Publisher Description

The definitive collection of thoughts, assaults, and hilarious observations from America's premier business humorist and bestselling author of Throwing the Elephant and What Would Machiavelli Do The Big Bing will be a mandatory addition to the library of everyone who works for a living, or would like to. For nearly 20 years, Stanley Bing's funny, wise, pleasantly mean-spirited, and at times even useful columns have delighted readers in the pages of Esquire, Fortune and a variety of other national publications. Bing has lived the last two decades inside the belly of the corporate beast, clawing his way to the top of one of the great multinational companies in the cosmos. And he has seen it all: the high body count after many a gruesome deal, the machine that grinds up the bones of those who stood in its way, the birth and death of executive dinosaurs (and he's had quite a few lunches with some of them, too). The result is storytelling at its best—sophisticated, amusing, and driven by the kind of insight that only a true insider can possess. The Big Bing provides a mole's-eye-view of the society in which we all live and work, creating one of the most entertaining, thought-provoking, and just plain funny bodies of work in contemporary letters.

Back Cover

A corporate mole's-eye view of the society in which we all live and toil, creating one of the most entertaining, thought provoking, and just plain funny bodies of work in contemporary letters. Stanley Bing knows whereof he speaks. He has lived the last two decades working inside a gigantic multinational corporation, kicking and screaming all the way up the ladder. He has seen it all -- mergers, acquisitions, layoffs, the death of the three-martini lunch -- and has himself been painfully re-engineered a number of times. He has eaten and drunk way too much, stayed in hotels far too good for him, waited for limousines in the pouring rain, and enjoyed it all. Sort of. Most importantly, Bing has seen management at its best and worst, and has practiced both as he made the transition from an inexperienced player who hated pompous senior management to a polished strategist who kind of sees its point of view now and then. In one essential volume, here is all you need to know to master your career, your life, and when necessary, other weaker life forms.

Author Biography

Stanley Bing is a columnist for Fortune magazine and the best-selling author of What Would Machiavelli Do?, Throwing the Elephant, Sun Tzu Was a Sissy, 100 Bullshit Jobs and How to Get Them, and The Big Bing, as well the novels Lloyd: What Happened and You Look Nice Today. By day, he is an haute executive in a gigantic multinational corporation whose identity is one of the worst-kept secrets in business.

Review

"The Big Bing may be the funniest business book ever written." -- Don Imus"With sly humor, Bing offers alternative strategies to conquering any industry provided you are willing to forsake sentiment, human decency, and if need be, close family members." -- Time magazine

Long Description

Living in the Belly of the Corporate Beast For twenty years, Stanley Bing has offered insight, wisdom, and advice from inside the belly of the corporate beast. Kicking and screaming all the way up the ladder, he's seen it all-mergers, acquisitions, layoffs, and, tragically, the death of the three-martini lunch. More important, he's seen management at its best and worst, and has practiced both as he made the transition from an inexperienced player who hated pompous senior executives to a polished strategist who kind of sees their point of view now and then. Now, in one essential volume, Bing pulls together his most sophisticated and hilarious pieces from "Esquire" and "Fortune" to provide a corporate mole's-eye view of the society in which we live and toil, presenting all you need to know to master your career, your life, and, when necessary, other, weaker life forms. Funny, sharply observant, pleasantly mean-spirited, and at times even useful, "The Big Bing" is the definitive collection of thoughts, rants, musings, and gripes from America's greatest surviving business humorist.

Review Quote

"With sly humor, Bing offers alternative strategies to conquering any industry provided you are willing to forsake sentiment, human decency, and if need be, close family members."

Details