Surrealism and the Occult: Shamanism, Magic, Alchemy, and the Birth of an Artistic Movement

Book Description

An art historian shows how many surrealists and their predecessors were steeped in magical ideas that were expressed in their art: the sorcery of Dali, the alchemy of Picasso, the Theosophy of Kandinsky, and the shamanism of Ernst and Carrington.

Customer Reviews:

A missed opportunity.......2006-02-13

Nadia Choucha's book "Surrealism and the Occult" is a failure on every level, partly because she fails to do more than skim the surface of the surrealists interest in the occult and even that inadequately. She fails to even mention Victor Brauner, obviously hasn't the faintest idea of the connections between surrealists such as Jorge Camacho and Martin Stejskal and alchemy, nor the importance of figures such as Malcolm de Chazal, the great philosopher of analogy. She substitutes a clumsy and fictitious tie-in with Kenneth Grant and Austin Spare and although a comparison between Spare's automatism with the surrealist concept might have been interesting, she largely botches this because she simply has not done her research properly.
I am told that Choucha originally wrote this as an undergraduate dissertation. It should have stayed that way. It could have been the starting point for a much better book if only she had bothered to find out enough to write the book that it should have been. A silly book, written out of ignorance. What a shame. And what a shame that there is no other book that covers the whole of this underesearched area that could replace Choucha's. There is a great opening here for any real scholar, or better still, surrealist, who cares to make the effort.

One of the Most Important Books on Art Available.......2004-11-09

I can't say enough good things about this book. All those New Agers, Witches, Shamans, and Occultists who are buying up the mass-produced mind numbing/information-concealing books for the masses are missing the few real books available which might allow one to come to a deep and real understanding of that which they are seeking. This is most definitely one of those few real books.

There is really no point in me talking about the contents of the work. If you are serious about wanting to understand the extraordinarily important relationship between surrealist art and magick (or witchcraft, or shamanism, or voudun, or mind control, or whatever) this would be the place to start. Written for the intelligent individual, but you're smart, aren't you?

Of Value, for a Specialized Audience.......2001-02-18

This slender book has an excellent first chapter that does an good job of describing the Romantic era mythos of the visionary artist, who attains wisdom by excess, by disordering the senses, and by breaking through conventional barriers. Chouda shows how this image of the artist continued throught he Surrealist period, and was congenial to an interest in magic and the occult. Subsequent chapters cover a lot of ground quickly, and presuppose a certain familiarity with both major and minor Surrealist artists. The style of these chapters reads like an Ph.D. thesis. More illustrations of actual artwork would have been helpful, but would've driven up the cost of the book.

Surrealism and the Occult : Shamanism, Magic, Alchemy, and the Birth of an Artistic Movement

Average customer rating:

Surrealism and the Occult : Shamanism, Magic, Alchemy, and the Birth of an Artistic Movement
Nadia Choucha
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MU2QIC

Book Description

Praise for Hedi Slimane's Intermission, his first photo book: "If you thought Hedi Slimane's talents began and ended with tailoring, you are so wrong--his latest project, Intermission, shows off His Slimness's skills as a photographer." --Nylon Fresh from the latest season of menswear couture and his last book project, an imaginative artist's book that melded photographs of draped fabrics with impossible materials, here is Hedi Slimane's latest creation. Here is Berlin, heard not as the symphony of a large city but as a quiet, emotive ballad. Here is Berlin, as Hedi Slimane has captured it, photographing his surroundings, his friends and the ordinary places where unglamorous lives are led in the German capital. In intense photos that visualize a young generation's attitude toward life, Slimane reveals the shared desire for something other than feelings of security and prefabricated ideas.

Customer Reviews:

Love it or hate it.......2003-10-31

If you like Hedi Slimane, Or Bauhaus Photograpfy, You will most probably love this book..But like all hedi's work, It is not a series of Brilliant Photograps(they are very beautiful nonetheless) but more a flow that is so stable its almost frightening.Very quiet book, Intresting moments,very nice presentation.
Very inspirational and calm. I love Bauhaus very much and it definitely is in this spirit.

Book Description

Someone - or something - is haunting the halls of the Xavier Institute, and it's up to the X-Men-in-training to get to the bottom of it! Can the New Mutants find a way to bring peace to this tortured being before they become the tortured? Plus: David Alleyne, a.k.a. Prodigy of the New Mutants, can absorb the skills and knowledge of anyone close by, but is doomed to forget everything as soon as they're gone. So what would happen if he could keep that knowledge instead of forgetting? He'd be the smartest kid in the world, right? Is it too much of a good thing? Collects New X-Men: Academy X #7-11.

Customer Reviews:

New X-men Haunting.......2007-03-24

Each trade of New X-men gets better than the last. This one deals with the younger sister of the mental mutant David visiting her older brother at Professor X's school and wishing to be a mutant herself so she could go to such a cool school. The only problem with her stay is that the ghost of one of the mutant students killed in a previous issue attack is now haunting the school and trying to scare new students away so that they won't suffer as he had.

Good Read.......2006-11-28

The book is a little slow but keeps your interest. If you liked vol. 1 you'l like vol two it is a little better but still seting things up.

Great Buy.......2006-07-12

If you aren't the most hardcore fan of the X-Men, this is the title for you. With great characters, awesome writers and wicked superpowers, this title is the best. Haunting is a bout a disturbance in the mansion and how the New Mutants Squad reacts to it. If you are looking for some entertaining reading, buy this book.

Pretty good teen-oriented plot.......2006-06-06

I have to take exception with the previous reviewer. I thought this graphic novel was a reasonably entertaining teen superhero drama set in Xavier's Institute for the Gifted. The graphic novel collects several individual stories. And, maybe the universe isn't being saved, but I enjoyed the stories...and this series in general.

As for the artwork, well, there are different STYLES of artwork, and our illustrious previous reviewer clearly does not like the style. I actually think it works pretty well, which is just one of the reasons I keep buying this series.

Average customer rating:

How I laughed

Confessions of a Food Critic

The Perfect Holiday Gift!

Good Eating, Fine Writing

Great sample of Alan Richman

Fork It Over: The Intrepid Adventures of a Professional Eater
Alan Richman
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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Eating My Words: An Appetite for Life

The Perfectionist: Life and Death in Haute Cuisine

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise

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Are You Really Going to Eat That?: Reflections of a Culinary Thrill Seeker

ASIN: 0060586303
Release Date: 2005-11-08

Amazon.com

It seems like Alan Richman has been writing about food--certainly in GQ--like, forever. Turns out he made the switch from sports writing to food, primarily restaurant reviews, a mere 14 years ago. Fork It Over is his first collection of essays published in those years. He has a charming, easy voice; self-deprecating humor; well-honed wit; and a defined sense of what he does and does not like--about food, restaurants, cities, hotel rooms, waiters, and just about everything else. You are a passenger along for the ride, a willing listener of road stories. The car is decidedly American, the upholstery fine leather.

The collection is laid out like a classic menu of French parentage. In Amuse-Bouche, we are treated to "The Eating Life," an essay written for the book that establishes the writer-critic credentials and ground rules. His mother was a terrific cook; the author can't boil water, nor sees any need to. He's a regular guy from a regular background who can wax as poetic about Philly cheese steak as he can the most delectable and exotic of delicacies. From that point on--through Appetizers, Entrees, Sides, Cheese, Wine, and Gratuity--the reader is escorted from one side of the world to the other, to high-end restaurants and low-end dives. As the fellow traveler, the reader is never allowed to wander off from Richman's voice and perspective. He is, in fact, the axis mundi around which each and every essay revolves. Which is to say, Fork It Over is much more a book about Alan Richman than it is about food.

The essays that comprise Fork It Over appeared in major monthly magazines, one at a time. To read this body of work cover to cover is to run the risk of losing one's appetite in the middle of the meal. It's rich stuff. Delectable. Charming. And a little bit goes a long way. --Schuyler Ingle

Book Description

A hilarious series of culinary adventures from GQ's award–winning food critic, ranging from flunking out of the Paul Bocuse school in Lyon to dining and whining with Sharon Stone.

Alan Richman has dined in more unlikely locations and devoured more tasting menus than any other restaurant critic alive. He has reviewed restaurants in almost every Communist country (China, Vietnam, Cuba, East Germany) and has recklessly indulged his enduring passion for eight–course dinners (plus cheese). All of this attests to his herculean constitution, and to his dedication to food writing.

In Fork It Over, the eight–time winner of the James Beard Award retraces decades of culinary adventuring. In one episode, he reviews a Chicago restaurant owned and operated by Louis Farrakhan (not known to be a fan of Jewish restaurant critics) and completes the assignment by sneaking into services at the Nation of Islam mosque, where no whites are allowed. In Cuba, he defies government regulations by interviewing starving political dissidents, and then he rewards himself with a lobster lunch at the most expensive restaurant in Havana. He chiffonades his way to a failing grade at the Paul Bocuse school in Lyon, politely endures Sharon Stone's notions of fine dining, and explains why you can't get a good meal in Boston, spurred on by the reckless passion for food that made him "the only soldier he knows who gained weight while in Vietnam" and carried him from his neighborhood burger joint to Le Bernardin.

Alan Richman, once described as the "Indiana Jones of food writers," has won more major awards than any other food writer alive, including a National Magazine Award, eight James Beard Awards for restaurant reviewing, and two James Beard M.F.K. Fisher distinguished writing awards.

The all new cover will emphasize Richman's globetrotting persona and attract a wide audience

Praise for Fork It Over:

"A sharp, rollicking collection of articles documenting Richman's most memorable culinary experiences.... An enjoyable treat full of gastronomic guffaws."

– Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Customer Reviews:

How I laughed.......2005-09-09

What a fun read!! My husband found me giggling at chapter after chapter. I enjoy reading this kind of book. I am interested in what really goes on in the Culinary world. I would sugest this book for anyone that likes this kind of book.

Confessions of a Food Critic.......2005-04-05

4/4/2005

Fork It Over:
The Intrepid Adventures of a
Professional Eater

By Alan Richman

A review by Marty Martindale

Remember the early days on Food Network when they had a little program featuring a man and a woman, in a restaurant booth, relentlessly discussing plates of food? They were subjective, believing they were objective, bringing off the snob appeal food critics are supposed to exhibit. David Edelstein describes them as the "satiny blonde Nina Griscom and helplessly dweebish Alan Richman." The show was Dining Around, described as being a non-cooking show. It was also a fun show and a hook for me with the Food Channel evermore.

Richman, eleven-time winner of the James Beard Foundation Award, has been the culinary critic for GQ since 1990. Before that he "dabbled in comestibles on the side and under a pseudonym, while writing about sports for the Boston Glove and the Montreal Star." He lives in Mamaroneck, New York and commutes to Manhattan for most meals. He was also recently appointed Dean of Food Journalism of the French culinary Institute in Westchester County, New York.

In the books, he posits Food Commandments, a set for Diners and another for Restaurants. The former includes helpful paragraphs on presenting one's credit after dessert, ignoring the waiter's "favorites," passing on the omelet stations and more. His commandments for Restaurants include never send a patron to the bar, knocking off the fish boat routine and not being asking if everything is "OK?" He also offers his ten reasons "Why White Wine is Better than Red Wine," not the least of which is "Ever notice that winos leave vacant lots strewn with broken bottles red wine?"

Richman is a world-traveled eating man and acknowledges most everyone envies what he does. At the same time, he defends his expertise as a proven eater while possessing no knowledge of cooking. "I believe I know how to eat as well as any man alive," he contends. To expand on this his MO includes behaviors which make him lie, steal, wander and drift usually in silence except for hearty chatter with waiters and busboys.

For an example of his mastery at simplicity, we visit a baked potato eaten with is parents in Chicago at a restaurant named Tad's, near the stockyards. The year was early, the price of his steak dinner was $1.09: "fatty steaks reeking with charred goodness. Baked potatoes as big as footballs ... such tubers were unavailable at the A & P ... the potatoes we eat at home were tiny and immaterial ... but the Tad's spud was buttery and vaguely nutty, a combination I don't recall encountering again, even on one of my trips to Idaho."

The book is a collection of Richman's stories as they appeared in GQ, rife with Alan's "what to look for's." It's a great out-of-context read, a great airport read, any chapter is entertaining. Bring snacks.

Remember: With the word, Montrachet, both the "t's" are silent...

© Marty Martindale, 2005, Largo FL
mm@www.FoodSiteoftheDay.com

The Perfect Holiday Gift!.......2004-12-20

What fun! This hilarious book is filled with
Richman's amusing culinary observations and adventures during his long and impressive career as GQ's food, wine and restaurant critic. It is the perfect winter read and holiday gift. It is witty, engaging and even touching at times. My mother said it was the only thing that made her laugh out loud during her double knee replacement rehab! I am giving this book to all my friends this year.

Good Eating, Fine Writing.......2004-12-03

By Bill Marsano. Just about every columnist of any kind reaches a point at which he thinks it a fine idea to bundle his columns together and make them into a book. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. A few years ago the novelist Jay MacInerney did that with his wine columns for Vogue magazine and the result was, to my mind, embarrassing. What was on display was, mostly, tedious repetition, little imagination and surprisingly dull writing.

Now Alan Richman, award-winning food writer and restaurant critic for the likes of GQ and Food & Wine, has taken the gamble--but this time the result is a winner.

Richman is a generous and imaginative soul with an easy, flowing style; he is articulate, not glib; he is funny and drily wittyl he is adventurous, with firm but not savage opinions and prejudices. He's old enough to have a wide frame of reference backed by an excellent memory. And he has the rare gift of being able to take a reader along with him. He makes you feel like a confidant.

That makes it unalloyed please to follow his adventures: dining extravagantly for a week with rich wine collectors in France; fumbling his way through two nights as a wine steward at a fancy restaurant; suffering a disatrous dinner with Sharon Stone; driving the coast of North Carolina to gorge himself on his beloved barbecue sandwiches; memorializing that disappearing artifact, the Jewish Waiter. These are but a few of his explorations, and those I haven't mentioned are just as much fun.

His prejudices are pointed, openly admitted and neatly expressed. I'm inclined to agree with many of them, including the vexed question of men dining with women and especially the problem of waiters who won't shut up. Indeed, I recently was a guest at Per Se, a notably expensive new restaurant in New York opened by the star of Napa's French Laundry, and I was astonished by the intrusiveness of the service. There were ten of us at table, all engaged in eager conversation--and constantly being told to hush up by our waiter, who insisted on interrupting at every course to describe at length the very dishes that were so clearly described on the menu. I guess that I, like Richman, am of the old school: I think waiters should wait (for a pause), say "Excuse me"--then put the plate down and scram.

A serious failing of this book is that it's so short--but that suggests rigorous selection. Richman has given us only his best here, so reader discipline is required. Read these pleasures one at a time, now matter how tempted to tear through them one after another, or you'll be at the end of the book in no time. On the other hand, you can always start over again.--Bill Marsano is an award-winning writer on wine, food and travel.

Great sample of Alan Richman.......2004-11-30

I consider Alan Richman the finest food writer out there and this book provides a sampling of the quality writing GQ and Bon Appetit readers have known for years.

The article on dining at the Nation of Islam restaurant in Chicago is reason enough to buy the book. Richman manages to weave religion, racism, and social commentary into an article on a restaurant. Outstanding.

Other outstanding essays in the book revolve around the disappearing Polynesian restaurant, the sad current state of Paul Bocuse in France, and the hilarious "My Beef with Vegans."

Richman breaks up the articles with his "Ten Commandments" for both diners and restaurants, as well as "Ten Reasons White Wine is Better Than Red."

All-in-all a fantastic book by a great writer. Richman has joined Steingarten, Villas, and Claiborne in reaching the mountaintop of fine food writing.

Fork It Over: The Intrepid Adventures of a Professional Eater

Average customer rating:

Fork It Over: The Intrepid Adventures of a Professional Eater
Alan Richman
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEV3KS

Book Description

Eddie Mannix and Howard Strickling are virtually unknown outside of Hollywood and little-remembered even there, but as General Manager and Head of Publicity for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, they lorded over all the stars in Hollywood's golden age from the 1920s through the 1940s—including legends like Garbo, Dietrich, Gable and Garland. When MGM stars found themselves in trouble, it was Eddie and Howard who took care of them—solved their problems, hid their crimes, and kept their secrets. They were "the Fixers." At a time when image meant everything and the stars were worth millions to the studios that owned them, Mannix and Strickling were the most important men at MGM. Through a complex web of contacts in every arena, from reporters and doctors to corrupt police and district attorneys, they covered up some of the most notorious crimes and scandals in Hollywood history, keeping stars out of jail and, more importantly, their names out of the papers. They handled problems as diverse as the murder of Paul Bern (husband of MGM's biggest star, Jean Harlow), the studio-directed drug addictions of Judy Garland, the murder of Ted Healy (creator of The Three Stooges) at the hands of Wallace Beery, and arranging for an unmarried Loretta Young to adopt her own child—a child fathered by a married Clark Gable.

Through exhaustive research and interviews with contemporaries, this is the never-before-told story of Eddie Mannix and Howard Strickling. The dual biography describes how a mob-related New Jersey laborer and the quiet son of a grocer became the most powerful men at the biggest studio in the world.

Customer Reviews:

Mediocre at best - a missed opportunity!.......2007-07-12

Initially I enjoyed reading the book although I did find the author's style of writing a little annoying. However I quickly became concerned about the level of research the author had conducted for each scandal that was discussed. In some cases it seemed to be fine and quite well thought out, for example his take on Clark Gable's involvement in a couple of road accidents and then at other times he seemed to rely solely on another persons' book for his research. The worst example I came across which really irritated me was his take on the death of Thelma Todd, the extent of his research seems to have been that he read Hot Toddy and has taken it as Gospel. I have read Hot Toddy and it had no list of references to help prove that Thelma Todd was murdered in fact it read like a completely fictionalised biography. From this point on I noticed just how often the author made reference to other people's books for his research and I began to think that this book was little more than a cobbling together of all the racy and interesting gossip from lots of other books. To be honest this wouldn't have bothered me as I quite enjoy reading a real hatchet job of a book about film stars, reading all the gossip and comparing books about the same person. However I don't think that this was what the author set out to do and I feel cheated that he didn't look more closely at each story and assess them properly which is what I thought he was going to do, comparing different takes on a scandal or piece of gossip and then giving his own opinion and research.

Considering the book is about Strickling and Mannix they do not really come across as the main focus of the book. I don't feel that I know much more about them than I did from reading other Hollywood books. There are very few pictures of them, in fact the best one of each of them is on the cover. There are no personal pictures of them with their families or of their wives. There are quite a few pictures in the book but they are all standard black and white pictures and seem to be stock photos of the big Hollywood stars. I know what they look like! I would have liked to have seen photos of the other people that were involved in the scandals or pictures taken at the time the scandal occurred. For example why talk about Lila Leeds' beauty and not bother to include a photo?

The book was very expensive for what it was.

Learned a Lesson.......2007-03-15

I have been purchasing hard to find books from another company for several years...this time around I used Amazon, found the book, found it cheaper and got it faster. This book, which is hard to find and came to my attention while researching some other issues, was a great read and loaded with facts which were well documented and sourced. In other words, very little gossip. It was an easy and enjoyable experience to take in this book.

fascinating but factually suspect.......2006-09-16

Potentially fascinating stuff about the MGM guys who covered up Hollywood scandals but too much hearsay and out-and-out misinformation to be taken seriously. Author claims Rex Harrison's US career was "doomed" by his affiliation with the 1948 suicide of actress Carole Landis. Actually, Rex' best career years were yet to come--Broadway stardom in My Fair Lady (and Best Actor Oscar for subsequent film version), Oscar nomination for Cleopatra, a co-starring role opposite Doris Day at height of her popularity, lead in multi-million dollar musical Dr Dolittle. . .so much for career disaster. And fact-checking. Fix this!

Flatly Written Hearsay.......2006-07-04

This is little more than a mediocre laundry list of scandals that MGM studios was confronted with during the height of the studio system, and is far more concerned with juicy details of sex and intrigue (whether they be accurately confirmed or not) than with the role Mannix and Strickling played in them. Fleming gives anecdotes with creditable facts supporting them the same weight as fanciful rumors that have found their way into public lore (such as the "affair" between Laurence Olivier and Danny Kaye, which Fleming refers to blithely as "going on for fourteen years" despite the lack of any evidencery support to suggest that it ever actually happened at all), so that the entire book lacks credibility.

That might be forgivable, of course, if the book were a good read; but Fleming's prose style is flat and seems to lack any point. By mid-way through the book, after the umpteenth gossipy reference to scandals that may have taken place but very likely did not, the reader begins to wonder why Fleming felt the need to dig up old rumors to begin with.

There are a few occasions when Fleming does actually analyze the facts that he is laying out and questions the conclusions that contemporary authorities reached, such as in the Fatty Arbuckle scandal and the mysterious death of George Reeves, when the book starts to take off and becomes interesting. But those cases are few and far between, and the journey between them is filled with nothing but flatly written hearsay.

Mistake after mistake.......2006-06-01

It's hard to trust Fleming's "new" information about the situations Mannix and Strickling "fixed" when he can't handle basic facts such as the location of Hearst's Wyntoon property (Northern California, not Oregon as Fleming says) or which trains brought the early film pioneers to Los Angeles (not the 20th Century Ltd., as he says since it only ran between NYC and Chicago). Some of his gossipy details have been supported by the stars themselves or by people close to them, but far too many are just rank speculation he presents as fact. If I'd paid the very high cost for this book, I'd be irate. God bless Interlibrary Loan. Save your own money, readers.

Book Description

One of America's best loved entertainers.

Customer Reviews:

Jeepers creepers where'd you get those peepers? .......2005-06-29

Show- business biographies tend to feed upon some of the lowest levels of human curiosity, our instinctive desire to know the dirt and the smut of the celebs. Eddie Cantor was however as show- business people go , and they will all forgive me for this, a very decent, honest, hard- working and good person. In this autobiography of two parts he tells of the long road from a little East Side tenement on Eldridge Street all the way to the Colgate Comedy Hour . He did it all on the way including vaudeville and all the road - shows imaginable.
He was the most peppy of all of entertainers filled with life and fun. A little guy with big eyes , whose trademark was rolling them he would talk on Sunday night about his wife Ida and his five- daughters just before or after rendering an always upbeat ' Jeepers Peepers where'd you get those peepers, Jeepers Peepers , where'd you get those eyes?'
He was essentially an entertainer as cheerer- upper. He didn't leer or threaten he smiled and danced on. Along with Jolson and Jessel and a bit later Uncle Milty he was an American household word. I can remember his bringing that young great hope his protege ( The son he did not have) Eddie Fisher on the stage for his great debut.
Cantor was in Joe Franklin's words ' the greatest', if by the greatest is meant a very good, helping person in a very hard cut- throat world.
This volume also has C.D.s with so those who never heard him, which I suspect is most of the world now alive, can get a feeling of it. It wasn't great music, but it was great life.
This guy wanted to make you happy, and he often did.

Eddie Cantor in His Own Words!.......2001-02-27

Eddie Cantor was a larger-than-life musical comedian in the first half of the twentieth century who made a splash on Broadway and in the Goldwyn Musicals of the 1930's. If you want to hear about old-time showbiz straight from the mouth of someone who lived it, seasoned with intimate memoirs, you've got to check these books out. What's more, you get two for the price of one!

Eddie Cantor has done it agian!.......2001-01-24

Eddie Cantor is truly a great comedian! The two new autobiographies that were just released; you hear Eddie's story about how he got in to show business, his sucess's and also failures. This is a wonderful book and I would advise it to any Cantor fan.

Book Description

Learn the secrets of expert hand evaluation that are guaranteed to make YOU a better bidder. Everything you'll ever want to know about this essential topic is in this book.

Customer Reviews:

Good fundamentals.......2006-11-01

Nice clear coverage of waht makes a hand better or worse, especially in the context of the bidding.
Lots of examples.
Fun to read too.
Well suited for Beginers or Intermediates.

Average customer rating:

Good with Academic Slant

Great book on IT Governance

Very boring

IT Governance

Good models and a healthy dose of common sense.

IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage IT Decision Rights for Superior Results
Peter Weill , and Jeanne Ross
Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Enterprise Architecture As Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution

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ASIN: 1591392535

Book Description

Seventy percent of all IT projects fail—and scores of books have attempted to help firms measure and manage IT systems and processes better in order to turn this figure around

In this book, IT experts Peter D. Weill and Jeanne W. Ross argue that the real reason IT fails to deliver value is that companies have no formal system in place for guiding and monitoring IT decisions.

Their research shows that firms with explicit IT governance systems have twice the profit of firms with poor governance, given the same strategic objectives. Just as corporate governance systems aim to ensure quality decisions about corporate assets, the authors show, companies need IT governance systems to ensure that IT investments are made wisely and effectively.

Customer Reviews:

Good with Academic Slant.......2007-05-16

A recent Dilbert cartoon had Dogbert telling management, "You need a dashboard full of information that you can ignore to make decisions in light of corporate politics" and I was reminded of this book.

Essentially, the authors outline numerous excellent examples of governance strategies and archetypes to put into place.

However, there are three caveats that come with this book and its recommendations:

1. If you are with a small to mid-sized company, it will take significant work on your part to adapt these practices to a company of less than 250 employees. The larger your company, the more of the author's advice you can put into play...assuming you have the capability and are not hindered by corporate politics and organizational fiefdoms - and thus my association with Dilbert's cynicism.

2. The diagram on page 109 [hardcover] of the governance structures gone bad (i.e. what the strategies look like in companies that have adopted the talk, but not walked the walk) needed a section or a chapter devoted to suggestions on how to avoid...or at least mitigate the risk of...those undesirable behaviors.

3. The writing style is noticeably academic in its tone and, as a result, some of its recommendations come off as being "pat answers"; compare with books like FROM BUSINESS STRATEGY TO IT ACTION and other strategy-level studies.

That said, for any consultant dealing with regulatory compliance, IT or organizational structures, the book belongs on your shelf as a resource to draw from. For a C-level executive or governance board director, consider reviewing this book and using its best practices as long-term targets.

J. Avellanet, Co-Founder of Cerulean Associates LLC

Great book on IT Governance.......2006-11-10

Practical top-down approach to IT Governance. Provides a means of documenting current status of overall IT Governance in your organization and then compare the same to how high performing organizations manage IT Governance.

Very boring.......2006-06-26

I bought this book based on the good reviews it had received. I could not find any useful infomraiton in this book and the Author seems to go to such great lengths trying to explain governance, but in a very rigid style.

If you are one of those people who have great memory and like to show off by throwing a lot of big nice buzz words, this book is for you. If you would like to really understand governance in a nutshell, I suggest you go elsewhere.

IT Governance.......2006-06-25

This is an excellent book which should be read by everyone looking for results from their technology systems and not just Techies and IT managers. The overall premise is straightforward: your IT management directly impacts all facets of your organization and therefore to seperately manage your IT from the rest of your organization is impossible and to attempt to do so is inherently foolish.

The initial framework breaks down a computer network and the issues surrounding it into distinct and understandable pieces. This is followed by defining 5 distinct management structures. Once this common vocabulary is defined, the authors walk through this framework to show how organizations can create the necessary mechanisms to make informed and applicable IT decisions based on their organization's needs and ROI/ROA. Additionally, it walks through some methods of assessing the intangible results of increased communication between departments, data integrity and increased interaction with partners and suppliers.

By clearly articulating the differences between hardware, software, business practices and business goals and talking about how the IT assets of an organization interact with the human, IP, relationship and physical assets of the organization, the authors create a very understandable and powerful model which helps to break down the barriers between IT and the rest of the organization.

Good models and a healthy dose of common sense........2006-06-23

The notion that good IT governance is the single biggest factor in generating business value from the IT department seems like a no brainer. Still, an astonishing number of companies get it wrong. Weill and Ross provide a book with an array of governance models that should be able to help many of the IT managers reading this book to get it right.

The basic idea is that the selected governance model should be reflective of the strategic goals and value ideas of the enterprise. Innovative companies should use a decision making structure that supports innovation-- but what is that model? IT Governance provides at least the beginnings of a good answer.

Other valuable sections include the seven characteristics of top governance performers and a comparison of the effectiveness of IT decision making by business and IT managers.

The prose is fairly clearly written, and is appropriately dense. The authors also mercifully chose to limit the indulgence in buzz words.

Recommended.

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