I got an advanced copy of
this book by Donny Deutsch. Although at this point, the review is not so advance, but I'm a busy girl.
I can't say I picked it up thinking that I would love it. As Donny himself says, a lot of people think he's a jerk. I had some mixed feelings about him.
However, on reading the book, I found that I could really appreciate and put into practice some of his advice. I think anyone who's just starting out in the "real" world or really just anyone at all can benefit from the "Why not me?" Theory.
Overall, I thought the book was well-written and incredibly interesting. The book totters between an autobiography and a "how-to" for effective corporate life. Though it sometimes seems to veer unnecessarily into autobiographical detail (sorry, Donny, I think you're cool, but you're not quite that cool), it does use most of the material to form a coherent point. And honestly, sometimes, like in the title to the first chapter,
The Self-Entitlement Injection Theory, someone, whether it's Donny or the guy who helped him write it, is wanking off to how many big words they know.
Still, for all that, I did like the book. I did have one weird comment, though. I got a copy of the book with a cover which simply had the title of the book in large, italicized Arial type. I can see of course that that's not the final cover, but considering that Donny kind of rips David Ogilvy a new one (apparently, Donny's father worked for Ogilvy and they had a massive fight about reverse type) it seemed like a weird tribute to
Ogilvy on Advertising. Maybe reverse type would have been better.
Sorry for the longest post ever . . .
