Books about Smartest from Amazon.com

33,000 PAGES

44 MILLION WORDS

10 BILLION YEARS OF HISTORY

1 OBSESSED MAN

Part memoir and part education (or lack thereof), The Know-It-All chronicles NPR contributor A.J. Jacobs's hilarious, enlightening, and seemingly impossible quest to read the Encyclopaedia Britannica from A to Z.

To fill the ever-widening gaps in his Ivy League education, A.J. Jacobs sets for himself the daunting task of reading all thirty-two volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. His wife, Julie, tells him it's a waste of time, his friends believe he is losing his mind, and his father, a brilliant attorney who had once attempted the same feat and quit somewhere around Borneo, is encouraging but unconvinced.

With self-deprecating wit and a disarming frankness, The Know-It-All recounts the unexpected and comically disruptive effects Operation Encyclopedia has on every part of Jacobs's life -- from his newly minted marriage to his complicated relationship with his father and the rest of his charmingly eccentric New York family to his day job as an editor at Esquire. Jacobs's project tests the outer limits of his stamina and forces him to explore the real meaning of intelligence as he endeavors to join Mensa, win a spot on Jeopardy!, and absorb 33,000 pages of learning. On his journey he stumbles upon some of the strangest, funniest, and most profound facts about every topic under the sun, all while battling fatigue, ridicule, and the paralyzing fear that attends his first real-life responsibility -- the impending birth of his first child.

The Know-It-All is an ingenious, mightily entertaining memoir of one man's intellect, neuroses, and obsessions, and a struggle between the all-consuming quest for factual knowledge and the undeniable gift of hard-won wisdom..
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Like its subject, The Smartest Guys in the Room is ambitious, grand in scope, and ruthless in its dealings Unlike Enron, the Texas-based energy giant that has come to represent the post-millennium collapse of 1990s go-go corporate culture, it's also ultimately successful. Penned by Fortune scribes Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, the 400-page-plus chronicle of the scandal digs deep inside the numbers while, wisely, maintaining focus on the "smart guys" deep-frying the books. The likes of paternal but disengaged CEO Ken Lay (dubbed "Kenny Boy" by George W. Bush, one of many prominent public figures with whom he rubbed shoulders), cutthroat man-behind-the-curtain Jeff Skilling, and ethically blind numbers whiz Andy Fastow vividly come to life as they make a mockery of conventional accounting practices and grow increasingly arrogant and bind to their collective hubris. They're not a likable lot, and the writers find it difficult to suppress their astonishment and revulsion with the crew who rapidly went from golden boys and girls of the financial world to pariahs when the bill finally came due. The authors' unrepressed sarcasms are more than often unnecessarily given the scope of the outrage. Enron's leading lights were or a time celebrated for their ability to concoct nearly unfathomable business schemes to hide mounting shortfalls and keeping track on their machinations can be a chore, but, by sticking hard to the story behind the fall, McLean and Elkind have reported and written the definitive account of the Enron debacle. --Steven Stolder.
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Dating Rocks is a 240 page dating manifesto that outlines everything a woman should do to find, date and keep a man -- from being aware of her physical appearance to honing her listening skills.

The best part of this book is Nakamoto's wit as he helps the reader along. As a former Dale Carnegie instructor, personal development trainer, and international tour director, Nakamoto knows how to tell a story. There's a rather amusing tale of how he and a friend had sworn off all women as gold-diggers since all of the women they encountered at an upscale nightclub would only go out with them once. A friend of theirs tells them, "The problem isn't that these women are gold-diggers. It's that you guys unfortunately can't afford them." Lesson to be learned from such wise words: don't try to place the blame for your lousy love life on someone or something else; be proactive, take control of your love life, and good things will follow.

The book follows a rigid but successful format. Each chapter begins with a nifty quote from a major author or artist, past or present. For instance, Chapter 13 titled "Competition," opens with a quote from Margaret Halsey: "The great disadvantage of being in a rat race is that it is humiliating. The competitors in a rat race are by definition rodents." An honest male prospective that summarizes what is to be learned in the chapter follows these quotes. Nakamoto also includes an anecdote from his life such as the email he received from a woman complaining about an aspect of her dating life, followed by a list of steps on how to successfully accomplish whatever the theme of the chapter happens to be.

Nakamoto, is not new to the "how to catch a man arena." His previous book, Men are like Fish: Everything a Woman Needs to Know about Catching a Man, was a funny, intelligent look at the dating scene with tips on how to not only initiate a great relationship but enhance the one you are in. In his latest book he offers an honest and refreshing male perspective that any woman can use if she finds herself in a dating slump.

Unlike many of the dating books out there, he doesn't send the message that women should wait for a man to decide what he wants to do about being together but instead he teaches women how to be proactive when it comes to their love life. He tells them to put themselves first -- their needs, wants, and desires. Ladies, you can't get any better advice than that.

In Dating Rocks you will find no catchy phrases and no antiquated ideals, just good solid advice (that may or may not net you a man), but along the way will provide you with a great deal of fun, insight and personal growth.

Reviewed by Tamika Johnson for ForewordReviews.com.
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The guide readers need to retire richer—from the international bestselling author of The Smartest Investment Book You’ll Ever Read.

In this thought-provoking and innovative new book, bestselling author Daniel R. Solin takes issue with the commonly held belief that participating in defined contribution retirement plans is a “no-brainer” because of the employer match.

While providing readers with comprehensive, accessible information on the most common deferred compensation plans, annuities, and other retirement-based investments, he shows the 70 million participants currently in those plans how to create the best portfolio with often limited options.

In his straight-forward, no-nonsense style, Solin offers the new rules for investing for retirement and shows readers how to quickly and simply determine their own needs, get control of their assets, avoid scams and sucker bets, discover untapped resources at retirement, and eventually get income out of tax deferred plans—the smart way..
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Achieve financial security in 90 minutes or less.

Daniel Solin cuts through financial propaganda to show readers exactly how assets should be invested, using trusted, brand name fund managers like Fidelity and Vanguard. Solin's easy-to-follow plan allows investors to create and monitor their portfolios in 90 minutes or less a year, explaining how to assess risk and how to allocate assets to maximize returns and minimize volatility. Readers will also learn how to avoid the biggest mistakes investors make, from buying into media hype to giving their hard earned cash to hyperactive brokers and investment advisors..
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This first book from Chicago author Chris Ware is a pleasantly-decorated view at a lonely and emotionally-impaired "everyman" (Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth), who is provided, at age 36, the opportunity to meet his father for the first time. An improvisatory romance which gingerly deports itself between 1890's Chicago and 1980's small town Michigan, the reader is helped along by thousands of colored illustrations and diagrams, which, when read rapidly in sequence, provide a convincing illusion of life and movement. The bulk of the work is supported by fold-out instructions, an index, paper cut-outs, and a brief apology, all of which concrete to form a rich portrait of a man stunted by a paralyzing fear of being disliked.


From the Hardcover edition..
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Microsoft's interview process is a notoriously grueling sequence of brain-busting questions that separate the most creative thinkers from the merely brilliant. So effective is their technique that other leading corporations-from the high-tech industry to consulting and financial services-are modeling their own hiring practices on Bill Gates' unique approach. How Would You Move Mount Fuji? reveals for the first time more than 35 of Microsoft's puzzles and riddles, such as: n Why does a mirror reverse right and left but not up and down? n If you could eliminate one U.S. state, which would it be? n How would you make an MM? n How many piano tuners are there in the world? And, for the first time, this book supplies answers and approaches using creative analytical thinking that works. Anyone in business, and everyone who wants to be, will find here a valuable new approach to hiring, identifying talent in an organization, and getting the job of a lifetime..
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Even the smartest women play dumb when it comes to relationships. They make the same mistakes over and over again; they fall for the same kind of guys; and they cry to the same friends when, inevitably, the relationship goes sour. Bestselling authors Steven Carter and Julia Sokol have written the book for every woman who would like to be smarter when it comes to affairs of the heart--Men Like Women Who Like Themselves.



With the candor, compassion, and expert advice that marked their bestseller What Smart Women Know, Carter and Sokol provide the essential insights all women need to know in order to forge healthy, committed relationships. Based on the simple but powerful notion that a lasting relationship means putting yourself first, that true love can only spring from self-love, Men Like Women Who Like Themselves is a trove of relationship wisdom for today's woman..
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