Right of the Dial: The Rise of Clear Channel and the Fall of Commercial Radio. Alec Foege. Faber and Faber. 320 pages. The name ''Clear Channel'' became shorthand for everything wrong with terrestrial (nonsatellite) radio: Lack of diversity, repetitious music, boring programming, too many commercials, censorship, jingoism, ad nauseam.
BUSINESS BOOKS
Powerhouse Principles: The Billionaire Blueprint for Real Estate Success. Jorge Perez. Celebra. 288 pages. If Jorge Perez were not a successful Miami-based developer, I'd probably never open this book. No knock on him, but most tomes professing ''this is how I did it; this is how you can do it'' are boring and loaded with self-righteous pontification, glad-handing, name-dropping and other effluvia.
BUSINESS BOOKS
Communicating to persuade or motivate is a challenge for many businesspeople. Being literate and intelligent is not enough. Creativity is involved, but it requires the suggestion of images, emotions and other connections in order to achieve the desired effect. Even when the message is solely composed of text, images and other sensual cues are evoked to stimulate and create interest. Here are three recent books that look at ways to arouse emotion and connect the feeling to the action.
BUSINESS BOOKS
For most people, career paths are unclear at best. Maybe some athletes or artists have a defined course to follow, but even then, things change. For the rest of us, change happens despite our best intentions or hopes for the contrary.
BUSINESS BOOKS
There's a palpable sense of dread in the air. Is it just me? I don't think so. A friend recently mentioned that it's like watching a swaying house of cards. The U.S. economy, propped up by consumer spending, bad debt and inflated real estate prices, is starting to tumble. He added that things are probably even worse than they appear, since the current administration's self-serving approach to reality and the rule of law is surely concealing a veritable library of cooked books. Whoever takes over...
BUSINESS BOOKS
Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures. Dan Roam. Portfolio. 256 pages. I'm one of the last guys in the world who needs to be convinced of the efficacy of the visual presentation of ideas. As a kid, I was heavily into comic books and realized early on that most people remember things by visualizing them; attaching images to thoughts, ideas, names and places is the surest way to invoke them. As a writer, one tries to use language to evoke images, and as an advertising...
Here's your chance to read the latest business books and review them in The Miami Herald. How it works Business books columnist Richard Pachter selects a new book for the club every month. On a first-come, first-served basis, a limited number of members can get a free copy by e-mailing rap@WordsOnWords.com with the member's name, address and phone number. Readers who do not get a free book in the mail are invited to buy their own copies and send their reviews to the same e-mail address.
BUSINESS MONDAY BOOK CLUB
Truth be told, we probably all can grasp an idea more easily if it is conveyed in pictures, simple or complex, as well as in words.
BUSINESS BOOKS
Asia in general and China in particular play increasingly important roles in the global economy. At the very least, they represent huge markets and relatively cheap sources of labor and manufacturing. There are those who claim that their emergence as forces in international trade serves to ''flatten'' the world by breaking down international barriers. But others respond that this view is highly naive and contrary to the truth.
AUTHOR Q & A
Stacie Nevadomski Berdan grew up in Boca Raton, graduated from Pope John Paul II High School and received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Florida Atlantic University. Now living in Weston, Conn., with her husband and twin daughters, she frequently returns to South Florida to lecture at FAU in the MBA program.
BUSINESS BOOKS
During my first and only trip abroad, I discovered -- on the bus ride from the airport to the hotel -- that I suffer from chronic motion sickness. I'll spare the details, but the authors of these two books have a hard time convincing me that I should travel and work in a foreign country in order to get ahead.
BUSINESS BOOKS
It should come as no surprise that a government that refuses to adequately fund health care programs for indigent children or proffer other ''entitlements'' to the politically impotent would extend generosity and largesse to ''friendly'' corporations and other benefactors. But the present plutocracy (or kleptocracy, if you prefer) is hardly an aberration. Nor is it confined to a single administration or political party. The institutionalization of handouts and corporate welfare usually occurs behind...
BUSINESS BOOKS
Gotcha Capitalism: How Hidden Fees Rip You off Every Day -- and What You Can Do About It. Bob Sullivan. Random House. 345 pages. A few months back, I reviewed a book called Unscrewed, basically a how-to for abused clients and customers for dealing with recalcitrant corporate and government entities. This book is a perfect companion to that one, and goes a bit further, too.
BUSINESS BOOKS
Superman vs. Hollywood: How Fiendish Producers, Devious Directors and Warring Writers Grounded an American Icon. Jake Rossen. Chicago Review Press. 393 pages.
