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Kurzbeschreibung

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This 1992 Edgar Award winner for best fact crime is nothing short of a classic. David Simon, a police reporter for the Baltimore Sun, spent the year 1988 with three homicide squads, accompanying them through all the grim and grisly moments of their work--from first telephone call to final piece of paperwork. The picture that emerges through a masterful accumulation of details is that homicide detectives are a rare breed who seem to thrive on coffee, cigarettes, and persistence, through an endlessly exhausting parade of murder scenes. As the Washington Post writes, "We seem to have an insatiable appetite for police stories.... David Simon's entry is far and away the best, the most readable, the most reliable and relentless of them all.... An eye for the scenes of slaughter and pursuit and an ear for the cadences of cop talk, both business and banter, lend Simon's account the fascination that truth often has."

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Like its subject, The Smartest Guys in the Room is ambitious, grand in scope, and ruthless in its dealings. Unlike Enron, the Texas-based energy giant that has come to represent the post-millennium collapse of 1990s go-go corporate culture, it's also ultimately successful. Penned by Fortune scribes Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, the 400-page-plus chronicle of the scandal digs deep inside the numbers while, wisely, maintaining focus on the "smart guys" deep-frying the books. The likes of paternal but disengaged CEO Ken Lay (dubbed "Kenny Boy" by George W. Bush, one of many prominent public figures with whom he rubbed shoulders), cutthroat man-behind-the-curtain Jeff Skilling, and ethically blind numbers whiz Andy Fastow vividly come to life as they make a mockery of conventional accounting practices and grow increasingly arrogant and bind to their collective hubris. They're not a likable lot, and the writers find it difficult to suppress their astonishment and revulsion with the crew who rapidly went from golden boys and girls of the financial world to pariahs when the bill finally came due. The authors' unrepressed sarcasms are more than often unnecessarily given the scope of the outrage. Enron's leading lights were or a time celebrated for their ability to concoct nearly unfathomable business schemes to hide mounting shortfalls and keeping track on their machinations can be a chore, but, by sticking hard to the story behind the fall, McLean and Elkind have reported and written the definitive account of the Enron debacle. --Steven Stolder

Kurzbeschreibung

Complain your way to better a service. Get refunds for rubbish goods. Secure replacement and upgraded items. Get free gifts by way of apology for junked goods and products. This book started out as being a guide to the league table of the best and the worst of food and drinks companies for fairness, honesty, speed of response and friendliness. This soon changed, though, when police were called in by some of the companies being researched by the author and his team. Fear of what could be unearthed brought this about. The gloves were off in this David Vs Goliath battle. The author takes the role of consumer champ.

FROM THE AUTHOR
A jewel of a bad book, and when I look back at the writing style and setting out ? they are cringeworthy! I wouldn?t say it is the worst book ever written, as a lot of emotional effort went in to it. Some really badly written stuff gets published for various reasons. I hold this book up as an example of how not to write a book. If you are bored or have half a day to spare then by all means invest the time in reading this, otherwise consider getting it for free from Amazon?s Kindle Owners? Lending Library. However, I recall having great fun writing this back in 1999! It was raw writing and, perhaps, misdirected anger at anything I could aim at. Since writing this I have changed writing genres and solely concentrate on self-help, although I guess this could be considered, in the loosest sense of the word, to be self-help.

One reviewer claimed that this book is a confused jumble of complaining letters to manufacturers and retailers, an interview with the police, some product testing, exposé of a kebab factory, plugs for the author's other books and is littered with typos. I agree, but I had great time writing it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen Richards, the Golden Pen, has had numerous books serialised in the national press and magazines, having authored well over 70 titles to date. He has authored and co-authored numerous titles for other well-respected publishers as a sole author, co-author and ghost-writer. TV credits include: Panorama, Tonight programme, Real Lives, BBC TV (and BBC TV digital Horizon channel), BBC and independent radio, Channel 4, Channel 5 TV and Independent TV. Now concentrating on Mind, Body & Spirit books and audios, Stephen has dedicated himself to coaching mind power techniques and regularly runs courses and workshops.

Kurzbeschreibung

Complain your way to better a service. Get refunds for rubbish goods. Secure replacement and upgraded items. Get free gifts by way of apology for junked goods and products. This book started out as being a guide to the league table of the best and the worst of food and drinks companies for fairness, honesty, speed of response and friendliness. This soon changed, though, when police were called in by some of the companies being researched by the author and his team. Fear of what could be unearthed brought this about. The gloves were off in this David Vs Goliath battle. The author takes the role of consumer champ.

FROM THE AUTHOR
A jewel of a bad book, and when I look back at the writing style and setting out ? they are cringeworthy! I wouldn?t say it is the worst book ever written, as a lot of emotional effort went in to it. Some really badly written stuff gets published for various reasons. I hold this book up as an example of how not to write a book. If you are bored or have half a day to spare then by all means invest the time in reading this, otherwise consider getting it for free from Amazon?s Kindle Owners? Lending Library. However, I recall having great fun writing this back in 1999! It was raw writing and, perhaps, misdirected anger at anything I could aim at. Since writing this I have changed writing genres and solely concentrate on self-help, although I guess this could be considered, in the loosest sense of the word, to be self-help.

One reviewer claimed that this book is a confused jumble of complaining letters to manufacturers and retailers, an interview with the police, some product testing, exposé of a kebab factory, plugs for the author's other books and is littered with typos. I agree, but I had great time writing it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen Richards, the Golden Pen, has had numerous books serialised in the national press and magazines, having authored well over 70 titles to date. He has authored and co-authored numerous titles for other well-respected publishers as a sole author, co-author and ghost-writer. TV credits include: Panorama, Tonight programme, Real Lives, BBC TV (and BBC TV digital Horizon channel), BBC and independent radio, Channel 4, Channel 5 TV and Independent TV. Now concentrating on Mind, Body & Spirit books and audios, Stephen has dedicated himself to coaching mind power techniques and regularly runs courses and workshops.