On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors: John Z. DeLorean's Look Inside the Automotive Giant

Customer Reviews:

Dinosaur organizations: past and present. Look carefully inside........2007-05-09

This is a favorite book because of the clear description of the life and emotions of an innovative project leader working inside one of the world's most bureaucratic organizations. Once seen as the ultimate in career security and lifelong comfort, General Motors became a constraining and anti-innovative weight around the passions of Mr. DeLorean. And, while once he was seen as a bright and promising superstar by the corporation, he was later considered irresponsible and a danger to corporate stability. His journey story, as told here, will give serious insights into corporate life that workers, managers, and leaders in many organizations would do well to study. Favorite quotes: "I got the empty feeling that "what I am doing here may be nothing more than perpetuating a gigantic fraud," a fraud on the American consumer by promising him something new but giving him only the surface alterations....I always had he vague suspicion that the annual model change may be good for the auto business in the short term but that it wasn't good for the economy and the country. Couldn't the money we spent on annual, superficial styling changes be better spent in reducing prices or in improving service and reliability? Or seeking solutions to the sociological problems with which our products were creating in areas of pollution, energy consumption, safety, and congestion?" "A fault that GM has had for a long time is its feeling that, since it sells more cars and trucks than anyone else in the world and makes far more money than any other automotive company, the GM way is the only way. At Chevrolet this corporate thinking translated into the theory that since Chevrolet is the number one nameplate in the American automobile industry it is unwise to tamper with its proven formula for success....This malady is common in some businesses. It also is common in professional sports where management with a team that is old but still winning is often reluctant to bring in younger talent. The result is, of course, that one day the winning record stops because the players are to old to compete effectively."
And, a word to organizations seeking to reduce expense instead of changing the world, "A man trained and skilled only in financial control, who has no direct operational experience, simply lacks the understanding necessary to run the business."
Study the decline of the dinosaur, General Motors, and you can predict what many of today's organizations will experience in the near future.
From Jon, the Civilsociety at Seedwiki guy.

poor writing, excellent topic.......2004-05-13

This book had as much rythym as a train switchyard run by an epileptic. John DeLorean is cast as the ignored messiah, one who's reputation for rocking the boat is only countered by the results he achieved. Simple technical errors abound, leading one to wonder what other facts where not true. What is true is the basic premise: GM had the world by the ass, and thru arrogance and sheer inertia is suffocating under it's own weight. It is grim to read this, written in the mid 70's realising that half-wit Roger Smith was just around the corner...

Interesting Tale -- Before The Fall.......2002-09-10

This is an interesting ego-trip examination of the stagnation of General Motors, which beginning in the mid-1970s declined into a top-heavy bureaucracy that appeared to have forgotten it was in the automobile business. DeLorean rammed a literary ice pick into several nerves, though the entire presentation had a bit of an I-told-them-so-at-the-time shade to it.

DeLorean later encountered his own executive problems at DeLorean Motors, but his lawyer was able to convince the jury that Naive John was a victim of entrapment. DeLorean and his Motors never really recovered after that, but the car went on to do very well in three Michael J. Fox movies.

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Just brilliant!!! Great Book for DeLorean fans

DeLorean: Stainless Steel Illusion
John Lamm
Manufacturer: DeLorean Motor Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0974414107

Product Description

Second revised edition of this very hard-to-find book. Only title which covers the cars rather than the man

Customer Reviews:

Just brilliant!!! Great Book for DeLorean fans.......2005-03-31

This is the best Book I've ever seen on the DeLorean car.It's just filled with literally hundreds of colour & B & W pics.Everything from the Factory,employees,rare sketches,prototype models & all kinds of promo pics as well.In addition the Text is almost exhausting,yet very clear,precise & organized.If you're interested in DeLorean history,are a car buff,or looking for a good work on American Automotive History in general,this is a great book to check out.

It's a bit pricey-$39.95 +Shipping at www.delorean.com But well worth it IMO. Book is Hardcover,very well made.Great addition to a person's Library. Highly recommended.

Grand Delusions the Cosmic Career of John Delorean

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Grand Delusions the Cosmic Career of John Delorean
Hillel Levin
Manufacturer: Viking
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J0IG1G

Dream Maker: The Rise and Fall of John Z. DeLorean

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Good Enough for the Facts---Not Much Else
Exhaustive But Biased

Dream Maker: The Rise and Fall of John Z. DeLorean
Ivan Fallon , and James Srodes
Manufacturer: Putnam Pub Group (T)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0399128212

Customer Reviews:

Good Enough for the Facts---Not Much Else.......2005-05-01

With John Delorean's recent death in March, I though that it would be appropriate to read a book about Delorean Motor Company before I forgot for good. I didn't know the complete story about Delorean's dream of making a gull-winged sports car, and that's a shame. Although he never achieved this grand plan, I still think that his attempt was worthy in a market dominated by huge corporations.

But, just as Delorean Motor Company failed in the market, the book I read, "Dream Maker: the Rise and Fall of John Z. Delorean," fails, as well. It fails, because it's not genuine. Instead of letting the facts stand on their own, the authors continually ridicule Delorean. I don't know what their true intent is, but it seems that they are trying to create an arbitrary connection between Delorean's stainless steel car and Delorean's stained work ethic. Unfortunately, this type of writing doesn't offer anything new. Too often people criticize the poor decisions Delorean made, and they don't take into consideration the gravity of the situation. Also, they pay no mind that the drug charges against Delorean could have been a hoax, like some other people insist.

Overall, this type of bias undermines the somewhat decent quality of this book---the history of DMC.

Exhaustive But Biased.......2000-07-13

This story of the rise and fall of DeLorean Motor Company is exhaustively researched and fabulously detailed, but the authors make no attempt to hide their loathing for the man. From the Prologue onward, snide jabs (such as "The DeLorean story warns us to be more cautious and reluctant to entrust our dreams to others") pepper the narrative.

Personally, I would have preferred the facts speak for themselves. JZD was (and remains) a complex character whose story is considerably more multi-faceted than Fallon/Srodes allow for. You can see it physically pains the authors when they have to admit John's fidelity, sobriety and work ethic. A less-biased accounting would have allowed the reader to form his or her own opinion, and there's plenty of material to support any range of opinion.

Book Description

From a motoring enthusiast's point the sports car which former Pontiac supremo John De Lorean drew up to sell to Americans was a fascinating machine. The gullwing doors lost appeal when electrical failures prevented them from opening & the unpainted stainless steel body panels proved far from stainless in practice. However, the Giugiaro design is still attractive and with only around 4,000 cars built still attracts attention. This is a book of contemporary road & comparison tests, technical and specification data, engineering background, history, De Lorean interview, and company history.

Customer Reviews:

Great Information.......2006-11-19

DeLorean was a great man, like Henry Ford. I regret how the British government treated him. It just shows that our antitrust laws can be circumvented on the global scale. Big business doensn't like competition. On a happy note, they still manufacture DeLorean's if you want to buy one. They're in the price range of 20 grand. Not bad for a great car that has style. DeLorean was a great Christian man who was blackmailed by our own government for the sake of big business. Between English government and our own government, it just shows how our government has become of the rich and powerful, by the rich and powerful and for the rich and powerful.

THE book on the technics of the De Lorean!.......2006-11-03

The De Lorean DMC-12 (manufactured 1981-1982) was and remains to this day an automobile classic of all time--not only because of its superb styling and its role in the "Back to the Future" films but also because its history typified the central theme of Greek tragedy: a fatal flaw (in this case, reliance on unfulfiled promises of the British government), eliciting pity and fear in those witnessing it. This book, providing reprints of the most important motor magazine articles evaluating the car, is a must for De Lorean fans. To be sure, Clarke's book should be purchased along with John Z. DeLorean's autobiography (titled, simply, "DeLorean," Zondervan, 1985) and the second edition of John Lamm's "De Lorean: The Stainless Steel Illusion" (Red Lion Press, 2003). It is of more than passing interest that John DeLorean himself, having created a genuinely transcendent automobile--one that is indeed timeless. as this book illustrates--ultimately became a Christian believer.

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Guilty, But Not As Charged
Behind the Company

DeLorean
John Z. DeLorean , and Ted Schwarz
Manufacturer: Zondervan Publishing House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0310379407

Customer Reviews:

Guilty, But Not As Charged.......2000-08-05

After reading "Dream Maker," the DeLorean hatchet job by Ivan Fallon and James Srodes, I had to seek out and read DeLorean's own rebuttal. "Dream Maker" left enough doubt (and displayed so much bias) that it's obvious there are two sides to the story.

I must say, it confirms more than it denies. Oh, the drug charges and trial were obvious government falsehoods, and John easily demolishes the evidence against him. Recounting the travesty trial takes over half the book, even though "Dream Maker" stops before the trial begins.

What was more interesting is his recounting of his life before the trial, and his very, very brief touching on the failure of DeLorean Motor Company. In these he reveals himself to be very vain, mean-spirited, self-centered and willing to blame everyone but himself. It is not pretty reading his cruel and tactless dismissals of his ex-wifes or business partners.

He starts the acknowledgements by saying that writing this book was good therapy. "In the beginning, [co-author] Ted [Schwarz] knew that I was bitter, angry and hostile. But as he and I talked through 1,200 pages of transcript, I slowly healed and developed a more balanced view, just as Ted knew I would."

Well, a few more months of healing would have been beneficial, because this book blames everybody for the downfall of JZD and DMC except the one person who, clearly, was to blame.

John's conversion to born-again Christianity, which dominates the last half of the book, is just another case of seeking to escape responsibility. Everything is "God's will."

In all, a fascinating glimpse into a slimy world of high stakes, high finance and huge egos.

Behind the Company.......2000-06-08

A great book written by a great man! Before you make judgements about John DeLorean...hear it from his side. A MUST READ for any DeLorean enthusiast or if you just want to know more about the man, car and company.

Hard Driving: My Years With John Delorean

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Drive Hard -or go home!

Hard Driving: My Years With John Delorean
William Haddad
Manufacturer: PaperJacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0770104770

Customer Reviews:

Drive Hard -or go home!.......2007-10-02

I just read this book and I don't regret it.
I feel I could see -through the authors eyes- what one side of John Z DeLorean was like...

This is a story that covers only a very brief part of DeLorean's life (obviously) and I don't consider it the entire measure of the man.

I would say that the author presents a credible account of his perspective, I did not get the feeling that it was biased beyond that of someone who was so close to the matter. The excitement, enthusiasm, frustration, disappointment and regret show through. But it does not spoil the read, it instead reinforces its credibility and makes the whole journey more intimate.

I am left wondering about the other side of the coin, I wish I could know what JZD was thinking and what were his true motivations and timings. Like anyone out there, he was unique. -even if things done in his business and personal life were later perceived as 'predictable in hind sight'.

It truly was a fascinating read, my unfounded, biased and preconceived ideas about JZD were challenged and I am now waiting the delivery of DeLoeran's own book on the matter.

-I dream a world where dreamers succeed and the righteous lead.

Cristina Ferrare Style: How to Have It in Every Part of Your Life

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Cristina Ferrare Style: How to Have It in Every Part of Your Life
Cristina Ferrare , Sherry Suib Cohen , and Cristina Ferrare Delorean
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0671468499

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DeLorean
JOHN Z DeLOREAN
Manufacturer: Zondervan Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GKTDUW

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The DeLorean Tapes (The Evidence)

Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000F3JSY6

Book Description

The first extensive treatment of Michigan's early miltary forces, this book includes the names of all known Michiganians who answered the call to arms prior to the Civil War and explains the circumstances of each major conflict.

Book Description

NGO activity in the 1990s is often claimed to be unprecedented, yet it is not so new. The first victory by NGOs in the UN was fifty years ago, when they obtained provision in the UN Charter for their own participation with 'consultative status'. Since then their influence has grown steadily, to cover all the work of the Economic and Social Council, along with the operational programmes in developing countries, the specialised agencies and UN conferences. They have also been important in the fields of human rights, disaster relief, development and the environment. But what is an NGO? What are the historical roots? How do NGOs gain recognition at the UN and at conferences? What rights of participation do NGOs have and how do they gain influence? All these questions are answered in this book, which should banish any idea that the UN system is simply a centre for professional diplomats. Global civil society, expressed through the NGOs, is as much a part of UN politics as pressure group activity is a part of the domestic politics of a democracy.

Customer Reviews:

Tells of NGO efforts to bring the UN Charter into practice.......1998-03-11

Reviewed by ERSKINE CHILDERS in International Relations, Volume XIII, No 1, April 1996

The United Nations Charter was not going to have any Preamble in the draft that emerged from the powers' discussions at Dumbarton Oaks. It was to begin in the stentorian language of the Covenant of the League of Nations: `The High Contracting Parties ...'. Jan Smuts of South Africa and a few other UN founders urged a beginning with the world's peoples, but it was when a young American woman, Virginia Gildersleeve, got her hands on the draft that the peoples got their opening page (at least).
In the US Constitution from which Dean Gildersleeve drew her inspiration, the people establish their new government. In the Charter, `We, the Peoples of the United Nations' were not allowed to do the equivalent. The Peoples make the marvellous ethical invocations and first statements of what the UN must do. Then in bold capitals the Peoples proclaim that they `HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS' - but abruptly, as though some thoroughly alarmed diplomat was shooing them from halls hallowed for his ilk, the Peoples say that `accordingly, our respective Governments ... do hereby establish the United Nations', and disappear. Article 71 does provide for consultations by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Otherwise the Peoples of the United Nations are not seen in the Charter.
The Conscience of the World is the first book I know of to trace, in such substance and meticulous detail, the story of NGO efforts to bring the Charter's waiting words into practical working life. I had the privilege of working in the NGO community in various countries during the UN's first 20 years, then trying to build UN-system bridges with NGOs from within as a UN civil servant for the next 23, and I can vouch for many of the analyses and insights in this extremely valuable book.
After a good Introduction by Editor Peter Willetts, a retrospect from the Congress of Vienna to the founding of the UN by Bill Seary is followed by a masterly overview of NGO Consultative Status at the UN, again by Dr. Willetts. Then the reader is drawn into the dense undergrowth and complexities of the interplay of two cultures and dozens of sub-cultures - the intergovernmental and the non-governmental communities.
There are excellent historical reconstructions of the growth of NGO action and influence in the UN system in the controversial World Bank (Seamus Cleary), women's rights and other concerns (Jane Connors), Amnesty International (Helena Cooke), the environment (Sally Morphet), the Rights of the Child (Michael Longford), and Refugees (Angela Penrose and John Seaman), and a short and gentle Conclusion by John Sankey. This solid sequence of highly professional and expert-technical essays is nicely leavened by a less taxing yet intellectually challenging `Memoir' about UNESCO and NGOs from Richard Hoggart who saw them from the inside as a UNESCO Assistant Director-General.
This book is not an `easy read' and makes no claim to be. It is densely packed with statistical data and contains long strings of tight analysis. Since it is absolutely bound to have to go into a further edition I need not hesitate to suggest that rather more recurring assembly of key points, and the use of boxes of key facts and more crucial statistics would help. A more substantial and forward-reaching conclusion should be possible when more is clear about how the UN is going to cope with the NGO world's healthy besieging of its central machinery and its agencies. Meanwhile this edition is a `must' for all NGOs that are serious about `working' the UN system, and for government ministries, their diplomatic missions to the UN and Agencies, and the system's own civil servants.
A fairly mutual disdain was for several decades among the reasons why so many NGOs have had the kind of struggle to be heard in UN forums that this book so admirably recounts. My own reading of the history is that the origins of this disdain lie in the interplay of national civil services and national NGOs. Those experiences began between earlier class-dominated government and its hauteur-imitating civil servants on one hand, and often poor, scruffy and seldom well-trained NGO workers (`agitators' one and all!) on the other. These early-engendered perceptions of each other seem to have carried outwards into the intergovernmental and international-NGO dimension.
With the exception of such institution-oriented NGOs as the UN Associations and their global federation (WFUNA), until the 1970s most citizens' organizations held the UN at a suspicious and even contemptuous arm's length as `just another great bureaucracy', meaning more of the same as with national civil services. Over a generation, mainstream Western media depicting the UN as helpless between the Cold War giants also helped to disenchant the growing NGO community.
Then NGOs began to mushroom all over the world on economic, social and environmental issues in the 1970s (each chapter in this book that deals with such issues traces their phenomenal growth). Still, however, except for lobbying at UN `mega-conferences', issue NGOs found it difficult to perceive the importance of the ongoing machinery of the UN system for their goals and activities. This generated a further bouncing-off effect because, when they might suddenly need to penetrate the machinery, many did not know enough about it to get anywhere, but tended to blame `the UN' for mysteries of their own making.
However, many diplomats at the UN could also be extremely haughty. Ever since the first Congress of Vienna they had developed a subtle culture of working with each other. For many NGO spokespersons these ways seemed absurd. The delicate nuances of diplomatic language could be maddening. It took time to discover that when one delegate spent long minutes praising the proposed amendment of another, this actually meant total opposition to it. It could take longer for NGO people to understand that, if diplomats had drafted the phrase `in the context of', they did not want some stranger in blue jeans or tennis shoes asking them with best intentions, `Why don't you just write `because', since that's what you apparently mean?'
On the other hand, many UN diplomats who did believe in NGO voices being heard by delegations would privately express acute and often justified frustration: `Its marvellous when an NGO comes whose representative really knows the subject and also knows what we're trying to do about it and how we have to work ... but may the Good Lord protect us from those who don't know either ...'
This book is full of descriptions by NGO experts of how much knowledge it takes to penetrate the UN intergovernmental culture and why amateurishness helps no one. Michael Longford, in his excellent essay on the history of NGO action for the Rights of the Child, gently points out the enormous difference in impact on the drafting of the UN Declaration thereon as between specialist NGOs who were really expert in the subject, and those who could advocate but could not hold their own with governmental specialists.
Far better strategic and tactical planning is also needed, and NGO practitioners will gain untold benefits in this from this book because it is so meticulously practical, while scholarly. I have for years implored NGOs trying to get the International Monetary Fund to make both economic sense and social equity, to realise that there is little use in demonstrating outside a plush annual IMF meeting if they have not already lobbied their national Ministry of Finance and their parliament's relevant committee. In her incisive, scholarly analysis of the experiences of Amnesty International, Helena Cooke points out how NGOs are often `frustrated to discover [that] there may be limited scope for influencing governments at the meeting itself'.
Gaining consultative status in ECOSOC has often been fraught with international politics, especially those of the Cold War. Peter Willetts point

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Thie Hill, This Valley: A Year of Country Living, Spring to Spring
Hal Borland
Manufacturer: S&S
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UW2V5K

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THIS HILL THIS VALLEY
Hal Borland
Manufacturer: Johns Hopkins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000INSIG2

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This Hill, This Valley
Hal Borland
Manufacturer: J. B. Lippincott Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KQNXT4

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A Must Read

This hill, this valley
Hal Borland
Manufacturer: Simon and Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Beyond Your Doorstep: A Handbook to the Country

ASIN: B0007DM9SG

Customer Reviews:

A Must Read.......2007-01-31

I found this book to be another of Hal Borland's masterful descriptions of the nature around us. When Hal describes a brook to fish in, or a hill loaded with color in the fall, an animal's tracks in the snow,a weathered fence line falling down, the sound of geese far overhead on a cold clear night.....You can feel, hear, and see in your mind's eye... exactly what he was describing. You might have even experienced these things, yourself, at some point in your busy life, but never thought any more about it until you opened the pages of this and all others by Hal Borland. This book is not only a MUST read....It's a GREAT read. Enjoy

[...]

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This Valley in the Hills
Unknown
Manufacturer: Northern Publishing Co. Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000X680B2

This side of the hill smells sweeter to tenants.(insurance brokerage moves to San Fernando Valley): An article from: San Fernando Valley Business Journal

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This side of the hill smells sweeter to tenants.(insurance brokerage moves to San Fernando Valley): An article from: San Fernando Valley Business Journal
Shelly Garcia
Manufacturer: CBJ, L.P.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from San Fernando Valley Business Journal, published by CBJ, L.P. on August 19, 2002. The length of the article is 1320 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: This side of the hill smells sweeter to tenants.(insurance brokerage moves to San Fernando Valley)
Author: Shelly Garcia
Publication: San Fernando Valley Business Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: August 19, 2002
Publisher: CBJ, L.P.
Volume: 7 Issue: 17 Page: 1(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

This valley in the hills;: The story of Maungaturoto, Brynderwyn, Bickerstaffe, Batley, Marohemo, Whakapirau. Compiled for the Maungaturoto Centennial Association

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This valley in the hills;: The story of Maungaturoto, Brynderwyn, Bickerstaffe, Batley, Marohemo, Whakapirau. Compiled for the Maungaturoto Centennial Association
Dick Butler
Manufacturer: Printed by the Northern Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007K6926

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