SNAPSHOTS FROM HELL: MAKING OF AN MBA [Paperback]

Peter Robinson (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: NICHOLAS BREALEY PUBLISHING LTD (1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857880803
• ISBN-13: 978-1857880809
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,446,473 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars True enough, May 9, 2000

By 

Gene Bromberg - See all my reviews

This review is from: Snapshots from Hell: The Making of an MBA (Paperback)

I read this book just as I started B-school and it scared me well and good. Like Robinson I was a "poet", meaning I was a liberal arts major among financial and engineering types. I can certainly empathize with Robinson's struggles to grasp the more quantitative disciplines of business, since I went through my own miserable times. But I think the review right before me makes a good point, that getting IN to business school is the hard part, especially for an elite program like Stanford. The school certainly doesn't want students to flunk out or struggle too much, since all that does is hurt the school's precious statistics. While business school ain't a picnic, it isn't the trial of tears that Robinson makes it out to be.

But the book is entertaining enough, and even though Robinson was a speechwriter for President Reagan and writers for Republican presidents tend to be an especially odious sort, he seems a decent guy. One problem that Robinson identified and I heartily agree with is the lack of, well, overall intelligence and awareness in business school students. I'll readily admit that I can't crunch numbers as well as many of my former classmates, but I was amazed at how ignorant many of the folks in school were. They had no idea who Larry Ellison was. Discussions about government policy rarely went above a 10th-grade level. My ethics class was a revelation. I don't think anyone else in my class ever studied philosophy and it seemed like they looked at ethics as an obstacle to be hurdled rather than as a code to define proper behavior. Depressing stuff.

But Robinson made it through B-school, and so did I (in my case, barely. Going part-time and working full-time while planning a wedding was a pain the rear. Can't imagine folks who go to school when they have little kids. Insane). The only problem with this book now is how dated it is. Robinson went to B-school in the heart of Silicon Valley, yet the words "e-commerce" and "dot.com" are nowhere to be found in the book. Robinson and his fellow students interviewed with the usual investment banks, which today almost seems quaint. What, no one dropped out to found a company that had a multibillion dollar IPO six months later?

All in all a good read, but if you're thinking about getting your MBA I don't think this is a totally accurate picture of what you're going to endure. Still, it's well worth a read.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SO SO TRUE!, November 16, 1999

By 

i-read "i-read" (Chevy Chase, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Snapshots from Hell: The Making of an MBA (Paperback)

Being a first year full-time MBA student is tough, demanding, and rigorous. This little gem summarizes the fact you'll have little left of your life when you start the program.

Words of advice to MBA wannabes:

1. READ THIS! It's funny and too true. You'll see that he (like me) was unprepared for what was unleashed upon him.

2. Take an accounting and statistics class before you go! You'll save yourself some major headaches!

3. It's as tough as he describes but we're supposed to get through it...I hope!

Go Maryland!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Might spark you for an MBA from top B-School, May 4, 2004

By 

Deepesh K. Srivastava "Deepesh Srivastava" (QUINCY, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Snapshots from Hell: The Making of an MBA (Paperback)

The book gives you an impression that even though the first year of your MBA from a top B-School (in this case Stanford) might seem like a hell - though this might only be the case for so called poets - one has a high probability of doing well after an MBA form one of the top b-schools. Though, author has done a lot of complaining, he later concludes that is MBA was fun, interesting and rewarding.
This book is more like a diary, which also provides some (I said some!) insight into a b-school. Overall, this book is fun and worth a read.
On the lighter side, if you are a so called poet, planing to go for an MBA, take up some Maths and Statistics courses before you actually start your MBA :-)