CONSUMER AND BUYING GUIDES, MYTHS, FALLACIES, AND LIES

I am a sucker for collecting names of books and magazines that promise to expose fraud, save money, and make wise buying decisions for home, business and intellectual use.

As you have probably guessed, I define the word "buying" very loosely. I am a consumer who buys hard objects as well as ideas, concepts, and theories.

It doesn't matter if I am totally not interested in the subjects right now.

If the titles even remotely promise wise buying decisions, I will record the titles for future use, out of fear that I might need the titles one day in the future and not knowing where to look for them.

Another equally important reason is this list serves to remind me that I should hear both sides of a story, particularly that side that cuts through the bull shit and exposes potential ripoffs behind every ruthless self promotion and advertisement.

Therefore, when I read books on a new subject, I prefer to start with a book that cuts through the bull shit in the subject. I haven't read most of the books and magazines mentioned here. I do not know how good some of them are. See RESEARCH for tips on how to tell how good a book might be before you get hold of it.

The idea here is to share what I know and get some great suggestions from you.

• "Economics in one lesson" Henry Hazlitt, 1983 --- The book that cuts through the bull shit in the confusing world of economics. Still a must read for both novice and pros after all these years.
• "Economics on trials: lies, myths & realities" Mark Skousen, 1993
  
  
  
• "Dangerous company: management consultants and the businesses they save and ruin" James O'Shea, 1997
• "Management Consulting: A Complete Guide to the Industry" Sugata Biswas, Daryl Twitchell, 1999
• "The Witch Doctors: Making Sense of the Management Gurus" John Micklethwait, Adrian Wooldridge, 1998
• "McKinsey & Co.: The WetFeet.com Insider Guide" Gary Alpert, et al, 2000
• "Consulting Demons: Inside the Unscrupulous World of Global Corporate Consulting" Lewis Pinault, 2000
  
  
  
• "Managing Business Travel : Improving the Bottom Line Through Effective Travel Management" Darryl Jenkins, 1992
• "Savvy business travel: management tips from the pros" Darryl Jenkins, 1992
  
  
  
• "The buyer's guide to business insurance" Don Bury et al, 1994
• "Taking cover: the truth about business insurance" Paul Frankland, 1988
• "The invisible bankers: everything the insurance industry never wanted you to know" Andrew Tobias, 1982
• "Consumer Reports Life Insurance Handbook: how to buy the right policy from the right company at the right price" Jersey Gilbert, 1994.
• "False security: greed & deception in America's multibillion-dollar insurance industry" Kenneth D. Myers, 1995
  
  
  
• "Profscam" Charles J. Sykes, 1988 . This book is about why higher education in USA has become a massive fraud. Actually, it focuses on the professorship.
  
  
  
• "Book of lists: the best, the worst, and the funniest from the worlds of Business, Finance and Politics" Louis Rukeyser, 1997
  
  
  
• "The truth about corporate accounting" Abraham J. Briloff, 1981
  
  
  
• "How Lawyers Screw Their Clients : Gross Billable Hours-Outrageous Overcharging & What You Can Do About It" Donald Dekieffer , 1995
• "Smart questions to ask your lawyer" Dorothy Leeds, 1992
• "Dancing with lawyers: how to take charge and get results" Nicholas Carroll, 1992
  
  
  
• "Book of questions: for the smart consumers" Linda Mack Ross, 1996
  
  
  
• "50 secrets your grocer doesn't want you to know: an insider's guide to stretching your grocery shopping dollars" George T. Jacobson, 1996
  
  
  
• "Your bank is ripping you off: from ATM charges to credit card interest to checking fees to loans on your car and home: how to fight back and save a fortune" Edward F. Mrkvicka, 1997
  
  
  
• "Best of living cheap news" Larry Roth , 1996. I love this book. He is my soul mate in the money saving department.
  
  
  
• "This won't hurt (and other lies my doctor tells me)" Charles B. Inlander, 1998
  
  
  
• "Impure Science : Fraud, Compromise and Political Influence in Scientific Research" Robert Bell, 1992
  
  
  
• "1001 ways to save money and still have a dazzling wedding" Sharon Naylor, 1994
• "The elegant wedding and the budget-savvy bride: how to have the wedding of your dreams for half the price" Deborah McCoy, 1999
  
  
  
• "The clam scam: successfully avoiding the casting couch and other talent and modeling scams" Erik Joseph, 1994
  
  
  
• "Sex, Stupidity and Greed: Inside the American Movie Industry" Ian Grey , 1998
• "Hollywood Rat Race" by Ed Wood, Jr. , 1998
  
  
  
• "Not so: popular myths about America from Columbus to Clinton" Paul F. Boller, Jnr, 1995.
• "Everything you know is wrong" Paul Kirchner , 1995
• "Lies my teachers told me: everything your American history textbook got wrong" James W. Loewen, 1996
• "Censored : The News That Didn't Make the News-And Why: The 1996 Project Censored Yearbook" This book comes out once a year. A must read.
• "The New Doublespeak : Why No One Knows What Anyone's Saying Anymore" William Lutz, 1997
• "Fabulous fallacies: more than 300 popular beliefs that are not true" Tad Tuleja, 1982
• "A dictionary of common fallacies" Philip Ward, 1978
• "The dictionary of misinformation" Tom Burnam, 1975
• "More misinformation" Tom Burnam, 1980
  
  
  
• "What Your Doctor Can't Tell You About Cosmetic Surgery" Joyce D. Nash, 1995
  
  
  
• "How to answer a headhunter's call: a complete guide to executive search" Robert H. (Robert Hastings) Perry, 1984.
  
  
  
• "How to beat the I.R.S. (Internal Revenue Service i.e. the income tax department in USA) at its own game: strategies to avoid --- and survive--- an audit" Amir D. Aczel, 1995
• "What the IRS doesn't want you to know" Martin Kaplan, et al , 1998
• "Stand up to the IRS" Frederick W. Daily and Robin Leonard (Editor), 1999
  
  
  
• "The 201 Questions Every Homebuyer and Homeseller Must Ask!" Edith Lank, 1995
• "The Common Sense Mortgage : How to Cut the Cost of Home Ownership by $50,000 or More" Peter G. Miller, 1999
• "Buyer Beware : Insider Secrets You Need to Know Before Buying Your Home-From Choosing an Agent to Closing the Deal" Carla Cross, 1998
  
  
  
• "The definitive guide to the best & worst of everything" Les Krantz, 1997
• "The best of everything" John L. Marion ; 1989
• "The ultimate: the great armchair debates settled once and for all" William Poundstone, 1990
• "Pure silver: the second best of everything" David Reid, 1988