcalls of Wall Street and the digerati to become the Internet equivalent of Coca-Cola.”
— San Francisco Chronicle
“AOL.COM will offer considerable satisfaction to die-hard AOL fans and critics who would have liked to have been flies on the wall inside one of the most influential companies in cyberspace.”
— The Los Angeles Times
“An amazing rags-to-riches tale that is a good read for anyone interested in entrepreneurship.”
— Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
“The best, most balanced profile of AOL’s chief executive, Steve Case.”
— Fort Worth Star-Telegram
“Swisher’s fascinating and detailed account of the rise and near-fall of America online makes for an extraordinary ‘Case’ study’….Swisher’s thorough reportorial instincts make for a story that reads like a novel.”
— Entrepreneurial Edge
“Fascinating….well-researched…AOL.COM contains some excellent close-ups of pivotal moments in AOL’s history.”
— ABCNEWS.com
“With its cast of fascinating and quirky characters, including Steve Case, Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and Alexander Haig, AOL.COM is a captivating look at all the human, cultural, and sometimes just plain quixotic factors that created this unlikely giant.”
— Amazon.com
“A fascinating and highly readable history of the consumer Internet an dthe digerati who have brought it life. It is sure to enliven the already animated debates about the Internet’s societal role and how much information (and how much access) is enough.”
— The Midwest Book Review
“A valuable history lesson.”
— Gus Venditto, Internet World
“Whether you’re one of 12 million AOL stalwarts or a flaming debunker, you’ll be intrigued by Wall Street Journal reporter Kara Swisher’s very inside look at the golden goose of online service providers.”
— barnesandnoble.com
“Lively…Swisher does a marvelous job synthesizing interviews, inside info, and several years of magazine-story clippings into a coherent narrative.”
— Across the Board
“A thorough, thoughtful account of how America Online left its status as a lark to become the much-maligned but presently undisputed king of online services….Swisher never sensationalizes these hot topics. Her book is a solid study of the birth, growth, and struggles of this computer giant.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“A gripping cyber-saga….Swisher’s account makes the computer wars seem as seductive, treacherous and unpredictable as the web itself.”
— Publishers Weekly