World Famous Comics: The World According to Martha
The World According to Martha
By: Bill Adler Publisher: McGraw-Hill Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: McGraw-Hill Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 256 Publication Date: August 26, 2005
Domestic Diva. Media Mogul. Convenient Scapegoat. The life of Martha Stewart—in her own words.
“Without an open-minded mind, you can never be a great success.”
“I catnap now and then, but I think while I nap, so it’s not a waste of time.”
“I want you to know that I am innocent—and that I will fight to clear my name.”
“All the things I love is what my business is all about.”
With her release from prison, Martha Stewart has a new lease on life and her career—and shows no sign of stopping. Love her or hate her, even her critics acknowledge she is a unique success and a true American original in business. As her own words prove well, Martha Stewart can be insightful, candid, irreverent, strategic, no-nonsense, ironic, straightforward, combative, competitive— and most of all—original.
This exclusive collection shares her thoughts on business life and ambition, work and family, being the boss, leadership, creativity, success, privacy, and more—as she confided them to friends and family, as she proclaimed in her writings, speeches, and press conferences, and even when she thought no one was listening.
Martha: Even Her Old Quotes Sound Fresh Love her or hate her, it's hard to avoid her. Martha Stewart is today's reigning expert on all things domestic. She's the U.S. queen of homemaking how-to and her magazines, books and TV shows are packed with instructions on everything from how to make a Christmas ornament to how to fold a fitted sheet. The world watched in fascination as this woman, who was perfectionism personified, ended up in jail in a stock trading scandal. Now Martha enthusiasts can get inside her head by reading her thoughts, opinions and musings in her own words. Just decide for yourself if editor Bill Adler compiled this collection of pithy, insightful quotes to capitalize on Stewart's notoriety or to offer new information, depth and insight. Divided into chapters of quotes, Adler's book faithfully records Martha's feelings on entertaining, fame, business, the stock scandal, her critics and herself. We believe that her devotees might enjoy this inside track to Martha's view of the world, but the book may not hold the same allure for those outside her fan base. We're still waiting for the deeper take on Martha, the entrepreneur and business mastermind.
Makes you feel like Martha is speaking directly with you A long time ago, I remember liking THE KENNEDY WIT--edited by Bill Adler . . . he then came out with several books of a similar nature, including THE UNCOMMON WISDOM OF JACQUELINE KENNEDY ONASSIS and THE QUOTABLE GUILIANI . . . in all of these, he collected memorable quotes and comments (by others) about the personality involved and put them into a short, but insightful book that gave me a real feel for the person.
Adler does the same with his latest, THE WORLD ACCORDING TO MARTHA . . . he presents Martha Stewart in her own words and in doing so, gave me a glimpse into her world . . . it almost felt like she was talking to me directly.
I also liked the accompanying photos.
But best of all were Stewart's musings on a wide variety of subjects, including:
* What do they need and want? These are our mantras.
* I think animals really add something to a household. I can't imagine a house that's empty, quiet, without any animals. I just think animals are charming. . . . The animals are always bringing me joy and always bringing me happiness. And when they're ill, I worry a lot about them. . . . All my animals are extremely pampered. In fact, most of my friends said they would like to come back as one of my pets.
* I'm bothered by things that hurt people, like smoking, like drinking in excess, like being mean. If people choose to paint their house a hideous color, that doesn't bother me. I won't tell them outright their choice is really bad. But I'll do that for smoking.
Naturally, there was even some useful homemaking advice:
* Get that stuff off the bookcases that doesn't belong there and give those books you'll never read to the library for a sale. Get rid of that faddish junk you never use in those kitchen drawers. And take out that rosebush you hate. It's simplify, simplify, simplify.
* This may seem backward to some, but it makes perfect sense. When you fold the sheet back, the finished edge, monogram or other decorative detail faces up.
Fluff solely for devoted fans and/or critics Although it begins with an 11-page bare-bones bio, this book spends most of its pages reprinting quotes from Martha Stewart from the past 20 years. The sayings are categorized by subject: what she's had to say about herself, her fans, her critics, her customers, on holidays, on weddings, on marriage, on pets, on serving jail time, etc. I guess we were supposed to learn a lot about her by what she has said on each topic. Instead, the result here is a superficial look at a complex woman and entrepreneur that really doesn't add to our knowledge or appreciation of her. Full-page b&w photos of Martha are sprinkled throughout the book. One wonders what Martha herself will think of such a bland volume, since it disregards one of her mantras, "Make it beautiful." If you're really in the mood to learn more about her, pick up her latest title, "The Martha Rules." Intended as a guide for people starting their own businesses, that book includes more insight into her past and daily life than this one does.
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