Rating: 
Summary: Ding! Old media vs New Media!
Review: As a mathphobic whose knowledge of technology extends to "it's magic," I appreciate a writer who can tell a story about what happens when bad math meets revolutionary technology and not lose me. I should give Munk's book four stars on that alone. This tale of AOL's disasterous purchase of Time-Warner also offers the sickly pleasure of watching billionaires act as though we should feel sorry for them, better yet, admire them, because they are actually altruists and gurus. Seriously. That's how they want to see themselves. It's a strangely detached reading experience, since 98% of us aren't likely to be involved in such a big deal in our lives. Let alone see it blow up in our face. Yet the book is a compelling and compulsive read. See the CEOs run straight into a wall! Hear the ticking clock as the hopeless deal runs out of air...and then violently deflates. Time Warner comes off a lot better than AOL, which makes me glad I switched services, but may also be because Munk
is "old media." But it isn't as though Jerry Levin comes off that much better than Steve Case--both their stories are apt to leave the reader scratching his or her head asking "How can people be such short-sighted daydreamers yet still make such serious bank?" You know you're reading a weird story when Ted Turner is coming out as one of the most levelheaded figures involved. So this deal is going to go down in history as a billion-dollar boondoggle. But man, it makes interesting reading--and it lets me use the word "boondoggle."
Rating:
Summary: Ding! Old media vs New Media!
Review: As a mathphobic whose knowledge of technology extends to "it's magic," I appreciate a writer who can tell a story about what happens when bad math meets revolutionary technology and not lose me. I should give Munk's book four stars on that alone. This tale of AOL's disasterous purchase of Time-Warner also offers the sickly pleasure of watching billionaires act as though we should feel sorry for them, better yet, admire them, because they are actually altruists and gurus. Seriously. That's how they want to see themselves. It's a strangely detached reading experience, since 98% of us aren't likely to be involved in such a big deal in our lives. Let alone see it blow up in our face. Yet the book is a compelling and compulsive read. See the CEOs run straight into a wall! Hear the ticking clock as the hopeless deal runs out of air...and then violently deflates. Time Warner comes off a lot better than AOL, which makes me glad I switched services, but may also be because Munk
is "old media." But it isn't as though Jerry Levin comes off that much better than Steve Case--both their stories are apt to leave the reader scratching his or her head asking "How can people be such short-sighted daydreamers yet still make such serious bank?" You know you're reading a weird story when Ted Turner is coming out as one of the most levelheaded figures involved. So this deal is going to go down in history as a billion-dollar boondoggle. But man, it makes interesting reading--and it lets me use the word "boondoggle."
Rating: 
Summary: For me, snooze rushed in.
Review: Canadian freelance journalist Nina Munk has done the interviews, reviewed the documents, examined the bodies and reached a startling conclusion: The AOL-Time Warner merger was a bad idea. Say it ain't so! You wouldn't think a writer would need 386 pages to affirm the conventional wisdom. But that doesn't stop this intrepid scribe from taking us through meeting after meeting in excruciating, and often sleep-inducing, detail. Munk does get off a few good lines here and there. But she's so darn impressed with herself and her narrative style (sic) that you begin to think even less of her than you do of Steve Case (whom she demonizes beyond recognition). Truth be told, I had to read this book for my job. (No, I don't work for AOL or any other part of Time Warner.) I've also had to read the other AOLTW books as well. Pity me. None are very good, but Kara Swisher's 'There Must Be a Pony in Here Somewhere' is the best of this motley bunch. Munk's book, though, is very much like the merger she decries. It's self-satisfied, ill-conceived, and poorly executed. What a shame.
Rating: 
Summary: A Classic Study of a Wicked Acquisition (Not Merger)
Review: Conducting the research and attaining the interviews from the main players involved in the debacle was a great achievement; being able to tell the story without kowtowing to them is even more impressive. Nina did an outstanding job presenting the history and cultures of Time, Warner, Turner's businesses, and AOL. The short-cuts taken during the due diligence of the acquisition was entertaining to read. Highlighting the board meeting where AOLers flew in by private jet, while Time Warner's directors flew via commercial airline was symbolic of their different mind-sets. I believe "Fools Rush In" will be used as a popular case study in MBA curriculums, as it should be. As a sidebar, that's a nice photo of Nina Munk in the back of the book. I especially like the shirt she's wearing?
Rating:
Summary: Could not put it down
Review: Got the book at 2:00PM and finished at bedtime.Could not put this smartly written page turner down.Fools Rush In, reminds us of the dynamic culture in which we live and the trade offs some people in business,professions,the arts,clergy,and lay make with their principles, time and ,in fact,their very lives.
I worked for TIME INC. many years ago before the mergers and recall those good old days with great affection. Let us hope for the sake of the stockholders,employees,and all others associated with this stalwart American Corp. that the good new days are right around the corner.Onward!
Rating:
Summary: Human drama about how the mighty have fallen
Review: Great book about the fiasco at AOL Time Warner. I don't always like business books, so I was glad to find that this one had strong narrative. It's really about power and how it can be abused. Case and Levin were both guilty of monumental hubris. Author Munk studies their characters like a novelist, without passing judgement, but rather showing how their not-so-well-thought-out plans backfired when they encountered reality.
Rating:
Summary: great
Review: great read... incredible... how does martha stewart get convicted- while these clowns skate free?
Rating:
Summary: Can You Tell a Book by Its Cover?
Review: Having read Stealing Time by Alec Klein, I was sure that I didn't want to read another book about the AOL-Time Warner fiasco. But then I happened to see the cover of this book at the library and couldn't resist its delightful cover. And I'm glad that the cover drew me in.
Ms. Munk has written a delightful story of the world's worst large merger that features lots of texture about the key players (especially Gerry Levin) and is written in a simple, effective style. Her book has more balance than the Klein book which emphasizes the sales and accounting legerdemain at AOL.
One of the book's most engaging qualities is that it is filled with powerful and interesting quotes from the participants and the observers.
I have had the opportunity to observe Time Warner in the past as a consultant, and I was struck that Ms. Munk did well in capturing the management style of the company and its reclusive CEO, Mr. Levin.
I would have rated the book higher except that this report still leaves the central mystery of AOL-Time Warner unexplained . . . why didn't anyone at Time Warner or its advisors figure out that AOL's profit success was based on a three-card Monte game before the deal was announced? Either people were bought off or they were monumentally stupid. Getting to the bottom of that mystery will have to await yet another book on this subject, I'm afraid. Ms. Munk puts it down to Mr. Levin's "big-picture, don't-bother-me-with-the-details" mentality.
If you want smooth, easy reading that gets most of the facts right, this book is a good choice. I particularly commend this book to students who are learning about how to make (and more importantly, not to make) acquisitions. If you mainly want to know about the AOL shenanigans, I suggest Stealing Time instead.
Rating:
Summary: Great for reflection
Review: I really liked this book. As a former participant of the crazy ways of carrying out business during the Internet hype, I think Nina Munk captured the essence of what drove so many people to act irrationally. She is objective, thorough and able to take the reader through a smooth ride across the AOL story.
Rating:
Summary: Culture Clash
Review: I'll just disclose at the start that the writer is someone I know and whose work I've long admired. But I've been telling everyone I know that I thought this book was a great read, so I may as well say it to the reading public, because it's true. What I've told people is that if you want to understand what it means when the newspapers talk about the "cultural fit" between two merging companies, this book will explain it. It's about personalities and business, yes, but it's also a great portrait of two distinct corporate cultures, and as you read it, you can see why it's going to get messy. Which of course it does. The book also simply reads well, it's a skilfully constructed narrative, it's entertaining and surprisingly fun. As others have noted, the material on Levin alone is worth the price of admission, in my biased-yet-honest opinion.
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