Dave McKean, most commonly associated with Neil Gaiman of Sandman fame as an illustrator, also writes, and writes very well. I have never understood why this work was so collectively ignored by Gaiman fans, except that maybe it is so hard to find. I assure you, it is WELL worth the search. McKean's writing is easily comparable to Gaiman's. He has the same ability to lead you into a world that is darkly ascewed and make it absorbing, believable and passionate. Anyone who enjoys Cronemburg, Burroughs, or Lynch would be well served to seek out Cages. And don't let the art style throw you; it grows on you.

Cages is that rarest of graphic novels ; a work that can be called art and not just entertainment. The multiplicity of visual motifs from a very basic pencilled line that is very impressive to painting and highly skilled photo collages show a visual versatility that is formidable by itself. I was surprised at the skill of his writing, At first reading, I thought Cages was merely a self referential book on the nature of creativity.But further readings show that the novel also discusses the nature of God, sex and human relationships and the way in which any or all aspects of human existence can tun into a cage if one does not have balance and perspective. The jazz musician poet is the character who comes closest to having this and is the most admirable character in the novel; he is able to live outside of the cage most of the time. This graphic novel meets the definition of art in that second and even seventh readings or viewings add to the experience while well done entertainment has little to say beyond a first or maybe second reading, All serous comics lovers should read Cages and preferably more than once.NBM took over the publishing fromthe defunct former publisher so it should be easier to find or get by way of special order.

Comic books have come a long way since the inception ofSuperman. And, believe it or not, Archie and Jughead are no longerconsidered "cutting edge." Comics have blossomed. Why, there are even murmurs that, at it's best, it might even be considered a valid medium. Stranger still, there are those who will swear that it can be comparable to high art. For the incredulous, I offer Dave McKean's extraordinary comics opus, Cages. While winning a truckload of awards for his illustration work, he was quietly creating what can only be called a comics masterpiece. At the risk of sounding like Bertrand Russell, Cages tugs at the fabric behind reality, never wholly taking leave of what it is to be human. What's so admirable about this is that McKean does so with a light touch. Peppered with a dry humor that will make you laugh 'till you cry, and mixed with equal parts mystery, philosophy, art, love (not the drippy storybook stuff...the real thing), absurdity, pain, and magic, Cages takes comics waaaaaay beyond Jughead. The art, like the writing is exceptional. Most is done in plain, raw (dare I say "immediate?") ink drawings with a subtle touch of blue-gray for color. Simple? yes. But EXTREMELY emotive. And watch out...when he does dive into glorious four-color, his truckload of awards suddenly makes a lot of sense. This is clearly the work of a man who grasps the medium in which he works; the art and story work in perfect synergy. Cages is the story of a young artist in the same way that Citizen Kane is the story of some rich guy. Masterpieces can never be summed up in a word. Find out for yourself what it's all about. Find out for yourself where comics can take you. Make no mistake. This is art.

If you are reading this, I will assume that you are already a fan of either Dave McKean in particular or Sandman in general.

Included are all the covers from the Sandman series minus the logo, publisher and price indicia, UPC codes, etc., thus showcasing these wonderful works of art in the format they deserve. Also included are some extra pages of art used to fill out the Sandman trade paperback collections. Even if you own the whole series, it is a worthwhile buy. But what makes the collection particularly unique is the inclusion of a brand new true story by Neil Gaiman and McKean about how the ficitonal world of the Sandman intruded upon their lives during the planning stage of the series.

As other reviewers have noted, the artwork is worth viewing on its own merits and deals with universal themes from the unconscious, so even if you don't know what the heck Sandman is it is worth a look. This is surrealism at its height by a master of many artistic media including painting, collage and computer graphics.

This book might be one of the better art books I've ever laid my hands on. It has it all! The first pages contains a, as usual, weird Sandman story, never released before. Dave and Neil also sets the standard for the rest of the books comments, ironic and sarcastic. Then from there on and out, the amazing covers, but that's not all, its also got comments on each cover by Dave and Neil, and the covers are printed without any logos or titles on them! Interior art is also included. The layout by Dave McKean is also beautiful, and at the end of the book, you can see some nice art from his studio in England. This book is a must for anyone who likes art in general, maybe especialy the mystic and dark genre. Dave McKean has reallly shown us that he is maybe one of this decades most talented and creative artists!

Dave McKean's artwork is simply brilliant in this amazing and complete anthology of all his Sandman covers. Dave uses a variety of media, including photography, pen & pencil, and computer graphics. He uses strange, unconventional color schemes and interesting juxtaposition to weave complicated collages and tapestries of some of the best contemporary gothic imagery I have ever laid eyes on...a dazzling collection of dark, creative & surreal art.

Sandman is one of the most unique and original comic series in history, and it has covers to match. Most other comic covers are nice, detailed and stylistic, but often plain, uninspired and all-together too similar. The Sandman covers are twisted, gritty and often haunting works which evoke intense feelings in the viewer's mind. Some make you want to look away, others draw you in. Regardless, all the artwork here will leave you eager to explore its nuances and most exquisite facets.

In addition to the astounding artwork, a few extra bits and pieces were included to make this more of a complementary package. A short, previously unreleased Sandman story, insightful commentary for every cover, plus some interesting anecdotes and quotes make this a true collector's item. All of the covers are in their original form, free of logos, titles, code-numbers or any other markings which might obscure the aesthetic wonder of these ingenious creations.

You're paying ... for 208 pages of extraordinary artwork, writing and design by Dave McKean and Neil Gaiman. This comes down to 8.3 cents a page--a true bargain. If you're not willing to pay 8.3 cents for a wonderful work of art, then you may want to re-evaluate your definition of thriftiness.

After finishing this book in the wee hours of this morning I've come to the conclusion that Cale must be appreciated for his solitary genius in the fields of art and expression but also must be taken with a grain of salt. The entire book seems to be a thinly veiled attack at Lou Reed whom Cale seems overwhelmingly jealous of (thou others would tend to disgree) Plus it shows him as a very difficult individual to get along with (ie his many wives, his broken colaborative relationships with Reed and Brian Eno) I also found it amusing how he brought it other commentators only to attack Reed and make Cale out to be a saint. Overall this is a very well written book filled with sardonic wit and dry humor with an excellent view into the VU, The Factory days, and the progression of one man's struggles through himself and art. Cale is not blameless in his trangressions but I think he sees this...

I just recently bought this book. I love it. Great stories, and nice pictures. Sometimes it is painfull honest. It is so nice to read about the start of the Velvet Underground.

Also the pictures are wonderful.

Bettina

I devoured this book about my top music hero and pronounce it good! It's not perfect though, I would have liked more background on some of the albums (people involved in the recording, events etc) especially his work with e.g. Nick Drake, and the editing is really sloppy: in one place early in the text, the title of a newspaper has just been left out, and Cale's collaboration with Bob Neuwerth is called Last NIGHT On Earth (it is DAY). It provides valuable insights into his personal life and artistic development, and early reflections on Andy Warhol and The Factory. Great photographs and illustrations too make for a very pleasing design. Certainly worthy of the man and his achievements.

This is Thomas Mckean's best book yet! It's even better than Harry Potter! All of his books should get back in print. He's my favorite aurthor. I bet that if all of his books went back in print and a few people told a few friends, who told a few friends, who told a few friends, etc. about this book he'd be bigger than JK Rowling as well as being better. If that does happen this will probably be the biggest and best book of them all!

I think that the Anti Peggy Plot is a great book! I hate Peggy and how everything she has is pink! I cant stand pink. I liked how the kids did all those mean things to Peggy. I especially liked the part when they ruined Peggy's meal like: putting cement in the bread (she said it was going to be so soft), and how they put peptobismo in the pink frosting of the cake, how they put so much peper in the spaggeti (thir dad is doesnt like so much peper). I think that Thomas McKeen did a wonderful job on this book The Anti Peggy Plot. I wish the book was still being printed, and it wasn't an out of print book. I go to school at Seely Place Elementary School, where Thomas used to work! I remember that when I was in kindergarten Thomas came into are room and each child bought Hooray For Grandma Joe. Mr. McKeen even singed the book. I still have my book! I am in Mrs.Weiss's 5th Grade class at Seely Place School. I am now reading the Secret Of The Seven Willows.

I think that the Anti Peggy Plot is a great book! I hate Peggy and how everything she has is pink! I cant stand pink. I liked how the kids did all those mean things to Peggy. I especially liked the part when they ruined Peggy's meal like: putting cement in the bread (she said it was going to be so soft), and how they put peptobismo in the pink frosting of the cake, how they put so much peper in the spaggeti (thir dad is doesnt like so much peper). I think that Thomas McKeen did a wonderful job on this book The Anti Peggy Plot. I wish the book was still being printed, and it wasn't an out of print book. I go to school at Seely Place Elementary School, where Thomas used to work! I remember that when I was in kindergarten Thomas came into are room and each child bought Hooray For Grandma Joe. Mr. McKeen even singed the book. I still have my book! I am in Mrs.Weiss's 5th Grade class at Seely Place School. I am now reading the Secret Of The Seven Willows.

I've always believed the best approach to object-oriented design is Responsibility Driven Design (RDD), and this is the best book on the subject-written by the inventor of RDD.

I recently showed Mike Rosen, of Cutter Consortium, Object Design. Before I could say it had great chapters on RDD plus work on design for reliability and flexibility plus pages of references to related books and papers, he said 'Great! This will be my next book purchase'.

So, why is Object Design: Roles, Responsibilities, and Collaborations (OD) a really great book? These folks have years of design consulting and teaching experience, know what they are talking about, and are good at telling the story.

OD is a great read from cover to cover. Their two-chapter review of object design concepts was energetic, insightful, and comprehensive. From the beginning they are mixing in CRC cards (Thanks Kent, Ward!), architecture styles, patterns, and stereotypes into the discussion. This is the place to start for novices and intermediate students, and professionals now have the definitive reference book on object oriented design.

The authors understand we all have different learning styles. Along with their conversation, the first two chapters also illustrate concepts and examples with over 20 figures, a couple of UML diagrams, three (short) Java code blocks, and eight CRC card drawings. Concrete examples are provided throughout the book, from computer speech to finance and telecommunications.

The Chapter titles are: 1 Design Concepts, 2 Responsibility Driven Design, 3 Finding Objects, 4 Responsibilities, 5 Collaborations, 6 Control Style, 7 Describing Collaborations, 8 Reliable Collaborations, 9 Flexibility, and 10 On Design. Each chapter includes a summary. The recommendations for further reading provide a guided tour of related works in software engineering, design, and general literature.

The authors share how they think about the critical areas of design for flexibility and reliability. So how do you build reliable systems? What are some experience-based guidelines for dealing with error conditions? What about all those exceptions anyway?! The chapter on flexibility is for me the heart of object technology. They show how you can apply object technology to give users control over their world. The analysis of hot spots or flex points guides the focused introduction of added flexibility. Then you can actually deliver on the promise of object oriented software.

Practitioners will find this book "spot on" for the treatment of UML and Patterns. So, yes, with three or more UML books on the shelf, I am sure you can draw all those diagrams - right? With OD you are learning to think in objects and to communicate your story. Your learning how to tell your story with UML, what to say visually and what not to say. OD is a pretty good source for UML notation guidance too, as the text and the diagrams are meticulously accurate, down to the arrow head styles. OD provides a good introduction to patterns and weaves a number of the more interesting GOF patterns into the design examples. Patterns are also emphasized in the chapter on flexibility.

Paraphrasing Ivar Jacobson's words from the forward: "this higher-level view of design, which focuses on responsibilities...helps you step away from implementation details and focus on what the appropriate software machinery should be..." In closing he writes: "Whether you are new to object technology or an experienced developer, this book is a rich source of practical advice."

These common sense lessons are essential for practitioners of design and systems architecting in all fields.

I purchased this book a week ago, and am enjoying it immensely. This
is NOT a book by authors that rapidly churn out multiple books, and it
is NOT a book to be read quickly. It's clear that a lot of thought
has gone into every page and every sentence, and that you need to
reflect and compare with your own professional programming experience.
Despite the huge amount of information, I'm finding the book very
readable. The authors make a living consulting on architecture and
design, and know how to communicate.

There are some code examples in java, but the book is really language
neutral. The java code uses features that are available in all object
oriented languages, and can really be considered to be illustrative
pseudo code. This book is written for software architects, and coders
who are looking to advance to higher levels of design responsibility.

A nice touch that I appreciated was the short summarizing side bars
sprinkled throughout the text. If you want to quickly evaluate whether
this book is for you are not, just pick up the book and read the
sidebars from beginning to end.

I think I finally have a handle on object modeling-- 'Object Design' deserves a lot of the credit.

I have a shelf full of books on UML, uses cases, patterns, and modeling. I spent almost a year struggling through UML, trying to understand the nuances of sequence diagrams versus collaboration diagrams. Meanwhile, I felt no closer to being able to create serviceable object models for my projects.

Rebecca Wirfs-Brock and Alan McKean dispense with much of the tedious diagramming one usually associates with object modeling. Instead of charts and relationships, the book focuses on the roles, responsibilities, and behaviors that define an object. If you have ever assembled and managed employee teams, the framework will be very fmailiar. And that's where I found my breakthrough.

The book offers a good introduction to object modeling for those new to the area, and a solid reference for those looking to stremline their current methodology. The processes suggested by the authors are simple and flexible. But they are powerful enough to handle even complex designs.

One of the strongest pieces of advice in the book is to avoid rushing into UML software--stick with index cards until the design is fairly well developed. That's what got me out of a morass of charts and diagrams that looked nice, but did relatively little. I'd paraphrase the book's theme as "Forget the formalism and focus on your application's responsibilities, and how those responsibilities can be allocated among cohesive, well-organized team players.:

The book is language neutral--it's focus is design, rather than programming. The design methodology taught in the book should be easily adaptable to nearly any object-oriented programming language.

I have no hesitation recommending Object Design to novice and intermediate object modelers. I rate is as the best book I have read on the design and modeling of object-oriented systems.

Neil Gaiman is my hero. I always have, and always will be intrigued by Punch & Judy. Therefore, Gaiman's Mr. Punch is one of the greatest works I've ever read. Though it is unfair to say "Gaiman's Mr. Punch", as it is equally Dave McKean's, for without him, I'm sure Mr. Punch would lose part of its eerie, strange, subtle power. Mr. Punch is an odd book. I read it in a single sitting, and afterwards, I was actually at a loss for words trying to describe what it is. This was a first; I can praise Neil Gaiman for hours on end, but I was stuck with Mr. Punch. I've seen it classified as Horror, Science Fiction, normal Fiction, and just as a Comic. But it is much more. It sent something through me - something that I am also at a loss of words about. This is a really great story, much like a dream (or nightmare, depending) it is surreal, yet uncommonly realistic; it is disturbing, but also soothing. It's more of an experience than a reading. McKean's artwork and Gaiman's words send you into something of a trance, where you enjoy yourself, get disturbed (actually, more troubled, as the young protangonist would say), and subtly reminded of your own childhood. A must read for any Gaiman or McKean fan, and also a must read for any Punch & Judy enthusiast, or anyone looking for a great read.

Neil Gaiman has several recurring themes to which he revisits again and again like the swallows returning to Capostrano. Foremost among these is the persistence of memory, which is the theme of "The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch."

The tale revolves around a Punch n' Judy show at a seaside carnival and how it acts as a trigger for a young boys memories of his family. As with much of Gaiman's work, there are tales within tales here, and the real story he tells is more implied than elucidated upon.

Dave McKean's art underscores this theme beautifully, with the "real" characters in the story as cartoon caricatures while the puppets look like photographs, exactly the focus with which young children would concentrate their memories. Can we not all remember a favorite toy more easily than our parents faces when we were little?

A marvelous and poignant tale well worth your time and money.

Mr. Punch is one of those rare graphic novels that transcends the "fat comic book" and truly explores the possibilities of the medium. The text and illustrations are bound together and support each other, yang and yin, dreams and nightmares, innocence and experience. Dave McKean's illustrations are not only great comic art, they're great fine art, complex, rich, powerful individually but devastating in sequence, and perfectly complement Neil Gaiman's spare, almost naive text

Rupert Holmes is a storyteller at heart. He's told stories through popular songs (love it or hate it, but "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" is a 3-minute story), television (the lovely "Remember WENN"), stage (the funny and suspenseful "Accomplice," as well as "The Mystery of Edwin Drood") and now tackles the novel.

"Where the Truth Lies" is a satisfying page-turner with terrific period detail and well-drawn characters. The main character, a young woman named O'Connor (she never shares her first name), is smart and competent, and if she's a little devious sometimes, it's well justified by the behavior of everyone around her.

It's hard to say much about the plot without giving away too much. Rupert Holmes is a master of sneaky plot twists, and it would be criminal to leak them to someone who hasn't read the book. ("Accomplice," his Edgar award-winning play, was similarly twisty.)

But in a nutshell, O'Connor is investigating Lanny Morris and Vince Collins, a former comedy duo (think Martin and Lewis) with a shared skeleton in the closet: twenty years earlier, a young woman was found dead in their hotel suite. The crime was never solved, and now O'Connor is writing a book about Collins with the promise that the truth will finally be exposed.

All of this takes place against the backdrop of the entertainment world in the 1970s, a rich environment that Holmes, as a young singer-songwriter, probably experienced for himself in much the same way as his heroine. O'Connor is the outsider, the guest, taken to wondrous places she could never go on her own.

Holmes' writing is funny and well-paced, and completely entertaining. He describes his settings so well, it feels as if we're there (especially the scenes that take place in Disneyland ... and could I be more jealous of O'Connor in those scenes?)

Songs, plays, TV shows, novels ... regardless of the form, I hope we'll see many more stories from Rupert Holmes.

Having long been a fan of Rupert Holmes' music (yes, I liked "Escape," but much preferred the musicality of "Second Saxophone" and "Times Square & The Old School") as well as his much-celebrated television show, "Remember Wenn" and his award-winning musicals, I waited, with great anticipation, for the late June 2003 release of his first novel, WHERE THE TRUTH LIES. I sincerely hoped that someone who was so incredibly diversified could enter and triumph in yet another literary genre. To say that I was not disappointed would be putting it mildly. Holmes' novel has such rich, round characters - characters who quickly become real people in the lives of interested readers.
I have to admit that, as an English teacher for thirty-four years, I often have to limit what I read for pleasure. As a result, I developed a system of passing up a book if I wasn't intrigued by the first sentence. In WHERE THE TRUTH LIES, my imagination was instantly captured by the introductory, "In the seventies, I had three unrelated lunches with three different men, each of whom might have done A Terrible Thing." Who could read that and not want to go further to learn about O'Connor, the young, female journalist who quickly becomes experienced, the comedy team of Vince and Lanny, whose humor soon becomes dark and ominous, and their connections with a lightly-veiled Mafia? And just what was this "terrible thing?"
I had to know!
The fascinating things about this novel, however, are the complicated twists the plot takes. One can read the first half and be convinced that one knows the outcome, only to go a little further and realize that nothing could be further from the truth. Only in the last thirty pages does the reader learn, "Where The Truth Lies."
Holmes is, indeed, a master story-teller. His mystery is ripe with rich humor that often had me laughing out loud. However, this writer does not depend on mystery and humor alone; he delves into the lives of even the minor characters so deeply that the reader can truly empathize with them. This work also contains one of the most beautiful, touching similies I have ever seen on paper.
What is, perhaps, the most amazing to me is how a male baby-boomer can write so effectively in the persona of a young female journalist and make this character so incredibly believable, touching, and enjoyable.
Hopefully, this is only the first of several Rupert Holmes' novels because having only one from such a gifted and talented author would be a tremendous loss to the world of readers.

As an established author in multiple medias, Rupert Holmes has honed his craft to a true cutting edge. He uses that craft to twist a tale most complex into one of the most enjoyable reads that I have had in several years. As one who has worked in and known Komedy (with a capital K), I find his portrayal of the dynamics of a comedy team spot-on. Congratulations, Rupert, on a well-told tale. And congratuations to anyone who has the good sense to read Mr. Holmes' entry into another medium.

When a young boy (the story doesn't give him a name) decides to swap for a friend's goldfish, he finds that his father is the ultimate bargaining chip--after all, hasn't everyone always wanted to own one? The boy's father is such a hot item, in fact, that the neighborhood kids pass him back and forth, making one deal after another. Eventually, the mother sends the boy and his little sister to recover their father ("The very idea," she says), and they follow the swapping trail, redistributing the trade items as they go.

"The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish" is a brilliantly illustrated adventure map that navigates the relative values and the strange economy of childhood. Neil Gaiman's lively text is written with that special children's logic and fresh humor found in classics like "Winnie-the-Pooh" and "Peter Pan," and the rich texture of Dave McKean's images--vivid line drawings and colorful montages--gives the story a look that is unique in children's literature. This book occupies a special place in my library with a very few picture books, like "Old Turtle" and "Little Hobbin," that I could never part with.

I'm sure I'm not the first reviewer here to say that I love this book as much as any kid ever could. Great story, great writing, exceptional artwork by the inimitable dave mckean. If you don't fall in love with this book, then I'd be willing to wager that you never had a childhood.

By any means necessary, no matter how old you are, read this book; even if you have to swap your favoritest family member for a copy. (I've heard Amazon does in fact accept this kind of bartering system)

Take Neil Gaiman, put him in a room together with Dave McKean. What do you get? Wonders. This dream-team has worked many times before and has produced some of the best Sandman comics in the bunch.

Although it is presented as a book for those who are still children at heart and offers a moral which should not be overlooked, it spins a wondrous yarn about a boy and his friends, and mocks the sixdegrees theory in its undertow...

Gaiman's words are beautiful and McKean's art is fantastic. You can read this book over and over again and never tire of it, or just leaf through the pages and marvel at the pictures, which are a great source of amusement for children who are yet to be able to read on their own.

(I only wonder how come I never though about it doing this when I was 10...)

I got this book as a gift from a long time friend. He had trouble with reading it. It is only for that reason I give it only 4 stars. These authors make others that I have read on this range of subjects look bad: Fields Medalists included! A lot of it is that they just bother to give you the real mathematics with examples. I think the initial miss definition of the Riemann surface gives a false impression, because the explanations of ramified covers and toral elliptic lattices is just wonderful. Reading this book makes Dr. Singerman's papers look so much better! I was disappointed in the treatment of triangle groups, but the treatment of modular functions and gamma1 and gamma2 makes up for that. It is a masterful work... the best I have seen by a modern author. It reminds me of books by Ulam or Russell. Sawyer's little book is not as good!

The popular press leaves us with the impression that math is
intimidating. This wasn't always the case. In my time, the approach to how we teach math, and write books about it, went through a number of cycles, or trends; some of them now discredited;--or not!? Here is a sample: (1) I grew up with the boot-camp approach with its endless drills, (2) then came "The New-Math approach", followed by (3) "The back-to-basics" trend. (4)Following Eric Temple Bell, it became popular for a time to mix into the teaching of math a lot of history/ or dramatic stories about the heros in the subject. Finally, more recently:(5) "The Make-it-Seem-Easy-and Fun approach" and the motivational speakers; imitating popular TV shows.---Seriously, what I like about this lovely book is that it treats mathmatics as one unified subject, and that the authors masterfully highlight a number of unexpected connections between what otherwise are thought of as isolated specialties within math: The exciting new problems are at the same time also the old and classic problems in math: The elliptic integrals of Abel and Gauss, Jacobi's theta functions, modular functions, quadratic fields, elliptic curves, and Mordell-Weil. It is all beautifully presented. The book is selfcontained, and it is a pleasure to read. The clear and concise presentation is what makes the subject seem easy, or more importantly interesting and useful. I hope it will be a model for other math books to follow.

This is a great book because it presents some of the neatest topics in mathematics, without the usual discouraging layers of abstraction and notation. It attacks the topics historically so you get some idea of the motivation and steps followed, instead of a compendium of the most general results and their most elegant proofs.

Also, as a previous reviewer mentioned, the book derives the bizarre and amazing continued fraction formula from Ramanujan's letter to Hardy. I had always wanted to see this, ever since reading "The Man Who Knew Infinity." It is satisfying to see this demystified, even if you don't fully master the argument.

If you literally have not seen most of these topics before, as I had not, you won't find this an easy read, but it's well worth while. I spent a long time on it, and couldn't absorb it all, but I plan to read it again one day.

Isn't it interesting that few authors of books or articles on customer relationship management effectively address the critical success factors of this business philosophy. John McKean knows something that many don't seem to understand: "You can't expect a high performance machine to run efficiently on low grade fuel"! Although buying the right technology is important (and quite expensive I might add), it's purpose is really to move customer information from where it is to where it is needed in time for it to be applied. If that information is difficult to get hold of or the quality is low to begin with then any investment in the technology will be undermined (at least to some extent).

If you think that technology is the answer to building a customer-centric business strategy, read this book because it will give some useful insight into what you will be up against. I have no doubt that the leaders in the customer race are already being rewarded for this knowledge.

This the best book I have read for a long time. I have never scored any book 5 out of 5 but was very tempted to do so on this occassion.

This book is the best book on business information I have ever read. I refer to it all the time and it has the most balanced view of technology and its relevance to business I have ever seen.

Its a bit dense and it can be heavy going but the book is absolutely worth the effort.

Being the best at using business information is the holy grail. And it isn't easy and you can't fake it. This book will make you realise how far you have to go.

The book is outstanding value; it has depth of knowledge and plenty of actionable recommendation like no other (or consultants for that matter...). It shows you the real problems and opportunities of CRM in action.