Lapham's Rules of Influence

Lapham's Rules of Influence
Author: Lewis Lapham
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 177
Release: 1999-05-18
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0812992342

As the editor of Harper's Magazine, Lewis Lapham has enjoyed entrée to America's "cultural elite," a class distinguished by its talent for currying favor, licking boots, and kissing ass. Now, in this scathingly funny and politically incorrect self-help book, Mr. Lapham offers his best advice to aspiring careerists seeking to ride in helicopters and see themselves on television. Drawing upon a lifetime of experience among the cogno-scenti, Mr. Lapham breaks rank and reveals the unspoken secrets of getting ahead: what to say, how to dress, when to lie, whom to befriend, where to be seen, and why it is absolutely essential to wear clean shoes. ("The first impression is also the last impression. You don't wish to be remembered as the stain on the rug.") Anyone interested in self-advancement will be transformed by Lapham's Rules of Influence, which offers proven nuggets of wisdom. For example, when trying to impress the boss, remember: "Flattery cannot be too often or too recklessly applied. Think of it as suntan lotion or moisturizing cream." Written with stinging wit and tongue planted firmly in cheek, Lapham's Rules of Influence is a brilliant critique of class and manners in America, packed with the kind of irreverent observation that only Lewis Lapham can provide. Seek out the acquaintance of people richer and more important than yourself, and never take an interest in people who cannot do you any favors. Rumor tinged with malice is the most precious form of gossip. When you are invited to spend a weekend with important journalists or movie stars, it is considered polite to bring four items of unpublished slander in lieu of a house present or a bottle of wine. Make unsparing use of clichés. The empty word is the correct word. Contrary to the opinion of snobbish New York intellectuals, the placid murmur of cliché is always preferable to the expression of strong feeling, which is an embarrassment. A truly fashionable dinner party ends at the moment when all the guests have arrived and everybody has been seen or not seen. Once attendance has been taken, the rest of the evening is superfluous. A good meeting is one at which nothing happens. Sit erect, second all the motions, remember everybody's name.

Gag Rule

Gag Rule
Author: Lewis Lapham
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2005-06-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1101190752

From one of America’s most important voices of protest, an urgent polemic about the strangling of meaningful dissent—the lifeblood of our democracy—at the hands of a government and media increasingly beholden to the wealthy few. Dissent is democracy. Democracy is in trouble. Never before, Lewis Lapham argues, had voices of protest been so locked out of the mainstream conversation, so marginalized and muted by a government that recklessly disregards civil liberties, and by an ever more concentrated and profit-driven media in which the safe and the selling sweep all uncomfortable truths from view. In the midst of the “war on terror”—which made the hunt for communists in the 1950s look, in its clarity of aim and purpose, like the Normandy landings on D-Day—we faced a crisis of democracy as serious as any in our history. The Bush administration made no secret of its contempt for a cowed and largely silenced electorate, and without bothering to conceal its purpose the government coordinates, “not the defense of the American citizenry against a foreign enemy, but the protection of the American oligarchy from the American democracy.” Gag Rule is a rousing and necessary call to action in defense of one of our most important liberties, the right to raise our voices in dissent and have those voices heard.

Money and Class in America

Money and Class in America
Author: Lewis Lapham
Publisher: OR Books
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2018-10-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781944869892

"Money and Class in America: Notes and Observations on Our Civil Religion was first published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, New York, in 1988"--Title pages verso.

The 401(K) Millionaire

The 401(K) Millionaire
Author: Knute Iwaszko
Publisher: Villard
Total Pages: 245
Release: 2009-05-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 030755404X

"If you, a regular Joe like me, are not a movie star or an overpaid professional baseball player or a lottery winner or a high-powered executive, what are your chances of becoming a millionaire? Better than you think--much better. And you don't have to strike oil to do it. The secret? It's not glamorous, but it is simple, and almost foolproof, because the math is in your favor. It's my story, and the story of others who are quietly amassing 401(k) fortunes--and the simple plan to make your story my story. " A surefire plan for financial independence--through bull and bear markets. Knute Iwaszko--by turns a chemist, a salesman, and an innkeeper--made a million dollars without robbing a bank, without an inheritance, and without a Silicon Valley startup. He made it in a reliable but thoroughly new-fashioned way: by maximizing the potential of his 401(k) plan--and now he's going to tell millions of people how they, too, can become millionaires. This book will thoroughly explain the ins and outs of how 401(k) plans work, including tax benefits, contribution requirements and limits, withdrawal limitations, and risk management--and then fully describes "Knute's Unbeatable, Unbreak-able Rules for Making It to a Million": a foolproof formula that gives readers a step-by-step regimen for maximizing the potential of their 401(k) plans. With simple, accessible language and clear, detailed steps for financial success, The 401(k) Millionaire is required reading for anyone who wants to make the most of his or her money. "If you follow my five simple rules for 401(k) investing, there's no doubt in my mind that you can end up a 401(k) millionaire, too. Allow me to demonstrate how it's done . . ." 401(k) millionaire Knute Iwaszko's practical, surefire plan for financial success includes such topics as: How I Became a 401(k) Millionaire The 401(k): Your Personal Money Machine The Perils of Procrastination Maxing Out: More Money for You--and Less for Uncle Sam Learning the Ropes: Your Inner Savvy Investor Be Aggressive: Your Retirement Depends on It Knute's Recipe for Success

Kindergarten Chats and Other Writings

Kindergarten Chats and Other Writings
Author: Louis H. Sullivan
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 260
Release: 1979-01-01
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 9780486238128

A reprint of the definitive 1918 edition, this bold, thought-provoking volume by one of America's most influential architects features dialogs, or "chats," about architecture, art, education, and life in general. 17 illustrations.

Lights, Camera, Democracy!

Lights, Camera, Democracy!
Author: Lewis Lapham
Publisher: AtRandom
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2001-03-27
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0679647139

For fifteen years, Lewis Lapham has written a monthly column in Harper's Magazine, for which he won a 1995 National Magazine Award for his "exhilarating point of view in an age of conformity." This major collection of Lapham's essays defines his distinct view of the way the world really works, through vivid analysis of media, language, culture, and education. Lapham brings an acute eye to the ways of Washington, the manners of the money class, and the stirrings of the global economy. With originality and breadth, he illuminates the quirks and essential truths of the American character.

Rebounders

Rebounders
Author: Rick Newman
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2012
Genre: Career changes
ISBN: 0345527836

"U.S. News & World Report" journalist Newman examines the rise and fall--and rise again--of some of our most prolific and productive figures in order to demystify the anatomy of resilience.

Mankind United

Mankind United
Author: Arthur Bell
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
Total Pages: 344
Release:
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1465576800

"Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!"

Author: Ralph Nader
Publisher: Seven Stories Press
Total Pages: 671
Release: 2011-01-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1609800478

"In the cozy den of the large but modest house in Omaha where he has lived since he started on his first billion, Warren Buffett watched the horrors of Hurricane Katrina unfold on television in early September 2005. . . . On the fourth day, he beheld in disbelief the paralysis of local, state, and federal authorities unable to commence basic operations of rescue and sustenance, not just in New Orleans, but in towns and villages all along the Gulf Coast. . . He knew exactly what he had to do. . ." So begins the vivid fictional account by political activist and bestselling author Ralph Nader that answers the question, "What if?" What if a cadre of superrich individuals tried to become a driving force in America to organize and institutionalize the interests of the citizens of this troubled nation? What if some of America's most powerful individuals decided it was time to fix our government and return the power to the people? What if they focused their power on unionizing Wal-Mart? What if a national political party were formed with the sole purpose of advancing clean elections? What if these seventeen superrich individuals decided to galvanize a movement for alternative forms of energy that will effectively clean up the environment? What if together they took on corporate goliaths and Congress to provide the necessities of life and advance the solutions so long left on the shelf by an avaricious oligarchy? What could happen? This extraordinary story, written by the author who knows the most about citizen action, returns us to the literature of American social movements—to Edward Bellamy, to Upton Sinclair, to John Steinbeck, to Stephen Crane—reminding us in the process that changing the body politic of America starts with imagination.