Rating: 
Summary: Good primer on MSO
Review: Sure, this is written by a NY Post author and sure, it is generally negative. BUT...it appears that so much coincides with previous and current published reports...so I would bet that it's pretty accurate.The book paints a picture of two Marthas - one who is controlled by her aggressive, demanding father and another who lives in a world of pastels, crafts and perfect dinners. It's a story of a woman who is truly alone at the top. Sure, some Martha fans may say "the author is only picking on poor aggressive Martha because she's a woman in a man's world - many men have done the same thing." To this I say HA! Have you heard of Mike Dell pinning a gardner with his SUV? Bill Gates forever cutting in lines and being rude to his wealthy neighbors? The men who misbehave (Martha's good buddy Sam Waksal CEO of ImClone...) get run through the ringer as well...the thing is, most of these men aren't trying to sell the public on their lifestyle, but on their products. This evil woman is duping millions of Americans into buying her invented, useless crap...here's the story of how and why she does it.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Waste Your Time
Review: This book claims to be a biography but fails miserably to offer what a good biography does: a balanced portrait of a person's life. Instead, it reads like a story in a tabloid newspaper, which is no surprise given the fact that the author is a writer for the New York Post. There's lots of supposition and inference, some of which is almost laughable. For example, the author relates the story of the taping of Martha's first television show, a Thanksgiving special, which was supposed to be a dinner at her own home. His scoop on this? The whole thing was staged. The meal was not something that Martha whipped up in a day, but took ten people over four days to cook. Hello!!! Obviously this guy never watches the Food Channel. The list could go on, but suffice it to say that a good biography on Martha Stewart, one which actually quotes friends and family, has yet to be written.
Rating: 
Summary: Only The Black side of Martha
Review: Like others of thousands of businesswomen, Martha is an example to me which I look up to. When buying this book, I thought I would learn more about how she did it and how she become successful, however, this book has concentrated only on her personal life and how "unsuccessful" she was as a wife and a mother. It is obvious that the author did not attempt to search for the bright side of Martha's personality despite his confession that Martha has helped him a lot by interviewing him in one of her shows. In his book, the author discribed Martha as a lady who stabs everybody in the back to succeed, well I came to believe that the author has done just the same. Not a single positive thing was mentioned about Martha, thinking that who would be interested in that, publishing only how miserable was her childhood and repeating it many times would generate more wealth to him. I would really like to read a book about Martha by Martha herself with concentration on how did she accomplished what she did.
Rating: 
Summary: --It' wasn't a "good thing"--
Review: I didn't really know what to expect from this book. The author starts by telling how he met Martha and how much he liked her and how generous she was to him. Next, when her biography actually starts, his writing became rather cold and unnecessarily nasty about Martha's early life and her family. The information that her father was a mean bully is the premise that is set to explain how and why Martha became the same way. The author gives us tons of information including many quotes from former friends who Martha supposedly used and "done wrong." When so much information and details are given, the reader is forced into acknowledging that some of it must be true. I've always liked Martha and admired the fact that someone from a working class background became wealthy and famous by her own personal talents, hard work and ingenuity. It's really hard to know how much truth there is to claims that people made about her not giving credit to deserving friends' etc. Perhaps a lot of that is also true and chances are the public will never know for sure unless Martha herself comes out with a statement saying that she owes a great deal to a lot of people. The Martha in this book is not very likable and on a personal level, I'm disappointed. She learned to be a self-promoter, and apparently she ruthlessly pursued her goals. I'm sure that many other very successful people in the limelight have been as aggressive and ruthless in their own pursuit of money and success. I do know that a lot of us have good ideas and at times really wonderful dreams about developing those ideas into money. Martha took those ideas and ran with them. Maybe she wasn't the first to think of them, but she did develop them into something big and took those ideas right to the bank. In the end, if she hurt family and friends she will always live with that and probably live to regret some of those actions. A note to the reader, this book was written before the insider trader allegations were made.
Rating:
Summary: This Book is Just Another Example of Meanspiritedness!
Review: I had a hard time getting through this book, but did because I wanted to be able to write a good review. I thought it might be good by the prologue, but that WAS the good part. In the prologue the author says lots of nice things about Martha. He says that she is physically attractive and has something about her that makes people want to be near her. He also says that she made promises to help him out and always followed through. For example, putting him and his new book on her show, which caused his sales on Amazon.com to soar. He spends the rest of the book bashing her ,though, in between giving us excrutiatingly detailed info. about the growth of her business empire. His sources, in my opinion, are terrible. He interviews pretty much only people who hate her and never acknowledges that they may be lying or exaggerating to pay Martha back for the hurting of their (sensitive?) feelings. He also extensively uses the one page article she writes in her magazine every month--of course, psychoanalyzing her and drawing his own conclusions merely from that. It is also offensive how he psychoanalyzes women, in general, as to why we empty headed people like Martha in the first place. He is so very wrong about why we find Martha appealing and even what Martha's work represents to us. He makes us sound shallow and like escapists, never once mentioning that looking at her "stuff" is no different than looking at a beautiful painting or sculpture. Even if the world is bad, there is beauty everywhere--even in a vase of flowers. I was also struck by the old issue of men are allowed to be outspoken and aggressive, especially in business, but women are crucified if they act the same. This issue comes up over and over again in this book. This book is just another example of a journalist, with no conscience, trashing a famous person in order to make money for himself. I know that if one went through my whole life and talked to every person who didn't like me, had a grudge against me, saw me in action when I was sleep deprived or overly stressed, he or she could make me look like a nut too. When one finally reaches the epilogue, the reason for his writng this book in a nasty way comes into play--spite. He told Martha that he wanted to write her story and she said great. She assumed he would write it with her input (logical since it was HER life story), but he meant to write it his way. She, of course, did not endorse the book after that and he was resentful. If you hate Martha, you will love this book. If you like her, maybe not. I can't believe I gave Byron my money!
Rating:
Summary: She's really not like this
Review: ... While I try not to find myself arguing Martha's case, I do find it frightening that such a market has been created out of the likewise. It would not be so bad if inquries into her life were balanced, but they always end up becoming painfully vouyeuristic cash grabs, printed with glossy covers and public-domain photographs. The text of this book uses a common theme of interjecting comments about about Ms. Stewart's market as segues between different ideas. I suspect phrases like "..decorated in Martha-green fabric.." and "...her stainless steel-encased kitchen.." are supposed to appeal to a person's base frustration with the class/status frame in which they interperet MSO's marketing, and encite bitterness as a result. For example, a recent article quoted Ms. Stewart as attending meetings in Sam Waksal's "...art-filled loft in the SoHo section of Manhattan where he engages in erudite discussions with scholars and celebrities..." There are at least seven points in that sentence that indict Martha on class/status grounds alone. 'Art-filled'? Off with her head! Since no one who would defend Martha Stewart speaks to these authors, those who do end up becoming a listing of every person desparate to make their complaint known. These include former lawyers, childhood friends, classmates, and unidentified sources. Most are unknown and eager to sell a sensationalized version of their story as some [weak] form of self-promotion. Those who choose to remain anonymous most likely realize how tacky their litanies will appear in print. Those who do not end up in either of these categories can be grouped with the small enclave of people who have actually known Ms. Stewart and are most likely envious that a little of her attention did not gravitate towards them (her ex-husband pretty much narrated 'Just Desserts', and it shows). Ms. Stewart is a very pleasant woman. Her office is glass-walled and not guarded by a secretary. She is friendly, efficient, and everyone I know at the company enjoys her presence. ... Ms. Stewart remains optimistic about her situation, and everyone I know wishes her well. Purchase this book if you like. Most likely, you already know what you're in for and shall disregard my opinion. ...
Rating:
Summary: Enticing & Alluring
Review: Byron's masterpiece is entertaining, informative and gossipy. With the finesse of a journalist he digs up stories and overturns all kinds of stones in Martha Inc.
He shows us how Martha goes from a normal everyday person with daily chores to a global icon that outsmarts and outwits every opportunity that crosses her path.
He's got a good mix of the good in with the bad and paints a very realistic picture of a woman...we almost forgot was human.
Three cheers Christopher Byron and three cheers to Martha!
Rating: 
Summary: Thank You, Martha!
Review: I've often said that if it weren't for Martha Stewart bringing respectability back to the homemaker and making domestic skills important again, nobody would be interested in what I am trying to do, which is to teach the etiquette lessons that I learned as a child to the next generation of Americans. "Martha, Inc." is a good read from many points of view. The author seems to see Martha as she is - an extremely sharp businesswoman with some personal shortcomings. Most of us have personal shortcomings, but how many of us are as sharp at business as Martha? I don't see many hands out there claiming the latter description. I would not only recommend this book to anyone who would like to know 'how she did it,' but also to those who want to know a little more about the woman behind the business. This book was finished before Martha's current problems involving insider trading came to light but the last segment of the book does deal with the question, "What would happen to the business if Martha Stewart were to die?" Would her magazine meet the same fate as the magazine, "George," that was so closely related to John F. Kennedy Jr., and which was discontinued nine months after his death? Would her business collapse without her energy and presence? In some ways, Martha has 'died.' Certainly having her stock drop dramatically, facing a shareholder's lawsuit and having some of her TV programs cancelled is a form of death for her and for her business. Will her business survive this latest scandal? I'm betting it will. More power to you, Martha Stewart, and thank you!
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but not that exciting..
Review: Here is a story of someone with all the normal human faults and foibles that made good.
Incredibly "good" but chose success over compassion and caring and conscience.
But does she really have to be nice to be clever?
And I guess that's the question we're left with.
Most enlightening but a tad judgemental- I'm left with the feeling of not really liking Martha but definitely admiring her talent, motivation and determination.
And since when do we have to like talented people?
Rating:
Summary: Not a good thing
Review: Just imagine if all the people who hated you talked to an author who was writing an unauthorized version or your life story. Would the account be a true picture of you as a person? Such is the case with this book. Clearly, because it was an unauthorized bio, the only people who would talk to the author were the people who were either jealous of, or had an ax to grind with Martha Stewart. The result is a one sided unflattering account of one of the greatest self made persons of our time. Why, I was expecting the author to try and trace Martha's ancestors back to Satan! I would not, therefore, recommend this book; unless you enjoy unwarranted hateful attacks on an american icon.
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