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Biography

Getting under Sammy’s skin

Review by bookpagedev

<B>Getting under Sammy’s skin</B> Toward the end of his life, Sammy Davis Jr. became a kitschy cultural caricature. We saw him with cigarette in hand, shoulders pulled slightly forward, mugging with Frank and Dino, talking fast and funny. But, as author Wil Haygood details in <B>In Black and White</B>, a dazzling, hard-to-put-down examination of the performer’s life and times, Davis was no cardboard cut-out. Haygood gets under his skin, exposing a complicated man and a virtuoso talent whose influence on the American entertainment industry and the civil rights movement was profound.

Based on more than 250 interviews, exhaustively researched and written with the assured and snappy style of one of Sammy’s own shows, In <B>Black and White</B> explores the forces that formed the performer as well as the real man. A child of vaudeville who was all but abandoned by his showgirl mother, Davis was just 4 when his father took him on the road with Will Mastin’s revue. At 8 he delivered impromptu dances on stage, reveling in the applause. Mastin shrewdly incorporated little Sammy into the act. Mastin, Davis and Davis Jr. would eventually comprise the Will Mastin Trio, which led to Sammy’s stardom. A man who lived for the limelight, Davis had unlimited energy, seldom slept (he caught his z’s traveling to and from gigs) and triumphed over the accident that took his left eye. And he was rapturously talented as a hoofer, singer, mimic, actor. He knocked ’em dead in nightclubs, lit up the Broadway stage, let loose on film and television and made waves in Vegas, baby, Vegas. He was also a major figure in the civil rights movement a role that was mired in controversy because Sammy was a member of the Rat Pack. He dug Sinatra, posed with Nixon, and he loved in every sense of the word white women, especially blondes. As the joke went, Sammy was the whitest black guy who ever lived. Ah, but there was so much more to Sammy; far too much to detail here. In Black and White brings his act to a bookstore near you.

<I>Pat H. Broeske is the co-author of biographies of Howard Hughes and Elvis Presley.</I>

<B>Getting under Sammy's skin</B> Toward the end of his life, Sammy Davis Jr. became a kitschy cultural caricature. We saw him with cigarette in hand, shoulders pulled slightly forward, mugging with Frank and Dino, talking fast and funny. But, as author Wil Haygood details in…

NonfictionPop Culture

How they got to ‘Sesame Street’

Review by bookpagedev

To mark the 40th anniversary of the groundbreaking, beloved children’s television show, "Sesame Street," Michael Davis has crafted a richly detailed history that includes behind-the-scenes looks at the program’s genesis, the creation of its quirky characters and the life stories of the founders of the first TV show that aimed to entertain and educate the preschool set.

Davis, a former preschool teacher and longtime journalist (including a nine-year stint as an editor and family television columnist for TV Guide), conducted five years of interviews and research, and his efforts show: Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street is at once a fascinating, often funny story about a bunch of talented friends and colleagues who dared to try something new, and a point-by-point recounting of conversations, on-set hilarity and frustration, and the back-stories of the diverse group of people who became famous as characters and puppeteers on "Sesame Street."

The book begins on a sad note: Davis describes show co-creator Joan Ganz Cooney’s grief-stricken walk to the 1990 funeral of creative partner and world-famous Muppeteer Jim Henson. "The sidewalks were overrun by pedestrians . . . all moving toward the cathedral steps," Davis writes. Around 5,000 people attended the public memorial that day, from "Saturday Night Live" mastermind Lorne Michaels to actress Darryl Hannah, plus plenty of non-famous folks of all ages. Millions more have tuned in to the show—children, babysitters, parents, teachers, grandparents—since its debut on November 10, 1969.

Fun tidbits abound in Davis’ narrative, from the inspiration for Oscar the Grouch’s voice (a real-life cranky cabbie) to a hilarious description of a Cookie Monster game-show skit in which the big blue guy picks a "COOKIE!" over $25,000 in cash. Davis examines the social context of the show—the objections and challenges it has faced and the impact it’s had on education and parenting. Photo inserts offer a visual history, and statistics provide a sense of the show’s wide-reaching influence: 40 years later, "Sesame Street" reaches 8 million preschoolers via 350 PBS stations in the U.S. and it airs in 120 countries worldwide.

To mark the 40th anniversary of the groundbreaking, beloved children's television show, "Sesame Street," Michael Davis has crafted a richly detailed history that includes behind-the-scenes looks at the program's genesis, the creation of its quirky characters and the life stories of the founders of the…

Children's & YAMiddle Grade

Piecing together a new life

Review by bookpagedev

Nikki Giovanni defines poetry as “pure energy horizontally contained,” and that’s exactly what the best novels in verse offer: energy and immediacy in the voice of the narrator and poetic lines direct to the mind, heart and spirit of the characters. In Ann Burg’s fine novel in verse, Matt Pin is a refugee from the war in Vietnam. As he says of his new home in the United States, “There are no mines here, / no flames, no screams / no sounds of helicopters / or shouting guns. I am safe.” He is safe, but he is displaced and haunted by his past. His American father left him, his Vietnamese mother gave him away to American soldiers to airlift him out of Saigon, and he feels guilty for the little brother who was horribly injured by a landmine blast while in Matt’s care.

Now he feels like a stranger in a strange land, the “Vietnamese kid, / the one who reminds everyone / of the place they all want to forget.” “My brother died / because of you,” whispers a boy at school. But gradually—with the help of Jeff, a vet who teaches Matt piano, a baseball coach with struggles of his own, a loving American family and the Veteran Voices meetings he attends—Matt begins to find a place for himself, and his screaming nightmares give way to reflections and then to talking about his experiences, gaining acceptance even from the boy at school who calls him frog-face.

Burg’s verse places readers into Matt’s mind as he begins to piece together a remembrance of his life in Vietnam out of “a pocketful / of broken pieces.” Burg has a facility for the surprising image: “tanks lumbered / in the roads / like drunken elephants, / and bombs fell / from the sky / like dead crows.” When Matt plays catch with his American father in the evening, the ball goes “Back and forth / back and forth, / until dusk creeps in / and the ball / is just a swiftly / moving shadow / fading into darkness.”
By the end of the novel, Matt has found an acceptance of who he is. He has forged wholeness out of all the broken pieces of his life; he likes his American family, his piano lessons, baseball and his American little brother, but he also is determined to someday find his Vietnamese brother. And readers feel reassured that Matt is going to be OK.

Dean Schneider teaches middle school English.

Nikki Giovanni defines poetry as “pure energy horizontally contained,” and that’s exactly what the best novels in verse offer: energy and immediacy in the voice of the narrator and poetic lines direct to the mind, heart and spirit of the characters. In Ann Burg’s fine…

Memoir

Her own flesh and blood

Review by bookpagedev

It wasn’t that Hannah Pool’s birth family in Eritrea didn’t want to renew contact with her. When Pool was a university student in Liverpool, an older brother wrote her a letter. She read it, but didn’t know how to cope with it emotionally. So she didn’t respond. For nine years. The length of her silence underlines how ambivalent Pool felt about her unknown African relatives. Adopted as an infant from an orphanage in always-troubled Eritrea, she had grown up mostly in England, with her British adoptive family. Her adoptive father, an academic expert on Eritrea, was always open about her origins. Pool became a journalist, living a sophisticated urban life in London, but, like virtually every adopted child, she wondered: What were my birth parents like? Do I have siblings? Who do I look like? And, most painfully, why did they give me away?

At 29, Pool finally decided to find the answers, and My Fathers’ Daughter is the result. Her mother had died at her birth, but she found a living father with numerous children, who welcomed her back into their world with excitement and generosity. Pool was thrilled. But she was also terrified, frustrated, fascinated and everything in between. Her moving memoir is a narrative of her inner thoughts as she meets her family, in the Eritrean capital and in remote villages.

Her style is candid and beguiling: she likens the meetings to "first dates," as she worries about what she’s wearing and what on earth she should say to these strangers. She learns how British she is. But she also learns that she looks like her mother, has the same temperament as an older sister, and was never forgotten by her father. When she visits him, he is mildly disapproving of her Western clothes and hair, but unquestioningly cares for her welfare and happiness.

As the plural "fathers" indicates in the book’s title, Pool believes she has come to terms with her dual identity. She is still part of "dad’s" family in England, but she now knows she belongs to an extended clan that she is still discovering.

Anne Bartlett is a journalist in Washington, D.C.

It wasn't that Hannah Pool's birth family in Eritrea didn't want to renew contact with her. When Pool was a university student in Liverpool, an older brother wrote her a letter. She read it, but didn't know how to cope with it emotionally. So she…

Business & Finance

School of hard knocks

Review by bookpagedev

“You can read all the investment books you want, but there is no substitute for lessons learned in life,” writes Jack Brennan, chairman and CEO of The Vanguard Group, in the foreword to Wealth of Experience. This fascinating book gathers the advice of 600 Vanguard shareholders, 80 percent of whom are “high-net-worth investors” whose portfolios are worth $2 million on average.

Feeling out of your league? It’s interesting to note that, of that group, 18 percent never graduated from college, and 16 percent are still in the workforce earning less than $100,000 a year. The sharp, common-sense advice they impart shows you don’t have to be a genius to be a smart investor just have stick-to-it-iveness on a few basic principles.

Author Andrew Clarke distills the many investor experiences and suggestions into a simple, practical program. He covers important ground on saving (the most important key to investment success) and creating a long-term strategy, then moves into the nitty-gritty details of taxes, estate planning and diversification. In addition, he peppers the chapters with quotes from real folks, thus enlivening topics that can sometimes feel like homework. Learning how real people cope with financial ups and downs proves to be both cautionary and encouraging. Each chapter also includes action steps from Vanguard’s advisors.

"You can read all the investment books you want, but there is no substitute for lessons learned in life," writes Jack Brennan, chairman and CEO of The Vanguard Group, in the foreword to Wealth of Experience. This fascinating book gathers the advice of 600…
Children's & YA

Sharing a mother’s love

Review by bookpagedev

Remember Margaret Wise Brown’s The Runaway Bunny? That little gem of a book has reassured generations of children that their mothers will love them no matter what. John Carter Cash, only child of country music greats June Carter and Johnny Cash, has written down the comforting musings of his late mother with all the love of that earlier classic.

In Momma Loves Her Little Son gentle rhyming couplets accompany Marc Burckhardt’s full-page gouache illustrations that show a mother in various settings with her son. The mother’s words repeat her love, “From the top of the tallest skyscraper, and around the far side of the sun / all the way from east to west / Momma loves her precious one!” In any situation, from as far away as China and even to the starry skies, June Carter described her deep love for her children, and we are lucky her youngest son has recalled her words.

John Carter (which is what we in Nashville always call him) heard these words from his mother’s lips when he was a little boy and if you are familiar with her voice, it will be easy to picture the scene. June’s love of her children is well documented, and I can imagine her singing this lullaby to any of her children. Burckhardt’s paintings appear to have been created on planks of wood, giving the whole book a down-home, read-me-at-bedtime feel.

Every child needs to be reassured while falling asleep and this volume will remind the child—and his mother—of the joys of the parent-child bond.

Remember Margaret Wise Brown’s The Runaway Bunny? That little gem of a book has reassured generations of children that their mothers will love them no matter what. John Carter Cash, only child of country music greats June Carter and Johnny Cash, has written down the…

Mystery & SuspenseSuspense

Game, set, match for Israeli spy

Review by bookpagedev

Even in the 21st century, Renaissance-era political mastermind Machiavelli’s advice has its applications—something that modern-day Israeli spy Gabriel Allon has ignored at his peril. As Machiavelli said, “If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.”

When we last left Daniel Silva’s most enduring hero in Moscow Rules, the sometime art restorer and deep-cover operative had effected a harrowing escape from the clutches of Russian arms dealer Ivan Kharkov, a self-styled oligarch who amassed a fortune in the ruble’s rubble during the economic land-grab of post-Soviet capitalism. In the process, Allon not only threw a Molotov cocktail into Kharkov’s plot to funnel weapons to al-Qaeda, but he spirited off with a top-ranking Russian intelligence officer—and Kharkov’s wife. But he didn’t quite follow Machiavell’s advice.

In The Defector, the edge-of-your-seat sequel (and ninth in the Gabriel Allon series that began with 2000’s The Kill Artist), Kharkov is both shaken and stirred, and he’s not about to let Allon simply resume his quiet life in Umbria, restoring a 17th-century altarpiece for the Vatican.

The book’s opening gambit involves the disappearance of defector Colonel Grigori Bulganov from his London haunts, and indeed the novel unfolds like a match of speed chess against a global backdrop, with grandmasters Allon and Kharkov always thinking three or four moves ahead, making smaller sacrifices in pursuit of some elusive, decisive advantage. While Allon has the support of his Israeli “office,” he starts the match one pawn down, as the official British intelligence position is that Bulganov has re-defected, and they’ve washed their hands of him. For Allon, it’s not quite so easy to walk away, as Bulganov has saved his life, not once, but twice. And Kharkov’s counting on Allon’s sense of honor to lure the special op into a deadly checkmate.

With a dollop of Simon Templar, a dash of Jack Bauer, the urbanity of Graham Greene and the humanity of John LeCarré, Daniel Silva has hit on the perfect formula to keep espionage-friendly fans’ fingers glued to his books, turning pages in nearly breathless expectation.

Thane Tierney, an unworthy student of Capablanca’s Chess Fundamentals, lives in Los Angeles.

 

Even in the 21st century, Renaissance-era political mastermind Machiavelli’s advice has its applications—something that modern-day Israeli spy Gabriel Allon has ignored at his peril. As Machiavelli said, “If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance…

Business & Finance

Stripped down investing

Review by bookpagedev

Burton Malkiel’s A Random Walk Down Wall Street (1973) is truly an investing classic. The 500-page book contains all kinds of wisdom, but it’s a tough, dense read for everyday investors. Now 30 years later, Malkiel has written The Random Walk Guide to Investing , a blessedly brief only 160 pages bare-bones guide to investing. Not that Malkiel skimps on the advice; he’s comprehensive without the jargon or academic stuff. In fact, he claims it’s “truly the only investment guide you need.” Malkiel backs up that bold claim by saying that achieving above-average returns is strikingly easy. After you master the basics (fire your advisor, focus on just four investment categories, understand the risk/return relationship), you’re ready for the 10 “simple, time-tested” rules. Yes, saving is one of them, and he has some innovative strategies for socking away extra dollars. Learn how to stiff the tax collector and how to balance your portfolio with Malkiel’s favorite index funds. Invest in indexes of all kinds stocks, bonds, real estate. Put your money in a broad-based fund (he gives a list) that buys and holds almost all of the stocks in the market, he advises. Investing strategy changes with age, so check out the life-cycle investment guide and start beating the professionals.

Burton Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street (1973) is truly an investing classic. The 500-page book contains all kinds of wisdom, but it's a tough, dense read for everyday investors. Now 30 years later, Malkiel has written The Random Walk Guide to Investing ,…
Children's & YA

Poetic praise for the birds

Review by bookpagedev

The Cuckoo’s Haiku: and Other Birding Poems is a springtime feast for the eyes and mind. Michael J. Rosen, author of 75 books, is a poet and devoted birder with a crystal clear talent for imparting lyrical wisdom about our fine feathered friends. As Rosen puts it on the book’s jacket flap,  “Haiku and bird-watching are kindred arts: the subject of both is often a fleeting impression—a snatched glimpse. Yet a long, steady look through the binoculars’ lenses can turn a familiar sight into something astonishing.” The Northern mockingbird, for instance: “the one-man bird band: / diva, choir, and orchestra / unbroken record.” The belted kingfisher: “the trapeze itself / kingfisher swings tree to tree / fish catch in his fall.”

The book is divided into seasonal sections that salute the natural wonder of birds in their various habitats. Spring brings the Eastern bluebird, the Canada goose and the ruby-throated hummingbird while winter’s chapter honors the blue jay, purple finch and wild turkey. The watercolor accompaniment by illustrator Stan Fellows is stunning; each page is a stand-alone work of art. All told, more than 20 common American birds are given uncommonly artful treatment; the volume bears the look of a perfected field journal. The thrill of bird-watching—the skill of correctly identifying each one—is contagious, and Rosen’s lovely and poised haikus are as graceful as flight. The book concludes with “Notes for Birdwatchers and Haiku Lovers,” but only after the black-billed cuckoo gets her tribute: “the cuckoo’s haiku / hidden like the chance of rain / its name repeating.”

The Cuckoo’s Haiku: and Other Birding Poems is a springtime feast for the eyes and mind. Michael J. Rosen, author of 75 books, is a poet and devoted birder with a crystal clear talent for imparting lyrical wisdom about our fine feathered friends. As Rosen…

How one town deals with tragedy

Review by bookpagedev

Gail Sheehy is one of those writers with cachet. A serious journalist as well as a darling of the New York publishing set, she’s the author of Passages, a book that’s achieved icon status, and Hillary’s Choice, the best-selling biography of Hillary Clinton. If ever there was a writer equipped to go after a human-interest story related to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, then Sheehy, a Long Island resident, would be the one. True to her penchant for getting at the feelings beneath the events, in Middletown, America: One Town’s Passage from Trauma to Hope, Sheehy takes a look at the aftermath of the World Trade Center tragedy, focusing on Middletown, New Jersey, a suburban bedroom community that lost 50 of its own in the cataclysmic acts of terror. Suddenly, women had no husbands, sisters had no brothers and, saddest of all, many children had no parents.

Eschewing any academic sociological analysis, Sheehy offers short reportorial takes that profile the Middletown folks and their struggle to cope with the loss. In anecdotes that are, by turns, chilling and sobering, Sheehy explores the horror they experienced in learning that their loved ones were among the dead. But her interviews also uncover the myriad ways people struggled to adjust to their changed lives: some sought psychological help; some turned to spirituality; others moved away from the upscale town to begin life anew; some took to political activism and demanded government response to the whys and wherefores of the attacks; and some individuals got stuck in a time warp, finding it difficult even to leave their homes. In one case, a 9/11 widow eventually started up a relationship with a 9/11 widower. Naturally, there were endless practical matters for everyone to deal with as a result of the tragedy, not the least of which were monetary. A significant number of the 9/11 victims were high-profile financial executives working for companies such as Cantor Fitzgerald. After the tragedy, Middletown and its “old-money” sister community, Rumson, were suddenly transformed into a hotbed of grief and confusion, where mortgages had to be paid on deluxe six-and seven-figure homes. Sheehy introduces Kenneth Feinberg, the Bush administration’s so-called “special master” appointed to dole out compensation to the surviving families a mission that proved to be controversial, contentious and emotional for all concerned. This aspect of the book evokes a dichotomous reaction in the reader. We feel sadness for the trauma and the daily difficulties endured by those left in its wake, yet there’s a strange irony in the fact that some of the widows were compensated at sums based on their spouses’ huge yearly earnings multiplied by their estimated remaining working years. By applying various modifying formulas, Feinberg, in pursuit of equanimity, accomplishes a measure of fairness. (Never mind the debate over whether relatives of casualties of terrorism ought to be compensated in such a fashion at all.) In the end, some of the 9/11 survivors received the equivalent of lottery winnings, which makes for a curious outcome in the whole staggering sequence of events. Sheehy extends the parameters of her investigation to include people who were at the World Trade Center that day and lived to tell about it, as well as survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995. There are also profiles of clergy, social workers, teachers and doctors who played vital roles in helping the local populace deal with the shock of the attack. With the two-year anniversary of 9/11 upon us, Middletown, America is bound to evoke strong reactions. It’s highly readable, journalistically savvy and engagingly centered on subjects who emerge as flesh-and-blood human beings. Martin Brady is a freelance writer in Nashville.

Gail Sheehy is one of those writers with cachet. A serious journalist as well as a darling of the New York publishing set, she's the author of Passages, a book that's achieved icon status, and Hillary's Choice, the best-selling biography of Hillary Clinton. If ever…
Children's & YAMiddle Grade

A summer of big steps

Review by bookpagedev

Tamera Ann Simpson is, in a word, grumpy—the fifth grader doesn’t get along with anyone, especially the annoying Douglas McGinty, or as she calls him, “Muscle Man.” What sets Tammy’s teeth on edge is the boy’s tendency to tell whoppers about himself. For instance, who would believe that a 10-year-old is training for the 1972 Olympics? When the whoppers get out of this world, Tammy decides that enough is enough.

In Nan Marino’s Neil Armstrong is My Uncle & Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me, it’s the summer of 1969 in Tammy’s little town on the outskirts of New York City, a typical slice of American culture. Tammy’s neighbor, Mr. Grabowsky, is lawn-obsessive; Mr. Pizzarelli, the police officer, loves to sing at barbeques; one of her classmates is driven to collect Barbie dolls; and everyone is talking about the moon landing. Yet all of these things are small change to Tammy, who has decided that the kid who took her best friend’s place at a local foster home is her worst enemy.

Readers soon realize that while Tammy has her share of problems, none of them are caused by the mindlessly cheerful Muscle Man. It will take tragedy and a surprising revelation for Tammy to see the light—moonlight, that is. Neil Armstrong is my Uncle is a lovingly portrayed look at life during a memorable time in American history; it deserves to be on your child’s summer reading list.
 

Tamera Ann Simpson is, in a word, grumpy—the fifth grader doesn’t get along with anyone, especially the annoying Douglas McGinty, or as she calls him, “Muscle Man.” What sets Tammy’s teeth on edge is the boy’s tendency to tell whoppers about himself. For instance, who…

Biography

Everybody’s favorite redhead

Review by bookpagedev

<B>Everybody’s favorite redhead</B> Three years ago, Stefan Kanfer authored a critically acclaimed Groucho Marx biography. He now dissects popular culture’s pre-eminent comedienne in <B>Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball</B> a fascinating book that traces her rise and sad decline via her unforgettable artistic journey. Yes, there have already been notable Ball biographies, plus a memoir, but Kanfer astutely utilizes (and credits) them, melding their material with his own for a compelling overview of America’s favorite funny lady. Ball was the classic survivor whose tenacity matched the talent she honed and perfected. Raised in upstate New York, where she appeared in her stepfather’s Shriner shows, she was all of 13 when she took the bus to Manhattan to audition for the chorus of a Broadway musical. Her mother had given her approval, but the show sent the minor back home. She returned to the Big City at 17, working as a showroom model. Tall, lithe and leggy, she was undeniably glamorous. She was also shrewd. When she did a bit part in a Hollywood film, she played goofy. Comic Eddie Cantor exclaimed, "That Ball dame she’s a riot." Contracted by MGM, she lapped up the advice of Lela Rogers, mother of Ginger, and allowed hairstylist Sydney Guilaroff to change her hair color. As he so memorably put it, "The hair is brown but the soul is on fire." But it took more than being a redhead to assure her stardom. Ball’s teaming with Desi Arnaz was the key. As a husband he was possessive and dictatorial an alcoholic gambler and a perpetual tomcat. Behind the scenes, though, he was a genius. It was Arnaz who brought together the disparate talents of <I>I Love Lucy</I>. (Upon learning she’d be paired with William Frawley, Vivian Vance said, "How can anyone believe I’m married to that old coot?") As Kanfer tells it, Ball was a hot-tempered star, and she wasn’t much of a mom. But, as a TV producer who helped establish an important studio, she forged new territory for women in Hollywood. The rise of television was integral to her fame, and a chapter on how the new medium reshaped popular culture in general would have been welcome here (that topic, though, would probably warrant a book in itself). And we wish certain sources, like daughter Lucie Arnaz, had been more revealing. (Son Desi Jr. didn’t participate at all, which is telling.) But the story of Lucy’s tempestuous personal life makes for great reading. Kanfer doesn’t sugarcoat, especially when he delves into Lucy’s deference to Desi and her refusal to grow old gracefully. Fittingly, the woman who lived for the limelight now rests in eternal syndication. <I>Biographer Pat H. Broeske loves spending time with the Ricardos and the Mertzes. </I>

<B>Everybody's favorite redhead</B> Three years ago, Stefan Kanfer authored a critically acclaimed Groucho Marx biography. He now dissects popular culture's pre-eminent comedienne in <B>Ball of Fire: The Tumultuous Life and Comic Art of Lucille Ball</B> a fascinating book that traces her rise and sad decline…

Business & Finance

Learning from their mistakes

Review by bookpagedev

AOL Time Warner turned into a debacle for employees and investors, so how can others avoid their mistakes? Start with Why Smart Executives Fail (Portfolio, $26.95, 318 pages, ISBN 1591840104), an insightful book that looks not only at the causes of business failure but also at the people behind the bad decisions. Sydney Finkelstein, a professor at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, moves beyond the easy answers (the executives were a stupid bunch of crooks!) to find the real causes of failure in every industry, from fashion and food (Mossimo, L.A. Gear, Coca-Cola) to phones and finance (Motorola, Bankers Trust). A surprising number of failed CEOs were willing to tell all, and Finkelstein found that a skewed sense of reality and a breakdown in communication often pull businesses under. Execs need to be on guard against the “zombie business” where cockiness (both employee and organizational) crowds out the voices of customers and competitors. The “seven habits of spectacularly unsuccessful people” are funny and insightful, and the warning signs of the next big disaster are useful for CEOs and investors.

On the flip side, you can learn from the biggest and brightest in What the Best CEOs Know. Author Jeffrey Krames examines seven of the top CEOs, including Michael Dell, Lou Gerstner and Sam Walton, and distills their success into an easy-to-understand signature strategy or tactic that anyone can imitate or borrow. Learn how Jack Welch created a learning organization at GE and how Bill Gates harnessed the power of every employee at Microsoft.

AOL Time Warner turned into a debacle for employees and investors, so how can others avoid their mistakes? Start with Why Smart Executives Fail (Portfolio, $26.95, 318 pages, ISBN 1591840104), an insightful book that looks not only at the causes of business failure but…

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