Two histories of the World Trade Center have become hot sellers: Angus Kress Gillespie's 1999 Twin Towers (Rutgers, $26) and Eric Darton's 1999 Divided We Stand (Basic, $15, paperback).
Darton's deft account explores the development, building, and life of the complex, explaining how it came to embody the renewal of downtown Manhattan. But the author reminds us that this was not without cost: There are tales of controversial financing, steamrolled community opposition, real estate speculation, and questionable deals with corporate tenants.
At times, Darton seems eerily prescient. Reflecting on the 1993 bombing, he writes: "A traumatic event of this magnitude, with its horrific loss of life, opens up disquieting questions of how we have come to build and live in structures we are powerless to defend." Later he asks: "Is it possible to imagine the World Trade Center as a ruin?" What we would all give to still have that exist only in our imagination.
By Karin Pekarchik
HARDCOVER BUSINESS BOOKS
1. WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? Spencer Johnson (Putnam $19.95) Learning to accept change. Last Month: 1, Months on List: 32
2.THE ROAD TO WEALTH Suze Orman (Riverhead $29.95) Questions and answers from the queen of personal-finance counseling. Last Month: 6, Months on List: 2
3.FISH! Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, John Christensen (Hyperion $19.95) Motivate employees the Pike Place Fish Market way. Last Month: 2, Months on List: 12
4.FIRST, BREAK ALL THE RULES Marcus Buckingham, Curt Coffman (Simon & Schuster $26) A Gallup probe into managerial success. Last Month: 4, Months on List: 28
5.NEXT Michael Lewis (Norton $23.95) Talkin' about the Net generation and how it is challenging experts of all sorts. Last Month: 10, Months on List: 2
6.FAST FOOD NATION Eric Schlosser (Houghton Mifflin $25) The bad news on burgers. Last Month: 3, Months on List: 6
7.NOW, DISCOVER YOUR STRENGTHS Marcus Buckingham, Donald O. Clifton (Free Press $26) How to bolster your true talents. Last Month: 5, Months on List: 7
8.GUNG HO! Ken Blanchard, Sheldon Bowles (Morrow $20) How Walton Works No. 2 fired up its employees. Last Month: 15, Months on List: 29
9.THE TIPPING POINT Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown $24.95) Discovering what turns an idea into a hot trend. Last Month: 9, Months on List: 18
10.THE 21 IRREFUTABLE LAWS OF LEADERSHIP John C. Maxwell (Thomas Nelson $22.99) A minister's down-to-earth rules. Last Month: 12, Months on List: 11
11.RAVING FANS Ken Blanchard, Sheldon Bowles (Morrow $20) Turning customers into your biggest boosters. Last Month: --, Months on List: 36
12.THE 17 INDISPUTABLE LAWS OF TEAMWORK John C. Maxwell (Thomas Nelson $24.99) Don't hog the ball, etc. Last Month: --, Months on List: 1
13.LEAN THINKING James P. Womack, Daniel T. Jones (Simon & Schuster $26) How managers should trim the fat. Last Month: --, Months on List: 2
14.HOW TO BECOME A RAINMAKER Jeffrey J. Fox (Hyperion $16.95) Instruction for the would-be super-salesman. Last Month: --, Months on List: 4
15.THE ESSENTIAL DRUCKER Peter F. Drucker (HarperBusiness $30) A cut-and-paste job from the dean of management advice. Last Month: --, Months on List: 1
PAPERBACK BUSINESS BOOKS
1. RICH DAD, POOR DAD Robert T. Kiyosaki, with Sharon L. Lechter (Warner $15.95) Teach your kids the rules of money that the rich play by. Last Month: 1, Months on List: 28
2.THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE Stephen R. Covey (Fireside $14) Habitually popular. Last Month: 3, Months on List: 79
3.THE 9 STEPS TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM Suze Orman (Three Rivers $13.95) Learn to save. Last Month: 7, Months on List: 9
4.ORDINARY PEOPLE, EXTRAORDINARY WEALTH Ric Edelman (HarperBusiness $15) Get tips from some regular folks who became rich. Last Month: 2, Months on List: 7
5.WHAT COLOR IS YOUR PARACHUTE? Richard Nelson Bolles (Ten Speed $16.95) The enduring job-search bible. Last Month: 6, Months on List: 10
6.RICH DAD'S CASHFLOW QUADRANT Robert T. Kiyosaki, with Sharon L. Lechter (Warner $17.95) Move beyond job security to independence. Last Month: 5, Months on List: 17
7.THE MILLIONAIRE NEXT DOOR Thomas J. Stanley, William D. Danko (Pocket Books $7.99) The simple ways of the wealthy among us. Last Month: 9, Months on List: 36
8.GETTING TO YES Roger Fisher, William Ury, Bruce Patton (Penguin $14) A Harvard team's step-by-step guide to conflict resolution. Last Month: 4, Months on List: 74
9.BUILT TO LAST James C. Collins, Jerry I. Porras (HarperBusiness $16) How 3M, Wal-Mart, and others became standouts. Last Month: 11, Months on List: 45
10.RICH DAD'S GUIDE TO INVESTING Robert T. Kiyosaki, with Sharon L. Lechter (Warner $19.95) Becoming rich, not merely comfortable. Last Month: 10, Months on List: 15
11.THE ONE MINUTE MANAGER Kenneth Blanchard, Spencer Johnson (Berkley $12.95) Management techniques in story form. Last Month: 8, Months on List: 60
12.1001 WAYS TO REWARD EMPLOYEES Bob Nelson (Workman $10.95) Give them a champagne brunch, casual dress day--or plain old cash. Last Month: --, Months on List: 57
13.LOOPHOLES OF THE RICH Diane Kennedy (Warner $19.95) Beyond Swiss banks. Last Month: 14, Months on List: 2
14.THE GOAL Eliyahu M. Goldratt, Jeff Cox (North River $19.95) Eliminating bottlenecks. Last Month: 13, Months on List: 23
15.THE E-MYTH REVISITED Michael E. Gerber (HarperBusiness $16) Starting and maintaining a small business. Last Month: --, Months on List: 8
BusinessWeek's Best-Seller List is based on a survey of chain and independent booksellers that carry a broad selection of books on economics, management, sales and marketing, small business, investing, personal finance, and careers. Well over 1,000 retail outlets nationwide are represented. Current rankings are based on a weighted analysis of unit sales in August.
Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.
Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed.
Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video.
To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here.
Copyright 2001 , by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
Printer-Friendly Version
