Books, Arts & Manners: The Real Regulators

The Suicidal Corporation: How Big Business Fails America, by Paul H. Weaver (Simon & Schuster, 270 pp„ $18.95)

The runaway best-sellers among businessmen over the past few years have been books by or about Lee la-cocca, Bobby Knight, Ravi Batra, and Donald Trump—outspoken men who wear their obnoxiousness as a status symbol. Their books make attractive airplane reading for the legions of American businessmen who cannot afford to be obnoxious—who must cater to customers, bosses, colleagues, and clients—and who harbor Walter Mitty fantasies of telling the pests of this world where to get off.

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David Brooks

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The Suicidal Corporation: How Big Business Fails America, by Paul H. Weaver (Simon & Schuster, 270 pp„ $18.95)

The runaway best-sellers among businessmen over the past few years have been books by or about Lee la-cocca, Bobby Knight, Ravi Batra, and Donald Trump—outspoken men who wear their obnoxiousness as a status symbol. Their books make attractive airplane reading for the legions of American businessmen who cannot afford to be obnoxious—who must cater to customers, bosses, colleagues, and clients—and who harbor Walter Mitty fantasies of telling the pests of this world where to get off.