Books about Coffman from Amazon.com

Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman expose the fallacies of standard management thinking in First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently. In seven chapters, the two consultants for the Gallup Organization debunk some dearly held notions about management, such as "treat people as you like to be treated"; "people are capable of almost anything"; and "a manager's role is diminishing in today's economy." "Great managers are revolutionaries," the authors write. "This book will take you inside the minds of these managers to explain why they have toppled conventional wisdom and reveal the new truths they have forged in its place."

The authors have culled their observations from more than 80,000 interviews conducted by Gallup during the past 25 years. Quoting leaders such as basketball coach Phil Jackson, Buckingham and Coffman outline "four keys" to becoming an excellent manager: Finding the right fit for employees, focusing on strengths of employees, defining the right results, and selecting staff for talent--not just knowledge and skills. First, Break All the Rules offers specific techniques for helping people perform better on the job. For instance, the authors show ways to structure a trial period for a new worker and how to create a pay plan that rewards people for their expertise instead of how fast they climb the company ladder. "The point is to focus people toward performance," they write. "The manager is, and should be, totally responsible for this." Written in plain English and well organized, this book tells you exactly how to improve as a supervisor. --Dan Ring.
Price: $9.70 [Notify me when price goes down.]

News from Doubleday & Anchor Books

The controversy over James Frey's A Million Little Pieces has caused serious concern at Doubleday and Anchor Books. Recent interpretations of our previous statement notwithstanding, it is not the policy or stance of this company that it doesn't matter whether a book sold as nonfiction is true. A nonfiction book should adhere to the facts as the author knows them.

It is, however, Doubleday and Anchor's policy to stand with our authors when accusations are initially leveled against their work, and we continue to believe this is right and proper. A publisher's relationship with an author is based to an extent on trust. Mr. Frey's repeated representations of the book's accuracy, throughout publication and promotion, assured us that everything in it was true to his recollections. When the Smoking Gun report appeared, our first response, given that we were still learning the facts of the matter, was to support our author. Since then, we have questioned him about the allegations and have sadly come to the realization that a number of facts have been altered and incidents embellished.

We bear a responsibility for what we publish, and apologize to the reading public for any unintentional confusion surrounding the publication of A Million Little Pieces. We are immediately taking the following actions:

We are issuing a publisher's note to be included in all future printings of the book.*

James Frey has written an author's note that will appear in all future printings of the book.* Read the author's note.

The jacket for all future editions will carry the line "With new notes from the publisher and from the author."

*Customers should find the Author's Note and Publisher's Note in copies purchased from Amazon.com after April 15, 2006.

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Note: The following editorial reviews were written before the recent revelations by James Frey and the publisher.

Amazon.com
The electrifying opening of James Frey's debut memoir, A Million Little Pieces, smash-cuts to the then 23-year-old author on a Chicago-bound plane "covered with a colorful mixture of spit, snot, urine, vomit and blood." Wanted by authorities in three states, without ID or any money, his face mangled and missing four front teeth, Frey is on a steep descent from a dark marathon of drug abuse. His stunned family checks him into a famed Minnesota drug treatment center where a doctor promises "he will be dead within a few days" if he starts to use again, and where Frey spends two agonizing months of detox confronting "The Fury" head on:

I want a drink. I want fifty drinks. I want a bottle of the purest, strongest, most destructive, most poisonous alcohol on Earth. I want fifty bottles of it. I want crack, dirty and yellow and filled with formaldehyde. I want a pile of powder meth, five hundred hits of acid, a garbage bag filled with mushrooms, a tube of glue bigger than a truck, a pool of gas large enough to drown in. I want something anything whatever however as much as I can.

One of the more harrowing sections is when Frey submits to major dental surgery without the benefit of anesthesia or painkillers (he fights the mind-blowing waves of "bayonet" pain by digging his fingers into two old tennis balls until his nails crack). His fellow patients include a damaged crack addict with whom Frey wades into an ill-fated relationship, a federal judge, a former championship boxer, and a mobster (who, upon his release, throws a hilarious surf-and-turf bacchanal, complete with pay-per-view boxing). In the book's epilogue, when Frey ticks off a terse update on everyone, you can almost hear the Jim Carroll Band's brutal survivor's lament "People Who Died" kicking in on the soundtrack of the inevitable film adaptation.

The rage-fueled memoir is kept in check by Frey's cool, minimalist style. Like his steady mantra, "I am an Alcoholic and I am a drug Addict and I am a Criminal," Frey's use of repetition takes on a crisp, lyrical quality which lends itself to the surreal experience. The book could have benefited from being a bit leaner. Nearly 400 pages is a long time to spend under Frey's influence, and the stylistic acrobatics (no quotation marks, random capitalization, left-aligned text, wild paragraph breaks) may seem too self-conscious for some readers, but beyond the literary fireworks lurks a fierce debut. --Brad Thomas Parsons

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Price: $2.00 [Notify me when price goes down.]

At last, a guide that explains points of French grammar and structure simply, then clarifies each with concrete examples. The examples use the language of real-life situations. This new edition also makes difficult topics, like the difference between mood and tense, even easier to understand. Numerous fill-in-the-blank and other exercises with delayed answers help cut down the time it takes readers to gain proficiency and confidence communicating in French.

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Price: $11.03 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Dynamically illustrated in full color, Pathophysiology is a comprehensive exploration of the etiology, pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, and treatment of disease Organized by body system, each unit opens with an illustrated review of anatomy and normal physiology, then follows with the disease processes and abnormalities that can occur. The text includes the influence of behavioral factors, life-style choices, and environmental factors on the cause and progression of disease, and covers the most current advances in genetic research and treatment modalities.

• Highlighted Key Concepts are included in bulleted format after major discussions to help the student focus on important information.
  
• Key terms appear in bold type within text discussions, and new terminology is defined in a comprehensive glossary, to help the student identify and understand new and important terms.
  
• Key Questions are listed at the beginning of each chapter, emphasizing the most important concepts to be mastered.
  
• Aging Process algorithms provide brief analyses of age-related changes of specific body systems, using an easy-to-understand, step-by-step format.
  
• Frontiers in Research essays introduce each unit with an overview of current trends and recent developments, and speculation about future research findings.

• Full-color design and illustrations are included throughout the text.
  
• Over 250 new illustrations are added, plus over 230 now in full color.
  
• Pediatric and Elderly icons highlight content within the text.
  
• Revised and updated content includes the most current information and latest research.

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Price: $74.50 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The Vizsla…field dog, show dog, obedience dog, companion par excellence, and more. Marion Coffman shares insights gleaned from thirty years of experience Read the intriguing story of how the breed was rescued from Hungary during the Second World War. Learn how to select a correct Vizsla, train him, and care for him. Most of all, share the author's love and appreciation for this versatile, unique breed..
Price: $31.96 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Master French vocabulary and ace your exams with Schaum's, the easy-to-follow guide that pumps up your language skills and reduces study time. The answered exercises will sharpen your test skills and result in a larger vocabulary, faster learning curves, and higher grades. Divided into units that are organized by themeÑtravel, services, and entertainment, to name a fewÑthis outline puts the information you really need at your fingertips. Schaum's Outline of French Vocabulary is a comprehensive study guide that can be used with any textbook... but itÕs so complete itÕs ideal for independent study!.
Price: $3.15 [Notify me when price goes down.]

What would the founding fathers have thought of George W. Bush?
Founders v. Bush is a comparison in quotations of the policies and politics of the Founding Fathers and the administration of George W. Bush. See what the Founders really thought about the Constitution, Liberty, Patriotism, Religion, War, Truth, Lies, Wealth, and more...in their own words.
GEORGE WASHINGTON "Beware of pretend patriotism." -1796
JOHN ADAMS "Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God s service when it is violating all His laws." -1816
THOMAS JEFFERSON "By oft repeating an untruth, men come to believe it themselves." -1813
JAMES MADISON "Perhaps it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad." -1798
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN "Being ignorant is not such a shame as being unwilling to learn." -1758.
Price: $14.94 [Notify me when price goes down.]

When it comes to getting ahead in business, The Gallup Organization has led the way with two landmark books: the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers First, Break all the Rules and Now, Discover Your Strengths. In its latest guide the world's hottest management consulting firm reveals your company's most valuable asset-and, with groundbreaking new findings and methods, shows you how developing that asset can lead to a quantum leap in cost efficiencies and profits.FOLLOW THIS PATHWhat do the world's greatest organizations have in common? They know that their most valuable resource is human-their employees and customers. And the best companies understand two important facts: people are emotional first and rational second, and because of that, employees and customers must be emotionally engaged in order for the organization to reach its full potential. Gallup research not only bears that out, but has uncovered the secrets of creating and managing an "emotional economy" that will provide boom possibilities for your company.FOLLOW THIS PATH shows you how the traditional ways to engage people no longer apply in today's world. Instead, it offers a system it calls The Gallup Path, based on the proven, revolutionary strategies of the most successful businesses. You'll learn the prerequisites of an effective workplace, forge unbreakable bonds between employees and customers with the book's 34 Routes to Superior Performance, know the three crucial links that drive productivity and growth, discover the best employee and customer motivators, and much more.Ignore the emotional economy-and miss out on financial performance. Helping you build relationships one customer and one employee at a time, this important book offers a unique new path for your organization to follow. All you have to do is value and develop human relationships all around you to transform your business-starting today..
Price: $4.90 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This extensive guide to Colonial Williamsburg's Historic Area and surroundings contains more than one hundred color photographs of the activities and attractions available in Virginia's restored colonial capital. Color-coded maps identify things to see and do and locate places to shop and dine. Building-by-building drawings help people tour easily. Short biographies about eighteenth-century inhabitants bring colonial society alive. Information about the museums and modern lodging and dining opportunities is included..
Price: $42.73 [Notify me when price goes down.]