OK, there you are, turning to the business and finance section of BookPage, expecting to see, as you usually do, Michael Pellecchia's name and lots of pictures of business books. And you find . . . you find none of that. Nothing looks familiar. No Michael. No shots of book jackets. Just a lot of text, topped by an unfamiliar byline.
What's going on?
Well, there's a simple -- if rather sad -- explanation. BookPage's own Ann Meador Shayne has suffered a temporary lapse in judgment. She has asked me to take over the column, now that Mr. Pellecchia has decided to move on.
I'm flattered. Concerned. (Michael did a nice job.) And unknown to most of you. So, let me introduce myself. And ask for your help.
But, my checkered past aside, I really think of myself as an author. I have written eight books. With the exception of the one about coaching my then 7-year-old son and his friends ("My Season on the Brink: A Father's Summer as a Little League Manager" [St. Martin's]) they have all been about business. You might have actually heard of two of them. "Customers for Life" (with Carl Sewell) is still cluttering bookshelves everywhere even though it was published seven years ago, and "Grow Rich Slowly" was so massive (526 pages, not including a foreword, introduction, appendix, charts, graphs, afterword, illustrations, and a partridge in a pear tree) that you'll probably find your local library using it as a doorstop.
So I understand just how hard it is to create a book. That's the first thing you need to know about me.
Second, I am an avid consumer. In addition to reading just about every business book when it comes out, I go through two to three murder mysteries a week.
Finally, I truly believe that reading is not a solitary pursuit, but is -- just like my daughter's video games -- interactive. That's where the part about needing your help comes in. This column could simply be the world according to me. Lord knows I have no shortage of opinions about everything from aardvarks (for 'em) to zebus (they make aardvarks look like Tom Cruise). However, my particular take on the world may not be of any particular help to you when you are trying to decide what business or finance book to read.
With that said, you have a homework assignment. Tell me -- in as many words as you like -- what kind of books should be reviewed in this column.
Can't get enough about personal finance? Tell me. Never want to see another CEO biography again? Tell me that too. Your sensibilities as much as mine will shape this column.
Write me at either:
Paul B. Brown, 20 Screenhouse Lane, Duxbury, Mass. 02332-3311 or PaulBBrown@aol.com.
I promise next month's column will look more familiar.
©1997, ProMotion, inc.