IBM Redux: Lou Gerstner and the Business Turnaround of the Decade

The joy of this book doesn't come from ground-breaking reporting. Rather, its appeal comes in the details: how Gerstner decided to forgo splashy graphics at a major computer show, as a way to stand out from all the hype; how desperately the advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide needed to win the IBM account, once Gerstner and his new team were in place; and what it was like negotiating the purchase of Lotus. This is no small feat in writing about IBM, a company that is renowned for limiting access to reporters, and Garr's accomplishment is even more remarkable since Gerstner himself is known to keep an even closer eye on his public image than the IBM spin doctors do. Even so, Garr managed to talk to numerous present and former IBM employees, who give first-hand recollections and impressions of Gerstner in action--many of which are riveting. Garr is a former IBM speechwriter--a fact that cuts both ways, as he convincingly explains--but his reporting is evenhanded, and his eye for detail extraordinary. (Sept.)