A sometimes illuminating but uneven examination of the current state of American manufacturing.
What does “Made in the U.S.A.” mean these days? One company’s odyssey suggests an answer.
There aren’t many success stories in 21st-century American manufacturing, but Slade, a journalist and bestselling author of Into the Raging Sea, has found one: an apparel firm called American Roots, founded by idealistic Ben and Whitney Waxman. They were determined to compete against cheap imports while paying their workers at good rates and with union benefits to make vests, shirts, and hoodies. When the pandemic hit, the firm pivoted to produce face shields and other protective equipment, reconfiguring their factory so workers could operate safely. The American Roots story shows that manufacturing in the U.S. is alive and deserves support, which makes it unfortunate that Slade often wanders away from the primary narrative. The text meanders for 100 pages before the company is established; after that, the author takes numerous detours to deliver diatribes on misleading official statements about masking made during the pandemic and “the demonization of unions, wrapped in the new mystical language of free trade.” Granted, a certain amount of background information and cultural context is welcome, but the amount of it here raises the question as to what the book is really about. Slade is on firmer ground when she examines the problems of running the company, from haggling with fabric suppliers and finding skilled employees to monitoring the bottom line. It was a constant battle between operational efficiency and social objectives, but eventually, the Waxmans found a balance. By the end of the book, American Roots is poised for the next step in its growth path. If Slade had been willing to tell the story in straightforward terms, this would have been a more readable, engaging book.
A sometimes illuminating but uneven examination of the current state of American manufacturing.Pub Date: today
ISBN: 9780593316887
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Pantheon
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Perhaps not magic but appealing nonetheless.
Want to get ahead in business? Consult a dictionary.
By Wharton School professor Berger’s account, much of the art of persuasion lies in the art of choosing the right word. Want to jump ahead of others waiting in line to use a photocopy machine, even if they’re grizzled New Yorkers? Throw a because into the equation (“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine, because I’m in a rush?”), and you’re likely to get your way. Want someone to do your copying for you? Then change your verbs to nouns: not “Can you help me?” but “Can you be a helper?” As Berger notes, there’s a subtle psychological shift at play when a person becomes not a mere instrument in helping but instead acquires an identity as a helper. It’s the little things, one supposes, and the author offers some interesting strategies that eager readers will want to try out. Instead of alienating a listener with the omniscient should, as in “You should do this,” try could instead: “Well, you could…” induces all concerned “to recognize that there might be other possibilities.” Berger’s counsel that one should use abstractions contradicts his admonition to use concrete language, and it doesn’t help matters to say that each is appropriate to a particular situation, while grammarians will wince at his suggestion that a nerve-calming exercise to “try talking to yourself in the third person (‘You can do it!’)” in fact invokes the second person. Still, there are plenty of useful insights, particularly for students of advertising and public speaking. It’s intriguing to note that appeals to God are less effective in securing a loan than a simple affirmative such as “I pay all bills…on time”), and it’s helpful to keep in mind that “the right words used at the right time can have immense power.”
Perhaps not magic but appealing nonetheless.Pub Date: March 7, 2023
ISBN: 9780063204935
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper Business
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
A mostly compelling account of one woman’s struggles within Trumpworld.
An insider’s account of the rampant misconduct within the Trump administration, including the tumult surrounding the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.
Hutchinson, who served as an assistant to Mark Meadows, Trump’s former White House chief of staff, gained national prominence when she testified to the House Select Committee, providing possibly the most damaging portrait of Trump’s erratic behavior to date. In her hotly anticipated memoir, the author traces the challenges and triumphs of her upbringing in New Jersey and the work (including a stint as an intern with Sen. Ted Cruz) that led her to coveted White House internships and eventual positions in the Office of Legislative Affairs and with Meadows. While the book offers few big reveals beyond her testimony (many details leaked before publication), her behind-the-scenes account of the chaotic Trump administration is intermittently insightful. Her initial portrait of Trump is less critical than those written by other former staffers, as the author gauges how his actions were seemingly stirred more by vanity and fear of appearing weak, rather than pure malevolency. For example, she recalls how he attended an event without a mask because he didn’t want to smear his face bronzer. Hutchinson also provides fairly nuanced portraits of Meadows and Rep. Kevin McCarthy, who, along with Trump, eventually turned against her. She shares far more negative assessments about others in Trump’s orbit, including Rep. Matt Gaetz, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, and adviser Rudy Giuliani, recounting how Giuliani groped her backstage during Trump’s Jan. 6 speech. The narrative lags after the author leaves the White House, but the story intensifies as she’s faced with subpoenas to testify and is forced to undergo deep soul-searching before choosing to sever ties with Trump and provide the incriminating information that could help take him down.
A mostly compelling account of one woman’s struggles within Trumpworld.Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781668028285
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2023
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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