Synopsis
A cheery exploration of the many fascinating facets of failure includes all kinds of disasters, from the National Spelling Bee with 8,999,999 failures to corporate debacles like Reddi-Bacon, plus a humorous look at the author's own disappointments.
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Reviews
Chicago Sun-Times reporter Steinberg's book of humor is anything but a "complete & utter failure." Rather, it is an informed and witty look at events, products and people that either never succeeded or first scored victories then faded away. He begins with the New York World's Fair of 1964, a fiscal fiasco from opening day, stops to survey such consumer items as butane candles and the Edsel, and attacks the national Spelling Bee, which turns kids into public failures. He goes on to victims of bad timing; those who insisted the impossible is possible, like inventors of perpetual-motion machines; and those who lived too long, like Newton, who devoted the last decades of his life to alchemy. Much fun. First serial to Granta; QPB and Library of Science Book Club selections.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Complete and Utter Failure : A Celebration of Also - Rans, Runners-up, Never - Weres and Total Flops
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Doubleday Religious Publishing Group, The, 1994
ISBN 10: 0385472919
ISBN 13: 9780385472913
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COMPLETE & UTTER FAILURE
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COMPLETE & UTTER FAILURE
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COMPLETE & UTTER FAILURE
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Complete & Utter Failure
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COMPLETE & UTTER FAILURE
Published by
Doubleday, 1994
ISBN 10: 0385472919
ISBN 13: 9780385472913
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COMPLETE & UTTER FAILURE
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COMPLETE & UTTER FAILURE
Published by
Doubleday, 1994
ISBN 10: 0385472919
ISBN 13: 9780385472913
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Complete & Utter Failure : a Celebration of Also-Rans, Runners-Up, Never-Weres, and Total Flops / Neil Steinberg
Published by
New York : Doubleday, 1994
ISBN 10: 0385472919
ISBN 13: 9780385472913
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Seller: MW Books, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
First Edition. Fine cloth copy in an equally fine dw. Particularly and surprisingly well-preserved; tight, bright, clean and especially sharp-cornered. ; 258 pages; Description: xi, 258 p. ; 20 cm. Includes bibliographical references. Subjects: Failure (Psychology) --Humor. 1 Kg. Seller Inventory # 123721