The Practice of Public Relations, Ninth Edition

Rating:
Summary: Better books available
Review: By all means spare your students the expense of a book that is as mediocre as it is costly. A hundred and twenty bucks! Please. Public Relations Writing provides all students need, and in a much more cogent format. Good case studies can come right out of the newspaper.

Rating:
Summary: Practical Public Relations at its best!
Review: I've been using this book for about a year, as a professor teaching Public Relations. I like it, and the students always say it's a great book. It has just enough theory, plus a lot of practical application. The high point, and what students like best, is the series of case studies. There's one in each chapter, 20 in all. I know from personal experience, having spent 15 years as a "PR Man," before turning professor, that these cases are real-life examples of what to do, and especially, what not to do! Entertaining and interesting, while still being an excellent text. Much better than other books sometimes used for Public Relations courses.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: Practice makes perfect, they say, but after nine editions it seems that Fraser Seitel just can't get it right. This overpriced but skimpy book simply can't hold a candle to Public Relations: Strategies and Tactices by Phil Ault, or the Caywood book (Handbook of Public Relations and Integrated Communications). Poor insights, superficial and written in a kind of fey manner that is irritating.