Erik Synnestvedt has narrated 63 audiobooks on Listento.it by 72 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.6★ across 229 ratings. The most-rated is Built to Sell.
The Betrayal of American Prosperity
Summary
Free Market Delusions, America’s Decline, and How We Must Compete in the Post-Dollar Era Critically acclaimed author Clyde Prestowitz reveals the shocking extent of the deterioration of American economic strength that has put the United States on the brink of irreversibly losing our supremacy on the world stage and our prosperity at home. While the financial crisis has been a devastating blow, he shows that the wreckage of our economic might started much earlier. If we do not make decisive changes fast, he reveals, we will face the daunting challenges of living in a post-dollar world: wielding less and less power over world affairs, vulnerable to rising security threats, and left with a permanently lower standard of living. There is nothing inevitable about this slide, he argues, but fighting back will require recognizing---and reversing---a glaring set of errors made by our business and political leaders due to ideological adherence to deeply flawed doctrines of always-efficient markets and the purely positive effects of globalization. Providing a masterful history of the rise and decline of the brilliant "American way" of building our prosperity, Prestowitz pinpoints exactly the set of ill-fated steps by which, starting in the 1970s, we turned away from the very strengths that had brought us to world leadership, gutting our capacity to produce truly first-rate, cutting-edge products and going massively into debt. He then lays out the urgent steps we must take to come booming back. The Betrayal of American Prosperity is an indispensable contribution to the urgent debate about the future of the American economy and our role in the world.
©2010 Clyde Prestowitz (P)2010 Tantor
Obliquity
Summary
A leading economist charts the indirect road to happiness and wealth. Using dozens of practical examples from the worlds of business, politics, science, sports, literature, even parenting, esteemed economist John Kay proves a notion that feels at once paradoxical and deeply commonsensical: The best way to achieve any complex or broadly defined goal-from happiness to wealth to profit to preventing forest fires-is the indirect way. As Kay points out, we rarely know enough about the intricacies of important problems to tackle them head-on. And our unpredictable interactions with other people and the world at large mean that the path to our goals-and sometimes the goals themselves-will inevitably change. We can learn about our objectives and how to achieve them only through a gradual process of risk taking and discovery-what Kay calls obliquity. Kay traces this pathway to satisfaction as it manifests itself in nearly every aspect of life. The wealthiest people-from Andrew Carnegie to Bill Gates-achieved their riches through a passion for their work, not because they set materialistic goals. Research has shown that companies whose goal (as declared in mission statements) is excellent products or service are more profitable than companies whose stated goal is increasing profits. In the personal realm, a large body of evidence shows that parenthood is on a daily basis far more frustrating than happy- making. Yet parents are statistically happier than nonparents. Though their short-term pleasure is often thwarted by the demands of childrearing, the subtle-oblique-rewards of parenthood ultimately make them happier. Once he establishes the ubiquity of obliquity, Kay offers a wealth of practical guidance for avoiding the traps laid by the direct approach to complex problems. Directness blinds us to new information that contradicts our presumptions, fools us into confusing logic with truth, cuts us off from our intuition (which is the subconscious expression of our experience), shunts us away from alternative solutions that may be better than the one we're set on, and more. Kay also shows us how to acknowledge our limitations, redefine our goals to fit our skills, open our minds to new data and solutions, and otherwise live life with obliquity. This bracing manifesto will convince listeners-or confirm their conviction-that the best route to satisfaction and success does not run through the bottom line.
©2011 John Kay (P)2011 Gildan Media Corp
The Aran Islands
Summary
J.M. Synge, one of the greatest English language playwrites of the 20th century, immortalized the Aran Islands and its people with vivid written portraits that are among the greatest in modern literature. Synge’s vibrant language and earthy themes breathtakingly capture the folklore and way of life that has since perished on these remote northern islands. As an aspiring writer in 1897, Synge was commanded by William Butler Yeats to, “Go to the Aran Islands. Live there as one of the people themselves; express a life that has never found expression.” Synge captures his first four visits to the islands in this magical book. However, their influence continued to permeate his work, including The Playboy of the Western World. Filled with the exuberant energy of an artist coming into his own, The Aran Islands provides an unforgettable look at a land that holds Ireland’s ancestral language, culture and uncorrupted heart. Synge’s lyrical glimpses into the past, coupled with Donal Donnelly’s rich, lilting voice transports listeners to these tiny Emerald Islands.
Public Domain (P)1997 Recorded Books, LLC