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Dan Ackman BOOK REVIEWS Why Your Boss Needs to Care About You The Wall Street Journal, October 18, 2006 For a book essentially about empathy, "12: The Elements of Great Managing" is a little full of itself. The self-importance starts right on the cover: "12" bills itself as "the long awaited follow-up to the best seller, 'First, Break All the Rules.'" But it turns out that the earlier book, by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman -- about "what the world's greatest managers do differently" -- has had a few follow-ups already. Mr. Buckingham has written or co-written "Now, Discover Your Strengths" and "The One Thing You Need to Know." Mr. Coffman has written "Follow This Path." Neither man is involved in "12." MORE… Put on a Happy Face The Wall Street Journal, October 18, 2006 As it happens, Leo Durocher didn't say that "nice guys finish last." At least, he didn't say it in quite that way. The line evolved, he noted in his 1975 autobiography, from a 1946 pregame bull session with Frank Graham, a sportswriter. Durocher, then managing the Brooklyn Dodgers, was watching the rival New York Giants take the field, and he compared their players unfavorably with his own Eddie Stanky, a player of limited gifts but burning desire. He remarked: "Take a look at them. All nice guys. They'll finish last. Nice guys. Finish last." MORE… Guts Without Glory The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 1, 2006 As a guy who routinely gets lost trying to find the New Jersey Turnpike, I stand in awe of the African explorers. Park, Livingstone, Stanley, Burton and Kingsley are names that ring down through history, and with good reason. To travel without a map in lands with unknown diseases, unfathomable natural hazards and possibly homicidal inhabitants takes physical courage, bottomless aptitude and real flair, if not a charming kind of insanity. In "The Race for Timbuktu," Frank T. Kryza petitions to add Alexander Gordon Laing to this storied list. It's a tough sell. MORE… Food for Thought The Wall Street Journal, November 10, 2005 Early in "Terrors of the Table," Walter Gratzer describes the teachings of two of the earliest known students of diet and exercise. Alcmaeon, an early Greek medical writer (circa 450 B.C.), held that good health could be achieved by maintaining a strict equilibrium between what went in and what came out. Hippocrates of Cos, writing around the same time, extolled the virtue of moderation and stressed the value of regular exercise. MORE… Gold Coast Fever The Wall Street Journal, May 27, 2005 Once when Warren Buffett was touring San Simeon, or so the story goes, he grew tired of the tour guide's endless stories of the millions that William Randolph Hearst used to build it and the additional millions he splurged to furnish it. "Don't tell us how he spent it," Mr. Buffett told the guide. "Tell us how he made it!" MORE... A Basketball Miracle Forbes.com, April 1, 2005 The Miracle of St. Anthony, a new book on the dynastic high school basketball team from Jersey City, has many wonderful moments so it's hard to pick just a few. One priceless scene takes place in the locker room after St. Anthony, led by coach Bob Hurley, had just beaten St. Raymond's, a powerhouse team from the Bronx. Though undermanned and smaller than St. Raymond's, St. Anthony employed its trademark tenacious defense to win in convincing fashion, 54-46, despite missing four straight foul shots at the end of the game. MORE... That Certain Feeling The Wall Street Journal, August 31, 2004 'Nothing succeeds like success." Alexandre Dumas said it 150 years ago, and he said it in French. In "Confidence" (Crown Business, 402 pages, $27.50), Rosabeth Moss Kanter says much the same thing, and at much greater length. MORE... A Star Is Porn The Wall Street Journal, August 27, 2004 Jenna Jameson is famous for being famous. Plus naked. Even those who are unfamiliar with her body of work know Ms. Jameson as the biggest name in adult entertainment, which is how she bills herself and which undoubtedly she is, at least for the moment. MORE... Trump on Trump The Wall Street Journal, March 30, 2004 Who among us -- ex-wives, former mistresses and spurned business partners excepted -- does not love The Donald? He first entered our world, and allowed us into his, more than 20 years ago, and he has never left. Now the idea of Donald J. Trump not being around seems difficult to imagine. Mr. Trump always saves us the trouble of having to try. MORE... 24 Days In The Life (And Death) of Enron Forbes.com, September 4, 2004 24 Days (HarperBusiness, $25.95) is the latest in a lengthening series of Enron books written since the company declared bankruptcy in December 2001. What separates it from the pack is that it comes from Rebecca Smith and John R. Emshwiller, the Wall Street Journal reporters who, more than anyone else, exposed the series of lies behind Enron's financial disclosures. Enron's failure to offer honest accounting--even when it pretended to come clean--was what led to the financial markets to lose faith in the company. Without a steady infusion of cash from banks and investors, Enron lacked the resources to pay its bills and it went bust. MORE... Moneyball: The Art Of Winning An Unfair Game Forbes.com, May 28, 2003 Michael Lewis has a gift: He can walk into an area already mined by hundreds of writers and find gems there all along but somehow missed by his predecessors. Lewis did this in the The New New Thing, his book on the Internet and the new economy. Now he does it with Major League Baseball in Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.  MORE...