Indecent Exposure: A True Story of Hollywood and Wall Street (Collins Business Essentials) Review

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(More customer reviews)David Begelman would never have been exposed as the crook he was without the dogged, principled determination of Cliff Robertson to get to the bottom of corruption at the top levels of Hollywood. This excellent book documents Robertson's heroic efforts to get at the truth -- for which he was blackballed by the Hollywood establishment for years. Cliff once said to me: "Of all the things in my life I'm proud of -- if I'm proud at all -- it's not winning the best actor Oscar or Emmy; it's my part in bringing down that crook Begelman."
But perhaps the book is most valuable for its exposure of the top echelon of Hollywood -- people with lots of money and no taste; people who know nothing whatever about movies. And could care less. I hope this book is reprinted soon. It is timeless.

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When the head of Columbia Pictures, David Begelman, got caught forging Cliff Robertson's name on a $10,000 check, it seemed, at first, like a simple case of embezzlement. It wasn't. The incident was the tip of the iceberg, the first hint of a scandal that shook Hollywood and rattled Wall Street. Soon powerful studio executives were engulfed in controversy; careers derailed; reputations died; and a ruthless, take-no-prisoners corporate power struggle for the world-famous Hollywood dream factory began.
First published in 1982, this now classic story of greed and lies in Tinseltown appears here with a stunning final chapter on Begelman's post-Columbia career as he continued to dazzle and defraud...until his last hours in a Hollywood hotel room, where his story dramatically and poignantly would end.

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Hershey: Milton S. Hershey's Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams Review

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(More customer reviews)Everyone knows Mr. Hershey for chocolate. Fewer people know that he secretly gave almost his entire fortune away 35 years before his death to provide perpetual support for an orphanage. He then carefully oversaw that orphanage, which grew to 1,500 students and became the Milton Hershey School. He also established an orphanage of similar size in Cuba, where he had large investments in sugar operations.
I found this book to be extremely well-researched and well-written. I have read 3 previous books and many articles on Mr. Hershey and this book covered many facets that were not previously reported. The author does an exemplary job of putting incidents in Mr. Hershey's life within a larger historical context.
The author's main goal was to delve into Mr. Hershey's character and actions in a way that goes beyond the myths. In the process, he finds some faults (such as gambling and a temper), but this critical examination provides a much more refined picture of the man's greatness. As a result, we see that Mr. Hershey's accomplishments stand up to intensive scrutiny.
The book describes a long rivalry between Mr. Hershey and William Wrigley. It started when Mr. Hershey thought that Wrigley had cheated him while they were gambling on an ocean liner. That spurred Mr. Hershey to enter the chewing gum business (which lost millions) and to almost buy the Philadelphia Phillies to compete with Wrigley's team.
One item in the book that has gotten some unpleasant attention is a possibility that his wife had late stage syphilis. This discussion is only on one page out of a 300 page book. The author theorizes that the illness was without symptoms for many years after they met and was not contagious at that stage.
The book reports that after a 1933 study predicted that the Trust would generate more income that MHS could spend, Mr. Hershey specifically changed the Deed of Trust to order the Managers to serve as many kids as the funds allow.
The book tells a story about an incoming student to the orphanage in the 1930s, who enrolled at age 7 after his mother died. He said Mr. Hershey "was right there when I first arrived at the school and they were giving me my clothes. He put his arm around me and said, `From now on, we'll take care of you. You're one of my boys." He said Mr. Hershey visited them every 2 weeks, and he remembers playing with Mr. Hershey in his car behind the steering wheel pretending to drive.
The book also describes the controversy surrounding the then-proposed sale of the Hershey Company in late 2001 by the Trust that Mr. Hershey had established.

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100 Great Businesses and the Minds Behind Them Review

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(More customer reviews)Never the original purpose of the authors, this book enables you to have dialogs with anyone you meet in any business gathering. It's 100 books on successful brands combined. I like it because typical books on single brands' success "stories" are mostly written by the non-founders. They all end up sitting somewhere on your bookshelf, unfinished, because of the unnecessary (and mostly dull) details plus the authors' second-guesses of the founders' original intents.
On the contrary, this book is written in a reporter's perspective, with no "MSG" added. Covering all the big brands and a few you don't (or I don't) know. Though each brand has only 3 to 4 pages of coverage, it has all you want to know plus some uncommon interesting details even for common brands. Perfect preachers for "Less is more".
Indeed, who on earth today is interested in 800-page details of one single brand while 777 of them are only author's views of the founder's?

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Inside the success of 100 Business GeniusesRisk-loving entrepreneurs. Innovative geniuses. Self-starters and mavericks. The world's greatest businesses were built by unique people, each bringing their own style and savvy to the marketplace.100 Great Businesses and the Minds Behind Them is a diverse and inspiring collections of great business stories. Covering a variety of success paths, brilliant strategies and engaging entrepreneurs, each profile explores the genius behind the greatest business minds:o A mother's inspiration that launched Baby Einsteino Aveda's journey from hippie to hipo How Guinness overcame a centuries-old problem to conquer new marketso TiVo's long fight to explain the genius of their producto How Oprah went from person to empireo And many moreAn engrossing look at what makes entrepreneurs and business geniuses tick, this book highlights the pivotal moments in the lives of great businesses, with lasting lesson on the art of making your business a success.

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