Now there is a new word to me -- "gobsmacked"
I got a note from an independent writer, John Joss, who recently got a copy of The HP Phenomenon. He wrote, "Chuck,I am absolutely gobsmacked at your immense
effort with the book. The level of detail and historical accounting is staggering. I am, quite literally, in awe at what you have done."
I had to look up the word. Joss is British, fitting since the word is British slang for "awestruck, dumbfounded, as in so surprised that you clasp your hand over your mouth"
Joss continues: "I hope you're slaving over a new edition with the Hurd/Apotheker transition, since this is in its own way as fascinating--not entirely in the gossip
sense--as the pretexting subject. But of course the enormity of the corporation makes it very much a moving target. Also, for a reviewer, a bit like the blind men describing an elephant: wall, tree trunk, rope."
1 comment:
I was gob-smacked as well. I mentioned it would make a great addition to business training course-ware, but also from a historical point of view, it's a magnum opus. I suppose it couldn't be otherwise given the duration and scope of HP as a business.
It's far from a dry old tome however, as the drama of the 'battles' against change, competition and circumstance come through.
You're left with the feeling that you've been privy to just about all the meetings as well as canteen gossip over decades.
This is not a book to be only read once.
peter walker
Post a Comment