Rating: 
Summary: Pride Goeth Before the Fall
Review: "House of Cards" reads like the plot outline for a soap opera on steroids. If this story had been brought to a movie studio by the author to "pitch," she would have been told that the movie-going public would find its main characters far too corrupt to be even miniimally believable. The most unlikable and ruthlesss characters in "Glenn Garry, Glenn Ross," "Wall Street," or "Boiler Room" seem like models of ethical business practice when compared to Jeff Skilling, Ken Lay, Andy Fastow and Rebecca "the Shark" Mark.
Brewer's account of the seemingly limitless arrogrance and greed of many of the Enron executives in their personal as well as business lives is simply beyond amazing. They believed, it seems, that the top floors of the Enron Building were a newer and better Mt. Olympus from which they could manipulate the lives of "mere mortals" at whim, especially if they could add to their own personal coffers in the process.
I was enthralled and appalled by turns as I read. That Lynn Brewer could find any humor at all as this corporate Hindenberg approached the mooring mast carrying her career aboard, attests to her resiliency and sense of perspective. Following her story from initial excitement to be workng for a companty whose mission statement included such phrases as "respect for individuals" and "personal and corporate integrity," to her total disillusionment is fascinating reading. "House of Cards" has the kind of "page-turner" pace usually reserved for Stephen King-type horror fiction. A definite must-read for anyone who owns stock (or is thinking of owning stock) in any company.
Rating:
Summary: A great read!
Review: A rare, eye-opening and completely believable look inside a conglomerate where greed ruled and self-preservation ran rampant from top to bottom. Brewer and Hansen have presented a personal perspective from inside Enron in a compelling fashion. Anyone who has worked in a corporate situation, especially in a company on it's way down, can relate to the politics, the ..., the fear, and self-preservation practiced among all levels of staff. I highly recommend it if for no better reason than to be able to recognize the signs if you ever find yourself in a similar situation. Ms. Brewer is definitely not alone in her experience, and the toppling of much of corporate America isn't over yet.
Rating:
Summary: Truly fascinating!
Review: I don't normally read books about corporations, but I bought the book after hearing a radio interview with one of the authors. I can honestly say that there is never a dull moment in this book. It was riveting reading about these Enron Executives and the level of delusion they operated at, not to mention the absolute lack of responsibility and accountability they all exhibited. Brewer's account of her harrowing years at Enron was pretty amazing and her self-analysis through the book is funny at times and downright heart wrenching at other times. One can't fault her for wanting to make money like most of us, but her ethics kept her from crossing over the line. Overall a fascinating tale of American greed at its worst!
Rating: 
Summary: Am I the only one who wonders how truthful this book is?
Review: I see that this book is getting glowing reviews and I'll admit I did enjoy reading most of it. But, there are some things about it that just gave me a feeling that the picture the author painted may have been distorted, exaggerated and not really very objective. I can't say I'm sure this is the case, but there were just a lot of flags that kept popping up that made me wonder. To begin with, the book is supposed to "Confessions of an Enron Executive". The only thing she "confessed" was that almost everyone at Enron she dealt with was dishonest, crooked, mean spirited and/or incompetent. She, on the other hand, was a paragon of hard working virtue. Next, she wouldn't fit any reasonable definition of an executive. She was a contract administrator and a fairly high level administrative assistant. She also had a number of very strange situations from her personal life, many of which predated her Enron job. She may have presented all of them in a fair and honest light, but there were some that were hard for me to believe happened just the way she described. She mentions an online search she did on Mark's husband, Jusbasche, and the indictment he had been under, but I couldn't duplicate that with Google or with a multiple search engine tool. I'm not saying he wasn't indicted, but I wonder where she really got the information. This is rambling, but I just kept getting the feeling that I was maybe getting a highly biased and possibly very distorted account of what happened. Maybe that's why "Harper Collins Signed then Refused to Publish". Maybe their bs detector went off too often.
Rating:
Summary: Am I the only one who wonders how truthful this book is?
Review: I see that this book is getting glowing reviews and I'll admit I did enjoy reading most of it. But, there are some things about it that just gave me a feeling that the picture the author painted may have been distorted, exaggerated and not really very objective. I can't say I'm sure this is the case, but there were just a lot of flags that kept popping up that made me wonder. To begin with, the book is supposed to "Confessions of an Enron Executive". The only thing she "confessed" was that almost everyone at Enron she dealt with was dishonest, crooked, mean spirited and/or incompetent. She, on the other hand, was a paragon of hard working virtue. Next, she wouldn't fit any reasonable definition of an executive. She was a contract administrator and a fairly high level administrative assistant. She also had a number of very strange situations from her personal life, many of which predated her Enron job. She may have presented all of them in a fair and honest light, but there were some that were hard for me to believe happened just the way she described. She mentions an online search she did on Mark's husband, Jusbasche, and the indictment he had been under, but I couldn't duplicate that with Google or with a multiple search engine tool. I'm not saying he wasn't indicted, but I wonder where she really got the information. This is rambling, but I just kept getting the feeling that I was maybe getting a highly biased and possibly very distorted account of what happened. Maybe that's why "Harper Collins Signed then Refused to Publish". Maybe their bs detector went off too often.
Rating:
Summary: The Story That Only An Insider Could Tell
Review: Lynn Brewers book gives a unique view of corruption at its worst. It is no wonder Harper and Collins declined to publish her work; she indescriminately blasts her former associates with the unabridged truth, something which often gets people sued in this day and age. Ms. Brewer was bounced from one end to the other at Enron and its various subsidiaries and found systemic corruption throughout. This book grabbed my attention early and held it to the last page. It is entertaining, informative, and very well written. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Like Watching a Traffic Accident
Review: The book opens with a "shockingly" hateful e-mail the authoress had received from a co-worker. Within 10 pages, you'll be in the mood to send her something similar. This is a sustained self-absorbed whine from a malingering, low-level paralegal who was certainly not an "executive." As worthless as the authoress may be, the book is actually well written, so if you want to know which other Enron paralegals went bar-hopping without panties, or read fantastic concoctions seeking to "explain" the rumors that she believes were circulating about her, have fun watching the traffic accident. Although she was not around anything important, and did not uncover anything (although she does believe that her own failure to understand how gas pipeline pressure works was a discovery of some sort of big fraud; and also cries foul when Rebecca Mark's husband reserved internet domain names she was supposed to, yet somehow never got around to), she does discuss one or two of the other frauds she had nothing to do with. If you're a low-level grunt absorbed with malicious interoffice gossip, and are interested in knowing what it was like to be a low level grunt at Enron from another person absorbed in malicious interoffice gossip, this book is for you. Otherwise, pass.
Rating:
Summary: Like Watching a Traffic Accident
Review: The book opens with a "shockingly" hateful e-mail the authoress had received from a co-worker. Within 10 pages, you'll be in the mood to send her something similar. This is a sustained self-absorbed whine from a malingering, low-level paralegal who was certainly not an "executive." As worthless as the authoress may be, the book is actually well written, so if you want to know which other Enron paralegals went bar-hopping without panties, or read fantastic concoctions seeking to "explain" the rumors that she believes were circulating about her, have fun watching the traffic accident. Although she was not around anything important, and did not uncover anything (although she does believe that her own failure to understand how gas pipeline pressure works was a discovery of some sort of big fraud; and also cries foul when Rebecca Mark's husband reserved internet domain names she was supposed to, yet somehow never got around to), she does discuss one or two of the other frauds she had nothing to do with. If you're a low-level grunt absorbed with malicious interoffice gossip, and are interested in knowing what it was like to be a low level grunt at Enron from another person absorbed in malicious interoffice gossip, this book is for you. Otherwise, pass.
Rating:
Summary: AN Executives Required Reading
Review: What a great book. Despite everything you have read in the newspapers, this book gives the reader an exceptional inside review as to the actions, and inactions at Enron. The author pulled no stops when she offered the truth that many were not looking to share. I found this book to be extremely interesting, somewhat sad as to how management attempted to run such a large organization and how millions of people lost billions of dollars due to greed, poor management and unbelivable business skills. This book was again, extremely interesting and worth the read. Carl Rizzuto
Hobe Sound, Florida
Rating:
Summary: AN Executives Required Reading
Review: What a great book. Despite everything you have read in the newspapers, this book gives the reader an exceptional inside review as to the actions, and inactions at Enron. The author pulled no stops when she offered the truth that many were not looking to share. I found this book to be extremely interesting, somewhat sad as to how management attempted to run such a large organization and how millions of people lost billions of dollars due to greed, poor management and unbelivable business skills. This book was again, extremely interesting and worth the read. Carl Rizzuto
Hobe Sound, Florida
|
