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It takes a while to get used to Vincent Curcio's highly colored prose, but his old-fashioned narrative technique suits his subject, the Kansas railroad mechanic who rose to become head of America's most dynamic car company. Born in 1875, Walter P. Chrysler came late to the automobile business, joining Buick in 1912, when the early companies were firmly established. Chrysler made his mark by being a great leader who thoroughly understood engineering and production, and who valued the contributions of his employees and directed them to produce high-quality, popularly priced cars. He made it his business to ignore conventional wisdom: he headquartered his company in New York instead of Detroit, commissioned a fabulous art deco skyscraper to house it, and introduced the first mass-produced, streamlined, aerodynamic car in 1934. The Airflow was a financial disaster but hugely influential on future design, and the well-managed Chrysler Corporation made money even during the Great Depression. Chrysler himself became enormously wealthy and enjoyed a lavish lifestyle during the decade before his death in 1940. Curcio's detailed, wide-ranging text offers an instructive history of the automobile industry as well as a full-bodied portrait of a classic American individual, praised by his peers as "one of the world's greatest manufacturers and one of the world's best men." --Wendy Smith
Book Description
Walter P. Chrysler was a man who loved machines, an accomplished mechanic who also had highly developed managerial skills derived from half a lifetime on the railroads, and whose success came from his deep understanding of engineering and his total commitment to the quality of his vehicles. Here, Vincent Curcio presents a richly detailed account of one of the most important men in American automotive history, based on full access to both Chrysler Corporation and Chrysler family historical records. Curcio traces Chrysler's rise from a locomotive wiper in a Kansas roundhouse to his rescue of the Maxwell-Chalmers car company, which led to the successful development of the 1924 Chrysler--the world's first modern car--and the formation of Chrysler Corporation in 1925. Chrysler was quite different from the other auto giants--a colorful and expansive man deeply involved in the design of his cars, he established his headquarters in New York City and built the world's most famous art deco structure, the fabled Chrysler Building. Because of his emphasis on quality at popular prices, the company weathered the Great Depression with flying colors and remained profitable right up to Chrysler's death in 1940. The definitive portrait, Chrysler is a must read for all car enthusiasts and for everyone interested in the story of a giant of industry.
Customer Reviews:
Overly-written biog of an interesting rags-to-riches automaker.......2006-02-05
This biography of Walter Chrysler is proof that sometimes less might be better. As Curcio says of his subject, "His progress took time, and was nothing if not methodical." The book indeed is methodical, and at times overweight with superfluous information. Scenes, especially during his early years, seem embellished and overdrawn - sometimes making for interesting anecdotes, but making this reader wonder when the main story would continue. Also for entire chapters Curcio seems to be using Chrysler's autobiography, LIFE OF AN AMERICAN WORKMAN, as his main (only?) source.
Some judicious editing and trimming also would have been beneficial: included is a 50-page chapter on the early history of the automobile, for example, that goes on way too long to little effect. There are also some doubtful assumptions made, such as in this opening sentence of the chapter on the Chrysler Building in NYC: "Everyone knows that the Chrysler Building contains seventy-seven stories that rise to the height of 1,046 feet, 4.75 inches." Really? (And I thought it was 4.85 inches.) That chapter, by the way, after that dubious first sentence, happens to be, I think, the best in the book, and finds Curcio writing at his best.
Also quite interesting and informative was the chapter on Chrysler's difficulties with streamlining and his famous airflow car. Curcio, who is described on the book's back cover as being a "long-time car enthusiast," is at his happiest writing about the technical intricacies of automotive engineering, and anyone sharing that interest will be delighted with much of this book. But for someone interested in a well-rounded, focused biography of the man who transformed the Willys-Overland and Maxwell-Chambers motor companies into the automotive empire known as the Chrysler Corporation, might feel a bit overwhelmed by the mountains of information, some not very relevant, needed to wade through before reaching the end of this book.
Automotive History.......2004-02-25
A great book! The author is big on automotive history, so you will know more about the industry and the people that formed it. Walter Chrysler just seems to be the man he tells the story around. I have found interest in other people from this time frame to read about too from this book.
The other great one.......2001-12-24
Having read extensively in the past about both Ford Motor Company and General Motors, I was very interested in getting to know the other member of the "Big Three" (sadly, today we can only talk about the remaining two after Chrysler's incompetent Bob Eaton surrendered the company to Daimler Benz).
Although the book is centered in Walter P. Chrysler the author finds it hard not to get carried away by much more imposing personalities in the early automotive business, mainly Henry Ford and William C. Durant (founder of GM). They are mentioned 52 and 53 times respectively.
Both Ford and Durant are much more interesting personalities than Chrysler himself and if not for anything else, the book is worth the read just to get to know Mr. Durant. The reason he is much less known today than his other two competitors is that he resisted the temptation to change General Motors name to Durant Motors (he could have done it but decided the GM trademark was too valuable), later in his life he did found a company called Durant Motors but it didn't survive long. If there is an epic to be told about the automotive industry in the USA it is Durant's: he founded General Motors, was ousted from the company, founded Chevrolet, bought his way back to GM control, was ousted again, founded Durant Motors, lost everything after the crash of 1929 and if not for the monetary help his friends (including Walter Chrysler) gave him at the end of his life he would have lived his last days in abject poverty.
Walter Chrysler actually made his reputation and original fortune working for William Durant at General Motors' Buick division and after he quit the corporation eventually assembled the Chrysler Corporation (mainly from Maxwell Motors and the Dodge Brothers enterprises). It was a great accomplishment in itself as he started very late (too late thought many) to matter much, and yet he climbed to the third place in sales and eventually to the second place (outranking Ford Motor from 1936 to 1951). Sure, GM (through Alfred Sloan leadership) outclassed both of them and by such a wide margin that (until very recent times) there was absolutely no comparison between the leader and the other two.
An interesting fact mentioned in the book is that the Chrysler Building at New York was NOT built by the Chrysler Corporation, but by Walter Chrysler himself so he could give it to his children. At the time it was completed, it was the tallest building in the world.
The scope of Curcio's book is very wide and you end learning many things from the first years of automotive history. In other words, it is much more than Walter Chrysler's biography. I fully recommend it.
A Man and His Times: Engaging Narrative, Some Mistakes........2001-11-21
Chrysler : The Life and Times of an Automotive Genius is an entertaining, engaging biography of a man and his times. So much more than a dry biography of one of the major figures of the automotive industry, this book by Vincent Curcio provides fascinating insight into American industrial life in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Walter Chrysler was the quintessential "working man," a railroad (and later automobile industry) mechanic by trade who first mastered himself, then proceeded to lead others in the burgeoning automobile industry. His early years in the railroad industry and his transition from mechanic to leader are nicely chronicled along with the development of American transportation history. Mr. Curcio lucidly explains the evolution of modern manufacturing and the integral parts played by seemingly (taken on their own) inconsequential methods and practices.
While not as well known as a man (although the car and skyscraper are certainly famous), Chrysler embodied the American entrepreneurial spirit as deeply as any other leader of the auto industry. He was willing to take unusual risks, some resulting in relative failure (the Airflow), but all transforming the nature of the industry. He was not an early pioneer, first joining Buick in 1912. However, he completely understood design, engineering and manufacturing techniques. Perhaps more importantly, his ego was of a different mold. He was not afraid to accept the ideas or contributions of his employees. Chrysler made decisions perceived as unusual. For example, he built the graceful, elegant art-deco Chrysler Building, headquartering the company in New York at a time, its silhouette dominating the skyline of yesteryear. He experimented with unconventional auto designs, unafraid to introduce concepts into full production. Yet for all of this, Chrysler remained an enigma, certainly less famous than Ford or GM's myriad of leaders.
Mr. Curcio writes in a unique style, reminiscent of biographies penned in the early 20th century. His prose is fluid, yet the use of oft-archaic language transports the reader into a different era. The book is a real pleasure and there are a number of photographs inspersed throughout the text. HOWEVER, the primary problem with the book is the lack of proper editing and documentation of research in the later chapters. For example, there are numerous typographical errors and poorly constructed sentences. The last few chapters detract from an otherwise fine narrative. One glaring inconsistency is a mention of Chrysler's conversation with Wilbur Wright in Dayton Ohio when he was developing the Chrysler Airflow. That conversation must have been "via seance" as Wilbur Wright died in 1912.
Even with the above, I'd recommend the book from the standpoint of biography as well as overall automotive history (as well as industrial history in general).
interesting times.......2001-06-09
i really enjoyed this book, in fact, once i got into it i could not put it down. it does not just deal with the life of chrysler, which is a fascinating one, but an extraordinary period of american history. i would recommend this work not just to those interested in the industrial or automotive scene, but also to those interested in the era. definately 5 stars!
Average customer rating:
- Dont' Waste Your Money
- Sycophantic and fawning. I can't believe I wasted my money.
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Arnie: Inside the Legend
Larry Guest
Manufacturer: Cumberland House Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1888952423 |
Customer Reviews:
Dont' Waste Your Money.......2000-12-31
Larry Guest wasted his time writing this book, and you'll be wasting your time AND your money if you're foolish enough to buy a copy. This work is nothing more than a bunch of over-used annecdotes delivered up by a former Palmer groupie. It is not well researched, and it adds nothing to the current literature on Arnold Palmer. The writing is second-rate.
Sycophantic and fawning. I can't believe I wasted my money........1998-12-22
This book purports to be an objective account of the great Arnold Palmer's life and times on the professional golf tour. What it actually is, is a collection of hashed over insider non-jokes collected by a long time Palmer camp follower. There is very little meat on this bone.
The writing style is simplistic and repetitive. The author takes 3 or 4 pages to describe, for example, Arnie's 50th birthday party which was a homestyle affair at which a country and western musician played for some of his close friends and neighbors while Palmer fielded congratulatory phone calls.
An entire chapter is devoted to backhanding Palmer's great rival, Jack Nicklaus. It seems petty and unnecessary. I couldn't finish the book, maybe it gets better after the 4th chapter.
Average customer rating:
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Hollywood and Europe: Economics, Culture, National Identity 1945-95 (Ucla Film and Television Archive Studies in History, Criticism, and Theory)
Manufacturer: British Film Institute
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0851705979 |
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Since the end of the First World War, anguished voices have been raised in Europe about the need to counter Hollywood's domination of the movie marketplace.The concern has been for the balance of payments, for the protections of the indigenous industry, and for the preservation of national identity. Hollywood and Europe presents the responses of an international and distinguished group of scholars and academics to these concerns.
Book Description
"Turner looks beyond his routinized discipline to an anthropology of experience... We must admire him for this." -- Times Literary Supplement
How is social action related to aesthetics? In what ways do the large and small crises that fill not only the nightly TV news but also our daily lives relate to the genre of theater? Victor Turner deals with these and other questions in a classic study that ranges from anthropology to acting, from everyday life to artistic genres.
Book Description
A player in a horror game is asked to perform a strange sort of double-think. On the one hand, the character should be as real as possible, with goals, desires, hopes and fears, a family, friends, a job, and all the trappings and ties of life. However, the player knows that this is a horror game - if you hear a noise upstairs, it probably is a monster, and your friends are probably going to end up as bait, or madmen, or worse. Keep these two rules in mind: You are here to get scared. Attempting to escape the game ('my character does not reply to the desperate letter from his brother, but instead goes on holiday to Hawaii') is not fun. There is always a chance of success, but it is always a slim one. In most horror games, the character creation rules become the most well-thumbed and familiar sections of the book. Few characters survive for long - some fall victim to bizarre and gory fates, others go insane, and others are only used for one-shots or short campaigns anyway. These rules are designed to produce a well-rounded and workable character as quickly as possible, without producing forgettable, disposable non-entities. For those playing in longer games, or who want more finesse when it comes to character generation, there are more detailed class rules later in the chapter.
Customer Reviews:
Great overall book........2005-04-10
This book has great tips/suggestions for running many different types of horror games. It offers suggestions for creating and sustaining mood, developing an effective story, and handling problem players. There are tons of skills and feats approapriate to horros games and the authors take you through several scenarios on how to use them properly. This book has a nice list of monsterous entities to throw at your players and the errata sheet on their web site contains even more. Overall, this book has been a great help for me as a game master. My favorite chapter of the book is "Turning the Screws." It is about creating different varieties of game atmosphere. There are also sample game ideas for the different styles of horror. This book is well worth the money for a lover of horror games.
Book Description
Revised, updated, and even more useful to students, teachers, and practicing professionals
The First Edition of Loss Models was deemed "worthy of classical status" by the Journal of the International Statistical Institute. While retaining its predecessor's thorough treatment of the concepts and methods of analyzing contingent events, this powerful Second Edition is updated and expanded to offer even more complete and flexible coverage of risk theory, loss distributions, and survival models.
Beginning with a framework for model building and a description of frequency and severity loss data typically available, it shows readers how to combine frequency, severity, and loss models to build aggregate loss models and credibility-based pricing models, and how to analyze loss over multiple time periods. Important features of this new edition include:
* Thorough preparation for relevant parts of preliminary examinations of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) and Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS)
* Exercises based on past SOA and CAS exams
* Examples using actual insurance data
* Practical treatment of modern credibility theory
* Data files and more from an ftp site
Loss Models, Second Edition is an important resource, providing a comprehensive, practically motivated toolkit and an excellent reference, for actuaries preparing for SOA and CAS preliminary examinations, students in actuarial science who need to understand loss and risk models, and practicing professionals involved in loss modeling.
Average customer rating:
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Loss Models, Textbook and Solutions Manual: From Data to Decisions (Wiley Series in Probability and Statistics)
Stuart A. Klugman ,
Harry H. Panjer , and
Gordon E. Willmot
Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0471687871 |
Book Description
Revised, updated, and even more useful to students, teachers, and practicing professionals
The First Edition of Loss Models was deemed "worthy of classical status" by the Journal of the International Statistical Institute. While retaining its predecessor's thorough treatment of the concepts and methods of analyzing contingent events, this powerful Second Edition is updated and expanded to offer even more complete and flexible coverage of risk theory, loss distributions, and survival models.
Beginning with a framework for model building and a description of frequency and severity loss data typically available, it shows readers how to combine frequency, severity, and loss models to build aggregate loss models and credibility-based pricing models, and how to analyze loss over multiple time periods. Important features of this new edition include:
* Thorough preparation for relevant parts of preliminary examinations of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) and Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS)
* Exercises based on past SOA and CAS exams
* Examples using actual insurance data
* Practical treatment of modern credibility theory
* Data files and more from an ftp site
Loss Models, Second Edition is an important resource, providing a comprehensive, practically motivated toolkit and an excellent reference, for actuaries preparing for SOA and CAS preliminary examinations, students in actuarial science who need to understand loss and risk models, and practicing professionals involved in loss modeling.
Book Description
Much of actuarial science consists of constructing and analyzing mathematical models that describe how fluids flow into and out of an insurance system. This book examines contemporary topics such as risk theory and economics, credibility and stochastic processes with a focus on the loss process, or the outflow of cash due to the payment of benefits.
Customer Reviews:
Good one but for advance users.......2007-03-01
Nothing else to say. The best book for actuarial mathematics. Also good for risk managers, in particular for operational risk. It does not introduce many concepts but rather take to advance level. Excellent concepts that can be applicable in any topic or situation. A must buy in you want to have your grips on acturial mathematics and concepts
Best Actuarial Book.......2007-02-22
Nothing else to say. The best book for actuarial mathematics. Also good for risk managers, in particular for operational risk.
great introduction to models needed in insurance.......2000-08-09
When I took a job to model prediction of loss reserves for workers compensation insurance, I began to realize that the traditional statistical methods that I generally relied n would not help me (without modification). The required modification would be either to transform variables or to model long-tailed probability distributions. This is because in the insurance business you have to reserve for those big catastrophies. The cost data for workers compensation data generally show a high frequency of low to moderate costs (say in the range of $1000 to $50,000). However occasionally there are a few cases of severe injury causing permanent disability which could run over 1 million dollars. Even though the probability of occurrence is small the cost is so high that it cannot be ignored. Such claims will surely be found when large insurance company cover millions of employees over many years.
The problem occurs when insuring for floods, earthquakes, fires and other disasters. Stuart Klugman and Bob Hogg in 1984 wrote the first introductory text to acquaint statisticians with such probability models that are important in the insurance business. Other books covering the subject were covered in books on risk theory designed for actuaries. This book covers all the topics and assumes mathematical and staistical knowledge at the level of the book by Hogg and Craig (so some calculus is required).
great introduction to models needed in insurance.......2000-08-09
When I took a job to model prediction of loss reserves for workers compensation insurance, I began to realize that the traditional statistical methods that I generally relied n would not help me (without modification). The required modification would be either to transform variables or to model long-tailed probability distributions. This is because in the insurance business you have to reserve for those big catastrophies. The cost data for workers compensation data generally show a high frequency of low to moderate costs... . However occasionally there are a few cases of sever injury causing permanent disability which could run over 1 million dollars. Even though the probability of occurrence is small the cost is so high that it cannot be ignored. Such claims will surely be found when large insurance company cover millions of employees over many years.
The problem occurs when insuring for floods, earthquakes, fires and other disasters. Stuart Klugman and Bob Hogg in 1984 wrote the first introductory text to acquaint statisticians with such probability models that are important in the insurance business. Other books covering the subject were covered in books on risk theory designed for actuaries. This book covers all the topics and assumes mathematical and staistical knowledge at the level of the book by Hogg and Craig (so some calculus is required).
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