12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
This is a very unusual book....., October 30, 2008
Okay, what can I say about this book? I had high hopes when I heard that an author of the caliber of Omar Tyree was actually writing a book about the world of the "Urban Upscale Event" planners. Unfortunately, something was missing for me with this book. It has its good and bad elements, but the bad seems to outweigh the good. As for the good:
* The book tackles a subject rarely covered in fiction...the world of urban upscale event/party planners. As a veteran of the legendary "Petey" parties in Atlanta and the Marc Barnes gigs in the DC area, I was curious as to how the story of a fictionalized party planner would be presented.
* The book is a literal primer on how to start your own business and the kind of drive and savvy it would take to make it a success. I definitely read with interest the way Ivan negotiated deals, handled employees, marketed his business, how he created marketing tie-ins, how he decided on partners, how he used the Internet and his Website, how he conducted business meetings, and how he handled the money. The way he parlayed his promotion business into increased success in his day job was absolutely masterful and makes the book worth picking up.
* It was good to see a book showing a young college-educated Black man getting his "hustle on", making money, and being successful.
Unfortunately, there's the bad:
* None of the lead characters are even remotely likable. I had hoped that Ivan David would be similar to the main character of "A Do Right Man", but I'm afraid Ivan came across as a little too full of himself to be likable at all, especially as he grew more successful.
* Ivan had absolutely no game when it came to women. I literally cringed at some of the dialogue he used on the women in the book. It was real high school stuff. His main way to seduce women seemed to be "I'm Ivan David, big time party promoter, so you should want to sleep with me." I was hoping Ivan would have been similar to Benilde Little's immensely likable but doggish investment banker Miles Browning, but Ivan had neither the game nor charm to come across as that entertaining to this reader. Just because a Black man is professionally successful and dates quite a few ladies does not mean he has to be presented as a jerk.
* There were no likable romantic attachments for the main character in this book. The mysterious Lucina seemed to have no personality outside of her stunning good looks (and Brazilian women can be gorgeous!). Another female character had the nerve to ask a man to fund her education after sleeping with him a couple of times, and acted a fool when she turned him down. What a loon. Ivan's old college girlfriend came across as desperate and clingy. The daughter of the Black restaurant owner seemed pretty interesting, but again, Ivan didn't have enough game to keep her in play.
* Where was the compelling story? Where was the drama that would keep a reader turning the page? If I wasn't into the business lessons in the book and fascinated by the fact that someone actually wrote a book about the world of "urban upscale events", it would have held no interest for me at all.
* It did seem a little inconceivable that Ivan could rise so far so fast as a promoter. It usually takes a few years to establish a reputation as an event planner to the point where people will actually want to come out to your events in mass and pay good money to attend. Don't get me wrong....Ivan definitely handled his business and used some great marketing techniques, and his partnering with an established promoter definitely did help. But things still seemed to move a little too quickly to be believable.
I suppose the bottom line is this. If you're looking for a book with a great story or one with compelling characters, I can't recommend this book for you. However, if you've started or are thinking about starting your own business, this just might just be a good book to check out for ideas and motivation.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Tedious and pointless, October 28, 2008
Seems to me that I recall somewhere in the far distant past that for a story to be a good story it needs to have a core structure of conflict and resolution. The problem with "Pecking Order" is that it lacks both.
Now a disclaimer. I am a white senior citizen male. I did not grow up in the United States. I am not familiar with the "Hip-Hop" lifestyle, nor with any of the audio sounds associated with it that are presented as "music". In addition, although I have seen the name "Dr. Dre" somewhere in the news sometime in the past year, the other performers of that form of "entertainment" have names I have never heard before. Regardless, because of the presence of Dr. Dre's name, I suspect that the others named are not all fictional either.
What bothers me most about this book is that there is an offensive perception, that I have observed around me from time to time, of the African American male as a person with no interest in anything less than narcissistic self promotion and promiscuous sexual liasions with no depth nor future. This book carries that image forward in painful detail. Listings of the wardrobes of every new character who shows up on the scene. The protagonist (Ivan David -- now there's a recognizeably African American name, right?) agonizes over which color of jacket and shirt to wear, and whether to install a diamond ear stud.
The women (at least in the first 300 pages -- I just gave up after that) are presented as either sex objects, potential sex objects, or unlikely sex objects. The narrative is "relieved" a couple of times by unnecessarily detailed descriptions of sexual encounters, including a presentation of the scene in such a way to show that these are "throw away" partners.
The only conflicts that have appeared are whether a particular female will become a sexual partner tonight. The only resolutions of these "conflicts" is the telling of which one is the "score".
As for the ridiculous ascention from $60K hack accountant to millionaire party, show, and real estate promoter in about a single year (thanks, I suppose, to the assistance of the Beautiful -- they're all beautiful -- Brazilian "Partner" and promoter with her string of "girls" -- who are carefully presented not to be "hookers") too far fetched even for the Brothers Grimm.
If you have the opportunity to pass this one up, grab the opportunity with both hands. This one is going into my recycling bin!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Revisiting Marketing 101, October 20, 2008
That is how it feels reading this novel, as if I'm back in class. Where was the excitement? where was the passion?
Having each business deal broken down bored me. Mind you I like to learn something new, but sheesh after 390 pages what's the point?
I still love Omar and will give his next novel a chance but I am struggling through this one.
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