Coral Gables: Miami Riviera : An Architectural Guide
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    Coral Gables: Miami Riviera : An Architectural Guide
    Aristides J. Millas , and Ellen J. Uguccioni
    Manufacturer: University Press of Florida
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    GeneralGeneral | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
    ReferenceReference | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
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    Tourist Destinations & MuseumsTourist Destinations & Museums | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books
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    MiamiMiami | Florida | States | United States | Travel | Subjects | Books
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    1. Coral Gables  (FL)  (Images of America) Coral Gables (FL) (Images of America)

    ASIN: 0962056510

    Book Description

    Coral Gables: Miami Riviera was the original title for the many publicity and informational brochures published by the Coral Gables Corporation. These brochures revealed, to a winter-weary nation, the intentions, achievements, and progress of George E. Merrick's grand vision for "America's Most Beautiful Suburb," created during the Florida land boom of 1921-26.

    This book is specifically designed as a history and a pocket guide to showcase the many unique architectural features and places of this premier "boom time" city, from its beginnings until the present. The guide is organized into three sections. The first is an essay that compares the concept of the city with the influences of American 19th- and 20th-century city planning. The second section illustrates the patterns of Coral Gables development with original maps and the many grandiose planning functions for the "Master Suburb" that became a city. The third section offers six self-guided tours by sectors and themes of the city, featuring more than 90 sites and landmarks. These are illustrated with more than 120 archival and contemporary photos and the original advertisement drawings of Merrick's grand vision.

    Drawing Light and Shade: Understanding Chiaroscuro (The Art of Drawing series)
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      Drawing Light and Shade: Understanding Chiaroscuro (The Art of Drawing series)
      Giovanni Civardi
      Manufacturer: Search Press
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback
      Similar Items:
      1. Giovanni Civardi's Complete Guide to Drawing (Art of Drawing) Giovanni Civardi's Complete Guide to Drawing (Art of Drawing)
      2. Drawing Hands and Feet: Form, Proportions, Gestures and Actions (The Art of Drawing series) Drawing Hands and Feet: Form, Proportions, Gestures and Actions (The Art of Drawing series)
      3. Drawing the Clothed Figure: Portraits of People in Everyday Life (The Art of Drawing series) Drawing the Clothed Figure: Portraits of People in Everyday Life (The Art of Drawing series)
      4. The Nude: Understanding the Elements of Life Drawing (The Art of Drawing series) The Nude: Understanding the Elements of Life Drawing (The Art of Drawing series)
      5. Drawing Portraits: Faces and Figures (The Art of Drawing series) Drawing Portraits: Faces and Figures (The Art of Drawing series)

      ASIN: 1844481867

      Book Description

      Giovanni Civardi shares his great expertise in drawing light and shade, beginning with the basics of drawing simple 3D shapes. There are sections on shadows and cast shadows, simplifying tone, methods of shading, form and relief, composition, the perspective of shadows and many more. We also learn a little bit about how light and shade have been used thoughout the history of art. Finally the artist shows through his own superb drawings how the techniques and principles learned can be put into practice.
      Composing and Shading Your Drawings: Studying the Techniques of the Old Masters for Working Methods and a Personal Style (Drawing Course, Vol 2)
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        Composing and Shading Your Drawings: Studying the Techniques of the Old Masters for Working Methods and a Personal Style (Drawing Course, Vol 2)
        Gaspare De Fiore
        Manufacturer: Watson-Guptill Pubns
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Hardcover

        GeneralGeneral | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
        DrawingDrawing | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Drawing | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
        GeneralGeneral | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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        1. Learning to see and draw: Studying the techniques of the old masters for working methods and a personal style (The Drawing course) Learning to see and draw: Studying the techniques of the old masters for working methods and a personal style (The Drawing course)
        2. Drawing With Color and Imagination: Studying the Techniques of the Old Masters for Working Methods and a Personal Style (Drawing Course, Vol 3) Drawing With Color and Imagination: Studying the Techniques of the Old Masters for Working Methods and a Personal Style (Drawing Course, Vol 3)

        ASIN: 0823008789
        Chiaroscuro
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          Chiaroscuro
          Jason Marks
          Manufacturer: Authorhouse
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback

          ContemporaryContemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
          ASIN: 1585000760
          Chiaroscuro: The Private Lives of Leonardo da Vinci
          Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
          • SUPERCLIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS
          Chiaroscuro: The Private Lives of Leonardo da Vinci
          Pat McGreal , and David Rawson
          Manufacturer: Vertigo
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback

          GeneralGeneral | Comic Strips | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
          GeneralGeneral | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
          GeneralGeneral | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
          ContemporaryContemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
          HistoricalHistorical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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          1. Fables Vol. 6: Homelands Fables Vol. 6: Homelands

          ASIN: 1401204988

          Customer Reviews:

          5 out of 5 stars SUPERCLIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS.......2007-08-02

          Had kept this book on my wish list but never got down to really placing an order .Saw it at a local bookstore in Mumbai, and picked it up mainly because of the artwork and drawings. Hats off to the team responsible for bringing facts and fiction to life in glorious detailed color.

          Have read a lot on Leonardo mainly after "Da Vinci Code", but this was the first graphic book about him.

          Don't think twice, just buy it!
          Home Workshop Spy: Spookware For The Serious Hobbyist
          Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
          • The companion volume to "The Basement Buggers Bible".
          • Spytech
          • Nothing Special
          • A peak into the world of electronic spying.
          Home Workshop Spy: Spookware For The Serious Hobbyist
          Nick Chiaroscuro
          Manufacturer: Paladin Press
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback

          How-to & Home ImprovementsHow-to & Home Improvements | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books | Buildings & Construction | Carpentry | Cleaning, Caretaking & Relocating | Decks & Patios | Decorating | Design & Construction | Do-It-Yourself | Electrical | Estimating | Furniture | Green Housecleaning | Hand Tools | Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning | Home Repair | Household Hints | Masonry | Outdoor & Recreational Areas | Plumbing & Household Automation | Power Tools | Reference | Remodeling & Renovation | Roofing | Security | Small Appliance Repair | Swimming Pools | Woodworking
          EspionageEspionage | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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          GeneralGeneral | Electrical & Electronics | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
          AppliedApplied | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books
          Similar Items:
          1. Bench-Tested Circuits For Surveillance And Countersurveillance Technicians Bench-Tested Circuits For Surveillance And Countersurveillance Technicians
          2. The Basement Bugger's Bible : The Professional's Guide to The Basement Bugger's Bible : The Professional's Guide to
          3. More Bench-Tested Circuits More Bench-Tested Circuits
          4. Electronic Circuits And Secrets Of An Old-Fashioned Spy Electronic Circuits And Secrets Of An Old-Fashioned Spy
          5. Phone Book: The Latest High-Tech Techniques And Equipment For Preventing Electronic Eavesdropping, Recording Phone Calls, Ending Harassing Calls, And Stopping Toll Fraud Phone Book: The Latest High-Tech Techniques And Equipment For Preventing Electronic Eavesdropping, Recording Phone Calls, Ending Harassing Calls, And Stopping Toll Fraud

          ASIN: 0873649222

          Book Description

          Here are all of the circuit-board patterns, parts lists and building tips needed to build a sneaky array of bugs, taps, mics and other forbidden spy toys. These simple designs are for "wire specialists" or anyone interested in knowing about the clandestine sciences. For academic study only.

          Customer Reviews:

          4 out of 5 stars The companion volume to "The Basement Buggers Bible"........2003-10-15

          It is hard to categorise this book. On its own its 89 pages provide too few circuits to be useful (although those it provides are well developed) but if you read it after you study "The Basement Buggers Bible", it will be good value since it gives practical applications of circuit building blocks you will learn from the other book.

          My dictionary suggests that the name "Chiaroscuro" is a pseudonym, but the author can be partially identified. His writing style is very distinctive. His circuit design style is also distinctive, although less so than his writing style. Considering these things together, I believe that the author of this book also wrote "The Basement Buggers Bible". Now I believe that book to be the best of this genre available, and this book, although published in 1997, is the one you should read after you read the "Bible", published in 1999.

          Every circuit in this book consists of applications of the basic building blocks covered in "The Basement Buggers Bible". Applications include: a directional corner reflector for a microphone; infrared senders and receivers; ultrasonic senders and receivers; optical fibre and hardwire senders and receivers and a variety of analogue audio preprocessors and post-processors to dig audible sound out of inaudible noise. PCB templates are supplied, circuit schematics are clearly laid out and there is a brief but comprehensive explanation of the theory behind each circuit. A newcomer to electronics, however, would need more explanation to understand the circuits.

          There is one error in the book, on page 56 where the optical fibre sender has been omitted and the optical fibre receiver circuit used instead. Otherwise the book is error-free.

          The Parts Source section is only of use to readers in North America but the references are well chosen for further study.

          Like the earlier book, this is old technology, but still very useful. Likewise, the circuits are not for beginners. They are well-designed but if a mistake was made in construction, or operation proved faulty, a novice would find it impossible to deal with. If you are an electronics professional and sometimes have to provide advice on the subject of eavesdropping technology, this book provides a useful reference, but only as a companion volume.

          3 out of 5 stars Spytech.......2001-09-18

          I did like the book, but the name tell's it all (For the serious HOBBYIST)

          3 out of 5 stars Nothing Special.......2000-12-31

          This book covers a handful of transmitters, recievers, and a fiber optic project or two. Nothing really interesting, and a bit of a let-down.

          5 out of 5 stars A peak into the world of electronic spying........2000-06-17

          The Home Workshop spy is a excellent book on how to make bugging devices and equipment like it. It shows great schemeatics on how to build these items and a breif but good explination how to use them. Even though it has good instructions people who do not have knowledge of electronics will have a hard time with it. I think it's a great book and if you are good with electronics you should get it.
          Lesbian Plays: Any Woman Can, Double Vision, Chiaroscuro, the Rug of Identity (Methuen's New Theatrescripts)
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            Lesbian Plays: Any Woman Can, Double Vision, Chiaroscuro, the Rug of Identity (Methuen's New Theatrescripts)

            Manufacturer: Methuen
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Paperback

            BritishBritish | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | Classics | Contemporary | General | Historical | Humor | Letters & Correspondence | Middle | Old | Poetry | Renaissance | Shakespeare | Short Stories
            Sexuality in LiteratureSexuality in Literature | Criticism & Theory | History & Criticism | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
            GeneralGeneral | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
            GeneralGeneral | British & Irish | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
            ASIN: 041315310X
            Artistic Retouching:  A Complete Treatise on Artistic Retouching, Modeling, Etching, Art And Nature, Art And Photography, Character, Chiaroscuro, Composition, Style and Individuality
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              Artistic Retouching: A Complete Treatise on Artistic Retouching, Modeling, Etching, Art And Nature, Art And Photography, Character, Chiaroscuro, Composition, Style and Individuality
              Clara Weisman
              Manufacturer: H. A. Hyatt
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Hardcover
              ASIN: B000NKNE28
              AUGUSTUS JOHN
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                AUGUSTUS JOHN
                CHIAROSCURO
                Manufacturer: J CAPE
                ProductGroup: Book
                Binding: Hardcover
                ASIN: B000S7MY6I
                Beyond Black & White: Chiaroscuro Prints from Indiana Collections
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                  Beyond Black & White: Chiaroscuro Prints from Indiana Collections
                  Indiana University Art Museum
                  Manufacturer: Indiana University Art Museum
                  ProductGroup: Book
                  Binding: Paperback
                  ASIN: B000J5RWDY
                  Chiaroscuro
                  Average customer rating: Not rated
                    Chiaroscuro
                    Richard Thomas
                    Manufacturer: Rhapsody
                    ProductGroup: Book
                    Binding: Paperback

                    ContemporaryContemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
                    ASIN: 1898030030

                    Our Lady of 121st Street: Jesus Hopped the A Train & In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings
                    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
                    • Amazing, amazing, amazing!!
                    • the real deal
                    • A bright light!!!
                    • A Shining Light for the Theatre
                    Our Lady of 121st Street: Jesus Hopped the A Train & In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings
                    Stephen Adly Guirgis
                    Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
                    ProductGroup: Book
                    Binding: Paperback

                    United StatesUnited States | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
                    HistoryHistory | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
                    GeneralGeneral | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
                    GeneralGeneral | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
                    Look Inside Fiction BooksLook Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
                    Similar Items:
                    1. The Last Days of Judas Iscariot The Last Days of Judas Iscariot
                    2. The Pillowman The Pillowman
                    3. Stone Cold Dead Serious: And Other Plays Stone Cold Dead Serious: And Other Plays
                    4. Red Light Winter: A Play Red Light Winter: A Play
                    5. Frozen Frozen

                    ASIN: 0571211887

                    Book Description

                    Stephen Adly Guirgis has been hailed as one of the most promising playwrights at work in America today. A masterful poet of the downtrodden, his plays portray life on New York's hardscrabble streets in a manner both tender and unflinching, while continually exploring the often startling gulf between who we are and how we perceive ourselves. Gathered in this volume is his current off-Broadway hit, Our Lady of 121st Street, a comic portrait of the graduates of a Harlem Catholic school reunited at the funeral of a beloved teacher, along with his two previous plays: the philosophical jailhouse drama Jesus Hopped the A Train and In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings, an Iceman Cometh for the Giuliani era that looks at the effect of Times Square's gentrification on its less desirable inhabitants.

                    Customer Reviews:

                    5 out of 5 stars Amazing, amazing, amazing!!.......2005-12-19

                    If you're at all interested in theater (or human nature) Stephen's words, verbal paintings, are for you. Theater at it's very best. Mind blowing and jaw dropping. Makes the rest of us jealous - "why can't I do that?". Keep your eye on him, fly to New York to check out his work (and that of the theater company he has been a long time member of - LAByrinth) if you can (or even if you can't). In a world where not much new is coming out, he shines a light of hope. Follow him there - he's is a worthy guide that can be trusted to the ends of the earth (or even to Purgatory - please check out, his most recent, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot - you won't regret it).

                    5 out of 5 stars the real deal.......2003-11-18

                    this playwright is the real deal. you must read these plays! They blew me away

                    5 out of 5 stars A bright light!!!.......2003-10-30

                    Stephen Guirgis is the most important new playright to emerge in a very long time. A truly unique humane voice that speaks across all cultural and socio-economic barriers.

                    5 out of 5 stars A Shining Light for the Theatre.......2003-10-30

                    For those of you familiar with his work, the brilliance of Stephen Guirgis will not be news to you. For those who aren't , he is the most important new playright to emerge in a very long time. A truly unique voice.
                    Public Praise: Celebrating Jesus on the Streets of the World
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                      Public Praise: Celebrating Jesus on the Streets of the World
                      Graham Kendrick
                      Manufacturer: Creation House
                      ProductGroup: Book
                      Binding: Paperback

                      GeneralGeneral | Christian Living | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                      PentecostalPentecostal | Protestantism | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                      GeneralGeneral | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                      GeneralGeneral | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                      ASIN: 0884193144
                      So long sweet Jesus: A street worker's spiritual odyssey
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                        So long sweet Jesus: A street worker's spiritual odyssey
                        Bill Milliken
                        Manufacturer: Prometheus Press
                        ProductGroup: Book
                        Binding: Unknown Binding

                        African-American StudiesAfrican-American Studies | Special Groups | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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                        Youth MinistryYouth Ministry | Ministry & Church Leadership | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                        ASIN: B00070S2PI
                        Azusa Street Revival, The
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                          Azusa Street Revival, The

                          Manufacturer: Destiny Image
                          ProductGroup: Book
                          Binding: Paperback

                          ChristianChristian | Religious & Sacred Music | Musical Genres | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
                          PentecostalPentecostal | Protestantism | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                          CharismaticCharismatic | Worship & Devotion | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                          GeneralGeneral | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                          GeneralGeneral | Music | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                          GeneralGeneral | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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                          3. Revival Fire Revival Fire
                          4. God's Generals: Why They Succeeded and Why Some Failed God's Generals: Why They Succeeded and Why Some Failed
                          5. God's Generals II: The Roaring Reformers God's Generals II: The Roaring Reformers

                          ASIN: 076842366X
                          Alone with Jesus: Gleanings for closet reading
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                            Alone with Jesus: Gleanings for closet reading
                            Jeremiah Calvin Lanphier
                            Manufacturer: N. Tibbals
                            ProductGroup: Book
                            Binding: Unknown Binding

                            PoetryPoetry | Literature & Fiction | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                            DevotionalsDevotionals | Worship & Devotion | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                            ASIN: B00086UVA0
                            Baby Jesus (Baker Street kids. Bible story book)
                            Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
                            • A wonderful introduction to a toddler about Jesus
                            Baby Jesus (Baker Street kids. Bible story book)
                            V. Gilbert Beers
                            Manufacturer: Educational Pub. Concepts ; Distributed by Baker Book House
                            ProductGroup: Book
                            Binding: Unknown Binding

                            GeneralGeneral | Education | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                            ASIN: 0801009006

                            Customer Reviews:

                            5 out of 5 stars A wonderful introduction to a toddler about Jesus.......2000-10-04

                            This is a tiny treasure for toddlers. The words are simple and easy to understand, and the story is not to long for their short attention span. This is not just a good Christmas book, but a wonderful introduction to baby Jesus.
                            Berkeley journal; Jesus and the street people--a firsthand report
                            Average customer rating: Not rated
                              Berkeley journal; Jesus and the street people--a firsthand report
                              Clay Ford
                              Manufacturer: Harper & Row
                              ProductGroup: Book
                              Binding: Unknown Binding

                              GeneralGeneral | Theology | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                              ASIN: B0006CUZL6
                              Call to the streets
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                                Call to the streets
                                Don Williams
                                Manufacturer: Augsburg Pub. House
                                ProductGroup: Book
                                Binding: Unknown Binding

                                GeneralGeneral | Christian Living | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                                ASIN: 0806612207
                                Christ in Main Street
                                Average customer rating: Not rated
                                  Christ in Main Street
                                  Francis John Mueller
                                  Manufacturer: Bruce
                                  ProductGroup: Book
                                  Binding: Unknown Binding

                                  GeneralGeneral | Catholicism | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                                  GeneralGeneral | Christian Living | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                                  GeneralGeneral | Jesus | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                                  ASIN: B0007F66XI
                                  Christ on Main Street
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                                    Christ on Main Street
                                    Sverre Norborg
                                    Manufacturer: Denison
                                    ProductGroup: Book
                                    Binding: Unknown Binding

                                    GeneralGeneral | Jesus | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
                                    ASIN: B0007EGB84

                                    Las Pymes Ante El Reto del Siglo XXI
                                    Average customer rating: Not rated
                                      Las Pymes Ante El Reto del Siglo XXI
                                      Soto
                                      Manufacturer: I.T.P. Latin America
                                      ProductGroup: Book
                                      Binding: Paperback

                                      MicroeconomicsMicroeconomics | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
                                      SpanishSpanish | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
                                      MicroeconomíaMicroeconomía | Economía | Negocios e inversiones | Libros en español | Formats | Books
                                      No-FicciónNo-Ficción | Libros en español | Formats | Books | Automotriz | Ciencias Sociales | Crimen y Criminales | Educación | Estudios de la Mujer | Feriados | Filosofía | Gobierno | Hechos Verídicos | Planeamiento Urbano y Desarrollo | Política | Sucesos de Actualidad | Transportación
                                      Contabilidad y FinanzaContabilidad y Finanza | Profesional y Técnico | Libros en español | Formats | Books | Contabilidad | Finanza | Industrias y Profesiones | Internacional
                                      ASIN: 9706863591

                                      Celebration of Fools: An Inside Look at the Rise and Fall of JCPenney
                                      Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
                                      • A Must Read For Long Term Associates
                                      • Good book...
                                      • Author (who is NOT a kid) waits, rebuts after a year!
                                      • Author (who is NOT a kid) waits, rebuts after a year!
                                      • Not a bad book but title is too misleading
                                      Celebration of Fools: An Inside Look at the Rise and Fall of JCPenney
                                      Bill Hare
                                      Manufacturer: AMACOM/American Management Association
                                      ProductGroup: Book
                                      Binding: Hardcover

                                      GeneralGeneral | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
                                      GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
                                      RetailingRetailing | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
                                      Similar Items:
                                      1. The Hard Road to the Softer Side: Lessons from the Transformation of SEARS The Hard Road to the Softer Side: Lessons from the Transformation of SEARS

                                      ASIN: 0814471595

                                      Book Description

                                      JCPenney was the quintessential American company. Since James Cash Penney opened his first store in the small mining town of Kemmerer, Wyoming, in 1902, this unique institution has been an iconic part of the national landscape. Founded and run on the core principles of thrift, hard work, and good citizenship, the retail giant prospered throughout the 20th century, even during the Great Depression, as American citizens came to rely on it for its good values and service.

                                      But by the year 2000, its original beliefs arrogantly betrayed, JCPenney's Golden Age was, sadly, just a memory.

                                      Celebration of Fools is an insider's look at JCPenney's remarkable rise and fall, charting the people and events that have been the history of this American institution. Packed with captivating stories and compelling characters -- including the company's highest ranking woman -- Celebration of Fools offers valuable lessons applicable in today's business climate.

                                      With an engaging, narrative style, former Penney executive speechwriter Bill Hare tells a compelling cautionary tale with universal implications for all of corporate America.

                                      Casting new light and astonishing revelations on this American icon and the people who nearly destroyed it, Celebration of Fools will keep readers captivated from first page till last.

                                      Customer Reviews:

                                      5 out of 5 stars A Must Read For Long Term Associates.......2007-02-12

                                      I've worked at JCPenney for over 25 years before reading this book. It is currently making its rounds through my store.

                                      It's a great book of JCPenney history for anyone who wanted to know or to remember where we were and where we're headed. It is current up until the time that Q & V took over, which is now another chapter to be written by another writer someday.

                                      P.S. I bet Mike Ullman, current CEO, has read it.

                                      4 out of 5 stars Good book..........2005-07-21

                                      Good, interesting tale of Penney's during the 20th century. My dad was with Penney's in a number of positions including store manager; I bought the book as a gift for him, then got hooked and read it first. His impression was that the parts he knew about personally were well portrayed (he was with the company from ~1953-1963, and from ~1975-1980).
                                      The story is from the point of view of a speechwriter in the company, and even the climax of the book is a speech. Much of the book is historical, so that viewpoint doesn't detract from that part. There are likely other perspectives that would be more interesting for the more contemporary phases of the story, though (_e.g._ a member of top management). On the other hand, a speechwriter would have access to the company and its top personnel in varied and candid settings, without having so much a stake in the action that relating the action is colored by the author wanting to appear in a favorable light. So the author did have a unique vantage point, and the story ended up being a pretty interesting portrayal of the company's spectacular successes, and some failures, too.

                                      5 out of 5 stars Author (who is NOT a kid) waits, rebuts after a year!.......2005-06-27

                                      Everybody's a critic, which's fine when the criticism isn't malicious or sleazy. Sadly, "G. Lindsey"'s review of my book a year ago was both. Worse, Lindsey didn't reveal himself as an executive at JCPenney (which would have suggested questionable objectivity and the possibility of writing at the behest of uneasy bosses). Even worse was his accusing me of lying---particularly about James Cash Penney and his beloved first wife marrying when she was pregnant. Well, that's a fact, sourced and verified from the Penney archives right under Lindsey's very nose---as were many other facts in the book questioned by him. I did create dialogue (as carefully explained in the Introduction) when research yielded clear lines of character and situation. Ah, well, at least Lindsey said the book might be a good "beach read" (high praise from him!). -Bill Hare

                                      5 out of 5 stars Author (who is NOT a kid) waits, rebuts after a year!.......2005-06-27

                                      Everybody's a critic, which's fine when the criticism isn't malicious or sleazy. Sadly, "G. Lindsey"'s review of my book a year ago was both. Worse, Lindsey didn't reveal himself as an executive at JCPenney (which would have suggested questionable objectivity and the possibility of writing at the behest of uneasy bosses). Even worse was his accusing me of lying---particularly about James Cash Penney and his beloved first wife marrying when she was pregnant. Well, that's a fact, sourced and verified from the Penney archives right under Lindsey's very nose---as were many other facts in the book questioned by him. I did create dialogue (as carefully explained in the Introduction) when research yielded clear lines of character and situation. Ah, well, at least Lindsey said the book might be a good "beach read" (high praise from him!). -Bill Hare

                                      3 out of 5 stars Not a bad book but title is too misleading.......2004-08-05

                                      Of all the business books I have read none have worse timing than 'Celebration of Fools'. To begin with, JC Penney is currently looked upon as being one of the best managed retail companies in the world. If Mr. Hare would have done his due diligence, he could easily have added chapters chronicling the extraordinary turnaround JC Penney has undergone since the reigning CEO Allen Questrom took over in 2000. Furthermore, ignoring the impact that Vanessa Castagna, Executive Vice President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of JC Penney Stores, Catalog and Internet, has had on the recent success of JC Penney was a big mistake. If anything, concluding the book with a chapter dedicated to Ms. Castagna would have been appropriate for the simple fact that she will more than likely replace Allen Questrom as the leader of JC Penney, and rightfully so. The title of the book may leave some readers thinking that JC Penney is somehow on its death bed as a company when in fact it is in superb operational and financial condition. As someone who has spent the last four years working in retail, earning an MBA in Industrial Management and a Masters in Logistics and Supply Chain Management where a large portion of my research projects were related to the retail industry, I can personally attest to the great strides JC Penney has made.

                                      Having said all of the above, I do find the book has some merit in its exploration of JC Penney. However, Mr. Hare is rightfully being taken to task for his use of "creating" dialogue that he cannot back up factually. Had Mr. Hare simply stuck with the facts he would have written a much more acceptable book. As I read through the chapters, I found myself comparing `Celebration of Fools' with `Kmart's 10 Deadly Sins'. Both books chronicle the inner workings of two very well known companies and the bad decisions that were made along the way. If anything, `Celebration of Fools' reinforces the need for companies to have well thought out plans in place to identify talent and leadership in external and internal personnel as a way to ensure that only the best qualified individuals are in top management. Yes, JC Penney had some executives who made very poor business decisions but the experience of JC Penney is not unique in business as a study of Coca-Cola will attest.

                                      I also must scold Mr. Hare for suggesting that moving JC Penney from New York to Dallas, actually Frisco, TX, was a mistake. Moving from New York to Frisco created a financial position of such magnitude that JC Penney was able to pay cash for the land and building it currently occupies. Moreover, if the physical location of a company's headquarters is truly relational to the success or failure of the company, how does Mr. Hare explain Wal-Mart's success even though it is located in Bentonville, Arkansas?

                                      So what then is my recommendation? The book is worth reading but in order to truly have an accurate understanding of JC Penney, I suggest reader's research articles written about JC Penney after 2000 to truly understand the magnitude of the recovery JC Penney has made.

                                      One last thing, don't be surprised if Sears does everything they can to lure Allen Questrom away from JC Penney in the next year or two.

                                      Successful Mergers, Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances: How to Bridge Corporate Cultures
                                      Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
                                      • Culture is not soft stuff
                                      Successful Mergers, Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances: How to Bridge Corporate Cultures
                                      Irene Rodgers , Charles Gancel , Marc Raynauld , and Marc Raynaud
                                      Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Companies
                                      ProductGroup: Book
                                      Binding: Hardcover

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                                      Similar Items:
                                      1. The Human Side of Mergers and Acquisitions: Managing Collisions Between People, Cultures, and Organizations The Human Side of Mergers and Acquisitions: Managing Collisions Between People, Cultures, and Organizations
                                      2. Achieving Post-Merger Success: A Stakeholder's Guide to Cultural Due Diligence, Assessment, and Integration Achieving Post-Merger Success: A Stakeholder's Guide to Cultural Due Diligence, Assessment, and Integration
                                      3. Managing Mergers Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances, Second Edition: Integrating people and cultures Managing Mergers Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances, Second Edition: Integrating people and cultures
                                      4. The Corporate Culture Survival Guide The Corporate Culture Survival Guide
                                      5. The Complete Guide to Mergers and Acquisitions: Process Tools to Support M&A Integration at Every Level (JOSSEY-BASS BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT SERIES) The Complete Guide to Mergers and Acquisitions: Process Tools to Support M&A Integration at Every Level (JOSSEY-BASS BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT SERIES)

                                      ASIN: 0077098757

                                      Book Description

                                      Irene Rodgers, Charles Gancel, and Marc Raynauld Successful Mergers, Acquisitions, and Strategic Alliances provides a proven approach to understanding, analyzing, and acting on cultural differences in today's increasingly global M&A marketplace. Based on interviews with senior executives across Europe, the United States, and Southeast Asia, it explains how to address the operational differences between organizations with divergent cultures and helps readers manage the emotional dimensions of multicultural M&A transactionsncluding reassuring key executives to head off costly defections.

                                      Customer Reviews:

                                      4 out of 5 stars Culture is not soft stuff.......2005-01-18

                                      If they are honest about it, most managers have been accustomed to think of culture as pretty soft stuff, a nuisance to be dispatched as quickly as possible in order to get on with the task at hand, particularly if that task involves the massive efforts required to make merged enterprises function effectively. Even in retrospect, disasters and successes are rarely measured in terms of the exercise of cultural competence. As Gancel, Rodgers and Rauynaud clearly illustrate, cultural factors tend to get hidden inside of personalities, financial and policy decisions well or poorly made. They become confused with the vagaries of the marketplace, and are lost in the process of sizing up the actors as "good guys" and "bad guys."

                                      The future? Successful Mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances parts company with those who see quickly constructing third cultures as the panacea for organizational mergers. Theirs is a much more realistic process of assessing an appropriate level of integration and empowering local resources at the same time. Looking for a one-size-fits-all shared global culture is building a Titanic, in a time when global organizations need a fleet of fast maneuverable units that can understand and move in and out of diverse local situations.

                                      One of the most effective features of the book is that the merger experience with its failings, turn-around, and ultimate success is regularly seen through the eyes and self-talk of an imaginary though very real sounding CEO named Ingo Janssen. Ingo gives the dimension of how the cultural challenge of merger can shake even the toughest of experienced leaders.

                                      "Culture Bridging," the first tool offered in Successful Mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances is well situated midway between the world of cultural detail and the sweep of the grand intercultural theories, exactly what is need to bridge the world of academic research and theory with the infinite number of cultural details found in diverse groups. The authors offer cultural analysis tools that are both realistic and useful.

                                      Sailing into a corporate merger requires the choice of ingenuous skippers on the bridge who know how to navigate cultures as they find them, in organizations, units, individuals, in inhouse and outsourced resources. But skill is not enough, their authority and leadership need legitimacy, as well as a team committed to effectiveness, and a future made present by vision and systemically kept alive by culture building steps.

                                      These three keystones of the authors' model, legitimacy, effectiveness, and future need to be actuated according to each organization's preferential way of behaving. In the core of the book the authors present these preferences and give us concrete examples of managing them. Given the diversity of cultures and subcultures in merging organizations and their parts, effective captain and crew may be called upon to be able to recognize, respond to and utilize the dynamics of all these preferences to make and keep the new enterprise seaworthy.

                                      The second tool is the "Cultural Audit," dealt with in the overview of a single chapter, despite the importance the authors see in it for successful bridging and integration. The technology of the audit is simple, the work tough. Ideally cultural audits should be part of due diligence, but this is often prevented by legal considerations, politics and haste. The audit in fact frequently comes (too) late, a weighty response to trouble rather than the ounce of prevention it could be.

                                      "Merging the tribes" is what the authors call the process of necessary and timely integration that has to take place at the same time as the organization is working hard to maintain and communicate with its external markets and customer base. There is lots of prescription here as well the citing of best practices. While the book stops short of detailed direction, this part serves well to provide the mental ammunition and reminders that an integration team requires to go forward, and ends with an important reminder to celebrate successes.

                                      In times of crisis we tend to fall back on old patterns of behavior. The authors remind us that the stress of merging is precisely when we should not forget what we have learned personally about dealing with ourselves and others, refreshing and building our "personal armory" of skills needed to understand, listen, analyze and pay attention to process.

                                      The final chapters of the book present a code of values and priorities that are needed to make the bridging process succeed, and then a collection of interview excerpts from individual leaders who faced these M&A challenges and survived to tell of them. Less inspirational than insightful, these scraps of conversation reveal doggedly determined individuals who are willing to share advice from the front lines often won only after numerous casualties..

                                      From technical point of view, Successful Mergers, acquisitions and strategic alliances is well done, to the point of perhaps looking deceptively simple, particularly at the outset. Highlights break up the text, diagrams are homey but clear. The quotations come from the right people, and, while not elegant epigrams, clearly speak from experience. The bullet point summaries at the end of each chapter are excellent. While not free of jargon, slang and insider references, all in all, the book is written in simple and lucid English that ESL speakers in global organizations will appreciate. In sum, a book that fills a very important niche for the organizational development profession.


                                      Successful Mergers, Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances: How to Bridge Corporate Cultures
                                      Average customer rating: Not rated
                                        Successful Mergers, Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances: How to Bridge Corporate Cultures
                                        Irene Rodgers; Charles Gancel; Marc Raynauld; Marc Raynaud
                                        Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Companies
                                        ProductGroup: Book
                                        Binding: Paperback
                                        ASIN: B000OGT2N6

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