We just bought this book due to our love of old houses and feel that old houses and outhouses go hand in hand. The photographs are wonderful and the writing is hilarious, yet informative. We are going to give this book to friends who also have an old house and a sense of humor. What a great book! By the way, it sits in our bathroom by the porcelain even though we do have an outhouse out back!

As one of the poets featured in Will Work for Peace, one might expect me to be a bit biased, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Most poets work in a virtual vacuum, only tenuously connected to each other by the occasional workshop or shared membership in a 'poetry society'. When Brett Axel first approached me for a submission to an anthology he was considering, the names Marge Piercy, Lyn Lifshin, Moshe Bennaroch and so many others were abstractions to me as a fledgling poet. I knew these tremendous writers were 'out there' somewhere, beating down doors with their words and keeping a struggling artform alive. But to think that someday I would ever share a credit with these dynamic modern poets would be a pipe dream at best. It is through the sincere efforts of Brett Axel that many newer voices like mine have an extraordinary opportunity to appear with Pulitzer Prize winners and other poetic heavyweights. By way of an honest review, however, I will say this- not everything in this book will be to your particular liking. I myself came across some works that did not move me in the way the author may have intended. Some imagery can be raw and visceral, using shock value in place of craft at times. But to ignore those voices would be an even more shocking turn of events, so praise be to the editor for not sacrificing his vision to a senseless conformity. As Pete Seeger so aptly put it in his quote, trying to read all these poems at one time would be like trying 'to swallow Manhattan whole'. I say to you- buy this book, read this book, but understand that it's what you do after reading this book that will ultimately define who you could be. Poetry is alive and well, and lives in the blunt pages of Will Work for Peace.

Just amazing start to finish! I like the disregard for fame used in putting the book together. That great poems got in even if they were writtenby nobodys. Look at Roger Bonair-Agard's poem on page 74. Shortly after Will Work For Peace came out he won Slam Nationals, becoming Slam Champion of 1999, which will be getting him lots of offers. But Zeropanik Press didn't need to be told he was good by an award. They could tell by his writing! Good for them and good for all of us because Will Work For Peace is a literary milestone. It's a new standard for all future anthology editors to try to live up to. Thumbs up to Brett Axel and Thumbs up to Zeropanik Press for their guts and integrty.

Brett Axel visited my Church and I bought a copy of Will Work For Peace from him, not for poetry, but because I care about working for peace. I started reading through it thinking It'd just go on my shelf and that'd be the end of it, but the book grabbed me and kept me rivited. If I had known that poetry was this alive I'd have been into poetry. I've been reading some of the poems to my friends who also didn't think poetry was important and they are saying the same thing. Fantastic! There's no way to get through this book without having your old mindsets challenged. It's funny, powerful, sad, and uplifting. A book that deserves to be read by everyone. A book that really can make the world a better place!

No disrespect intended, but I happened to have worked for one of the "daring visionaries" profiled in this book. And from my own observations, it must be said that all too often, in a quest to package and glamourize "madcap" or "wild and crazy" startup cultures and their leaders, authors such as Mr. Smilor quietly ignore the potential liabilities of this style of entrepreneurship.

Put simply, it is all too easy to confuse impulsivity and extroversion for "visionary" leadership- simply because the theatre of wild displays of energy and risktaking are by their nature dramatic and impactful. But building and growing a great company is not a performance art. And the personality given to such behaviors may as easily be simply an improvisional actor portraying the role of a crazed and daring entrepreneur.

It should not come as a surprise to anyone that a talent for such antics isn't a guarantee of anything- especially true leadership skills. From my own experience, the manic charisma of our leader was complimented with a mercurial and frequently even self-destructive personality.

Charismatic leaders often are men or women of character- and I don't mean to imply anything to the contrary. Mr. Smilor makes other points beyond his glamorization of nutty dreamers, and I do not disagree with much of the rest of his book.

But to anyone who would take from this book the author's suggestion that "the wild and crazy things you do to enhance culture form the mythology of the company" I would add simply this. If the mythology of your company isn't the truth of your company, your company is engaged in delusion (at best) and deception (at worst).

When I ordered this book, I was intrigued about statement given by a reviewer explaining how "enterpreneurship is a subset of management." I also had the mind-set that reading this book was going to be a total waste of time. I got prepared to read a motivational book that would not go beyond my short-term memory.

Entrepreneurs are a special breed. I agree that anyone with the desire, training and savvy can accomplish anything once the person is committed to it. Entrepreneurs are leaders, managers, learners and followers. Leadership and management are subsets of entrepreneurship. Mr. Smilor was correct when he admonished the dean at a leading business school. Schools today are only teaching students what they ought to know when they should also be training students on what to do! Entrepreneurs inspire people, create wealth and improve society in America. These are just a few of the many topics covered in short, but very concise chapters.

May I offer a suggestion for the entrepreneur who is just getting started or for the burned-out entrepreneur who has been in the trenches too long (that's me!). Skim the book like the first class taken in a post-graduate degree program. Make this book the first step in the long and winding process. I can assure you that many issues covered will not be fully absorbed the first time. Then, before presenting the start-up to investors, carefully review the book again, as the last step, to make sure you covered all the bases. You will get a new outlook and gain an entirely new appreciation for this book.

One final point. It demands total commitment and takes the ultimate sacrifice to be an entrepreneur. It is a gut-wrenching experience...

Smilor has captured not only the practical intuition of entrepreneurship - but its vital inspiring essence. His organization is coherent and bite-sized; perfect for a quick pick up, a fast scan, or a page-turning read. He obviously understands the needs of the fast-paced digester, leaving the reader with both solid academic/research/theoretical underpinnings as well as real-life stories of entrepreneurial inspiration. A terrific book for anyone running, growing or starting a new venture!