Power Money Fame Sex: A User's Guide

by Gretchen Rubin

Book Overview

Instructive, ruthless, subversive, and entertaining, Power Money Fame Sex reveals the mysteries of office politics and personal posturing. Whether you're gunning for a promotion at work, a trophy... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671041282
• ISBN13: 9780671041281
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 307 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

PMFS Edifies and Entertains

Each page of this gem is jammed with both trivia and wisdom, and I devoured it like a guilty pleasure. But the book is more than that. Like any good satire, this book operates and succeeds on many levels. I came to Rubin's writing through her current work on The Happiness Project, of which I am a committed reader. Rubin's blog (........) -- where she reports on her experiments to bring more happiness into her life -- is brimming with earnestness. So when I started Power, Money, I was expecting more of that sweet, earnest voice. Instead, I saw her brilliantness and wit. Rubin obviously has the ability to pitch her voice perfectly to each project. Now, I'm off to tackle her "Forty Ways," books. If anyone could get me excited to read about political machinations, it's Rubin.

A brilliant and comprehensive view into human behavior

From reading the 22 previous reviews of Ms. Rubin's PMFS to date, it appears that people either loved it or hated it. To those who hated it, I would suggest that they are reacting to her words as if they were prescriptions, rather than the unjudgemental description of human behavior that I believe the book to be. Ms. Rubin is not advocating for anything here. She is merely describing how people act with one another in modern society. If someone finds what Ms. Rubin has written to be shocking, I'd suggest that this is only because she portrays human conduct so accurately. I'm don't believe that Ms. Rubin is saying anything new. What is new, is that she has compiled an extensive, well-organized catalog of human behavior as it relates to PMF and S. Further, she provides the answer to the moral qualms on the last two pages. I thought so much of her cold wisdom that I put the book in the mail to my son at college today, in the hope that Ms. Rubin's insights will help him weather life's storms a little better. First Corinthians this is not, but neither should it be. That kind of wisdom is available elsewhere. Ms. Rubin's kind of wisdom is harder to come by. Ms. Rubin's facts are astonishly abundant, and clearly illustrate her points ("true facts"...I think is how she puts it.) It would be interesting if the book had been footnoted rather than just a selected bibliography, but perhaps that would be gilding the lily. Maybe, I just want to know where she found all this out. I am rapidly becoming an enormous fan of Ms. Rubin's works, and regret that she is not making a tour to promote her newest work about JFK. I would pay good money to sit for an evening and listen to what Ms Rubin has to say.

HUMOROUS BOOK - tons of fun to read

I bought this book after stumbling across it in the sociology section at Borders. I flipped through it and found some humorous and insightful comments and decided to buy it to lighten up my reading, as I primarily read Peter Drucker, other management books and some philosophy. I thought the book would be some light-hearted humor and I wasn't disappointed!The author, Gretchen Craft Rubin, is an extremely witty woman. While her background is law the book has tons of comments from famous historical figures such as Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Plutarch, Shakespeare, and Edith Wharton.The book is segmented, as expected, into the 4 sections described in the title (POWER MONEY FAME SEX).Each section provides some unique insight into human behavior, some examples in recent history and tons of witty comments from historical figures Here are just some of the examples but, just so you know, the book is not in quotation form."People believe, and research proves, that high-status men attract more women easily than low-status men.""The sex that accompanies your success is a nice perk for all your hard work - a pleasant, convenient way to demonstrate the status you've achieved.""They envy the pleasures they imagine you've won. Perception drives reality, and your status swells accordingly. "Playboy Donald Trump "When we walk into a restaurant, I watch grown men weep." He was watching other men's reaction to his date, not his date herself.Jack Kennedy reported "once I get a woman, I'm not interested in carrying on, for the most part." He was pursuing conquests, not relationships. LBJ "Goddamn it, I had more women by accident than he ever had by design." - he maintained a nookie room" in the capital for his illicit liaisons"The more money, fame and power you have the more easily you can have casual sex."Anyways, I can go on and on about the book but I will not. BUY THE BOOK, enjoy it as it is fairly easy reading and, at 270 pages well worth the price of the insights and humor delivered.

An Amoral Guide to Modern Striving . . . and Nonstriving

...This is both a guide and an antiguide, according toMs. Rubin. "If you're a striver, you'll find material to spur you on." "If you're a nonstriver, . . . you can use the guide defensively . . . ." Much like Machiavelli before her, then, the information can be used in a variety of ways. The information itself is described in morally neutral ways (hence, amoral). That point will upset many people, much as the moral neutrality (and supreme practicality) of Machiavelli does. How can one be neutral about the subject of using other people for base pleasures? Perhaps no one can. Upon closer inspection, some elements of the book are not so neutral. For example, there is something morally uplifting about having a negative reaction to the grubby details of striving for more power, money, fame and sex! This is an important point because much of what you read in this book has to cause you to disapprove. I imagine few will be inspired by the image of the business tycoon who yells so loudly at subordinates that they are constantly drenched in saliva in addition to having their ears and egos abused. Few women will be enthralled by the descriptions of athletes who send seating attendants to proposition female fans for a quick interlude before locker room interviews begin after the game. Ms. Rubin also sneaks in the consequences in another way. Each section ends in a discussion of "the blues" -- the downside of having achieved one's strivings. Many people find themselves profoundly unhappy. Thoughtful people will wonder why bother if the results aren't worth the candle. That undoubtedly had to be the intent of including these smuggled antigratification observations into a book about how to strive to get these gratifications.For the careful observer, there's a potential voyage of self-discovery here. She bluntly asks you to consider why you want power, money, fame, and sex. On the surface, this seems to be because some people are confused about means and ends...There are many confusions among the strivers outlined in the book. What is missing, though, is any consideration of satisfaction beyond the moment. For example, the power section helps you figure out whether you get more pleasure for direct power (authority) or indirect power (influence). Neither links however to the idea of using the power for some greater good... At its best, this book is much like Robert Cialdini's excellent book, Influence, in looking effectively at how we respond to each other. Ms. Rubin is a very astute observer of human nature and social situations. I was very interested in her list of common themes that showed up in all four gratification categories:-- signaling (act, dress, and speak for the role you want)-- sprezzatura (show only a graceful, easy carelessness that hide your strivings)-- dis-expectation (to demonstrate your triumph, reverse expectations . . . such as the CEO who shows up for an important formal meeting in suit and sneakers)-- platinum rule (to

A wicked pleasure

This "guide" is one of the most wickedly delicious books I've read in a long time. It can be read on so many levels: satire, how-to, cultural analysis. It reveals the underbelly of ambition in a way that is both terrifying and totally fascinating. The author says it best, you can use this for defense or for offense, but if you aren't using these principles, they are probably being used against you.