800-CEO-READ Blog

The Other Side

I have officially come over to the Other Side. That’s right, the newest member of the 800-CEO-READ team has just been beamed up and set down running. I’m Rebecca, and I come to you from 8cr’s sister company (and office neighbor), Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops, Milwaukee’s oldest and largest independent bookseller.

The first week in 8cr has felt like a whirlwind, a flurry of ideas and book orders and industry communications swirling around me. I spent almost two years on the other side of the door, only 20 feet due east, and yet this concept of 8cr being “in the business of moving ideas��? smacks fresh each time I talk with my new colleagues.

A book to ease the transition? How about David Nasaw’s biography of Andrew Carnegie, reviewed in this week’s BusinessWeek and mentioned in Todd’s post on Big Business Biographies.

Last week I was promoting this to the neighborhood bookshop customers in the holiday gift guide, and this week I’m selling it to business people around the world. Andrew Carnegie is a cross-genre event, much like the man himself. While Carnegie’s lifelong philanthropy is a major thread in the story, Nasaw also focuses on his early scoot up the corporate ladder and aggressive business practices. An advocate for disarmament, a champion of free and public libraries, a writer and a visionary, Carnegie towers—in spite of his small build—as one of the most fascinating characters in U.S. history.

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you have a relaxing long weekend and find something good to read.