Richard
Pachter's choices for 2005's best business books.
Click
on the title to read each review or the link to purchase each book.
For
my favorite business books of 2004, click
here.
Among
the dozens of books I reviewed in 2005, here are those that I found
to be of lasting value. I’m sure I missed several good ones
("Freakonomics,"
anyone?), but please feel free to e-mail
me if you agree, disagree or have your own favorites.
Revolution
in the Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made
by Andy Hertzfeld
Click
here to purchase.
The truly amazing tale of how the soul became a part of the machine,
told by the geeks, misfits and artists who tried to change the world
— and succeeded. Elegantly designed, as is fitting.
blink:
the Power of Thinking Without Thinking.
by Malcolm
Gladwell.
Click
here to purchase.
First impressions matter. Gladwell’s entertaining and pithy
monograph also shows how we’re probably much smarter than
we think we are, especially when we don’t think too much about
it.
A
Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual
Age.
by Daniel H. Pink.
Click
here to purchase.
An audaciously optimistic glimpse into a possible future where America
can still lead the world, but only if we embrace the power of both
sides of our brains.
.
Meet
You in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership
That Transformed America.
by Les Standiford
Click
here to purchase.
A master storyteller recounts a pivotal chapter of American history
as exciting and page-turning as a great novel..
Think
Big, Act Small: How America's Best Performing Companies Keep the
Start-up Spirit Alive.
by
Jason Jennings.
Click
here to purchase.
How some "under-the-radar" businesses retain their mobility
and agility while growing in size, strength and profitability.
Darknet:
Hollywood's War Against The Digital Generation.
by
J.D. Lasica
Click
here to purchase.
Why entrenched economic interests continually resist innovation
and disruptive technology while hastening their self-inflicted extinction.
Tom
Peters Essentials (four volumes: Design, Leadership, Talent and
Trends).
by Tom
Peters.
Click
on each title to purchase:
(Design,
Leadership,
Talent
and Trends).
An intelligent redesign and redaction of his previous bold but dizzying
Re-Imagine
results in four specific and useful texts, once again demonstrating
why Tom Peters is at least two steps ahead of everyone else.
The
Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business
and Transformed Our Culture.
by John Battelle.
Click
here to purchase.
Battlle’s absorbing narrative reveals the birth of the real
New Economy, and why we’ll continue to Google for the foreseeable
future.
The
Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists.
by Neil Strauss
Click
here to purchase.
‘Authenticity is the most seductive pose of all,’ and
other lessons in sales, marketing, promotion and passion are conveyed
in this memoir that serves as a parable more powerful than rodent
bait.
The
Untied States of America. Polarization, Fracturing, and Our Future
by Juan Enriquez
Click
here to purchase.
Why socioeconomic forces — not "Red" or "Blue"
divisions — may accelerate the unraveling of America and how
such a breakup can be avoided by dealing with the differences and
not ignoring them. Enriquez’s dazzling work may be the smartest
business book of the decade.
Album of the year: Thelonious
Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall. Blue Note.
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