Rowe College Business English

Customer Reviews:

Pin down those grammar problems.......2007-01-04

An excellent workbook - gives good explanations and examples followed by practice and skill pages of exercises. Answers are provided for all the practice exercises. I assume there may be a teacher's edition with answers for the skill tests, however the answers should be quite clear with all the explanations and practice tests provided.

A great resource for English skills - basic or business.

Amazon.com

According to T. G. Lewis, the rules of marketing are undergoing revolution--and those companies marketing in accordance with the old rules are doomed. Lewis defines a friction-free economy as one that assumes a zero production and distribution cost, with no competitors and infinite resources. A key component of Lewis's friction-free economy marketing is getting major market share fast, known as mainstreaming, as the company that becomes mainstream first becomes extremely difficult to dislodge. Lewis uses America Online as an example. He describes how the company flooded the marketplace with free access to its service and ended up with the lion's share of available consumers. As a result, America Online continues to grow because, in a friction-free economy, the greater your market share, the greater it becomes.

While Lewis's strategy is most visible in the computer world proper, Lewis also cites examples of businesses as diverse as fast food restaurants and car dealerships that are using the wired world to gain the friction-free economy advantage. These businesses focus on smaller groups of customers rather than broadcasting to the masses, giving away what other companies would sell and inverting the classic rule of supply and demand. In addition to covering the mechanics of the emerging economy, Lewis discusses the strategies that will enable businesses to succeed, whether they are the first in or have to carve out their position against tough competition.

Book Description

Surpassing Traditional Expectations and Achieving Business Excellence in a Wired World.

In the Wired World, notes Ted Lewis, former editor of IEEE Software and Computer magazine, traditional economic principles no longer apply: supply leads demand; companies give their products away; quality goes up while prices go down at accelerating rates. This, says Lewis, is the world of the friction-free economy, and while its effects are currently most visible in the high technology industry, all businesses will soon need to master its principles to survive.

In The Friction-Free Economy: Marketing Strategies for a Wired World, Lewis guides the reader through the frequently counter-intuitive lessons of the friction-free economy. It is a world that features (virtually) infinite shelf space and (virtually) zero marginal costs; where companies target a Market-of-One and achieve a monopoly when they control 74 percent of the market; where product life is measured in months; and where consumers band together in a new form of tribalism. Lewis carefully outlines the key concepts of the friction-free economy - including mainstreaming, lock-in, and branding - and describes their application and results.

Lewis also offers an acute examination of the current state of the wired economy and describes some of the most likely scenarios for its growth and development. Drawing on numerous examples and case studies from the high tech industry, Lewis shows how the principles of the friction-free economy are already at work, and documents the most effective strategies for any company - even the lowest of the low-tech, like restaurants and car dealerships - to compete and thrive in the Wired World.

Using real-life examples from such cutting-edge companies as Microsoft, Intel, Netscape, Sega and Sony, Lewis examines:

The phenomenon of speed: In the friction-free economy, new industries, products, and ideas circle the globe in record time. Your company is either quick or dead.

The principles of a new era: Strategies that mark this new age are mainstreaming, building strategic alliances, and targeting tribes instead of the masses, to name a few. One must master these techniques or be left behind.

The tricks of the trade: Sophisticated-sounding tools such as learning curves, marketing models and product-space disintegration determine life or death in this economy. They will soon be used universally by organizations industry-wide.

The non-intuitive consequences of a digital economy: Inverse economics will replace diminishing returns; volume pricing will win out over premium pricing, and narrowcasting will overrule broadcasting, accumulating in a paradigm shift unlike anything we've witnessed since 1775.

In a world where the traditional economic principles no longer apply, The Friction-Free Economy provides an understanding of the emerging dynamics and a workable, eminently practical blueprint for any company looking to survive and thrive in the 21st century.

Customer Reviews:

Insights from a high-tech grifter.......2001-11-10

A high-tech grifter presents a half baked collection of buzzwords, techno babble, and plausible sounding nonsense. Its AWESOME!

The Friction-Free Economy is a must-read.......1999-11-25

- A paradigm shift has occurred, and "The Friction-Free Economy" explains how the significant break with the old ways of thinking, and traditional economics, has affected a company's ability to compete in today's marketplace.

- Discussed are ways to strategize, envision goals, and clarify objectives in the business/internet arena. - Ted Lewis presents complex subject matter in an entertaining way that I understand it more readily and in greater depth. I especially like his acumen and quick wit.

- I enjoy watching trends in the computer industry, so I was fascinated to learn, the real underlying reasons, why Microsoft continues to issue new versions of a product. Also, I gained insight, on why a company would give their merchandise or services away for free. It's a discerning view on the how's and why's of what's happening, not in hindsight but as they occur in real-time.

- This isn't for the casual reader, though. It's geared toward the astute, knowledgeable and serious businessman, who wants to "grow an industry".

- To get the full benefit from this book, give a copy, to the key people in your organization and arm yourself with an economics book.

Not only light, but erroneous. Negative stars........1999-05-08

Not only does the author carpet bomb with buzz phrases, he does not understand the difference between classical and Keynesian economics. He cites Keynesianism quite incorrectly, attributing to it concepts from classical and neoclassical economics. Scary to think that colleges pass this blunderation on to students.

This would be a great shorter article.......1999-02-19

This is a good treatment of the rules of the new economy although the author tends to let enthusiasm get in the way of a careful writing style. I wish there were a few less cliches. The rules are changing for internet based providers and therefore for all economic units in society. The author may believe that the rules are changing more rapidly than other observers. I tend to think that Michael Murphy's book on technology based stock analysis covers a lot of the same ground and in a more effective manner.

Great potential, but only a draft of what it could have been.......1998-02-06

There were several intriguing points in the book "The Friction Free Economy," but none of the points were developed, supported or sufficiently documented. Lewis is an academic who presumably knows better; I think that he wrote this after long days at work, and it was never edited. The last two chapters are only a repeat of the first part of the book. I would recommend Grove's "Only the Paranoid Survive," Moschella's "Waves of Power," or Yoffie's "Competing in the Age of Digital Convergence" before this title- or Tapscott's "Digital Economy." Lewis just leaves you scratching your head, looking for the guts behind the fluff. It is an annoying book because of its laziness in supporting the potentially fascinating ideas. Lewis should rewrite it, and resubmit it to the public in a new form.

Marketing Management and Strategy: Marketing Engineering Applications

Average customer rating:

Good software -- Poor Text
New Millinium marketing Strategies

Marketing Management and Strategy: Marketing Engineering Applications
Gary L. Lilien , and Arvind Rangaswamy
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management Science | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Advertising | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Focusing on marketing analytics this popular series moves beyond conceptual marketing toward marketing engineering—the use of interactive computer decision models to help support marketing decisions. Hands-on, computer-based exercises and cases bring conceptual marketing alive while introducing the software. All of the software is independent of the cases presented and can be used separately on other case-problems or on real problems. Cases and software include Conglomerate's New PDA, featuring Needs-based Segmentation Using Cluster Analysis, ABB Electric Segmentation featuring Choice-based Segmentation Using Multinomial Logit Analysis, Product Planning Using the GE/McKinsey Approach at Addison Wesley Longman featuring Targeting/Business Prioritization Using GE/McKinsey Approach, Positioning the Infiniti featuring Product Positioning Using Perceptual Mapping, Syntex Laboratories A featuring Resource Allocation Using Response Models (ReAllocator), ADCAD Ad Copy Design Exercise featuring Advertising Copy Development Using an Expert System (ADCAD). For marketing strategy professionals.

Customer Reviews:

Good software -- Poor Text.......2000-11-20

I bought this book for an MBA marketing class. This brief text appears to take selected information and marketing-engineering models from a larger, more complete textbook. The models are functional and useful. However, the text explanations leave a great deal to be desired. There are formulas without explanation, terms without explanation, etc. I think the authors "abstracted" the chapters from the larger text, rather than selecting specific ones and copying them completely.

Still and all, the software is useful and instructive. I will be buying the complete book and software because I have been assured that the textbook's explanations are more complete. Were I to know then what I know now, I would just buy the complete textbook rather than this sampler.

New Millinium marketing Strategies.......2000-08-16

I am a profeesor a Hamdard University, Pakistan. When I studied this book I was impressed about the analysis and models that have been colleceted. I found this book to be a good source of information as well as a new course for management students. This book along with its software has given a new way of making the students of marketing to actually apply the techniques of Information Technology and Marketing. I would say that it is certainly a blend of Marketing, Information Systems and Statistical applications. I would like to add some suggestions here also. The book needs osme more details of topics and has to be aligned with the tutorial provided. If possible in the tutorial the concelts of marketing should be given a brief overview also. As some explanations are not up to date.

Average customer rating:

Marketing Management and Strategy: Marketing Engineering Applications
Arvind Rangaswamy Gary L. Lilien
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OUBI3E

Marketing Management and Strategy: Marketing Engineering Applications, Second Edition

Average customer rating:

Marketing Management and Strategy: Marketing Engineering Applications, Second Edition
Gary L.; Rangaswamy, Arvind Lilien
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OHE6WC

Book Description

Nestled within the lush landscape of Northern California's wine country, Sonoma County has a unique and rich heritage of food and wine production that is recognized worldwide for its stellar quality and admirable craftsmanship. In SONOMA, editor/art director Jennifer Barry, acclaimed Bay Area photographer Robert Holmes, and writer Mimi Luebbermann take a scenic, culinary journey through Sonoma's meandering back roads, visiting notable wineries, food producers, restaurants, and outstanding holiday destinations. Appealing to cooks and travel enthusiasts alike, SONOMA illustrates the extraordinary bounty this part of the country has to offer. Featuring 40 regional recipes contributed by Sonoma chefs and food purveyors that highlight local artisan food products such as specialty cheeses, olive oils, quality farm produce, livestock, seafood, and baked goods, SONOMA is an inspirational keepsake that will provide pleasure for years to come.

Customer Reviews:

great gift.......2006-08-06

We bought this book as a thank-you gift for some friends who took us through Sonoma Valley and showed us the sights. It was a perfect way to remember fondly the time we spend together there--the photos are beautiful and the recipes (though I haven't tried them!) look great.

Amazon.com

Investors -- be they aggressive or conservative, self-directed or professionally managed -- are always on the lookout for an edge. And in James O'Shaughnessy's What Works on Wall Street: A Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time, they'll find a solid one: authoritative analysis of popular practices from the past. The author examines three decades of stock market data to show how 15 of the most common investment tactics have fared over time.

Book Description

"The best investment book of 1996. Very likely, it will be the most influential book on investing in this decade."Stock Traders Almanac

"...O'Shaughnessy's conclusion that some strategies do produce consistently strong results while others underperform could shake up the investment business."Barron's

The New York Times and Business Week bestseller, What Works on Wall Street is now updated throughout to include the new data and 50 new sample portfolios. Hailed as "a great book" by Forbes, What Works on Wall Street is a must read for any investor looking to make savvy, historically informed decisions.

Download Description

This consistently bestselling guide explores the investment strategies that have provided the best returns over the past 50 years--and which are the top performers today.

Customer Reviews:

MBA Course Material.......2007-06-12

I am fortunate enough to be taking a class on investment strategy. This is the book we use. We also have access to the compustat database to test trading theories. Thus far, I have been able to get a 44.1% return with a corresponding Sharpe ratio of 1.22 through the database using the methods outlined in this book. Using compustat could not be easier. You enter the criteria you want to filter for (there are literally thousands of built in criteria) and it builds the model by buying the stock at the beginning of the time period and selling it at the end. It does this for the specified amount of time. Mine is every 12 months and it has been run over a 20 year period. So it buys and sells 20 times over the course of the model. I beat the S&P 17 of the 20 years and my worst 'down' period was -8.37%. I just hope I have the discipline to follow through with this model, look out Warren! there is a new oracle in town.

There are over 22,000 companies in the database and I will forever use it to guide me.

Interesting data, questionable utility for most.......2007-01-30

I am of mixed opinion on this book. I think it's probably a 4-star for me, but likely to be less useful (thus deserving a lower rating) for many others.

First, the good:

The author has access to the Compustat database, generally considered the gold standard for this kind of research, with the cleanest data. Many other databases exclude companies that are no longer active, which can cause HUGE distortions in long term analyses.

He uses this data to test a variety of "hard rules" based strategies. These strategies mainly consist of selecting the 50 best and 50 worst stocks within the database, which has 8000 companies, though in many cases he restricts the tests to the larger stocks, for reasons he outlines (that I accept as valid).

Most of the book consists of chapter-at-a-time analyses of these strategies. In general, he finds superior risk-adjusted returns to certain value-oriented strategies, and also to the use of 1-year price momentum (stocks that had good price movement last year will overperform this year).

Now the bad:

Still, most of these strategies are rather riskier than owning a broad index. And that's WITH the use of 50 stock baskets, rebalanced annually, for each of his strategies. As other reviewers have mentioned, that implies a lot of transactions, far more than most individual investors would do. You could use smaller baskets (fewer stocks), but your risk would be even higher (less diversification).

Later in the book, he moves into multi-factor strategies (i.e. buy the 50 highest stocks where condition A is true, rank-ordered by condition B). On the one had, some of these strategies yield MUCH higher returns than both the single factor strategies and the market as a whole. On the other hand, there's far more room with these strategies for data mining - combining each of his single factor strategies (there would logically be MANY permutations), until he gets the biggest winners, then presenting only those cases.

Also, the primary database he's using (CompuStat) is prohibitively expensive for most individual investors. So if an individual investor want to test permutations of these strategies, that would be difficult. There are some links to websites with accessible data, but I haven't thoroughly investigated those, and doubt their datasets are as good as CompuStat's.

Finally, his multi-factor strategies amount mainly to screens. At their most complex, he winnows the dataset by a small handful of factors (using an absolute test - a stock is IN or OUT), then ranks the survivors and chooses the 50 best according to his final factor. To me, it would make more sense to develop weighted models. Develop a weight for each of 3..N factors, supplemented by perhaps a couple of screens to remove certain stocks with suspect data, then pick the 50 highest. He mentions towards the end of the book that he does the money he manages, but he doesn't include those results/models here for the rest of us.

Conclusion:

I know this sounds like an awful lot of criticism. Nonetheless, there was a lot to like about this book for the advanced investor. I have not seen such a detailed study on CompuStat data. His use of the best data, and inclusion of risk statistics is illuminating. And I like his emphasis on hard numeric data/analysis, rather than 'gut feel' that is common in the investment community (i.e. IBM's new product X looks like a hit. I give IBM a **BUY**).

Still, I doubt more than a handful of readers will be able to put his ideas into practice. Still, if you, like me, want to see the numbers on various investment concepts, using reliable data, I would recommend this book.

Right on the money.......2006-11-22

This book should be read in conjunction with the author's other books. After reading his much simpler, "How to Retire Rich" some 5 years ago or more and with a "wealth" of relatively poor investment experience under my belt it was clear to me that Reasonable Runaways was the way to go. However, there were a number of uncertainties. The basic question the author was answering - how do I maximize a lump sum I have now over the long term i.e. 15, 20 years or more - was not exactly the same as the question I was trying to answer. My problem was - how can I invest regular monthly surplus sums from my salary and maximize the value over the long term. It took me a few months to figure out that I could do it. Instead of rebalancing the entire portfolio once a year I rebalance a 12th part of it every month. I am therefore "rebalancing" i.e. selling what I bought 12 months (plus a day) ago and purchasing the next few stocks that pop out of my Reasonable Runaway's screener that I don't already own. Of course the math is a little convoluted and I am never really going to get the rebalancing absolutely correct but I still end up with a pretty well diversified portfolio that I am regularly turning over on a steady and most importantly unemotional objective basis. When I analyze the performance on a trade by trade basis I find the inevitable reversion to the mean. After a total of 109 trades I have calculated an average annualized performance (for simplicity and tax reasons I extended the holding period to 13 months) of 21%. What is more this average performance is quite stable over the last year or two. I still have a spectacular variance in individual performance but the net result at the end of each year averages out in the healthy positive direction. The more I have been doing this since starting in May 2002 the more I am asking myself why there isn't a massive crowd of investors buying those buys just before me and selling them just before me driving my purchase prices up my selling prices down and my profits into the cellar. The answer is clearly to be found in the author's recent third book "Predicting the Markets of Tomorrow". It appears that there is only a very small crowd of us out there who can stomach the ups and the downs and ride out the course. I've tried to figure out whether the author knows that his strategies when spread out on a rolling basis - as I describe above - give the investor a much steadier and healthier performance and therefore much less emotionally challenging ride. I also suspect that my approach of buying the next stocks down the list on the screener every month means that I am often buying the stocks that most recently arrived on the list and possibly more likely therefore to perform better. But then I am still an amateur at this and decided not to break my head any further. Back to "What Works on Wall Street". There is a really exciting part (sad isn't it but seriously when you see how well this stuff works it is a lot of fun) when he explains how tweaking or combining the value strategies reduces volatility and improves overall return. When I read that I assumed he was going to expand further but the point sort of got lost and I'll have to do a re-read to find it again. As an amateur I am also stuck with internet stock screeners and not all of them give you the parameters or the level of detail you need to get the screener working exactly as you need. The best advice on that is given at the end of "Predicting the Markets of Tomorrow" fortunately for me I worked that out for myself years ago. If you are like me you will end up reading just the main text and skimming over the tables. Do I recommend this book? Well put it like this - I am pretty certain that I will be retiring rich thanks to Mr. O'Shaughnessy (Seriously Sir if you do ever read this, my sincere gratitude.) I am just surprised to discover that there seem to be so few of us out there able to pick up on this and follow through.

The best stock tactics of all time:with proof.......2006-08-31

This is the rare 5 star ***** book. It is no nonsense and gives you exactly what its title suggests. It shows what has really worked on Wall Street from 1951 to 1996 by using the Standard and Poors compustat data base to simulate what would have happened if an investor (or mutual fund) would have bought the top 50 stocks meeting the criteria measurement. Example: Highest P/E ratios, top 50 price increases, top 50 price decreases, best dividends, high or low book to price value, etc.He goes further by breaking the top 50 into only the large cap meeting this criteria and if he bought out of all stocks available. He measures stocks and their performance from almost every imaginable angle. It is fascinating and educational to see what the final dollar amount is for each investment approach. He also shows how each style performed in each decade and how each percentile of stock did in each category.(Example: how the top 5 stocks did with low P/E's versus the bottom 5 in the top 50 stock group, this helps the individual stock investor focus his investments).

Here are the books big findings. If you took $10,000 and invested it in 1951 and invested it in the following top 50 stocks that met the following criteria, while resetting it every year to match your criteria, in 1996 you would have had:

Top 3 ways to invest
PSR <1,high relative strength,All stocks $12,999,698
Earnings yield>5,High relative strength,All stocks $12,570,451
Price/Book <1,High relative strength,all stocks $12,552,352

Worst 3 ways to invest
Lowest 1-year relative strength, All stocks $29,666
High PSR, All stocks $64,220
High Pcfl,All Stocks $224,741

I really like this book because It is scientific, not opionated and shows that Warren Buffet was right all a long, buy stocks that are a great value based on their sales, and price to book with low P/E's and strong relative price strength and you will always win in the long term.

Disappointed - a small investor review.......2006-08-21

I was disappointed with the book. It was not as helpful for the small, individual investor as I wanted it to be. $10,000 spread over 50 stocks means investing $200 per stock without even talking about any fees for buying and selling 50 different stocks. So from this book I can narrow down my indivual selection of stocks to 25 or 50, but if I only want to purchase 3-5 stocks how do I decide which 3-5 of the 50 to buy?

The book did give me a broader understanding of the different strategies used behind mutual funds. When I review a mutual fund's strategy, now I know the lingo and what the fund manager is looking for in a stock and how that strategy compares to other strategies. So I think the book has made me a better mutual fund shopper, but has not helped me as much in purchasing individual stocks.

What Works on Wall Street: A Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time

Average customer rating:

What Works on Wall Street: A Guide to the Best-Performing Investment Strategies of All Time
James P. O'Shaughnessy
Manufacturer: Mcgraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OFJ5T8

Book Description

For many people, retirement planning feels much like driving in unfamiliar territory, unsure of whether they're going in the right direction -- or if they'll ever even reach their destination. Between taxes, job loss, stock market reversals, and the threat of fraud, building up a nest egg can be an intimidating prospect. Protecting and Rebuilding Your Retirement helps readers concerned about savings and investment strategies assess their situation and explore their many options.

Illustrated with anecdotes and real life stories, the book advises readers on:

* Making investments that combine safety with the potential for growth * Maximizing the benefits of the latest Social Security rules * Understanding the insurance issues affecting retirees

The book delves into the nitty gritty of stocks, real estate, annuities, insurance, Social Security, 401(k), and other savings plans to help readers address the serious issues that will affect their future, protecting their estate and ensuring their peace of mind.

Customer Reviews:

Hands on and helpful--a must have.......2003-12-02

After recently retiring, I was looking for a book to help me deal with some of the financial and psychological issues that crop up in retirement. I heard a radio interview with the author of this book and immediately purchased a copy of it.

I found the author's advice to be extremely helpful, practical and easy to digest. Most chapters contain a "back to basics" section which will help people who need a primer on certain retirement planning topics. The author then moves forward with more sophisticated advice.

What I liked most was that the author recognizes that each of us has his or her own comfort level when it comes to investments. He also understands that the early years of retirement are stressful and sometimes require us to reinvent ourselves.

Basic Primer on Preparing for Retirement.......2003-09-05

This book is simply written, easy-to-understand, and provides practical advice for everyone. The author recommends a realistic approach to investing that includes buying a diversified portfolio of index mutual funds. Other topics covered are investing in annuities ? fixed and variable, IRAs, and 401(k)s, and insurance (life, health, and disability).

Abromovitz, an attorney and financial educator, provides readers with a well-written explanation of the key components of developing, protecting, and rebuilding decimated retirement accounts. He recommends a pro-active hands-on retirement planning approach. In this 224-page, nineteen chapter book, Abromovitz covers how to make relatively safe investments that will continue to grow, how to plan for health issues and large medical bills, how to maximize your social security benefits, and how your financial safety can be improved by investing in stocks, real estate, annuities and 401(k)s.

There is no earth-shattering advice in this book. However, the author provides straightforward advice that can help individuals get and stay focused on the right track so that they can accomplish their retirement dreams.

Most individuals have not really thought about all aspects of the retirement process and have let the chips fall where they may. The devastating bear market of 2000-2002, unfortunately changed the retirement landscape for millions of individuals whose retirements have been postponed and many potential retirees have been forced to keep working to make ends meet. The reason for this was that most individuals did not understand or consider the risks of investing in the stock market.

By reading, studying, and implementing the wisdom in this book, readers will put the odds in their favor to obtain a secure and peaceful retirement. This book should be required reading by all individuals, whether or not they are approaching retirement since the advice provided will help all readers better manage their financial issues.

Book Description

Corruption in Corporate Culture argues that there has been a serious breakdown in the systems designed to ensure fair dealing in the self-governing and self-policing worlds of U.S. business and finance. Contending that a war of containment has been launched to conceal both the repercussions of corporate corruption and government complicity in it, this special issue of Social Text evaluates these problems on a systemic level, as well as focusing on immediate cases.

Addressing several recent high-profile scandals, contributors examine both the short- and the long-term ramifications of corporate corruption: the means by which Martha Stewart has been used as an icon and a scapegoat in the ImClone case while broader critical issues have failed to receive the attention they demand; the divisive ways in which the antifeminist Independent Women’s Forum—along with other neocon organizations and pundits—has moved the debate regarding the deregulation of the financial services sector far to the right of the far right; the collapse of Enron and what it means for corporate governance; the global implications of U.S. corporate corruption; the confusion over public and private business transactions in Argentina; the moral panic ensuing from the random violence caused by the Washington, D.C. area snipers precisely as the U.S. was launching a war on Iraq because of its supposed weapons of mass destruction; and the emergence of a new business model and icon, the hiphop mogul.

Contributors. Peter Bratsis, David M. Brennan, Jane Marcus-Delgado, Randy Martin, Nancy Shaw, Ella Shohat, Christopher Holmes Smith, Barbara Spindel, Susan Willis

Cutting off corruption's supply side can be a tough sell : An article from: Directorship

Average customer rating:

Cutting off corruption's supply side can be a tough sell : An article from: Directorship
Ronald E Berenbeim
Manufacturer: Directorship, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000B9AS0M
Release Date: 2005-09-02

What Happened To My American Dream?: The Quest Of An Immigrant From The Communist Bloc For His American Dream

Average customer rating:

Required Reading
A Compelling True-Life Story!

What Happened To My American Dream?: The Quest Of An Immigrant From The Communist Bloc For His American Dream
Stefan Adam
Manufacturer: Xlibris Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Motivational | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Self-Esteem | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1425746365

Book Description

For millions of people seeking better lives, the ideal we call "The American Dream" continues to be the ultimate goal. At an early age, author Stefan Adam longed for freedom in America, far away from the crushing rule of communism in his native Romania. After years of struggle and sacrifice, Stefan realized his dream of coming to America and building that dream. This true story unfolds, through good times and bad, with insightful observation of American society and a never-ending desire to understand what makes it great...its people, culture and politics. The story begins on the shores of Romania's Black Sea where 12-year-old Stefan first dreams of finding freedom and a better life in America, far away from the dark clutches of communism. Years later, that dream blossoms, along with Stefan's love for his high school sweetheart and future wife, Michaela. Together they embark on a journey to make their American Dream come true, and after years of hard work that dream comes into a full blossom. Readers who come along for the ride will experience the wonder and awe of discovering America through their eyes. But as time goes by, the promise of that dream begins to fade. Could it be that corporate greed and political arrogance were eroding the foundation on which this great nation was built? Is this another Roman Empire...a great civilization doomed to fall under the weight of its own power, greed and corruption? Their struggles exemplify what it means to fight for freedoms that are so often taken for granted and never to give up hope because, in the end, it is not just the story of Stefan and Michaela's American Dream. It's everyone's American Dream to nurture and protect. What Happened To My American Dream? is a very personal story of hopes and dreams and what happens when those dreams are threatened. Told in a straightforward, conversational style, is a touching tale that anyone who has ever longed for a better life will easily relate to. It is written by an ordinary citizen who came to this country under extraordinary circumstances. What Happened To My American Dream? serves as a reminder that safeguarding the American Dream is the responsibility of everyone who has the privilege of calling this great country home.

Customer Reviews:

Required Reading.......2007-07-18

This book should be required reading for every American leading up to the 2008 election. It's a very personal and eye-opening look at this country's downward spiral...and yet it offers hope that we as a nation can turn things around. There's something just about everyone can relate to as the author's triumphs and heartaches are revealed. The narrative moves effortlessly between past and present, from a stark life in Communist Romania to the often bewildering new life in America (a feat all the more impressive considering English is the author's second language). Readers who come along on this journey won't be disappointed. I highly recommend "What Happened to My American Dream?" and hope others will discover this little treasure.

A Compelling True-Life Story!.......2007-07-15

Like THE KITE RUNNER, this novel expertly pulls you into a world that you may not be familiar with - in this case, Communist Romania. The author brings his scenario to vivid life, charting his own journey as he travels from Romania to what he (at first) believes will be a far better life in America.

It's at this stage that WHAT HAPPENED TO MY AMERICAN DREAM surprises you, for while the title gives you a small hint of what's to come, nothing can quite prepare you for this author's eye-opening look at the sometimes brutal social and economic perversions of life in America. Part biography, part editorial, the book also includes a wonderful, though sometimes troubled, love story between the author and his wife-to-be, Michaela. Again, if you enjoyed THE KITE RUNNER, this is a must read. There's nothing quite like seeing our country through a "foreigners" eyes, especially when they write as eloquently as the author does here.

Book Description

This book has sold all over New Jersey since 1984. It is written for the average person to explain: What happens when a person dies without a will, who inherits what, how the estate is administered, including schedules for bond premiums and surrogate costs. What a will is and the purpose it serves; how it is made; what it can and cannot include, with answers to often-asked questions. A step by step guide to the administration of an estate, including the handling of medical and funeral expenses, band accounts, life insurance, automobiles, real estate, retirement plans, stocks and bonds, business interests, as well as inventories, accounting and distributions. State and federal estate and inheritance tax calculations and rates, executors', trustees' and guardians' commission schedules and attorneys' fees. Estate planning techniques in the use of the will, gift, trust, joint ownership, power of attorney, living will, marriage agreements, plus some suggestions on obtaining qualified help. This book is the author's personal response to all the intense curiosity and gross misinformation he has seen in over 37 years of law practice. It is intended as a helpful, educative guide. It is not a sales pitch or a do-it-yourself guide, as the estate area is too complicated for that.

Customer Reviews:

Gracefully explores an important area of Washington's life.......1999-06-11

The book is a finally written, well reserched study of Washington's agricultural endeavors. As a careful examiner of Washington's life, I can tell you that the Fusonies' rpovided a much needed study of an aspect of Washington's life that was important not only to himself, but to the planter society he lived in. This book's careful study of Washington provides a better synopsis of the role of agriculture in molding the Virginia society that produces many of the leaders of the Revolution than more well-known books such as, Tobacco Culture by T.H. Breen

Book Description

Got a problem? Pop a pill. Life After Prozac is one part memoir, one part self-help and one part cautionary tale.
Pain is a sign. Problems are opportunities.
Life After Prozac is a companion for those wanting to let go, move on and lead an authentic life.

An excerpt from Life After Prozac;

A Few Words From Dad
1. Be tranquil.
2. Don't add fuel to the fire.
3. You don't sound sick.
4. Be prepared.
5. Write a few words.
6. Save your money.
7. Buy real estate.
8. Establish yourself first.
9. Take vitamins.
10. Get off Prozac.

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