Rating: 
Summary: How to kick in open doors and provide zero added value
Review: This book is truely awful. As it was the only book I brought on my holiday I did finish reading it. The book title suggests an analysis of the entertainment economy; combined with the fact that the author is a (self-proclaimed) high-profile consultant to entertainment executives, the reader would expect a thorough analysis of the entertainment economy, inside scoops into succesful entertainment companies, and a new/original theory on the importance of entertainment and how it affects today's life. None of this is found in the book. The analysis goes no deeper than the author saying that some succesful retailers have managed to make visits to their stores an 'entertaining' experience, and that this is their competitive edge over others. Disney is succesful because it 'understands' the entertainment business and has been around so long. AOL is succesful because it merged with Time Warner. Thank you very much for taking so many pages to tell us this. I guess the author could not say anything interesting about anyone in the industry (executives or companies) because these are all (potential) clients. Don't buy.
Rating: 
Summary: The Ego Has Landed
Review: This book would have made a great magazine article. Unfortunately, Wolf quickly establishes his premise (that entertainment is becoming an increasingly important force in all aspects of the global economy), and beats it bloody by about page 90. Thereafter, the book degenerates into a discussion of (a) how great his clients and potential clients are (Bob Pittman and Judy McGrath return the favor, by providing the blurbs shown on the cover of the book), and (b) how brilliant his analysis has been, from the time he was in college until today, cannily guiding media moguls down the correct and enlightened path. This book, in short, continues the trend started by "In Search of Excellence" and "Reengineering the Corporation": Books by consultants who have somehow gotten us to shell out $20-25 for a hardcover version of their consulting firm's promotional brochure.
Rating:
Summary: BIG SIZZLE...little steak
Review: What did G.W. Bush say about the Clinton Administration..."so much promise to no great purpose." Well, that about covers this book. Surely, the "leading consultant to the world's top entertainment companies" could have gotten clearance for some actual case studies (change the names to protect the innocent?) Instead, Wolf scribes the equivalent of the old consultantcy practice of borrowing your watch to tell you the time...however, the hologram jacket-cover does look good on a bookshelf. *note* above political quotes reflect neither support nor disdain for any political party or person.
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