The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need (Paperback)

by Daniel H. Pink (Author), Rob Ten Pas (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Instructional comics are at least as old as the World War II comic-book pamphlets showing GIs how to do various things (or, reputedly, not do, such as get VD). This book is ostensibly the first American business-career advisor in comics form, though manga industry buzz has it that such is ancient hat in Japan (where, furthermore, 40 percent of all books are manga—so there). Gotta say it’s nifty enough. It traces the titular young office drone’s transformation into an asset to the company via the six rules he learns from a smart-alecky genie he summons by cracking apart pairs of cheap chopsticks. Up-and-coming business guru Pink contributes a text that many may find didactically routine and only just over-the-bar in terms of humor, but Ten Pas, an American thoroughly steeped in manga style, moves it like it was preferred stock. His panel design and page layout are slick as glare ice, and he makes the customary repertoire of manga grimaces and “sound” effects strut like showgirls. More enjoyable than may have been intended. --Ray Olson

Review
There’s never been a career guide like THE ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY BUNKO: THE LAST CAREER GUIDE YOU'LL EVER NEED. Told in manga – the Japanese comic book format that’s an international sensation – it’s the fully illustrated story of a young Everyman just out of college who lands his first job.

Johnny Bunko is new to the Boggs Corp., and he stumbles through his early months as a working stiff until a crisis prompts him to rethink his approach. Step by step he builds a career, illustrating as he does the six core lessons of finding, keeping, and flourishing in satisfying work. A groundbreaking guide to surviving and flourishing in any career, THE ADVENTURES OF JOHNNY BUNKO is smart, engaging and insightful, and offers practical advice for anyone looking for a life of rewarding work.

"Any career consultant -- or high-school guidance counselor -- who doesn't immediately order copies of this book in bulk is missing the boat -- big time." -- Miami Herald

"Hard-hitting and informative yet bursting with optimism . . . Pink has a knack for teaching in such an entertaining way that you'll forget you are learning." -- Forbes

"Outrageous, delightful ... If the precepts in 'The Adventures of Johnny Bunko' help some slackers open nail salons or become billionaires in some offbeat business, that's all to the good" -- Wall Street Journal

"The ideal gift for those in need of a career shakeup who claim they have no time to even think about next steps." -- NYTimes.com

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Riverhead Trade (April 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594482918
• ISBN-13: 978-1594482915
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9,539 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get Beyond the Bad Advice that Family and Friends Give, April 1, 2008

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "a Practical Optimi... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

Young people mostly get their career advice from friends (who usually don't have any more experience or knowledge than they do) and family (who base their ideas on what worked three decades ago). Either way, you get off track pretty easily.

There's plenty of good career advice in books and articles, but most young people wouldn't sit still long enough to read those sources. A Whole New Mind author, Dan Pink, comes up with a great solution: Create a career advice book in the form of manga.

Most career writers when they want to simplify a message use a fable, with a few illustrations that show the key perspectives. The fable is clearly secondary to the details.

In The Adventures of Johnny Bunko, the story is more interesting than the advice. Having read a lot of Mr. Pink's writing, I thought I knew what he would probably advise. But I didn't realize that he would make the story so interesting, and that the manga format would add so much power to the story telling. Nice work!

What's the advice? Let me rephrase to make it clearer to you:

1. Don't be rigid about planning out each step well in advance . . . it's not possible to do.

2. Build on what you're good at (Peter Drucker originated that one) and avoid relying on what you aren't good at.

3. Focus on what you can do for others (start with the boss) rather than what's in it for you (you can read more about this in How to Be a Star at Work).

4. Keep at it. Practice makes perfect.

5. Take on big challenges and learn from them.

6. Make a difference.

I like this advice. I hope my youngsters will read this book and apply it. I know they probably wouldn't if it came from dear old Dad.

If I could add one piece of advice, it would be to:

Set some written goals about how you want to spend your life. Those goals will help you keep focused.

Well done, Dan Pink and Rob Ten Pas!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't let the presentation fool you...content rich., August 5, 2008

By	Sean Goodman "Open-Source Evangelist" (Columbus, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Having read all of Daniel Pink's other books, I was excited to see this on the shelf. I started with Free Agent Nation a few years ago, which gave me a totally new perspective on the whole concept of work in the 21st century. I then worked my way into A Whole New Mind, which gave me--a mostly right-brained technology worker--hope for the future in a previously left-brain dominated world. It's neat to see not only the world itself shifting from left-brain to right-brain, but also to see this author's presentation jump into an obviously quirky/fun style. I loved the other books, but then again I love to read. I was a little concerned about the Manga style at first, but I didn't pick it up because of the style or the graphics: Mr. Pink's books are all extremely thought-provoking, and have pointed me in the right direction many times (not just job searches and career moves). So, yes, I bought the book simply because of the author's name on the side, but when I flipped through it in the bookstore, I realized it had a lot of substance. Like any good parable, it's an entertaining story about a fictional character who is just like a lot of us at work. I love the fact that the author's eating his own dog food here, by presenting this book in a fun way that draws you in (he talks about content -> design -> story in his previous book). I read this book once all the way through too fast...and then went back and re-read it when I had more time, and picked up a lot of things I had missed the first time around. It resonated so much with me that I let my girlfriend read it (she loved it) and I'm thinking of loaning it to other friends who seem bored with their jobs/lives. I've been reading a lot of books lately that have given me back far more than I've put into them monetarily. My only concern is that people might overlook or dismiss this useful book simply because of the Manga presentation. Once you start reading, the characters come to life (especially Johnny, for anyone who's done the same job over and over again without really finding joy in it), and you start to see ways of improving your own situation. If you enjoy reading this book (I know I sound like Amazon or whatever making recommendations), go back and take a look at Free Agent Nation (although it is a few years old, it has good advice and entertaining stories) and A Whole New Mind (more recent, and pulls the author's thoughts together into a more detail-rich and current book than the first). This book certainly stands alone, but you might enjoy rounding this parable out with the full-scale novels of his other two books. To summarize: unless you're totally, 100% happy with your current job or life situation, you should read Johnny Bunko to see if there aren't a few things you might be missing. Warning: side effects may include increased cravings for Asian food eaten with chopsticks!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Career Counseling has never been this much fun., February 3, 2009

By	Larry Slater "LarrySlater.com" (Illinois) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After you have read so many non-fiction books, you begin to wonder if all non-fiction books are just something you skim through them to see if there might be ANYTHING new that is worthy of your time to learn. Well, this book is not that one. It is in fact something that you HAVE to take your time to read because it is basically a graphic novel that tells a story we ALL need to hear.

It may only take you an hour to read all the way through this little book but when you are done you will want to think deep about it's "six most important lesson of a satisfying successful career." Now if you are a fan of Billy Crystal and have seen his 1991 movie City Slickers, you may wonder why this book has six things you need to know to be successful where Jack Palance said there is only "one thing." But that is for another article.

The entire book is a manga graphic novel so if you aren't a fan of manga, which I'm not, then it may take you a little while to get into it; but it's worth it. I won't spoil the story line but the essence of the lessons simple enough to be explained in a graphic novel yet profound enough to cause you to change your life's direction; really. Telling you the six lessons would be very easy to do but since it is the main point of the story line, it would be like telling you the plot of City Slickers including what the "one thing" was. (What WAS that "one thing" anyway?)

I would highly recommend this book for a nice quick read but one that will shake your previous conceptions of what it takes to be successful. Read it at your own risk.