September TIOLI - NonFiction about a Business/Organization/Entity

I think this is the first time I've started a separate thread for a challenge, but I think this one makes sense since the books are all somewhat related.

As a reminder, this challenge is to read a NonFiction book which explores a business/non-profit organization/entity. This is not designed to be a biography challenge, so unless the biography is specifically about how that person handled or built up one specific business, I wouldn't think it would fit.

Wiki for Challenge #4

I'll try to keep a running tally of the books we have listed here:

Business/Retail
The Checkout Girl - Sainsbury's Supermarket
Creating Magic - Disney
The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed - Aereon Corporation
Fatal Risk - AIG
Onward - Starbucks
The Perfect Scent - Hermes
Time was Soft There - Shakespeare & Co. Bookstore, Paris (published in the UK at Books, Baguettes and Bedbugs)
Why I Hate Abercrombie & Fitch - Abercrombie & Fitch

Non Profit Organizations
County: Life, Death and Politic's at Chicago's Public Hospital - Cook County (IL) Hospital
Explorer's House - National Geographic Society

Other
740 Park - 740 Park Avenue Apartment Building
Changing Lives - "El Sistema" Music Education Program
Chasing Goldman Sachs: How the Masters of the Universe Melted Wall Street Down - Wall Street

I might join you with Time was Soft There if I can get hold of a copy from the library (in the UK it was published as Books, Baguettes and Bedbugs).

Would the Roman Republic count as an organisation? I'm thinking of reading Tom Holland's Rubicon.

>>3 souloftherose: - I like that title better!

Rubicon seems a little broader than I had in mind (it looks like it's about an entire culture) where I was thinking more of a specific organization, but I'm not going to be a stickler. If you think it fits, it fits. We're here to have fun

#4 No that's fine, it doesn't sound like that was quite what you had in mind for your challenge (and as usual I probably have too many planned reads for September already). I'll keep thinking...

If I can locate my copy of Time Was Soft There, I will join in too, Patrick.

This will give me a prod to read the book about AIG, which I committed to do waaay back in June... I'll look around and see if there are any others lurking...

One note, if I may -- Chasing Goldman Sachs really isn't about GS -- it's about Wall Street. It would fit your challenge, because it discusses the way Wall Street leaders think/act, but it's a group of related businesses rather than a single one... (sorry to be a stickler, but I wrote it, so... :-) )

Thanks Chatterbox - AnneDC posted that one, and based on your comments I see no reason not to let it stand. Maybe if she reads it we can get some good discussion on this thread with author input!

I have a feeling other books may slip out of the focus also, once we finish them. I picked out three, and one of them (the one on the apartment building at 740 Park Avenue) is one I'm afraid will become a series of biographies - but like yours, they will all have a unified connection (to the building), so I included it.

I just like NonFiction so this is a completely self-indulgent challenge for me to find other books I want to read.

> 7

(sorry to be a stickler, but I wrote it, so... :-) )

LOL!

So I guess, Chasing Goldman Sachs should be listed as Chasing Goldman Sachs (Wall Street), thinking of Wall Street as an entity?

If you're okay with that, pbadeer, I will leave it here--(otherwise I can move it to Chatterbox's own "ing" challenge, where it would also fit well). I've been wanting to read it for many months and your challenge seemed like it was made to order.

Anne, that sounds great. I think it would work beautifully in this challenge, as it's a narrow focus on an industry -- and look forward to any feedback! (though it's too late to make changes to the paperback, which comes out in October...)

ETA: the reason I'm fussy about this is that everyone assumes it's about GS, and that I'm writing an expose about the firm, when really it's about the industry. So I've spent half of some interviews kind of disabusing people who haven't read it yet of what it's really about. The title was chosen by my editor, and it does really sell books, and it does reflect one of the key arguments, but one of my gripes about the title was that too many people would just see the GS name and make the logical leap.

Anne - Chatterbox said it perfectly. It's still about an "entity" - Wall Street - so it works for the challenge, and I'll be interested in hearing more about it

Would Creating Magic work?

"Lee Cockerell, retired executive at Disney, shares Disney's 10 leadership strategies, along with lots of examples and stories."

>>13 Morphidae: - that one sounds interesting since it seems to be specific to how Disney does things. Sure, add it to the list.

I've had Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul on my TBR pile for several months. I believe it's more about Starbucks and not just about Howard Schultz.

I want to read another John McPhee book this month, and The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed seems to fit well into this challenge. It's about the Aereon Corporation, still in existence in Princeton, NJ.

I'm about to start County: Life, Death and Politics at Chicago's Public Hospital by Dr. David Ansell, which looks at Cook County Hospital, the city's largest public health care facility, and I think it is applicable to this challenge, as it is a non-profit organization. If not, I can add it to the unique author TIOLI challenge.

I'm about halfway through The Perfect Scent, and I'm finding it interesting, but I think one might need to be really, really into to perfume to enjoy it. Thankfully I am really, really into perfume. The author is the perfume critic for the NYT, and he describes some perfumes as smelling like motor oil and exhaust, and does so with all sincerity.

The downside to all of this is that I want to try some of the perfumes featured in the book, but Hermes perfumes are approximately $150 a bottle, and only sold in Hermes stores (so I can't go try them at Sephora). Hmph.

>>17 kidzdoc: - County sounds perfect (and since I live outside Chicago, I may have to read it too, based on your review)

>>18 lahochstetler: - hmmm...I'm not sure if I'm "really into perfume", but that book has been on my wishlist for a while. I'll wait for your final verdict

>19 pbadeer: Thanks, Patrick. I've added "County" to the wiki, and I'll start reading it this week.