4 comments about Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century.

1. Zachary deserves great credit for writing a book that offers many virtues and lessons of lasting relevance. Because the author's commitment is worthy of his subject, this book should have timeless value. The roles for science and technology and how best to harness them for prosperity and for security to enable the preservation of peace are questions which transcend any particular time.
   
   The subtitle, Engineer of the American Century, is justified. Bush contributed to American society in many ways. He was a fecund, tireless inventor, helping launch Raytheon Corporation. He was dedicated to boosting the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and thereby strengthening society through teaching and seeking practical knowledge. He was a pioneer and convenor of advances in computing.
   
   Clear-mindedly appreciating the gathering evil of Nazi Germany, Bush decided to do something, as typical. He left MIT and got to Washington as head of the Carnegie Institution. Though a Republican, he persuaded President Franklin Roosevelt that those who were technically educated needed to be harnessed within a National Defense Research Committee, in service to their nation's needs. By helping harness the extraordinary abilities of civilian and academic technologists to serve their nation in meeting the challenges of World War II, Bush helped unleash a cornucopia of inventions and advances in thinking, with extraordinary economic legacies (computing, electronics, medicine, radar).
   
   A few words from Zachary:
   --Bush's "was a life not of looking back, but of charging ahead."
   --He had a "commitment to excellence and integrity that reinforced his belief in the power of one person to make a difference."
   --"Bush shared Eisenhower's unease about the alliance between academia, the military, and industry"
   --"The proliferation of nuclear weapons, the rise of environmental hazards, and the evident political partisanship of many scientists - all combined to engender a cynicism in the public about the aims and evidence of science."
   
   Several other books of possible interest in relation to the contributions of technologists:
   Philip Taubman, Secret Empire (2003)
   James Phinney Baxter, Scientists Against Time (1946)
   Biographies of Edwin Land
   James Killian, Sputniks, Scientists, and Eisenhower (1977). Killian was a 1950s Bush, down to earth and his book is movingly endowed with wisdom.



2. More than one person has written on this page that Vannevar Bush is "little known", "forgotten", etc. I am only 54 years old, but I remember seeing Bush's name in print many, many times while growing up. He was always described as crucial to American military and technological supremacy since 1943 or so. A few of his accomplishments: He mobilized American science and engineering during WWII. His leadership was crucial to the Manhattan project. His differential analyzer led to MIT's Lincoln Labs playing an important role in the rise of information technology. He was Claude Shannon's teacher.



3. This is a very well written and entertaining book about a scientific administrator who played a major effort in organizing the technical responses required to anticipate and successfully meet the challenges of WWII. His skillful analysis, technical comprehension and political astuteness not only provided outstanding leadership at the time but shaped the intractions of goverment, industry and the academic community in such a fashion as to remain intact to this time. One comes awawy with an enormous respect for Dr. Bush. He must have been one tough character and difficult to deal with but he got the jobs done. It is a pity that his battles with Admiral Ernest King have, to my knowledge, never been documented. The issues they disagreed about were not trivial and their interactions must have been awesome. I read this book shortly after completing Tycho's Island and the similarity between the two men and the administrative issues they dealt with is both striking and illuminating.

   Good men are hard to find and good books about them deserve our attention.




4. A very interesting and thorough biography of Vannevar Bush, who more than any other individual is responsible (for good or for ill) for the shape of today's scientific establishment. Well-written and engaging, with lots of interesting historical tidbits and good insight on the personalities involved. Excellent!

5 comments about American Dreamer: A Life of Henry A. Wallace.

1. Doesn't anyone here know how pathetically naive this man was? I mean, he wanted to pursue a policy of appeasement with mass-murderer Joseph Stalin - much as Neville Chamberlain had done not a decade earlier with Hitler. Thank God Roosevelt had the sense to remove him from the Vice Presidency; a very scary situation indeed was thus avoided.
   
   Don't waste your time - the man, however "idealistic" (meaning he didn't listen to anyone else), is a historical nonentity.



2. There are many lessons to be learned from the one-of-a-kind individual Henry A. Wallace. Because of his varied interests, people of all walks of life can find aspects of his life and personality they can relate to. This book provides insight into one of the driving forces behind modern agricultural, economic, political and social thought.



3. Henry A Wallace was surely one of the most fascinating men in American Politics in 20th Century--even tho he was, in a sense, only half-in politics. He was too naive and too much in sympathy with the poor of his own world and with the aspirations of other people to fit the American mainstream---FDR managed to achieve a lot of what Wallace dreamed of by being more politically astute.



4. This is a proverbial "long overdue" biography of Henry A. Wallace and his brilliant yet eccentric Scottish-American family. I did a Web search of Wallace a few years ago and was amazed at the scant result. This rectifies that.
   
   Beyond the coverage of his political innocence there is a good recounting of his actual science work. Few politicians actually "do" things beyond speechifying, getting reelected and becoming millionaires at the public trough. Henry, Henry C. and Henry A. Wallace were exceptions. Their philosophic designs for the farmer and state policy were important and Henry A.'s genetic work truly revolutionary.
   
   The world would be a different place without it.
   
   Not much popular press has been written about American agriculture, I guess because building cars, fighting Hitler, dropping atomic bombs and oral sex in the oval office are more exciting.
   
   This book is a good primer in America's great farming history of triumph. To simplify, the American farmer through hard work, good soil and some science grew too much product for his own good...prices essentially fell from 1890 into the 1930's. (World War I was a boom period, but wild fluctuations don't lend themselves to good planning. Under such conditions, planning was about as effective as mule husbandry.) Naturally this hurt most farmers and destroyed more then a few of them. Through government intervention theorized by the Wallace family's agricultural journal and then championed to be public law in Washington by Secretary of Agriculture Henry C. under Harding, then Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. under FDR, this anomaly was reformed.
   
   An obvious and wonderful irony is that Henry A. during this fight for state policy, was genetically engineering hybrid corns (and other crops) which hugely increased acre yield! In other words, American farmers were destroying themselves by being too successful and Wallace made them more successful...and viable.
   
   I was thrilled too with the description of Henry C.'s Washington sojourn in the 1920's. Historians breeze by that period, summarizing it as: womanizer, feckless Warren G. Harding; indolent, pickle puss Calvin Coolidge; and Depression maker, Let-Them-Eat-Cake Herbert C. Hoover. Obviously no administration sets its goal as venality, so it refreshing to see Harding to be portrayed as a sympathetic proponent of Henry C.'s policy goals and Coolidge to be an activist opponent of them. Hoover simply comes off as a lunk-headed player who was wrong and enamored with his personal successes.
   
   Historians have wrongly treated conservative governments as do-nothing when in fact doing nothing often takes as much effort as signing every bill regurgitated by Congress.
   
   And Roosevelt was duplicitous, Henry A. believed in mysticism and was a parlor red who would have ruined the country had FDR croaked a year earlier...but that I knew before I read this book.
   
   This is a good book about a classic American type.



5. I enjoyed this detailed account of the life of Henry Wallace. The book does read like a work by David McCullough, but is enhanced by a deep understanding of the culture of Washington. The book gives valuable insights into the practical political forces that shaped the New Deal and the beginning of the Cold War.

   The underlying premise of this book as that an idealistic dreamer can make a huge difference in the creating and shaping policy in the United States. The co-author of this work is a former Senator from Iowa named John C. Culver. He served one-term in the 1970's. Through Henry Wallace, the authors mount a formidable defense of the ideals of American liberalism.

5 comments about Alwaleed: Businessman, Billionaire, Prince.

1. There are many billionaries listed with Forbes. But in Saudi Arabia, Alwaleed rules. It is a good book to learn the strategies and success of what he did. He did not get rich, using oil money as you might suspect.
   I would recommend this book to all.



2. This book is extremely fawning (sickeningly so), and it is obvious without it being written anywhere that Alwalweed would only participate in the biography if he had full control over the final product. He has a massive ego that comes through on every single page.
   
   Salient points:
   
   1. This book manages to bring up Israel *A-gain.* Big surprise.
   2. Strangely, there are no pictures of any of Alwaleeds wives anywhere in the photos section. (It is said that cameras are not allowed to take photos of any of them.)
   3. It is very surprising to find out that the author is from a family of moderates and that Arab royalty seems to be as much distinguished by country of origin (even though these countries are all relatively recent) as by anything else.
   4. This book teaches some very interesting things about the nature of banking-- but all these facts are not presented in a technical, unapproachable way.
   5. It was obviously an imporant thing to Alwaleed to make the point that he made his money from ways OTHER than oil. This is reiterated *many* times throughout the book. The conclusion that one comes away with is: No, it was not strictly oil that made his money, but royal connections/ nepotism accounted for a healthy chunk of it.
   6. The prose is very light and easy to read, and the whole thing can be put away in about 2 afternoons of reading.
   
   This is worth buying on the second hand shelf if you can find it.



3. Probably the most salient thing you need to know about this book is that it's the OFFICIAL biography of the billionaire Saudi prince. Its author, Riz Khan, is a Yemenite who works at Al-Jazeera TV. The book was originally published in Lebanon.
   
   It's doesn't actually SAY "official" anywhere on it, but the book was made with extensive assistance and encouragement from Al-Waleed himself, and explicit cooperation from the Saudi government. In a country where even Mickey Mouse and "Little House on the Prarie" have been banned, you can find a copy of it in nearly every corner bookstore (not that there are many in the region). In fact, it's quite common to see it in shops and airports all over the Middle East.
   
   So you'd better believe there isn't a single negative word anywhere in it about Saudi culture, the Saudi royal family, or, of course, the main subject, the alluring Prince Waleed. Everything's hunky-dory!
   
   So if we can't criticize, that pretty much leaves what . . . ?
   
   Did somebody say praise? Why, praise it is! Did you know, gentle reader, that between loving his family wholeheartedly, wishing only the best for the world at large, and praying five times a day, the brilliant and raffish Prince Waleed is also an accomplished mountain climber, linguist, chef, author, skydiver, bodybuilder, musician, archaeologist, patriot, photographer, zoologist, pilot, historian, wine connoisseur, chess whiz, hunter, fashion designer, gymnast, philanthropist, bear wrestler, psychologist, pearl diver, stamp collector, tank commander, belly dancer, magician, software programmer, antiques buff, croquet master, Arctic explorer, pearl diver, entomologist, kappelmeister, physicist, sculptor, alchemist, mathematician, acupunturist, shark hunter, car collector, lutenist, Civil War aficionado, polo player, scrabble champion, zymurgist, yoga enthusiast, bridge player, and world-renowned expert on cigars?
   
   Need I say more?



4. 
   Impressive bio ... However, authot repeats a lot of facts/opinions..



5. Not really an insightful book. Not even worthy of a gossip column.

5 comments about Contractor Combatants: Tales of an Imbedded Capitalist.

1. This book is told from the first person perspective of a true American hero. It is action packed with gun battles on the streets of Iraq, in-fighting amongst the locals, and the struggle to run a profitable business while staying alive in the most dangerous place on Earth.
   
   Once I started reading, I could not put the book down. Andress provides incredible insight into the challenges that Americans and Iraqis face in the struggle for a free and democratic Iraq. It describes how Americans and Iraqis are risking their lives together in an effort to rebuild a free and safe Iraq.
   
   After reading this book, I have much clearer insight into the Iraq situation. This book should be mandatory reading for all military officers, politicians, and critics, and supporters of the Iraq war.



2. I have just finished this great book written by a very courageous man that is the very epitome of what Americans used to be; big-hearted can-do men of adventure that seize the day and change the world for the better. It is a gripping account of this former US Army Ranger officer's experience running a logistics and security company in Iraq helping with the building and supply of bases for US and Iraqi forces, and the rebuilding of the Iraqi infrastructure. (He was an officer with the Army Rangers.) He lived outside the "Green Zone" with an ad hoc bunch of special forces guys from US Special Forces to Gurkas and Russian Spetnaz with a supporting cast of Iraqis willing to risk their lives and be real heros while most of the other contractors were hiding behind the US military. I just finished it and I have to say I'm most impressed.
   
   This is a first-hand account of what it is really like over there and not a bunch of second-hand stories from someone hiding in a hotel in the Green Zone, like the other books about Iraq. It is truly a must read for anyone who wants to know what is really going on over there, and the story of the brave men who are building a democratic future for Iraq. See his video on youtube by searching for his name.



3. The liberal press has attempted to submarine progress in Iraq, just like it did in Vietnam. The Carter Andress book tells it like it is. Contractor's play a vital role in the security of the key players in fostering Iraqi democracy, and Andress see's the big picture in this book. This is a great read, but not for those lacking the determination to see this thing through.



4. First, I agree with that said by the first Reviewer, especially about Andress' perspective differing from the "2-3 day visits to Iraq" making those people experts! Andress has lived the Iraqi experience. His work and that of his company puts them in a unique position to KNOW how the majority of Iraquis fell about the US. His efforts make it possible for us to make the progress needed to make the Iraqui people self-sufficient.
   Only then should we think of leaving this country!
   
   Contrary to the media portrait being painted of Contractors in Iraq, i.e. Blackwater, these men are enabling our "experts" to accomplish their tasks without being killed! Obviously the insurgents will try to kill them at every opportunity! Kill the Guards and the Bad Guys will have their way with the people....and our troops!
   
   For a first-hand look at how Iraquis and Americans are working together read this book!



5. Fired UP! If you ever get the chance to meet Carter Andress he will undoubtedly end his conversation with this phrase. Simply put, the man is "fired up" about life. Contractor Combatant tells the story of his real life account of living and working in the RED ZONE along side his Iraqi brothers (Sunni, Shiite, and Kurds alike) and reflects not only his passion for these people, but his deep desire to help them gain their freedom. Trying to start and run a successful business is challenging enough in a peaceful environment. Doing in the midst of the chaos and confusion that is Iraq presents a unique set of challenges that is not for everyone. It takes leadership, courage and lots of tenacity and determination. His company's success could not have been achieved without a willingness to open his heart and trust to the local people. If you are tired listening to the perspective of people that come into this country, spend two or three days in the Green Zone and return home as a subject matter experts, this book offers an entirely new and refreshing perspective that just might change the way you think about war. Get the story from someone who lived it on the front lines. From exposing fraud in the contracting system to feeding the Iraqi Army during the second battle for Falluja, Carter tells his story with passion, grit and honesty. The book is fast paced, entertaining, and well written. It also offers, in the last chapter, an interesting academic perspective on Iraq and US involvement. After reading it you might just feel "Fired UP" too.

5 comments about Make It Happen: The Hip-Hop Generation Guide to Success.

1. Year after year I try to instill the importance of volunteering and giving back into my students. I think it is hard for them to grasp the concept of working for something other than money. This book makes for a great tool to help them understand what I am talking about.
   
   In addition to being a great resource for our youth I personally found this book to be extremely motivational and inspirational. I found myself immediately applying the concepts to my life and thinking of ways that I could make my writing career soar.
   
   I highly recommend this book to any and everyone because while it uses hip hop as the context, the advice applies across the board.
   
   Monica Marie Jones
   Author of FLOSS, The Ups and Downs of Being Round and Taste My Soul
   
   FLOSS
   
   The Ups and Downs of Being Round
   
   Taste My Soul



2. 
   It's a very good book overall. The book is very inspiring and has alot of good wisdom. It's right along the same lines as Russell Simmons's book, "Do You". Don't expect to see any Def Jam rumors or juicy gossip. Kevin Liles is not the type of guy to stay on the negative. Kevin is very humble, he emphasizes hard work and dedication.
   
   If any drawbacks, the book is maybe a bit too long. Kevin makes sure to stay on good terms with other successful business men and successful rappers by mentioning them often. He's makes a real point of playing the business politics game.
   
   I do think that Kevin is slightly misrepresenting his roots to appear more "down" with hip hop. The areas (Woodlawn and Pikesville) which Kevin mention in the book are really upwardly mobile, middle class white collar and blue collar types. However, Kevin is portraying them as rough neighborhoods.
   
   He talks a bit too much about the group he was in, "Numarx". I've never even heard of the group before and I'm from Baltimore. It's definately Kevin Lile's book, not so much a book on Def Jam. It would've probably have been more interesting to hear a little more about the actual artists and albums. Yet, it's a very good read for all ages.



3. Kevin Liles is the guy from Def Jam that most people don't recognize. Everyone knows Russell, most people know Rick Rubin. Kevin's one of the guys who came on board in the days when the company was transforming from start-up to big-time. He delivers a really simple message throughout Make It Happen... work harder than everyone else. That's the real gist of the 242 pages. There are chapters that have other themes, but the underlying cause of his success comes out in every section. Liles worked hard and was single-minded in the pursuit of his goals.



4. THIS BOOK IS VERY GOOD. IT'S PACT FULL OF PRINCIPLES WE MUST FOLLOW TO BECOME A SUCCESS. THOUGH THE AUTHOR IS A SUCCESS AT HIS JOB, HE SHOWS THAT HE IS A WORKAHOLIC AND NOT TOO SUCCESSFUL AT THE HOME FRONT. THIS IS THE ONLY REASON WHY I DID NOT GIVE IT 5 STARS.



5. I teach middle school in a diverse setting, and I'm interested in perhaps brining this book into my classroom. Is there any content in it that would be inappropriate for that age group (sexual content, profanity)?

1 comments about The Outsider's Edge: The Making of Self-Made Billionaires.

1. This is a very good book that looks at the background of 17 billionaires who are all 'self made.' It finds the common ground and attempts to find the links between those backgrounds and how they ended up being such sensational performers in the financial sense. It can be said that if you suffered from a difficult background or had a life changing experience or experiences, that this is often a catalyst for achievement (where one gets over those experiences of course!)
   
   All in all an interesting read. I'd like to be a billionaire anay difficulties I had in my childhood might not be significant enough to give me the push I need to achieve like these people - but you never know!

1 comments about The Life and Legend of E. H. Harriman.

1. Mr Klien has done it again. I read Mr. Klein's The Life And Legend of Jay Gould with much anticipation and found it to be very engaging. That is exactly how i felt about his latest endeavor, The Life and Legend of E.H. Harriman. Mr. Klien handles a complex person with much skill and depth. He brings to life a monumental person who was both very complex and yet very human. His use of the social and cultural aspects of the era help to put his subject in context without detracting from the person. Many biographies fail either because the subject is dimmed by the amount of background information on the social and cultural aspects of the era or just the opposite, the subject is not brought to life by too little backgroung of the forces that helped shapped his/her life. Mr. Klein succeeds in reaching a great balance. The book is a great read.

5 comments about A Big Life In Advertising.

1. I love 1960s and 1970s advertising, so I enjoyed Mary Wells Lawrence's account of some of the best TV ads were created. YouTube proved great way to see some of the classics I had missed or wanted to see again.
   
   Nevertheless, this book is so messy it's hard to believe it came from a major publisher. It seems not to have had an editor's hand at all. Wells starts the book with her first major job in advertising, which is fine, but then suddenly jumps back to her childhood on page 166. We then get her early life until page 193, when we leap back into the advertising world we left on page 165. What?
   
   And, as another reviewer mentioned, the book is an absolute torrent of names: at some points, it feels like Wells has dumped the Manhattan phone book into her text. Most of these people you never get to know and they are never referred to again. Others just disappear: Wells' famous agency is called Wells Rich Greene, but I'm unable to find any mention of Rich or Greene after page 124 (the book is 300 pages long) and I'm not sure what happened to either one of them. Did they die? quit? change their names? In fact, after slogging through all those other people I met just once in this book, I had to check the index to remind myself what Rich and Greene's first names were. (Dick and Stew, for the record.)
   
   Finally, one of the other reviewers mentioned Gloria Steinem's assertion that Wells "tommed her way to the top." You could argue about that, since Wells seems to have done excellent work in a male-dominated profession. But some of Wells' work featuring women stinks. She still thinks the "Braniff Strip" commercial, in which flight attendants were shown to take off various items of clothing as they served you drinks, was a jewel of an idea. Check that one out on YouTube and prepare to be offended.
   
   All in all, I enjoyed this book, but it reads like something from a vanity press. Wells needed an editor with a strong hand. Doesn't Simon and Schuster employ those people any more?



2. I read this a number of years ago, so forgive me for "reviewing" in generalities, as I don't have my copy in front of me.
   
   I remember as I was getting to the end of this book an overwhelming feeling of uselessness and trivia. I LOVE the advertising field. Mary Wells Lawrence, unfortunately, presented only the surface and superficial elements of all that "occupation" entails. And "occupation" is the right word - because she pretty much described a job. No way was her presentation "a big life"... unless your definition of a big life is celebrity accounts and shiny things.
   
   Admitedly, in small parenthesis below the monumental title are the words "in advertising"... but even so, this big life could be as big as an ocean - but it's a very SHALLOW one.
   
   The autobiographical author drops the events in her life like bullets on a resume. All the things that really matter - and could have even affected her perspective on her "profession" - were conspicuously absent.
   
   Where's the color? Where are the life altering moments that define us as characters in ANY life... much less a BIG one?
   
   Winning a contract? THAT'S the big life?
   
   I'm so sorry, Ms. M.W.Lawrence... I'm sure you're a very interesting person... but I suppose I could only know that IN person. This so called big life written down is quite the sad little story.
   
   I'm pretty sure the little old man selling tomatoes down the road has a more interesting story.
   
   Pick another subject. Write another book.
   There are some subtle hints at bigness in this book, and I can tell you got it in ya'...



3. This book does a good job of providing insight into the world of advertising, as well as, providing an interesting personal journey into and out of it. It does a good job of blending the two so when you are getting tired of one some information about the other comes along. This keeps you from getting bored and makes you want to finish reading the book as soon as you can. Overall, a good book whether you are interested in advertising or just looking for a good story.



4. I was not expecting a lot from this book. It was recommended to me, and I picked it up in a half-hearted way. I thought it was something that I would breeze through and forget about. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised. I found it a book that I both enjoyed reading and would recommend. At least, I would recommend it with some reservations.
   
   The good sides of the book appear in her instructive stories about the advertising business. Lawrence brings the message across very clearly that advertising is relationship driven. A successful agency must focus on relationships both with the client and with the intended audience. Lawrence gives an example of success achieved by taking that focus to its limits.
   
   Perhaps the most fascinating aspect (and one that should appeal to students of business history) is advertising reception at a time that was much less marketing saturated than we are today. She had an opportunity to be a giant with emerging technology and in an emerging field. It makes for terrific reading.
   
   My reservation about the book has to do with the writing quality. Her tone is extremely chatty. At the beginning, I tripped over the awkwardness of the prose. The organisational principle of the book was vague. Timeframes shift without warning or explanation. Finally, while the mix of personal and business anecdotes was entertaining, there were times that it moved far too swiftly from one to another. Still, she gets points for writing this book on her own and not with a ghost writer. I have the feeling that the reader was better off with its flaws than with a more inauthentic voice.
   
   I am not in the advertising field, and I really enjoyed the book. People interested in one of the following areas should find something here: media, advertising, entrepeneurship, women in industry, business history, or pop culture. It also has a great can-do view of the world, inspiring to anyone who needs a push towards success.



5. This story of Mary's life has inspired me. I went to school for advertising but got out and started looking for a job bartending. It seemed easier and I liked the idea of tips. After reading this book however, I really want to work for an agency, maybe, just maybe my life could turn out somewhat similar to hers. I would reccommend this book to anyone interested at all in advertising, especially those in college looking at advertising as a career path. Then I'd tell those people to go to a portfolio school when they get out with their B.A.s.

5 comments about White House Nannies.

1. I thought this book would be about actual nannies who'd worked in the White House. Although that wasn't the case, I really enjoyed the book. It was hilarious. Some of the stories remind me of things my friends who nannied told me about their experiences, good and bad.
   
   Despite vast experience with and a great love of children, I just wasn't interested in doing it, though friends tried to recruit me. This book makes me wonder if I missed out on a special experience.
   
   I wish the book had been a bit longer, though. I was really enjoying it and then it ended.



2. I read quite a bit. This is the first book in years that I have actually disliked (it was a gift from a friend).
   
   This book is what happens when someone thinks they have good stories (and the may have, to a degree), takes one writing course and proceeds to write what I would call a bloated, pompous expanded pamphlet for her business.
   
   There were a few decent stories about crazy DC/VA/Maryland power elites...but even those could have been told much better.
   
   But - egads - this book needed a competent editor, at least, to point out the repetitive statements, thoughts and self-congratulations this incompetent author dished out.
   
   My rewrite of the book. There are wealthy power couples in the town that are very, very important. I will drop names beginning now and will not stop until the end of the book. I am very important and am almost as wealthy as these power couples. I roll my eyes at the mishaps of my minority nannies, while my clients are fairly racist/classist and often treat the nannies like animals, even though their entire existence depends on them.
   
   Believe me, I would not be picking on the content of the book (attitudes of the clients or the nannies), if it weren't for the terrible writing.



3. I loved reading this book! As a 'new' nanny, I found this book very useful. At first i said I wouldn't want to work with a family like these mentioned in the book, but then I thought more about it, and I actually wouldn't mind getting the 'experience'. I live in So cal, so we do have families like those D.C. families. This is a must read!!



4. While the title of the book is kinda misleading (I thought this was a book about actual nannies of the White House) it is a cute read. I personally wouldn't have wanted to be the families picked in this book but then again, she had to get their permission to write it!!



5. I found this book to be entertaining and engaging. I thought the other reviews were a bit harsh and it seemed like maybe the book hit a bit too close to home for them. Ok, this book won't change the world, but it was interesting and fun to read. I live in the midwest and apart from a brief trip to DC, I am completely unfamiliar with the city, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the book one bit.

4 comments about Karsten's Way: The Life-Changing Story of Karsten Solheim-Pioneer in Golf Club Design and the Founder of PING.

1. Tracy Sumner's Karsten's Way is the fascinating biography of Karsten Solheim who was a visionary pioneer in the design of golf clubs, the founder of PING, and for whom The Solheim Cup was named. Karsten's influence and ideas were to profoundly influence both golf and the golf equipment business. If you've ever held a golf club in your hands, or wondered how the business aspects of the game have evolved, this Karsten's Way will prove to be as inspiring as it is informative.



2. A good book to read when you feel like things aren't going your way....there's a reason why things happen in people's lives (i.e. GOD)...after i read the book i now know why i felt PING golf equipment is the best...never sacrifice what you believe in



3. Friendship and respect are two of the most precious assets in a man's life. Karsten Solheim enjoyed both in large measures throughout the golf world. We shared a very special relationship, owed to my now having played Ping clubs for 20 years. I sincerely commend this book, "Karsten's Way," for it is above all, the story of a far-sighted pioneer, and an essential record of how he revolutionized golf with his exceptional passions.



4. If you are looking for a sermon on religion you have come to right place , but if you are looking for a great insight to the mind and workings of the greatest inovator in clubmaking ever....look somewhere else. this book is about 10% golf and 90% religious praise for this beloved man. Don't get me wrong I respect his devout beliefs but that could have been summed up in about 3 pages not 150. I never fealt that I got any info on how he came up with his great club Ideas, the ping website has better information.