Average customer rating:
- Jackie at Johnson Library
- Not the Best Jackie Book I've Read
- Takes Guts To Write This Book
- Not the best bio of Jackie....
- Poorly Written But Contains Valuable Information
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Jackie: Beyond the Myth of Camelot
K. L. Kelleher
Manufacturer: Xlibris Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
 General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Women
| Specific Groups
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Rich & Famous
| Leaders & Notable People
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy
| ( O )
| People, A-Z
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Women's Studies
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0738831174 |
Book Description
Discover the books Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis loved to read during her White House years, and as a book editor. In the PBS film Jackie Behind the Myth the true story of Jacqueline Onassis and John F. Kennedy's love of arts and letters is eloquently explored.
Customer Reviews:
Jackie at Johnson Library.......2003-11-25
Has anyone ever wondered why so few journalist explore Jacqueline Kennedy's testimony at The Johnson Library to discover the truth about the murder of her husband. At least this author mentions that Mrs. Kennedy stated in 1974 that "they gave messages to Adlai Steveson" and others warning President Kennedy not to go to Dallas. I thought this was one of the most thoughtful and well-researched books on Jacqueline Kennedy.
Not the Best Jackie Book I've Read.......2003-11-21
The thing that irritated me most about this book is the fact that the author does not know how to punctuate sentences or use correct verbage. It seemed to me like a fifth-grader wrote it and forgot to use the spell check. Also, the author gets bogged down in details that really had nothing to do with Jackie Kennedy Onassis (the Bossa Nova section almost put me to sleep).
I suggest you save your money and buy the video instead.
Takes Guts To Write This Book.......2002-12-02
I happened to know how difficult it is to reveal the religious beliefs of celebrities in post-modern America, and salute this author for capturing a complete understanding of all the books Onassis read, including the Bible.
Not the best bio of Jackie...........2002-10-15
I found that this book was poorly written-- some of the information might be useful, but it really isn't a good resource if you're looking for a general biography of Jackie. I think Sarah Bradford's biography, America's Queen, is a thousand times better than this book!
Poorly Written But Contains Valuable Information.......2002-09-23
This book is poorly written and riddled with inaccuracies (though harmless ones, such as that JFK taught Caroline the poem "Fig" when she herself has stated that her mother taught it to her to recite to her father); however, it contains valuable information about Jackie's years as an editor. It is too bad that this book did not have a decent editor. The author wanders far far afield repeatedly wasting pages on too much detail about such things as Viet Nam and the bossa nova...when a few paragraphs would have sufficed (the book is about Jackie, remember?). I was truly surprised that other readers were not more critical. Actually one might do better to skip the book and view the video of the same name.
Book Description
Sweet Redemption is the amazing inside story of how Coach Gary Williams survived devastating defeats and overwhelming odds to build a championship basketball program at Maryland and win the 2002 NCAA title. In a series of exclusive interviews that take you into the huddle, into the locker room and into his head, Gary Williams, for the first time, pulls back the curtain and tells his incredible story through best-selling author David A. Vise, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for The Washington Post. Sweet Redemption also takes you into the heart and soul of Gary Williams and the team's star guard, Juan Dixon, providing a vast array of never-before-told stories about the mysterious forces and people that fueled their rise. It is a fast-moving inspirational tale of trial and triumph. And it is the story of a man, a family and a team whose lives were made, and saved, through a simple game involving a ball, a hoop and a dream. When he arrived in College Park in 1989, Williams absorbed one knockout punch after another as the new head basketball coach of his alma mater. His promising career seemed over and Maryland basketball appeared destined, like its greatest player ever, to plunge to an untimely death. But by the spring of 2002, when Coach Williams and the Terrapins stood on the podium in the Georgia Dome to receive the NCAA championship trophy, he had brought about some of the most far-reaching changes in the history of college athletics. Sweet Redemption is the story of how he did it.
Customer Reviews:
A Terrible Account of a GREAT Story.......2003-07-29
Anyone who loves the underdog has to love Gary Williams. He has bounced back time and again over the course of his career and faced tremendous odds. Winning the National Championship was truly Sweet Redemption for him.
However, this is quite possibly one of THE WORST BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ. As a voracious sports biography reader, this book falls short of the mark made by even the lesser sports books out there. Vise did a TERRIBLE job of accounting the situation. This book is DEVOID of any passion on his part. It reads as if a high school journalism student slapped it together using a simple writing formula : "Here is what happened",
, "Review what I just told you again."
You could get the ENTIRE contents of this book by reading newspaper clippings from Gary's career. That's basically all this book is, one big newspaper clipping.
Gary Williams deserves a much better book than this one.
mastry to innovation.......2003-02-06
i rated this four out of five becouse i
didn't fully grssed the intoto of your information
about the issue bein discussed there from ma point of view
as a reader.
For all basketball fans and Maryland fans........2003-01-04
Sweet Redemption is the well-told story of how a very good and very dedicated coach and some very good and very dedicated players -- whom most other schools overlooked -- finally brought the NCAA Division I men's basketball championship to the University of Maryland. Like the movie Hoosiers, it should be of interest to all basketball fans -- indeed all sports fans. But it will be a special treasure to supporters of Maryland basketball who for years watched their generally quite good teams suffer one frustration after another. Maryland's 2002 basketball championship was indeed sweet redemption which all true sports fans should be able to savor.
Very well done.......2002-10-18
This is the story behind the 2002 University of Maryland basketball championship season and also serves as mini-biographies of Gary Williams, Juan Dixon, and the University of Maryland basketball program. Very well written and organized, it will be interesting for sports fans, even those not U. of Maryland fans. The many tragedies suffered by the institution and individuals associated with the program are heart rending and compelling.
The Maryland championship season is a real life triumph over tragedy story. Regardless of where one's rooting interests lie, I dare say nobody can read Juan Dixon's story and not marvel at his perseverance and leadership. A true, shining example of heart and courage.
Compelling, if superficial, account of Maryland's NCAA Title.......2002-10-15
For all Maryland Terps, past and present, the 2001-2002 basketball season was a magical one to follow. It marked the culmination of years of hard work and overcoming almost insurmountable odds by both coach Gary Williams and star guard Juan Dixon. "Sweet Redemption" tells the tale of the separate, yet similar, journeys these two men took, along with the Maryland basketball program, to overcome tremendous hardships and reach the summit of excellence with the 2002 NCAA National Title. Gary Williams came from a broken home to become hard driven coach and successful coach at the expense of his own marriage and estrangement from his daughter. Williams returned to his alma mater, University of Maryland, to coach the men's basketball team in 1989, just in time for all the bad blood of Len Bias' death from cocaine and subsequent recruiting violations to cripple the Terrapin program in a way that made it impossible to win (or even get fan and university support) in those first few years. Juan Dixon came from a harsher background. His parents, while bright and intelligent people, were caught in the vice grip of heroin addiction. They were in and out of prison through most of Juan's young life and he was shuttled from family member to family member to be cared for (a role that mostly fell to his older brother Phil). Though his parents finally cleaned up, the damage was done and they died from HIV-related complications brought about by using dirty heroin needles. Prior to his death, Juan's father made saw to his that his brother looked after Juan and made sure he got his education. Basketball was an escape for both Juan Dixon and Gary Williams. So, it would make sense that the two would come together and help each other achieve the highest level of success possible.
"Sweet Redemption" does give some details into backgrounds of Williams and Dixon, but, at 252 pages, it is understandably superficial in its overall treatment of the subject. Additionally, the progress of the Maryland basketball program from a being nearly dismantled to winning the National Title over 13 seasons is given a perfunctory treatment. All things considered, though, this deficiency does not detract from the overall impact of the book. There is a list of sources in the back of the book that give reference to more in-depth material on which this book is based. "Sweet Redemption" is designed to be a quick study and companion piece of the championship season for fans to ready and enjoy while they get re-energized for the upcoming season.
Book Description
Designed for those people who want to gain a practical knowledge of modern techniques, this book contains all the material necessary for a course on the numerical solution of differential equations. Written by two of the field's leading authorities, it provides a unified presentation of initial value and boundary value problems in ODEs as well as differential-algebraic equations. The approach is aimed at a thorough understanding of the issues and methods for practical computation while avoiding an extensive theorem-proof type of exposition. It also addresses reasons why existing software succeeds or fails. This is a practical and mathematically well informed introduction that emphasizes basic methods and theory, issues in the use and development of mathematical software, and examples from scientific engineering applications. Topics requiring an extensive amount of mathematical development are introduced, motivated, and included in the exercises, but a complete and rigorous mathematical presentation is referenced rather than included.
Customer Reviews:
Its a handbook for numerical solutions of ODE & DAE........2002-08-15
This book is excellent. The concepts about stiff, initial value problems, boundary value problems and differential-Algebraic equations (DAE) is treated with relative deep.
The numerical methods for many cases is covered.
The bad is that don't show the code. The code is in a web (NETLIB) and is writed in Fortran Language.
Is very expensive!
Average customer rating:
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Paul Simon: The 6 Chord Songbook (Paul Simon/Simon & Garfunkel)
Paul Simon
Manufacturer: Paul Simon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Songbooks
| Music
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Music
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Rock
| Musical Genres
| Music
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0711903425
Release Date: 1983-12-31 |
Book Description
Even the beginning guitarist can enjoy playing 30 of the best Paul Simon songs with simple chords. Includes: I Am A Rock, The Sound Of Silence, and Cecila.
Customer Reviews:
6 Chords.......2007-04-01
I really like the songs in this book and I've always wanted to be able to play them. This book provides easy-to-use chords for these songs and makes them "playable" -- at least, for me.
Customer Reviews:
Finally. A poker book for the rest of us..........2006-06-01
An excellent book that takes the home game where it should go. There is no other book designed to develop the home player's abilities in holdem to be able to walk into a casino and play on a respectable and knowledgeable level. The book is easy to understand and develops advanced topics easily for those new to the game. If you're either playing in a home game or thinking of starting one, this is the ideal book for you.
A valuable contribution.......2005-05-05
I've always enjoyed real poker, but too often the following scenario has happened to me: I get together with some people who claim they "really like poker", it's dealer's choice, and the first person calls this game: "seven-card stud, fours, whores, and mustaches wild, high-low, low spade in the whole takes half the pot, and if the ace of spades shows, all bets double". Sigh. Then the next person wants to play something called "guts", which is only vaguely related to poker, and the next person wants to play something called "in-between", which has nothing to do with poker at all. Finally I deal, and I call seven-card stud, no wild cards. Everyone looks bored and disappointed. I point out that this is the only real poker that's been played up until this point. They say "well, we like to *gamble*!" Soon afterwards, I lose interest and leave. They say "I guess you don't really like poker after all..." Sigh.
This is the disease, and _Real Poker Night_ purports to be the cure. The author clearly understands the phenomenon I've described, and makes a very valuable contribution by giving it a pejorative name: "kiddie poker". Now at least I can tell people who claim to like poker that I have no interest in playing "kiddie poker" because it cheapens the real thing. The author also gives detailed instructions for setting up a real poker game, with reasonable games and reasonable limits (it isn't poker unless losing stings a bit). Then he describes basic strategy and tactics both as a whole and for the most common real poker games (primarily Texas Hold'em, seven-card stud, and omaha/8). He doesn't pretend that his book is all you'll ever need to read to become a good player (poker is way too complex for that, fortunately), but he sets you off on the right track.
I'm a cynic, however, and much as I'd like to believe that this book will generate hordes of new real poker players, I know in my heart that it isn't going to happen. The people who "just like to gamble" play kiddie poker for a reason: the real game requires skill, patience and a lot of _work_ to play well, and kiddie poker fans don't want to work hard. So my advice is not to try to convert the kiddie poker players -- they're not interested in real poker. What you need to do is to find other people, like you, who are sick of kiddie poker and want to play the real game. Once you get a group of like-minded people together, this book is a good starting place. The only thing I would have like to have seen added to the book is a bibliography of books to further your study of the game.
Finally, I'd like to point out that the real author of this book is Henry Stephenson, and famed poker author Lou Krieger only wrote the foreword (Amazon puts Krieger's name first, for some reason). Thanks, Mr. Stephenson, and I hope that your book does indeed encourage more people to take up the real game.
Poker for Smart People.......2005-03-14
This book is well written and is one of the few poker books that does not talk down to the average reader.
It addresses home game players as if they are intelligent people, not (just) drunken morons who can only understand poker in terms of one-line catch phrases or the ever present television sound bite. That does not mean there isn't plenty of humor - there is; and the book is fun to read with plenty of examples.
Some recent books about home poker patronize silly homespun poker games, which are fun to play with the kids to teach them pattern recognition and have some good family time, but not with your poker buddies.
This book, then, explains why home players should stop wasting their time always playing the kids games and start playing the real game.
From the poker examples and references of modern entertainment culture to poker situations; to one page on strategy that had references to Clauswitz, Sun Tzu, Lincoln and Washington - plus a joke and a lesson in situational awareness; to how to make your poker nights valuable in both money and self esteem; this is the book that most of us need. It taught me a great deal, from reel to real, but it is also simply a good read.
Finally, it includes the clearest, most thorough explanation of general strategic poker concepts that you've seen in any poker book. For those that enjoy doing and understanding REAL Poker; Don't hesititate - get this book. Heck, if you are like me, you'll more than make up the cost of the book in the first hour of your first real poker night!
In response to Mark.......2005-02-24
In response to Mark's review of this book, Mark doesn't understand REAL poker. Chicago, Baseball, Follow the Queen, and other silly card games may be fun but they are not REAL poker. If you want to play those silly games, you might as well play roulette or craps. REAL poker is about skill. This is the whole point of this book.
OK for the right people.......2005-02-07
As a poker skills book this is a good one. But, it carries a heavy and repeated message that only classic tournament poker games have any value, not games in which chance plays a bigger role, which are disparingly called "kiddie poker". Games with multiple or changeable wild cards are a prime example. Basically that means only hold-'em, Omaha, razz, and straight five card draw or seven card stud are worthwhile games.
This ignores two facts. Believe it or not, many people actually like to play these games and have no desire to change. And, in many home games, there are players of lower skill who simply would stop playing if they didn't have enough chances to get lucky; and people want to keep these players in for social reasons. They don't mind playing the wildcard games sometimes to do so.
So, if you play for mostly social reasons and/or like poker games with multiple or changeable wildcards (or "Chicago" or...), this book is not for you. It's a lecture on how wrong you are. If you don't play those games, or shudder every time the dealer calls them and want advice on how to change the nature of the poker game you're in, it's a winner.
Book Description
MANAGING HUMAN RESOURCES THROUGH STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS is a tightly integrated, higher-level text with strong organizing themes: strategy, teams, diversity, global issues, and change. These themes are highlighted in boxed features throughout. The text also follows an organizing structure that emphasizes the HR Triad (employee, line manager, HR manager) with the understanding that effective human resource management requires mutual understanding and collaboration among HR professionals, managers, and all other employees.
Customer Reviews:
It is great.......2006-01-12
I got it and the quality is great. Thank you!
Book Description
Never HIGHLIGHT a Book Again! Virtually all testable terms, concepts, persons, places, and events are included.look no further for study resources or reference material. Cram101 Textbook Outlines gives all of the outlines, highlights, notes, and practice-tests for your textbook. Only Cram101 is Textbook Specific. Cram101 is NOT the Textbook.
Book Description
This text uses a modular approach to lead the student to develop an understanding of the current theory, principles, policies, and practices associated with human resource management decision making and strategy. Students will learn to appreciate how the human resource function can contribute to organizational effectiveness and the achievement of strategic business objectives. The authors present a balanced approach by considering HR issues from both the employer (traditional) and employee (social) perspectives.
Customer Reviews:
Good Introduction to Human Resource Management.......2000-04-26
This book takes a modular approach to teaching you HR Management. You can read almost any module independently of the others and there are lots of reference material to each module, including interesting websites. I'd recomend this book to anyone interested in learning more about management in general, and HR management in special.
Book Description
The Marine Corps is known for its heroes, and Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller has long been considered the greatest of them all. His assignments and activities covered an extraordinary spectrum of warfare. Puller mastered small unit guerrilla warfare as a lieutenant in Haiti in the 1920s, and at the end of his career commanded a division in Korea. In between, he chased Sandino in Nicaragua and fought at Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Peleliu.
With his bulldog face, barrel chest (which earned him the nickname Chesty), gruff voice, and common touch, Puller became—and has remained—the epitome of the Marine combat officer. At times Puller's actions have been called into question—at Peleliu, for instance, where, against a heavily fortified position, he lost more than half of his regiment. And then there is the saga of his son, who followed in Chesty's footsteps as a Marine officer only to suffer horrible wounds in Vietnam (his book,
Fortunate Son, won the Pulitzer Prize).
Jon Hoffman has been given special access to Puller's personal papers as well as his personnel record. The result will unquestionably stand as the last word about Chesty Puller.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
What is a Marine?.......2007-09-01
General Puller certainly epitomizes the template for a Marine. The ultimate description of General Puller can be seen in Colonel Hoffman's description when the General entered the movie theatre (courtroom) at Parris Island during the hearings regarding Sgt McKeon and the Ribbon Creek incident. The previous day, the Marine Corps Commandant, General Pate, entered the courtroom and took the witness stand and was sworn in. The following day, General Chesty Puller entered in the rear of the theatre and the court officer announced, "Attention." Everone stood at attention to honor the Marine Corps' most decorated Marine. This man exuded leadership and the Corps, especially the enlisted men, loved him. The audience did not afford even the Commandant the respect they showed General Puller.
To this day, Marines train their people using General Puller's leadership traits: Your men eat first. Take care of your men and they will take care of you. Set an example. Honor your country. Your loyalty to the Corps is more important than self-preservation and even patriotism.
Sometimes I wish I had been a Marine.
Captain Paul R. Bazemore, Jr. USNR-Ret
Semper Fi!.......2006-06-04
The first time I heard of Chesty was from the DI's at MCRD. I am glad I have finally gotten a chance to read about his career. How the banana wars were fought was very interesting. The book as a whole was fascinating. The only negative was that the letters to his wife were starting to get uninteresting. Otherwise a very informed book about the greatest marine ever!
Brings reality to a legend.......2006-05-14
As with many other reviewers, when I joined the Marine Corps(just after Chesty's death), I began to heard about this legend. Almost mythological. This book brings the whole story into perspective on why his activities made him revered and why he the model for Marine batallion and regimental commanders.
The book is an excellent documentation of who Chesty Puller really was. The early years are not as heavily documented, but give an excellent understanding of the Haiti and Nicaraguan campaigns, which do not receive a historical attention.
The book gives a great flavor of who Chesty was- a great fighter-leading patrols within 24 hours of landing in country. The author does bring Chesty into reality when he addresses Chesty's administrative and staff abilities, angst about getting promoted, and the handicaps that hindered his advancement beyond division level.
The book is extremely balanced by addressing the reasons for the heavy casualties suffered during his WWII battles.
Good read!!
A Great American Hero.......2006-02-22
Chesty Puller is a legend in the US Marines and this book is a testament to the career of one of the most interesting men to walk this planet. A true warrior and not a politician, he was awarded 5 Navy Crosses instead of receiving the Medal of Honor. Unlike most officers, he led his men from the front and was always the last man off the field. A fantastic story about a fantastic individual.
Annals of valor..........2005-12-20
In December of 1980, I arrived at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego to begin 11 weeks of boot camp without the slightest idea of who Chesty Puller was. Three months later, having successfully negotiated basic training, I was fully aware of the man. Lt. Gen'l. Puller's exploits dominated the lore with which we were instilled. His was the "esprit de corps" that every Marine was encouraged to emulate.
It was with nostalgic pleasure, then, that I found this Puller biography by Lt. Col. Jon T. Hoffman twenty-five years later. Puller's combat experiences are suspensefully captured, though Hoffman approaches the legend with the care to avoid hagiography. He presents an extraordinary fighting machine who, nevertheless, possessed a few traits of an all too human nature.
As with most books of the type, the maps could be so much better and one wonders if it's the authors or the publishers that dumb them down to the point that all but the most basic detail is excluded. But, good maps or bad, Chesty: The Story of Lieutenant General Lewis B. Puller, USMC is an excellent military biography of a man who will forever be remembered by every former, current, and future Marine for his awe inspiring courage and leadership. 5 stars.
Book Description
This book attacks the conventional wisdom that bureaucrats are bunglers and the system can't be changed. Michael Barzelay and Babak Armajani trace the source of much poor performance in government to the persistent influence of what they call the bureaucratic paradigm--a theory built on such notions as central control, economy and efficiency, and rigid adherence to rules. Rarely questioned, the bureaucratic paradigm leads competent and faithful public servants--as well as politicians--unwittingly to impair government's ability to serve citizens by weakening, misplacing, and misdirecting accountability.
How can this system be changed? Drawing on research sponsored by the Ford Foundation/Harvard University program on Innovations in State and Local Government, this book tells the story of how public officials in one state, Minnesota, cast off the conceptual blinders of the bureaucratic paradigm and experimented with ideas such as customer service, empowering front-line employees to resolve problems, and selectively introducing market forces within government. The author highlights the arguments government executives made for the changes they proposed, traces the way these changes were implemented, and summarizes the impressive results. This approach provides would-be bureaucracy busters with a powerful method for dramatically improving the way government manages the public's business.
Generalizing from the Minnesota experience and from similar efforts nationwide, the book proposes a new paradigm that will reframe the perennial debate on public management. With its carefully analyzed ideas, real-life examples, and closely reasoned practical advice, Breaking Through Bureaucracy is indispensable to public managers and students of public policy and administration.
Customer Reviews:
Some conceptual and practical keys for developing a results-oriented administrative infrastructure.......2006-11-10
I've found Breaking Through Bureaucracy is a challenge for graduate students to read but immensely rewarding for those who persevere. For mid-career professionals with whom I've worked, who understand the argument of this text and who have sufficient leverage at work, studying this text has changed the way their government offices and business enterprises work. For those currently without that leverage in their workplace, engaging with this text will help better prepare practitioners to think more reflectively about how they may choose to manage at a personal level in the present and as an administrative unit in the future.
At its broadest level, the argument of Breaking Through Bureaucracy is that nothing less than new ways of thinking and acting are required today in public service. The argument proceeds on two levels of analysis interwoven throughout the text: 1) the level of ideas through which those with management responsibility typically construct administrative arguments and 2) that of daily administrative operations, most especially with respect to recurring relations between overseers, staff, and line operators.
The interweaving of Babak Armajani's reflective practice with Michael Barzelay's conceptual analysis in this text provides invaluable clues for the attentive reader. Part I demonstrates how during the reform era, the bureaucratic paradigm addressed effectively leading problems of its day. At the same time, it argues and illustrates with clarity that yesterday's bureaucratic solution has become the source of unintended administrative ills and organizational dysfunction today.
Part I introduces the two main levels of analysis on which the book unfolds. The first level of analysis is that of ideas with which administrators typically frame issues of public management. At this level of analysis, the text sets up a debate, broadly between defenders of the status quo who see recurring troubles along the overseer-staff-line relations as conditions to be endured and possibilist thinker-doers who see these recurring troubles as problems to be solved. At its second level of analysis, the text begins to introduce the reader to concrete routines, constraints, and incentives that typically govern relations between overseers, staff, and line in everyday administrative operations. At this level of analysis, the text argues the need for innovative strategies capable of effectually altering these recurring routines. A principle finding at this concrete level of administrative analysis is articulating how the role of staff (those administrative experts who control inputs to line whether in budget, finance, purchasing, HR, IT etc.) typically constitute likely recurring bottlenecks in government agencies (or any other type of bureaucratic organization) that seek to strengthen responsiveness to customers and to develop a results-oriented culture.
Part II of the text presents a case study drawn from Minnesota State government and describes the inventing of new strategies, the reworking of organizational cultures (in ways that increased responsiveness and accountability for results), and discusses how developments in the case under consideration challenged financial paradigms dominant in government today. [It should be noted that independent of this text, an update on the subject of "Challenging Financial Paradigms" has been co-written by Bob Hutchison, [then Finance Commissioner in Minnesota] and published in paperback in 2006 as The Price of Government.) Part II demonstrates how daily administrative routine, constraints, and incentives were transformed by reflective practitioners in Minnesota through engaging constructively with the concrete particulars before them, and more broadly, presents an argument for seeing and treating these recurring troubles along the overseer-staff-line frontier as "problems" (due to malleable if insistent circumstances) rather than as "conditions" (or unalterable facts of life).
Part III discusses "generalizations" or lessons learned from the case study. A methodological note is appropriate here. As a case study, it is appropriate to note that the likelihood of its external validity or capacity for generalization is not predicated upon statistical inferences derived from an applied variance analysis, but rather depends upon the generation of its theoretical model (contrasting "bureaucratic" and "post-bureaucratic" ways of thinking and acting), a model derived from Michael Barzelay's effectual process analysis in this case study. In my experience with readers, for those who take the trouble to understand the conceptual contrast, resonance of this theoretical model with the experience of practitioners across a wide variety of local government settings is high. Any practitioner who takes the time for a careful reading of this text, of course, is entitled to draw his or her own inferences as to the likely external validity of generalizations drawn from this case study.
The author's "generalizations" or lessons learned are divided into three chapters. The first of these entitled "More Problems, Fewer Conditions" redefines bureaucratic accountability, suggesting that all too often bureaucratic reliance upon the enforcement model of control ends up breeding weak, misguided, and/or misplaced accountability. The chapter offers the authors recommendations for strengthening and redirecting accountability. One key to this text is Barzelay's contrasting the "enforcement model of control" with the "leadership model of control;" His analysis underscores the increased degree of control and accountability generated in Minnesota through the latter model of action. This model of control Barzelay argues is integral to the "post-bureaucratic paradigm." For those interested in a close understanding of what's entailed in such a leadership model of control, it's worthwhile to note that this approach to generating control is conceptually speaking, a direct descendent from different way of thinking and acting first articulated in a coherent form by Mary Parker Follett (and whose work once again is available in print today as Mary Parker Follett--Prophet of Management (thanks to the initiative of Pauline Graham [ed.] and the Harvard Business School Press. In this regard, see especially her articles on "The Giving of Orders," "Leadership," and "Control").
The second to last chapter of this text addresses the "then what?" question for public managers. Entitled "Managing Customer-Focused Staff Agencies," this chapter addresses what the author argues with considerable persuasion throughout is probably the key administrative bottleneck in developing more responsive and results-oriented governmental agencies. He offers six principles in line with the "post-bureaucratic paradgim" that reflective practitioners may take into account in their management practice. Finally, the last chapter, "The Post-Bureaucratic Paradigm in Historical Perspective," ties all the pieces of the text together. Largely incomprehensible to most public administrative students/practitioners when they begin here, it's the "aha" chapter that reward those who have carefully gone through each of the stepping stones in the argument of the text.
In closing, central to the argument of Barzelay and Armajani (and reminiscent of Mary Parker Follett's notion of reciprocal response and her treatment of the role of purpose in administrative affairs), is their pointing to the need for greater mutual adjustment in relations between overseers, staff, and line together with their arguing the practical need for administrators to reimbue work with purpose at every level of the organization.
Moving in this direction requires more than Barzelay points to in his analysis and more, unfortunately, than many of his associates in the New Public Management movement seem to have recognized. Nevertheless, Barzelay and Armajani take us to a critical threshold that I believe is key to developing new ways of thinking and acting in and for public service. This text does not have all the answers and there are some striking limitations in Barzelay's analysis based on the very case he presents. Yet if we as a field of professional practice in the broad area of public policy, public management, public administration, miss core lessons in this text, then I believe someone else will have to rediscover them in the future. This text deserves to be recognized as a modern classic in the field and widely studied, most especially by those who will be constructing our administrative infrastructures of the future.
Well thought out........2000-10-28
This book is for those of you who are sick of redundant and mundane bureaucratic routine work, and wan to learn about the ways to change such system. This books points out inefficiencies of bureaucracy and promotes the idea of simple and quick approach to technology, which the way we do things. It also gives some good examples from a few corporations that are being affected by their implementation of rational organizational structure i.e. bureaucratic structure. It's an advocate of creative behavior at jobs regardless of the nature.
Average customer rating:
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Breaking Through Bureaucracy: A New Vision for Managing Government. (book reviews): An article from: Government Finance Review
Timothy H. Riordan
Manufacturer: Government Finance Officers Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
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ASIN: B00092SIGM
Release Date: 2005-07-28 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Government Finance Review, published by Government Finance Officers Association on June 1, 1993. The length of the article is 764 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Breaking Through Bureaucracy: A New Vision for Managing Government. (book reviews)
Author: Timothy H. Riordan
Publication:
Government Finance Review (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 1993
Publisher: Government Finance Officers Association
Volume: v9
Issue: n3
Page: p46(1)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
- An invaluable resource for ecological explorers of the central valley and Sierra Foothills
- A factual book full of errors
|
Magpies and Mayflies: An Introduction to Plants and Animals of Central Valley and Sierra Foothills
Derek Madden ,
Ken Charters , and
Cathy Snyder
Manufacturer: Heyday Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1597140031 |
Product Description
Californias Sierra Nevada Foothills, Central Valley, and the Delta share much of the same natural history. It has long been overlooked by most authors who write about Californias attractions, and is experienced by many visitors as a place of endless roads and valley towns seen along the way to the glamorous coast or majestic mountains. Although this vast area is no longer an isolated outback region, there still exist places today where wildlife thrive and the presence of the Native Americans can be seen and felt. Right here in our own backyard there are spike rushes and water ferns, crayfish and bobcats. Look around and you will find milk thistle and the black-crowned night heron, turkey tail mushrooms and arboreal salamanders. This book attempts to answer, at least in part, the universal question of what is this place? Filled with jaw-dropping illustrations that seem ready to crawl right off the page, and detailed descriptions of the plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms that inhabit the region, this isnt just an identification guide: its a book that will fill you with awe and make you all the smarter.
Customer Reviews:
An invaluable resource for ecological explorers of the central valley and Sierra Foothills.......2006-04-03
Very highly recommended, Magpies And Mayflies: An Introduction To Plants And Animals Of The Central Valley And Sierra Foothills is knowledgeably co-authored by Derek Madden, Ken Charters and Cathy Snyder. An invaluable resource for ecological explorers of (and casual visitors to) the central valley and Sierra Foothills. Magpies And Mayflies is a perfectly "user friendly", informed and informative guide to flora and fauna of the fields and hills of the beautiful and endless Sierra area.
A factual book full of errors.......2006-01-08
Magpies and Mayflies is written by three scientists which implies the writing is factual and trustworthy. I happen to be a bat specialist so naturally turned first to the chapter on bats and was amazed by the innaccuracies and plain heresey. The authors make the claim that "airborne droplets of urine loosed by bats inside of houses have infected humans with rabies". This is an absolute fairy tale unsupported by any evidence what-so-ever and perpetuates the myth that bats are dangerous and scary creatures.
The ONLY case where humans may have contracted rabies through areoslized virus was two spelunkers in prolonged and inimate contact with MILLIONS of bats in a New Mexico cave in the 1950's - and the validity of even these cases is seriously questioned by the CDC.
By chance I flipped to page 121 where the authors claim the red legged frog is "only found in the Coast Range and Golden Gate Park". In fact, colonies of red legged frogs have been under long term study across the Sierra foothills.
For a natural science book to be so laced with serious errors does a disservice to any reader who cannot separate the fact from the fiction. I would suggest spending the time reading a few field guides rather than Magpies and Mayflies.
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