Claw Your Way to the Top: How to Become the Head of a Major Corporation in Roughly a Week [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Dave Barry (Author), Jerry O'Brien (Illustrator) "When we look around us at the modern world, we see businesses everywhere, unless of course we happen to be, for example, in the bathroom..." (more)
Key Phrases: hold button, New World, Suicide Module, Accounts Receivable (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Chances are probably infinitesimal that you are currently the head of a major corporation. But you can dramatically increase the probability that you will end up where you belong in the corporate hierarchy by following choice bits of wisdom such as the following:

"Remember: your subordinates are not machines. They are human beings with the same dreams as you. OK, maybe not all the same dreams. Probably they don't have the one where you're naked in a vat of Yoo-Hoo with the Soviet gymnastics team."

Um, thanks Dave!

If you're looking at one of the cassette editions of this title, note that you can absorb all this wisdom while listening to it in your car or Walkman in the course of one commute to work (estimated time: approx. 3 hrs., unless you're already a CEO with a Lear Jet). --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
In this amusing and entertaining parody of job-market and business-success books, Barry reviews the history of business ("The Middle Ages were hardly the kind of ages where anybody wanted to make any long-term business commitments"), and then explains how to get a job ("Often, a good resume can mean the difference between not getting a job and not even coming close"). From there he discusses how to do the job ("Most corporations and organizations like to start everybody out with a couple of years of taking messages") and how to step over co-workers ("If you promote yourself to Coordinating Administrator or Administrative Coordinator, nobody will ever be able to pin an actual job responsibility on you"). Again and again he pokes fun at the bureaucratic, corporate mentality, making this an insightful, trenchant satire. Author tour.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Books; illustrated edition edition (April 27, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878576525
• ISBN-13: 978-0878576524
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 7.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #594,057 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious from cover to cover, November 24, 1998

By A Customer

I first got this book while I was in college and considered it one of the funniest books I had ever read. It's a perfect gift for a senior in college. After getting into the "real world" I liked it even more. Much like Dilbert cartoons, it becomes even funnier when compared to your own work situation. Includes such topics as "List of topics that middle-aged white Anglo-Saxon males talk to each other about when they're not talking business", "How to dress exactly like everybody else", and "Lobster repair: a fast-growing field".

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sadly, this is a documentary on corporate life, February 15, 2000

By	Thomas G. Donlin (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Before Dilbert, there was Dave Barry's "Claw Your Way to the Top". I bought this book in 1986, two years after I graduated from college before there was Amazon. I laughed so hard and it was all so true. This book will prepare any naieve university senior for "real life".

I think the best part of the book is the section on firing people. Of course the alternative is to let the two big Brunos poke out your eyes with hot knitting needles.

This book is wonderful and I recommend it as a graduation present for any graduating senior.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not As Good As His Later Books, March 12, 2001

By	Kevin Barrack (San Mateo, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book was written in 1986. Although it is decent, it is probably the only Dave Barry book in my collection that I don't re-read occasionally. The jokes just seemed a bit staged as compared to his later writing, because the book doesn't reference any true life stories. If that's what you prefer, then this book will suit you fine, but I prefer the "I'm-Not-Making-This-Up" stories of actual events that are his trademark.

If you are looking for a humor book on the topic of corporate America, then this is a good choice. However, if you just want to read some funny Dave Barry, then try one of his later books, such as one of his compilations of short articles.