despite Books

Flora's Dare is the sequel to Flora Segunda and although there are quite a few references to book one, this book is a stand alone. Flora is a typical teenage girl living in the Magikal city of Califa. Her parents expect her to follow the family tradition of joining the Califa army when she comes of age however Flora's secret goal is to become a Ranger. To do this she has to master the Magikal language of Gramatica. Flora is determined to find a teacher so that she can become as powerful as her Ranger hero Nini Mo.

Flora's plans are all changed as she's attacked by tentacle that comes up through the plumbing while attending a concert with her best friend Udo. She narrowly escapes the tentacle and figures out that the creature in the plumbing is the Lolgia monster trapped under the city long ago by a woman threatening to overthrow the government by unleashing the monster. Now Flora has to team up with Lord Axacaya who promises teach Flora Gramatica. Together they can free the monster and save the city. As the story unfolds Flora loses her best friend, gets grounded for passing curfew, travels in time, gets betrayed by someone close to her, discovers the truth about her family and of course saves the city.

At first I was hesitant about reading this book. It's second in a series that I hadn't read and it is 511 pages. However once I started it was hard to put down. Wilce writes a funny story that is great for both YA and adult readers of fantasy books. The magikal city of Califa is very believable and Flora's daring adventures keep you turning pages until the end. I will definitely be reading book one and eagerly awaiting book three in the sequel.

Maybe I should stop right there, with a one-word review. It's not easy to describe a novel that defies comparison to anything else I've ever read in nearly half a century of bookwormery, nor seen, dreamt or even imagined. Ysabeau Wilce's stories are always a weird and wonderful concoction of woolly West and court manners, mosh pits and magic mansions, humor and gore, and Flora's Dare (etc.) is a worthy follow-up to the first book in the series, Flora Segunda (etc.). I had just finished the YA bestseller Twilight when I read this, and wow, what a perfect antidote! You won't find anything insipid about the characters, the plot or the writing style in Flora's Dare. Instead be prepared for a strangely spiced dish that leaves you craving more.

I bought this book a few months ago after reading some very skeptical reviews. I've read every chapter and have to say that the content was truly eye opening for me, as I am a classically trained pianist with very little time to play piano. After reading this book, I can play confidently from a fake book while playing interesting chord progressions. I can also apply this to my own songs, which up until now, I've composed by ear only. Perhaps to some who have never been exposed to music theory this information is hard to handle. I would say that if you are truly motivated to learn this stuff, it will set you free at the keyboard.. Thank you and Kudos to the author of this wonderful book! (And yes, I have the circle of chords in a frame on my piano!)

I was disappointed that this book does not actually show you how to play the piano. There is a lot of theory in the book, but nothing to actually help me with my piano lessons.

This book has knowledge and it's knowledge that any musician can use. It may not be the best for a total beginner in music but if you have a nodding acquaintance with the subject there is something in this book for you. I've seen criticisms that the songs were too old or some of techniques don't sound good. My opinion is that that doesn't matter. There is enough material in there that you can learn things you never knew about before. It helps dispel the mysteries of the keyboard and will enhance your knowledge of music theory as well as your ability to play.

This book has changed my life! I struggled at the piano forever until I discovered this wonderful book! While it clearly will not be for everyone wanting to learn piano, it was perfect for me. As a youth, I hated piano lessons because of the mechanical approach to learning songs that I didn't even like. I felt like I was a human playback machine. Know what I mean? Whereas, it seemed my guitar-playing friends were having all the fun. When they wanted to learn a new song, they would just start asking what the chords were. Then, they would just practice playing the chord progression at home. Later, when they got really comfortable with that, they would start getting really creative, adding interesting little frills and things and MAKING A LOT OF COOL MUSIC knowing, really, just a little bit of actual information about the song + having musical ideas of their own. So, how come piano lessons were always so different? You don't have to be jealous of your guitar-playing friends anymore. This is the book my friend's guitar teacher would have written, if he played piano. You learn a song by playing its chords. Once you're comfortable just playing the chords, you add melody. It can be easy and it can be difficult, it depends on the song, how quickly the chords change, how complicated the melody is, and how much "extra" of your own you want to add. It's a very flexible approach to playing. I highly recommend it. Best of all, unlike boring piano lessons, nobody is going to make you practice music you don't like. You can use this method on any sheet music which has a) a key signature b) a meter c) chords spelled and d) a one note melody line. Fake books are best, because all extraneous stuff is removed, but you could use this method with any sheet music meeting those minimum requirements. And, you will play these songs using only four reversible chords, an amazing but real time saver, key to the success of this "fake" method!

...whether to buy "How to Play Piano Despite Years of Lessons: What Music Is and How to Make It at Home" or "Play Piano in a Flash! Play Your Favorite Songs Like a Pro--Whether You've Had Lessons or Not!" by Scott Houston, buy BOTH--- and do read Scott Houston's book FIRST. He explains the whole premise of playing off chords so much more clearly and simply. After reading Scott's book, you can delightfully play all sorts of piano music you may have around your house effortlessly after a few tries. To give you an example, I used to practice fairly simple folktunes for about a week before (somewhat joltingly) being able to play up to tempo at an even pace. Now, knowing what I know from Scott's book, I can play any such song in about 15 minutes. Really! And I can play faster and more eloquently than I ever could before. Now, I have confidence that I could accompany any singer (including myself)-- a trick I used to think only "good pianists" could do (with much practice). In short, it motivates you to play music almost immediately in a fun and joyous manner.

Now for "How to Play Piano Despite Years of Lessons: What Music Is and How to Make It at Home". It's A LOT more philosophical, and a lot more wordy. It explains everything in much greater detail, and is very fond of the basic Oom-pah-pah sort of playing. The "standard" technique call for playing the melody an octave higher, the root note in octaves on the lowest possible section of the piano (for the Oom) and the chord (reconfigured so as never to reach higher than middle E nor lower than middle C) for the Pah-Pah. This takes quite a bit of PRACTICE. I certainly do not master this in 15 minutes! However, using this technique, I sound like one of those pianist that play at cash bars in restaurants that used to send my mother in the other direction because the "noise" gave her a "headache". It may work exceptionally well for some pieces, and it is certainly not the ONLY device taught in this book. It *is* a good book, with lots and lots of ideas of how to vary the bass notes and such to get a "full" sound from your piano. But you might get a headache or two... and might get discouraged and give up playing piano after all. (DON'T!) It is less motivating, and much more practice than Scott's book. I just can't decide whether I even like the result of the techniques shown. But music theory is explained in a somewhat harmless manner....

Now, I again suggest you buy BOTH books so that you can read them both, try them both, and make your own decisions. However, if you're relatively new to this topic, I suggest that you at least buy Scott's book first. Yes, you'll probably finish it in one sitting and it will seem so OBVIOUS after you read it that you'll wonder whether you ought to have spent the money for the book at all. Yes! Now, sit down and play the piano using these technique to see for yourself!

(To give you some point of reference, my level of playing beforehand using the classical method was Book Four of John Thompson series.... about intermediate I'd say.)

I have been a practicing physician for many years.
I learned a great deal from this book. The author is a recognized
authority . I enthusiastically recommend this
book to all physicians and lay people who have an interest
in the medical field. It is very well written and it held
my interest.

I am halfway reading thru the book and I must say this book dead on in its presentation of life "maladies". I have been one the skeptics before in this touted back surgeries for pain with no organ function deficits. Working in health care industry, I have seen people having back surgeries without any relief from pain. And to the extreme I know a person who had multiple back surgery in the 80's due to pain as his orthopedic doctor found "anomaly" in his back bone. He was told he may not walk again if he don't undergo back surgery. Well... he had the back surgery and he never walked again -- got paralysis of legs DUE TO surgery. Some of us will this this argument disconcerting as it is contrary to what we have been hearing all this time in media releases. I am even impressed about his assessment on those new pain medications, Vioxx, Bextra purported to be the next generation pain killer and safer than aspirin. He wrote in the book about the inconsistencies of study brought about by the vested interest of pharmaceutical company and the researcher conducting having ties to these companies. He wrote his suspicions on the safety of these drugs based (on deaths of participants) on the complete study versus the published copies in magazines and even in the medical journals. And he wrote this book before the Bextra and Vioxx were recalled from the market. In this book he never argued that we need don't need to go to physician, in fact he argues that we need to. So he arms us with knowledge to ask the right questions and discussions. That not every visit to the physician's office ends up in pharmaceutical prescription. Talk about coping might be a powerful precription

This book has lots of great information to dispell the medical myths that more health care is always better. This book may save you from heart surgery you do not need, or from taking drugs that are more likely to harm than to help. It is an update on Medical Nemesis filled my data. My only criticism is that the reading is sometimes tedious. This author would do well to have the help of a medical writer who is used to engaging the public. I'm a physician and I found it tough sledding at times.

As a practicing physician I approached this book with some skepticism. Even though the reasoning is at time flawed and incomplete the essential message is clear. Physicians in the US have an intrinsic conflict of interest between making a living and healing patients. If interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons actually explained known risks and benefits of their procedures the cardiology "business" would collapse. The problem is that would require that the physicians actually understand the risks and benefits- which is rare.

Everyone should read this book then ask your physician tough questions about your healthcare.

As a well person as enjoyed thinking of the issues addressed in the book. I spent a lot of time confirming Dr Hadler's assertions and found them to be surprising but true. Also learned many new words.

Good service, book in excellent condition. Received in a timely mannner. Thanks.

I bought this book expecting to get a couple new ideas...boy was I surp rised. I got dozens of new tips that I'd never seen anywhere else. This guy knows his stuff related to flip charts!I'd highly recommend it to new and seasoned trainers and presenters.

As an instructor I look for many products that will assist myself and participants of my train-the-trainer workshops. Although I've purchased and used other flip chart reference information, I found the BIG BOOK of FLIP CHARTS to me informative, well illustrated and to the point. I puchased 5 copies and would recommend it to anyone in the training field that uses flip charts. The cover was also very colorful and gave great insight on what was inside.

Don't even consider any other flip chart book, they don't come close. This one has it all.. designing flip charts, arranging them, writing them, making them visually interesting. Tons of useful and helpful information.

This book, together with Picture's Worth 1,000 Words: A Workbook for Visual Communications by Jean Westcott and Jennifer Hammond Landau are all you need to become an effective visual communicator, even if you can't draw anything! If you think you're just not good with flip charts, buy these two and prepare to amaze yourself with the transformation!

Perhaps I didn't get this correctly but this book didn't really live up to my expectations.

I did learn some stuff from it and have used some of it since, but I actually expected a little more from it.

Possibly I was expecting a little too much. If you are after something that will tell you some of the basics of working with flip charts, designs of flip charts and a little bit about the type of hardware then this is a good one.

If you are after something that will help you to create dynamic sessions, push the limits of visual aids, and drive people into more thoughtful training sessions then this book is only partly useful.

This book is the keystone of any collection on the state of the art in modern thought on development assistance. It is easy to read, easy to understand, and presents a persuasive argument for change to the modern methods of so called "development." This books usefulness is not limited to the third world, as its lessons can apply just as easily to New Orleans as it can to the Congo.

I first checked this out from the library, but I'm now picking up a copy (or maybe two) so I can have it on my shelf to cite from and to loan to friends and family.

Highly reccomended.

Dr. Dichter gives a wide range of examples based on real experiences that expose many of the pitfalls of development assistance as we know it. Unfortunately, while his descriptions of the problems are quite comprehensive, his proposed solution (i.e. drastically cut development assistance in favor of private development) lacks much in the way of logical support. For instance, there is no contrasting presentation of examples of privately-funded projects that have succeeded where charity has failed, nor any mention of to what extent business relies on government-funded infrastructure improvements, etc. In addition, the topic is best addressed in two stages -- i.e., is it desirable to encourage development in other countries? and, if so, are our current tactics the most effective and efficient ways to achieve this goal? Dr. Dichter addresses only the second question, but seems to conclude that because the status quo is ineffective, the entire pursuit should be abandoned. But in general the book is still highly worth reading if you're the least bit interested in development assistance -- it is both deeply enlightening and generally accessible.

It's one of those (few) publications that would immediately make you sit up straight, cause you to squirm and shake your head in disbelief, heave a deep sigh, raise your eye brows at some point, and move you deeply to show appreciation to its material by graphically interacting with its content (in other words scribbling all over the pages of the book - line by line, margin to margin - with notes and personal reactions. That happened to my copy. That's how interesting the book is!). No, the book is not trashy and is far from cynical. On the other hand, it offers a very reflective, comprehensive and insightful analysis of the mistakes and failures of the development industry as a whole. The author, a "devbiz" insider, is not an anti-INGO humbug but one who calls on his development colleagues to re-examine their (and their organizations') ways and to genuinely consider the often ignored realities in the field. His analysis of the evolution of the development industry and its trends, patterns and pitfalls are based on actual case studies and historical facts. Full of relevant lessons and thought-provoking questions and issues that would challenge not just your notions of development work but even your own values, motives and goals for entering the "devbiz" industry. The book stimulates mentally but tugs at the heart.

Mr. Dichter has written an excellent book about the so called "development industry". He describes the evolution of the idea of helping the poor countries of the so called third world since 1950 until today. He discusses the problems that have arisen in the hundreds of governement development agencies, NGOs, and humanitarian organizations, mainly the excessive professionalization and bureaucratization of these organizaitons. The "industry" of development as he calls it, exists mainly to give emplyment opportunities for well paid (and well travelled)consultants than to really help the needy.
Interwoven in his analysis are 18 case stories. Just reading the case stories (which are based in the author's wide professional experience)gives you a better insight in the dilemma of development, than dozens of World Bank, IMF and "imperialism" bashing books that are in the market. The description of how the World Bank ticks is very interesting. You feel that here someone is writing that has gone through all this and has thought about it. THIS IS REALITY and not theory.
I myself have worked in Africa for 5 years as an economist for a Christian Mission Society. It is amazing to see that everywhere in the field the problems are the same: poorly conceived projects, neglect of the consequences of projects, and so on. If you are ever thinking of working in the area of international development, AND if you really want to help the poor, AND NOT MAKE A CAREER OUT OF IT, READ THIS BOOK!!!

If you have ever seen Citizen Kane and enjoyed Orson Welles' performance, I think you will enjoy reading this book. The author tends to badmouth other critics which is pretty funny, but he also gives a nice insight into the life of Orson Welles. Pretty interesting although I wouldn't call it the EASIEST read. Fairly easy though.

Orson Welles did the movie 'Citizen Kane' and should have gone on to further greatness. Instead it appeared that he had peaked early and did litle for the rest of his careet.

In this extensively researched book, Clinton Heylin uses shooting scripts, schedules, internal memos and much more to come to a different conclusion. He says that the subsequent five movies Wells made were effectively ruined in post-production editing and cutting. For instance his movie 'The Lady from Shanghai' was cut from 155 to 86 minutes.

I suspect we will never be able to see a 'Director's Cut' of this movie, the 69 minutes that wound up on the cutting room floor were probably thrown away. So looking at the script and what recollections remain after half a century will have to do.

Mr. Heylin does point out some of the problems that were self inflicted, disappearing for a few days at critical times for instance. The book remains, however, a condemnation of the movie production system. I suspect this remains today as I look at the number of re-makes of old movies, the sequels, and how few original groundbreaking movies get made.

When _Citizen Kane_ was released in 1941, it was hailed by critics as a marvel, a film that had accomplished by innovations in plot, theme, photography, and sound what no movie had done before. It was as thick with meaning and style as any play or novel; the enormous numbers of books and articles devoted to it since that time, and its continuous inclusion on any list of great films, confirm how important a work it is. Orson Welles, new to Hollywood, young, brash, and brilliant, had delivered a masterpiece in his very first try. He had made the system work in ways it never had before. He would bring further new and innovative works from Hollywood, it seemed certain. But Welles never again had the freedom that he was able to use on _Kane_, and only made five further movies within the Hollywood system. How did this happen? In _Despite the System: Orson Welles Versus the Hollywood Studios_ (Chicago Review Press), Clinton Heylin has given a useful and informed summary of the troubled give-and-take that resulted in the studios taking all his films except _Kane_ away from Welles at the vital editing stage. "I believe that the only good work I can do is my own particular thing," Welles once said, looking back and using the idiom of the sixties. "I don't think I'm very good at doing their thing."

Heylin comments extensively on other commentators on the Welles productions, because he has set out to redress what he sees as a misinformed analysis that has laid blame on the inner demons of Welles himself for his shocking failure to follow up _Kane_. For instance, Charles Higham wrote twenty-five years ago that Welles blamed others for wrecking his work, but that the real culprit was Welles's own fear of completion. This was, according to Heylin, "a neat little box in which to wrap any enigmas the work itself threw up." It was simple, and attracted many other commentators, and even cost Welles an investor for one of his later projects. However, Heylin shows that Welles was eager to get his films done, finishing them against the odds and against the shortsightedness of studio heads. Welles was not undone by his own inner failings, but "by real people, with real motives." In the stories about each of the six films here, Heylin shows that after _Kane_, Welles directed some fascinating films whose flaws are not due to his own inability to complete them, but to his inability to complete them in his fashion. _The Magnificent Ambersons_, _The Stranger_, _The Lady from Shanghai_, _Macbeth_, and finally _Touch of Evil_ are all covered here in fine detail, and their individual problems laid out.

One of the sound ideas that Heylin stresses is that not all the complaints the studios had against Welles ought to have been based on their financial worries. It is true that Welles didn't care much about making money, nor did he take pains to get the money men on his side in his endeavors. Welles could, when he wanted, work fast and inexpensively; _Kane_, for instance, was not a particularly expensive movie, and its glorious effects are all the more wonderful for being, on the whole, simple and cheap. Welles could film many pages of script in a single take, using combinations of shots that could compress ideas in an economic model any studio would embrace. He was certainly difficult to work with, self-indulgent and not only flouting Hollywood rules but disappearing from the studios at just the time when he should have been there to support his own versions of his films. Heylin takes the stance, however, that Welles was over and over again a victim, and _Despite the System_ marshals an impressive collection of facts (shooting scripts, rewrites, memos, and of course, other authors' books of interpretation) to support such a view. Against the system, Welles had considerable triumphs, but the subject here is his defeats, and they are told with sympathy; his admirers will read this book with a heartbreaking sense of loss.

Heylin doesn't have much good to say about Simon Callow's ongoing biography of Orson Welles, sneering at him for making it so long and involved. I can see him criticizing Callow for relying on John Houseman and Michael McLiammoir if they are supposed to be so unreliable, but why criticize him for not wrapping up his biography in two volumes and extending it to a third? You'd think he himself (Heylin) was some minimalist purist, but he's written far more hackwork himself than Callow ever will. Think oif a topic, Heylin's written an angry book about it.

If Orson Welles didn't have any emotional problems that led him to studio disputes, then I'm Tallulah Bankhead. Were all the studios conspiring against Welles because he was a dangerous man? I doubt it. But maybe ninety per cent of them were. There was still a fatal weakness in Welles that led to the mistakes among the six studio films Heylin counts over and over again. It's a door that swings both ways, but until the day comes that people realize it, there will always be a place on the shelf for books that paint Orson as an innocent victim of studio malice, Othello to Iago's "motiveless malignity."

This book is heavy on argumentation. Whatever newly researched material it provides (and whether it provides much at all is debatable) is wound up in the fiber of a polemic the likes of which we haven't seen since the glory days of the Andrew Sarris-Pauline Kael Wars. I wish there had been a little less nonchalant jab-shooting at those with whom the writer doesn't see eye-to-eye, and a little more substance that was new.

That said, I will concede that this book is, naturally, highly readable. But bear in mind, it would be hard to imagine a book about any aspect of a life like Welles' being anything but readable. Having read Leaming's friendly biography and the Bogdanovich interview book (This is Orson Welles), however, I have to say everything here feels more than merely familiar, like something I (as a reader of books on this topic) have known for years now.

It begins to look as if a resifting through the same plate of sand is all we are going to get from further books about Welles, barring some sort of major uncovering of tapes, films or personal papers. And that doesn't appear likely at this point.

This book was written to cash in on the market, now there is a series of books about "Good Enough" people, just like "Men are from Mars" series. what next, the Good Enough Teen on a Date, How the Good Enough Teen diets, Good Enough Anorexic Daughter. this is drivel. The author admits in his prior work to suffering from Couvade syndrome, where he is jealous of his wife for bearing children and dreams of having breasts that provide warm milk. he is confused. He admits to being neglected by his father and traded for a can of gas when the family car broke down. the whole concept is of "good Enough" sends a terrible message of compromise to any child. the author is cleary narcissistic, possibly suffering from Asperger Syndrome, looking to make a buck to afford a good position in a home, where he can receive proper treatment.

This is a fabulous book that I happened upon and could not put down. It should be titled, "What to expect from your teens and yes, it is normal". I found this book a fabulous tool with which to measure my teens progress against those of other teens without compairing them to the unrealistic expectations of many driven parents in our society and to take a step back and recognize the tremendous accomplishments that they make every day through good choices and responsible behaviors despite the occasional misstep. Teenagers are growing as rapidly as toddlers and this is a how to manual for all parents.

oh man this book was worthless. I tried the stuff in this book and now my kids hate me and my wife thinks I'm an idiot. Try another book. This one has ruined my family life.

This book spans many years of the Berkley zine "Cometbus". If you liked Jack Kerouc's book "On the road" this will be easy to relate to. If you are often bored by a mall punk or neo punk-emo-whatever, give them this book and tell them to shut up and read it. Aaron's handwritten adventures show not only the towns and places he visits, but the people and the mood. Enjoying a freedom to go where ever he wants becouse he can live on next to no money and other people's garbage, he is still at the mercy of his doubtfulness, saddness, joy, and depression. This is a good book to leave and come back to several times. As this is a collection of his zines- it makes a great bed stand, bathroom, or back pack book.

Yeah, Jack Kerouac...over-rated, Aaron Cometbus...Check it out if you haven't. Al Burian of Burn Collector fame is good too.

I remember him selling little tiny issues of Cometbus in front of clubs he wasn't even old enough to get into, so I've been reading his stuff for many years. To say that Aaron has grown as a writer is an understatement. He such an awesome individual and his stories are especially meaningful to me because he and his contributors, in writing about their lives and the punk rock community in the bay area over time, have written about my life as well, and I couldn't have written it any better than them. His stories are poignant, funny, sad and wonderful. Get this and try and read everything else he's written!

I've lived in Berkeley the past ten years, so I sadly
arrived "too late" for its punk scene, instead hearing
the stories of my old landlord and well-known punk-scene
photographer, Larry Wolfley. I got the rave scene instead
and have my own stories.

Anyway, I saw Despite Everything on the bookshelves in
all the local bookstores, but didn't know what it was,
until a friend and coworker ** who just so happened to
be Aaron Cometbus' brother ** gave me an autographed
copy as a gift. Well, shoot, gotta read it, right?

I was completely hooked-- doubly because the in-credible
stories were actually true (you can imagine that my
friend added some "color"). You can practically feel
the trudge of the ten mile walks back to town, the
mosh pits, cops, thugs, etc. -- but you can also feel
the excitement of the time and the bands. Imagine
being there on the road with Green Day when they
were the local band... ok, it's more pot than I can
handle but you get the idea. and it's not my politics,
I'm more likely to wear a "smash capitalism" t-shirt
to a board of directors meeting, where aaron's more
of a kvetch about the commercialism type, but hey,
what's berkeley if not for bizarre political statements?

oh, and the writing is brilliant-- might of course
sound dated, but that's only because this is the
original and everybody else ripped them off.

Even writing a review of this book seems a little strange to me. I can't imagine what Aaron would say about someone writing a review of his book in the service of a big company, but I guess this is a venue to get the word out and let people know what a great experience reading Cometbus is.

If you're a person like me who has radical beliefs and politics, but who also enjoys living a quiet, straight-laced, lifestyle; if you worry about things, and have episodes of social anxiety, and if you're a worrier in general and like to stay at home and hang out with your close group of friends and sometimes have trouble meeting new people or think people enjoy being left alone, than this book can sometimes make you feel bad about your life choices and the decisions you've made. This happens mainly b/c Aaron just went out and lived this crazy hand-to-mouth existence in the service of experiencing the world and the people in it, challenging the very existence of social norms as a concept. And that's why the book is so great. It's filled with great stories and anecdotes and is totally imbued with this sense of freedom and wonder. The world that Aaron lives in is so real and vibrant, populated by people dealing with real struggles and real issues. And Aaron is totally tapped into his own empathy and sympathy for those people. He totally loves life, and is lucky for it. And readers are lucky that he put it on paper over and over again in Cometbus.

This book, like the 'zine, is, IMO, a classic piece of American writing, and hopefully, someday, it will get more recognition. It is a document of an ethos and way of living that is still totally marginalized in our society. And Aaron challenges his readers to confront how their own lives keep them from seeing that world and experiencing it.

I had a head injury during my freshman year of college and it affected my college career including my GPA so I ordered this book. It has some valuable information but the price is ridiculous. It is a small, thin little book with some good information but it's certainly not worth around $35.00...$19.95 at the most maybe. The information is not THAT valuable--boy, talk about greed!

Lee Salz in his book Soar Despite Your Dodo Sales Manager hits the selling nail right on the head! With a clear writing style that speaks directly, and expertly, to the reader, and plenty of graphics and visual aids to augment his points, Lee details in no uncertain terms what today's sale professionals need to know: how to win at this lonely, challenging profession even when your boss does little or nothing to help you, or even keeps getting in your way. This book will help you sell!

All of us who have been in sales can appreciate this book. My sales career started at 15 when I sold Fuller Brush door to door and I progressed through the years to work in telemarketing and sell life insurance. I think the Peter Principle, that you rise until you reach your level of incompetence, is proven out in sales. Great sales people don't always make great sales managers. Anyone who has seen the TV show The Office can appreciate that. I used to have a manager who used to say "just sell, sell sell." Or another who said "just keep telling your story to anyone who will listen." What I like about this book is that Lee Salz promotes a system. You have a methodology to follow. I believe if you want to be successful then you should model successful people. That is what I teach my clients who are professionals and consultants who can't find enough clients. This is a great sales read. This is proven stuff that really works.-- Henry DeVries, author of Client Seduction and the upcoming Pain Killer Marketing and the founder of the New Client Marketing Institute

Pain Killer Marketing: How to Turn Customer Pain into Market Gain

Dodo notes on how this book is both painfully true and insightful;

1) Too many (dodo) sales managers and (dodo) companies give reps neither the training nor the individual coaching they need to succeed.

2) Too many reps blame their lack of success on these dodo managers.

3) Reps develop dodo brains when they won't accept responsibility for their own success and get the skills and brainpower they need to make more money.

Lee Salz's book is meant to keep you from selling extinction. While most of us could use some serious sales training, if you'll just make the initial investment in this book, it'd be a great way to improve performance - in spite of the dodo managers flocking around your career.

When will you realize that you have to adjust to the corporate lack of support for your success?

Your first adjustment is to read, act on the advice of this book, then take flight over the heads of dead and dying dodo reps and managers who are ground bound by their weak, extinct thinking.

Get going, get growing, now.

"I've read dozens and dozens of books on effective selling. I've attended numerous sales training programs. What Lee Salz has done is take the best ideas related to effective selling, combined them with new and creative techniques, and using his own extensive experience, crafted an exceptional book that is a must read for anyone in sales. Sales Dodo will have you looking at the selling process in a new way, whether you are a salesperson or someone who manages salespeople. My only question is...Lee, where were you 20 years ago when I started my career? If I had read your book then, I would have eliminated a ton of mistakes and my income would have been a lot higher!"

Sam Richter
President
James J. Hill Reference Library
Author
Take the Cold Out of Cold Calling

I wish this book wasn't necessary, but it is. Too many sales managers are incapable of giving you the guidance and direction you need to be successful in your sales career.

So, as Lee Salz so vividly points out in his book, you have to take personal responsibility for your own success. The author provides you with an excellent framework on which to build your own sales process which includes:

* Crafting a clear picture of your ideal client.
* Understanding how decision makers buy.
* What it takes to stand out from the crowd.
* How to navigate through a complex decision process.
* What to do if you get stuck.

If your dodo sales manager isn't giving you the help you need, check out this book. Salz fills in the gap and gets you back in control of your career.

Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies