bonnie peregoy

Fabulous

Revisado: 10-07-19

Better than a Harper Lee biography - so well written and put together- a real joy for a non fiction reader.

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Entertaining, informative, missing a critical fact

Revisado: 03-12-19

Great and fun book about the fight between Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman and the MLM (multi-level marketing) world. I did find it a little confusing at times to LISTEN to because the names "I-can" and "Ak-man" are so similar sounding I had to re-listen to multiple passages to insure I was keeping them straight! This book does give a clear understanding of the pitfalls and hubris of "activist investors", and I must say, hearing Ackman's record, i.e. JCPenny fiasco, Border's Books, Valeant Pharmaceuticals, et al, I don't know how anyone would give him their money, ever, to invest. But as to my review title, the missing piece that never got addressed in this book was the fact that Herbalife built its original success as a weight loss supplement LOADED with Ephedra. It was "legal speed" and quite effective for weight loss until Ephedra was banned by the FDA in 2004, which resulted in Herbalife needing to ramp up the MLM, and questionable practices bordering on a Ponzi scheme, because they no longer had an effective product to market. It is little wonder that the founder of Herbalife died of a drug and alcohol overdose - he had made his fortune as a "drug pusher/dealer".

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I wanted more

Revisado: 03-12-19

Fine book for what it covered, but I felt like I really wanted more about the individuals. They were nothing more than names on a page. This is a pretty cut and dried historical record, which is interesting, but not riveting non-fiction.

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Couldn't stop listening

Revisado: 03-12-19

What a great book - full of juicy details about Germany, Hitler's rise, and the lead up to WWII. This book really gives the reader an understanding of the individual characters surrounding Hitler, and differentiates them in a way I never had before. It explains the genesis, differences and rivalries of the SS, Gestapo and "Brown shirts". It explains the "night of the long knives", Kristallnacht, etc, and all in an entertaining and riveting way. Also a clarity about the operations of our own diplomatic corps, its politics and failings. Plus, guess what, very fun to read (listen to).

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Audible & Google bait & switch

Revisado: 03-11-19

First, this book is a civil war era NOVEL, not the Steven Pinker non-fiction of the SAME name. Even in several online reviews of the Pinker book, this novel’s cover is displayed. So, having bought the wrong book, I decided to listen to this “historical novel of the civil war” anyway. It was dismal, and in truth, I couldn’t even finish it. I will just say this: take out all the descriptive phrases starting with “like . . .”, and the superfluous , awkward, adjectives and adverbs and you could reduce this tome by a third and improve it by -100%. (“Mustache fluttering like the feathers of a bird” comes to mind. How was this published without the help of an editor? Or did the editor just get overwhelmed and throw in the towel? Pile the terrible sophomoric writing on top of a dismal simpleminded plot layered over the battlefield. Early on I found myself wondering if maybe this was actually intended as YA (young adult) fiction, which might explain the simplistic plot and one dimensional characters, but certainly not excuse the terrible writing.

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thouroughly enjoyed

Revisado: 06-12-18

Fascinating story and well written. I listened non stop, couldn’t put it down. Ending so many chapters with a “cliff hanger” got a little tired - but worth the read non the less.

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Riveting

Revisado: 06-10-18

Great book. A real insight into the whole silicon valley experience of hype and money.

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fascinating

Revisado: 02-23-11

This is a great book. Gave me an understanding of a era that has been obscured by cliche. Really changed my perspective of the Cold War and the US/Soviet Union relationship in the decades before.

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lousy

Revisado: 02-23-11

In a word, lousy.

That would be all I'd have to say if the review space didn't require 15 words

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Missed opportunity

Revisado: 11-26-10

Exhaustingly researched and exhausting to (try to) listen to. I challenge anyone to stay focused on this narative for more than 5 minutes. This book is simply very poorly written, which is a shame, because the missed, fascinating story, buried in this endless listing of facts and dates, is the invention of the concept of investor ownership and corporations; purchase and sale of "shares of a company" and the birth of the NY stock exchange. I long to read a well written book of this story. The author of such a well written book will find a lot of facts and dates to use from this very poorly written one - if he can get through it.

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