cover image Get What You Deserve H

Get What You Deserve H

Jay Conrad Levinson, Various, Seth Godin. William Morrow & Company, $23 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-380-97410-8

There is a lot to like in this latest offering by the authors of The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook. Levinson and Godin quote Jerry Seinfeld (""What is a date really, but a job interview that lasts all night?"") and point out that the criteria for picking Miss America are silly. (What does wearing a bathing suit with high heels have to do with anything?) Their thesis is equally appealing: as long as people are going to make snap decisions about you, much as the judges do about Miss America, why not help them decide in your favor? Your mantra should be: ""I can control the messages I send, and my life will be the better for it."" The authors proceed to tell you how to do this through the way you talk, dress and behave. Unfortunately, they often use the same example twice, are partial to long, egotistical asides and repeat themselves in the appendix. The book offers a money-back guarantee--from the authors, not Avon. That may be the best thing of all. (Sept.)