Good Guys and Bad Guys: Behind the Scenes with the Saints and Scoundrels of American Business (and Everything in Between) (Hardcover)

~ Joe Nocera (Author) "Not long after this article was published, in the fall of 1982, Boone Pickens happened to be talking to Robert Cole, the longtime mergers and..." (more)
Key Phrases: mass tort, tobacco wars, Wall Street, Dow Corning, Dow Jones (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“ Nocera demystifies the world of business with original thinking, brainy reporting, and the ability to see around corners. . . . Nocera knows that persuasion isn’t about haranguing, that it’s better to lead the reader toward your conclusion and depart gracefully rather than hammer him over the head with it.”
—Jack Shafer, Slate

Product Description

A fascinating collection of profiles by one of America’s leading business journalists

For three decades, in major publications such as Texas Monthly, Esquire, Fortune, and now The New York Times, Joe Nocera has reported on the people who dominate the business world, for better or worse. Everyone from Warren Buffett to T. Boone Pickens to George Steinbrenner to Ken Lay has fallen under his microscope.

Now, in this collection of his best work, he explores how we define good guys and bad guys in business and concludes that things are often not what they seem.

It turns out that there are surprisingly good qualities in classic villains like junk bond king Michael Milken and notorious stock analyst Henry Blodget. And some business celebrities who are widely admired, such as Steve Jobs, are not quite the good guys they appear to be on the surface.

Good Guys and Bad Guys also offers a fresh perspective on some of today’s biggest controversies, such as global warming, Apple’s iPhone, CEO compensation, the tobacco industry, short sellers, and much more.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover; BUS edition (May 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591841623
• ISBN-13: 978-1591841623
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #523,671 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Abundance of Eloquent Insights, May 29, 2008

By	Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Great journalists are renowned for "getting the story" and then telling it well because they are gifted raconteurs whose keen analytical minds focus on who and what are most interesting as well as most significant. They suggest implications that help their readers (and viewers) to gain a greater understanding of what the "story" means. In recent years, my favorite journalists include Ken Auletta, Elizabeth Drew, Thomas Friedman, Hendrick Hertzberg, Jeffrey Toobin...and Joe Nocera. For almost thirty years, Nocera has written articles for a wide range of publications that include The New York Times (for which he writes a Saturday column, "Talking Business") and its Sunday magazine as well Esquire, GQ, Fortune, Money, Slate, and Texas Monthly. What we have in this volume is a collection of articles about various "good guys & bad guys," written over a period from 1982 until 2007.

He divides his material within 14 chapters. The articles of special interest to me are these:

Two articles about Boone Pickens, "It's Time to Make a Deal" in Chapter 1 and "Return of the Raider" in Chapter 14, that serve as "book ends" to all the other articles in between

His profile of Steve Jobs ("Jobs Agonistes") in Chapter 2

His analysis of Charlie Merrill and his dysfunctional relations with members of his family, especially his sons

His profile of Warren Buffett ("Saint Warren of Omaha") in Chapter 8

His explanation of "our love-hate relations with Wal-Mart" in Chapter 13

Obviously, other readers will have different favorites among the 26 articles assembled in this volume. However different the subjects and circumstances may be, however, all of them are exceptionally well-written, informative, and (more often that not) highly entertaining.

Here in Dallas, we have a Farmers Market area near downtown at which several vendors eagerly offer slices of fresh fruit as samples. In that same spirit, I now offer a sequence of three brief excerpts from the profile of Warren Buffett with the hope that they provide at least a "taste" of Nocera's style and perspective.

Why doesn't everyone invest the way Buffett does and, therefore, achieve the same results?

"I think the answer is twofold. First, truly great investing requires a temperament that very few people have. For most of us, it is difficult not to panic when the market tanks, for instance. It is hard not to want to jump on the hot stock, even if we know nothing about the business. The ups and downs of the market are stomach-churning events. The fundamental equanimity required to be a great investor is an extremely rare thing."

"The second reason we don't invest like Buffett is that his methods are far more complicated than they sound. Think about it: When Buffett talks about the `economic prospects' of a potential investment, what he means is that he wants to be able to see where the business will be 10 years from now. If he can see the business remaining dominant for the next decade, he'll consider buying the stock."

"One of the most important reasons for difference [i.e. being able to determine whether or not a business will remain dominant for the next decade] goes almost entirely unacknowledged among those who hope to find in Buffett an easily reproducible investing style. He is a genius when it comes to numbers. `Accounting,' he likes to say,' is the language of business.' It is a language in which his own fluency is unsurpassed, and which gives him an enormous competitive advantage. Usually, all he needs is a quick glance at a balance sheet to know whether he's interested in buying a company or not - because he finds meaning in numbers that the rest of us don't."

I envy those who have read only a few (if any) of the articles (including his Times columns) that Nocera has written for almost 30 years. Now in this single volume, they have some of his best...thus far.

Bravo!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poor title - Excellent stories, August 31, 2008

By	Houman Tamaddon "rating inflation slayer" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book consists of a nice compilation of Joe Nocera's business stories over the past 25 years or so. Readers interested in business histories and people connected to some of the corporations will not be disappointed. The title is simplistic and inaccurate. The characters are certainly a lot more complex and cannot be characterized as "good" or "bad". In all fairness coming up with a title that unifies all the stories is a challenge. Book consists of 14 main chapters:

1) Boone Pickens (the 1st and last chapters cover him)
2) Steve Jobs
3) "Ga-Ga Years" covers the stock market boom and October crash of 1987
4) Michael Milken
5) Charlie Merrill
6) Lawyers involved in silicon breast implants litigation
7) Bancrofts
8) Warren Buffett
9) Henry Blodget
10) Enron collapse
11) Clifford Asness (a hedge fund manager)
12) Steve Parrish of Philip Morris
13) One chapter dedicated to 6 short articles including Starbucks, Walmart, and Home Depot

Nocera is an excellent writer whose stories are engaging. The articles, which vary in length, explore the companies and more importantly the individuals connected to the companies. We learn that human nature is perhaps the biggest force that shapes businesses.

Highly recommended.

5.0 out of 5 stars A great look at american business history, July 26, 2008

By	Travis Galdieri (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just finished reading this book today, and I am almost sad to be done with it. I consider myself a casual business reader, as I recently read "The Biography of the Dollar" by Craig Karmin as well as The Age of Turbulence by you know who. Both were great reads, but Nocera's work tops my list.

I studied economics in college, and work in the financial field now, so I stay up to date with the business world, but I never got a chance to learn about the big players of American business past. This collection of Nocera's previous articles/columns combined with his current reflections and insights is a perfect way to become familiar with the stories and personality characteristics of American business icons from Charles Merrill to Steve Jobs.

Nocera's writing style and his ability to become close with his interviewees is very engaging and provides for great storytelling. As he says in the beginning of his book, business stories can be some of the most drama filled and compelling tales to read, and he does a great job at doing just that.

If you enjoy reading gripping stories, opinions, and insights of American business icons, I recommend picking this up. I will now look forward to reading his columns and articles in the NY Times/Magazine.