Nonfiction Book Reviews
Page Two of TwoMoney Clips by Lorraine Spurge
Hyperion, June 2000.Paperback, 256 pages.
ISBN: 0786884975.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
This personal finance resource includes
365 tips for making, saving and investing
money. Information is organized into
chapters, like a normal reference book, but the advice
is provided in the form of short tips,
making it much easier for the reader to digest.
The book also includes charts, tables
and graph when needed to help
explain a topic. For example,
readers can find a graph of the effects
of inflation, a table showing investment
growth over time and a table showing
monthly mortgage payments for different
loan amounts. The book also includes
several sample worksheets to help the
reader get going on their finances including
worksheets for figuring your net worth,
organizing the family budget, adding up
your debt and determining what kind of
investor you are. The book covers all
aspects of personal finance with chapters
about careers, managing your household,
banking, credit, mortgages, loans, teaching
kids about money, saving, investing,
taxes and long-term planning.
Author Lorraine Spurge worked her way up from secretary to high ranking positions in investment banking. She is now in head of her own firm, Spurge Ink, which publishes business information. With Money Clips, she provides a well-researched financial guide full of quick tips and advice that can help you learn how to earn and save more money. Readers will appreciate the well-organized topic areas and that each subject is provided as a new tip.
The White Sharks of Wall Street by Diana B. Henriques
Scribner, May 2000.Hardcover, 368 pages.
ISBN: 0684833999.
Ordering information:
Amazon.com.
The White Sharks of Wall Street
tells the life of corporate raider
Thomas Mellon Evans, who
fiercely acquired companies
using aggressive business
techniques that are
common practices today, but
were much less known in the
1940s to 1960s, when he
was busy acquiring some 80 companies.
Some of his practices developed
into what today is referred to as
downsizing, shareholder value,
mergers, conglomerates and hostile
takeovers. His aggressive business
style was also well ahead of its time.
The book follows his life and that
of numerous other corporate
raiders, including Charles Green,
Art Landa, Patrick B. McGinnis,
Louis E. Wolfson and Robert R. Young.
The book also chronicles Evans' personal life.
Evans had a tough life --
he was orphaned as a young boy
and went through two divorces.
The book also discusses his
relationship with his sons, who
also became big names in the
business world, and who were even
business rivals to Evans at various
times in their careers.
Pulitzer Prize-nominated New York Times financial reporter Diana B. Henriques provides in-depth insight into the ideas and actions of Evans and other early Wall Street corporate raiders. The book also serves as a fascinating look behind the scenes of major business dealings in the 1950s and 1960s, and the start of aggressive business tactics. The White Sharks of Wall Street is a captivating biography and historical account that should be of interest to business executives and scholars alike.
Nonfiction Reviews
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Return to the July 2000 issue of The IWJ.
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