No comments about What Makes Dan Bollom So Tall?: A Memoir Of Life Experiences And Advice From A Retired CEO.

2 comments about Life and Death of an Oilman: The Career of E.W. Marland.

1. This book is an easy read. There are really two stories told: Marland's biography, and also, an history of early economic development in the northern part of the young state of Oklahoma. In a few chapters you will read about geology, Native American tribes, seizure of Indian lands in the "Cherokee Strip", early oilmen, New York bankers, the roaring 1920's and the Great Depression. They all influenced Marland's career as an oilman. The author's (often acerbic) opinions about persons and events are freely given throughout his book.



2. I should have read the title better...."Life and Death of An Oilman: The CAREER of E.W. Marland". (capital letters mine). This was mainly 90% about the business life of Marland, whereas a true life story would have been VERY interesting. How he married his step daughter and lived in that wonderful mansion, but very little is said about any of that. Hence, I skipped through the book and read hardly any of it. Glad I bought it used.

1 comments about Building a Global Success: The Story of Samih Darwazah and the Rise of Hikma.

1. Written by the founder and chairman of Hikma Group, a billion-dollar multinational pharmaceutical company, Building A Global Success is the true story of how one man combined centuries of Middle Eastern wisdom with American values and know-how to build a successful business - one that put people first, respected employees, emphasized research and invention, encouraged education, and invested in America. Building A Global Success is about the power and enlightened self-interest of positive values rather than the greed, ruthlessness, hypocrisy, and poor quality that have spelled out financial as well as moral ruin of so many other businesses. Offering valuable lessons to businesses and corporations of all sizes, Building A Global Success is a positive-minded, true testimony of how business practices and ethics can be combined for greater success on all levels.

No comments about Opportunity Dubai: How I Made a Fortune in the Middle East.

No comments about Entrepreneur to Investor the Hard Way.

2 comments about Out on the Deep Blue: Women, Men, and the Oceans They Fish.

1. Reading this book, I felt right on the water--pitching and rolling with the waves. The first essay by Marie Beaver brings the reader directly into the essence of what it means to work in a natural environment and to make choices about one's life. Thank you to Fields for collecting a reminder of a natural world and an occupation now in decline.



2. This book is a collection of storys of commercial fishing from fishing in the bering sea or around alaska sea urchin fishing in the atlantic also fishing in louisana.Some are well known authors for those familar with commercial fishing and books that i would definitely recommend if you like this book.Such as linda greenlaws book "The hungry ocean" spike walkers book "working on the edge working in alaskas most dangerous profession" an excellent book .This book cover some womens roles in fishing as in fishing for crabs in the bering sea some tough women. I would also recommend any book by william mccloskey whether it be fiction or non fiction

No comments about The Story Of My Life.

1 comments about Autobiography Of Mother Jones.

1. I was assigned this book for class, and I wasn't too fond of it. It's not that I think Mother Jones' efforts were unimportant. From what I read, she seems to have been a very brave and passionate woman, totally selfless in her cause. We could use more people like her today.
   
   But the book itself was awfully repetative. If you weren't alive during the time that the events happened, which of course you weren't, and if you don't know much about the subject, the events seem to repeat themselves over and over. Mother Jones goes to an overworked, underpaid coal mining town, leads the workers in a strike, the company owners do all they can to supress their efforts, until at last one side wins. Wash, rinse, repeat.
   
   I think that Mother Jones and the Labor Movement are excellent things to read about, but I think it would be best to read a book with more historical explanation. I would prefer one that gave information about the individual towns and people she helped, and those involved in the cause, so that they would not all blend together.

5 comments about Empire: A Tale of Obsession, Betrayal, and the Battle for an American Icon.

1. This book is a complex but riveting tale of how the Empire State Building inspires not just affection for a classic American icon, but incredible greed, hatred, and pretty much all of the seven deadly sins. This is also a peek behind the curtain of big time real estate, and a seriously unflattering portrait of most of its practitioners. Absolutely recommended for anyone who wants dirt on Leona Helmsley, or has a vague dislike for Donald Trump. None of these characters, especially the Japanese (both the Yokoi family and the Japanese bankers), comes off as particularly admirable. Very good.



2. In typical New York fashion, the story of the Empire State Building, from inception to today is stranger than fiction. In his brilliant book, "Empire: A Tale of Obsession, Betrayal, and the Battle for an American Icon", Mitchell Pacelle reveals the intrigues, wheeling-dealing, and financial brawling that surrounds the greatest symbol of America's financial power. Sometimes the depths to which the players sank were as deep as the Empire State Building is high. There are many of the names that you would expect to be involved in this tale: Raskob, Smith, Helmsley, Trump, but there are plenty of surprises (which I won't give away).

   Mr. Pacelle deserves a load of credit, not just for the research (which is impressive enough) but for the glitzy, brash, and engaging style with which he tells this fascinating story. Only in New York would a story like this happen, and only Mr. Pacelle has told it the way it should.

   Rocco Dormarunno, author of THE FIVE POINTS




3. The publication date should give it away but with the climax of this book referring to the gleaming twin towers of the World Trade Centre and Donald Trump dreaming of a potential buyer for the subject, readers today will be left feeling empty having traced what could have been, an interesting saga over 300 pages.
   
   Other than a useful insight into the construction of the Empire, its first decades of presence and the personalities of Yokoi, Helmsley, Malkin, Wein and Trump (mostly within the space of a couple of chapters), what remains is a messy and tedious multifaceted, intercontinental legal dispute, with many arms all leading whether separately or in toto, to little in the way of meaningful conclusion.
   
   An early suggestion as to this American icon being stolen by a wily foreign foe builds to a crescendo of outrage that grabs the reader immediately, only to be forgotten thereafter.
   
   It is this attempt to lead the reader (albeit with a comfortable writing style) so many times to no place at all, together with a conspicuous tendency towards repetition in the final chapters, that leaves the sensation; why did I bother? This story cannot merely be left with Trump holding a torn bag side by side with the heirs of a tattered Japanese business powerhouse. Trump in all respects is the story. Readers deserve to hear the end game.
   
   An unfinished chronicle. Its legacy at least rests with the fact, that in detailing its story to mid 2001, scholars now possess a basis of personal interview upon which to complete this epoch of urban American history.



4. very interesting account of how ego, greed and poor research affect real estate investments.
   
   good historical account of how property values were overinflated and seasoned investors were only too happy to offload them to unsuspecting foreigners. [even though the media claimed america was loosing its landmarks.]



5. Pacelle does a fine balanced job of telling a tangled story, littered with scoundrels and pirates, stretching from New York to Tokyo to the chateaux country of France. The book predates 9/11 and the recent death of Leona Helmsley but the author does not hide his distaste for the "Queen of Mean" and his guarded admiration for the "rational opportunist" Donald Trump. Part Big Apple commercial real estate, part law, this fast paced book focuses on the main points as a means to moving the story along and the structure holds the reader until the end.

2 comments about Skyscraper Dreams: The Great Real Estate Dynasties of New York.

1. Never buy a building. That's the rule which allowed penniless refugee families to create the New York skyline over two centuries. People with more money than sense should read Schactman's excellent history of making and keeping family wealth. The obvious message is that land currently not in its "highest and best use" is the fundamental investment vehicle. REIT's are vivid proof that the Wall Street mentality does not comprehend the difference between real and financial assets. We will see a switch from absurd PE's to neglected urban locations . Re-print this important book!



2. Skyscraper Dreams
   
   The book Skyscraper Dreams; The Great Real Estate Dynasties of New York by Tom Shachtman covers the dreams and despair of the visionary real estate moguls that built and traded the skyscrapers of New York like Monopoly properties in the board game.
   
   The book visits most big name real estate operators starting with the nineteenth century's John Jacob Astor and the Roosevelts, Beekmans and Rockefellers to the Tishmans, Rudins and Roses who came to this country penniless. Then it moves into the flamboyant developer "Big Bill" Zeckendorph, who they say was the model for Donald Trump. Then there is the master of the real estate universe Harry Helmsley and the Kennedys, Tisches, LeFreks and many others dynasties that made and sometimes lost fortunes in the violent cycles of the New York real estate market.
   
   The concept that hit me the hardest and stayed with me was how Harry Helmsley danced through the decades while building an empire, counting on inflation to make his fortune. He would scoop up properties in tough recessionary markets and count on a turn around that he knew would inevitably come to lift prices and build fortunes. While many of the empire builders in this group stretched and overextended by taking on more projects than could be carried during a slowdown, Harry was slow and steady, over the course of several decades, constantly accumulating income producing properties and running a tight ship, always chipping away at expenses. Many of the names above ran into financial squeezes, even bankruptcy during a real estate slump, often to reinvent themselves, and make remarkable comebacks.
   
   The book gives you a refreshing insight into not only the actions of many real estate icons but the thoughts behind those actions. Sometimes cut thought competitiveness played in pushing architectural limits to add another 100 feet on a building so it's taller than a competitor; other times great compassion played in setting the tone for modern day philanthropy.
   
   It's always a boost to read about an immigrant who came to America on borrowed boat fare and rose through this countries capitalistic society to own some of New Yorks most prized possessions.
   
   I loved the book, it's about doers, people that made it happen!
   
   By Kevin Kingston author of, "A 20,000% Gain in Real Estate"
   
   (...)