Book Reviews: Cocktail Parties and Dinner Tables

Talk about a sight for sore eyes, let's make our way over to Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman. It is written by Jamie Reidy, a lieutenant in the Army who left the service in his mid-20s to become a Pfizer (PFE Quote) salesman and rose to become a top peddler of Viagra.

That's a naturally funny career arc if there ever was one, and Reidy, who is naturally funny, does a good job of mining humor. (Why humor is so absent from so many business books -- where big money, big egos, big ambition and all the other natural ingredients in comedy are present -- is beyond me.)

More to the point, from investors' perspective, getting an inside look at what was once a top-flight sales force at a key time will truly broaden their understanding of sales forces. You'll see their strengths and weaknesses, gaining a better understanding of limitations, what is gained with more salespeople and what, if anything, may be lost when there are layoffs.

Sales forces are big, messy, bureaucratic, autocratic and egomaniacal -- not unlike, as Reidy quickly points out while at Pfizer's sales force boot camp, the Army. It is my pleasure to grant this book a "Help" label. I trust it will be in the running for The Business Press Maven's top business books of the year.

Another important read for investors -- if not quite as enjoyable -- is Pop!: Why Bubbles Are Great for the Economy (HarperCollins) by Daniel Gross. It can be read to remind every investor that an investment in a larger industry (from railroads to the Internet) is a three-act play; the bubble-busting part is often the second act. For that alone, I'll give the book a "Help" label, even if I have my quibbles with too many specific points of argument.