Michael Embley

GM Propaganda

Revisado: 04-01-25

This book is so incredibly wrong, it’s as if the 1965 General Motors PR department fell through a time warp so they could rewrite history now. The book is a perfect example of well written conservative/right wing propaganda. A lot of you out there might be dead or never been born if this “Sack of Detroit“ hadn’t happened.

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I wish it were longer

Revisado: 11-06-23

This is well known as an essential (but frankly aged and in some ways quite obsolete) management treatise, but I'm not sure that's why I personally find it so great. At this point in time, it may actually function better as an insider's reflections on the early days of the auto industry, but there is something about ghost writer John McDonald's prose that captures the essentially 19th century nature of Sloan that is just captivating. A fundamentally heartless man (he had an adding machine where that organ is supposed to be) is somehow rendered as a far more complete individual, despite his relentless focus on business, business, business to the exclusion of virtually everything else. It's quite a literary trick. I've listened to the recording half a dozen times and still find it remarkably engaging. The early chapters about how Durant went out and Dupont/Sloan came in are riveting drama. David Colacci is the perfect narrator for this material. If you find this book valuable, engaging or both, read John McDonald's A Ghost's Memoir, about the rather incredible lawsuit that led to its publication years after it was finished, over the dead bodies of GM lawyers that were sure it would lead to an anti-trust conviction.

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The best audiobook I've ever heard

Revisado: 03-12-23

There's not much more to say about the overwhelming brilliance of Halberstam's masterpiece, it's required reading for any thoughtful person anywhere. The audiobook, though...just wow. Mark Bramhall simply knocks the cover off the ball with this remarkable performance. Even if you think you're only marginally interested in the material, he'll make you care about every minute of it. Spectacular.

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Interesting, but thin

Revisado: 03-11-23

If you are deeply interested in railroading, this is an absolute 5 star must, but for a general audience there isn't enough meat. It's a very straight forward and reasonably entertaining memoir by a major player in the rail industry during a fascinating period of transition. It's strong on the memoir part, but isn't close to a business history of the times, making the subtitle "Inside the Business of America's Railroad" a sort of half-truth. It would be terrific if Krebs were to partner with one of his peers (maybe Haverty) and a sharp rail industry historian; that would produce a knockout business book. Separately, I didn't care for the narration at all, I just got used to it as the book progressed. It's less than 5 hours; I can't imagine listening to Nickerson read anything longer.

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