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Missing Persons: A Life of Unexpected Influences
“An unpretentious, tactical, and sure-footed examination of the events that shaped his own life.” --Jay Parini, author of the best-selling historical novel, The Last Station Bruce Piasecki’s book on business strategy Doing More With Less : the New Way to Wealth , was an immediate success, becoming a New York Times , USA Today , and Wall Street Journal bestseller. Indeed, Doing More With Less is not just a clever book title; it explains the core philosophy of a man, who propelled from an impoverished and fatherless childhood, became an internationally, sought-after resource for the world’s largest corporations―from Toyota and Wal-Mart to Shell and Suncor Energy. Those who helped and shaped Dr. Piasecki are the focus of his latest work Missing Persons : A Life of Unexpected Influences. Indeed, in this set of 70 vignettes Piasecki channels his poetic side - a side that was first noticed at Cornell when his little-known book of poems was published under the title Stray Prayers in 1973. The memoir, one part autobiography, one part creative non-fiction and written in vignette form, recounts the author’s formative relationships and experiences with intimacy and longing. Meet his mother, and father, his interracial brothers and sisters, his early and late business partners, his lovers, his daughter and his wife. It is told in a unique third person narrative that provides intrigue for the reader as they follow the protagonist through loss, passion, self-invention, a litany of fears and dreams - each revealed in eloquent prose. Through his uniquely informed perspective, Bruce allows us to understand the power of memory and how it influences us. The simplicity that made Doing More With Less a bestseller makes this new work not only compelling, but also life-affirming. Missing Persons explores the meaning and power of memory, and offers an opportunity for the reader to pause, reflect, and recount the myriad of influences in their own lives.
224 pages, Paperback
First published February 9, 2015
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170 people want to read
About the author
Bruce Piasecki
35 books12 followersNYT bestselling author, speaker, advisor on shared value and social response capitalism. For more thoughts find me on Medium at http://brucepiasecki.medium.com
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 3, 2017
-Disclaimer: I won this book for free through goodreads giveaways in exchange for an honest review.-
#Notmycupoftea
I didn't care for this book myself. It was mostly set in Poland, I am not from around there so I found the author said a lot of odd stuff.
-Boring,bland,not exciting enough to be a book, slow, weird, hard to follow, nothing new,waste of time.
#Notmycupoftea
I didn't care for this book myself. It was mostly set in Poland, I am not from around there so I found the author said a lot of odd stuff.
-Boring,bland,not exciting enough to be a book, slow, weird, hard to follow, nothing new,waste of time.
February 27, 2015
`The meaning and power of memory'
Dr. Bruce Piasecki is the author of nine seminal books on business strategy, valuation, corporate change, and sustainability, including his most recent works, "The Surprising Solution," "Doing More With Less". As President and Founder of The AHC Group, Inc., a management consulting firm specializing in energy, materials, and environmental corporate matters he has worked with many global firms such as Hewlett Packard, Whirlpool, Toyota, and DuPont.
MISSING PERSONS is a unique experience for the reader. Written in the third person, as though writing a novel rather than a memoir, Bruce explains the core philosophy of a `man who, propelled from an impoverished and fatherless childhood, became an internationally, sought-after resource for the world's largest corporations.' Less reportage than poetic prose, this is a set of 70 moments alluding to people and incidents that influenced his life.
The manner in which Bruce shares his formative relationships and experiences is rich in intimacy and longing. We, the reader, are introduced to his mother, and father, his interracial brothers and sisters, his early and late business partners, his lovers, his daughter and his wife. His subtitle for the book, `A Life of Unexpected Influences', is far more meaningful that a subtitle usually suggests. The manner in which Bruce uses his memory as a construct to explore his maturing and his enormous success as a businessman results in a most unique reading experience. At times witty and lighthearted - such as the moment in his Introduction as he learns how to pronounce his Polish name form his grandfather: `This was the beginning of my ability to see myself in the third person, which is how I have written my story. You can blame my name.' At other time his words are deeply moving as in the portion titled `A Funeral Message': His mind goes there whenever he thinks of his mother. She is there, somewhere in the abbey. She is there - everywhere - in literature. She is always there, his Missing Person.'
Bruce Piasecki's book is luminous, especially for those of us who are finding ourselves reflecting on the past attempting to understand the present and predict the future. Highly Recommended.
Dr. Bruce Piasecki is the author of nine seminal books on business strategy, valuation, corporate change, and sustainability, including his most recent works, "The Surprising Solution," "Doing More With Less". As President and Founder of The AHC Group, Inc., a management consulting firm specializing in energy, materials, and environmental corporate matters he has worked with many global firms such as Hewlett Packard, Whirlpool, Toyota, and DuPont.
MISSING PERSONS is a unique experience for the reader. Written in the third person, as though writing a novel rather than a memoir, Bruce explains the core philosophy of a `man who, propelled from an impoverished and fatherless childhood, became an internationally, sought-after resource for the world's largest corporations.' Less reportage than poetic prose, this is a set of 70 moments alluding to people and incidents that influenced his life.
The manner in which Bruce shares his formative relationships and experiences is rich in intimacy and longing. We, the reader, are introduced to his mother, and father, his interracial brothers and sisters, his early and late business partners, his lovers, his daughter and his wife. His subtitle for the book, `A Life of Unexpected Influences', is far more meaningful that a subtitle usually suggests. The manner in which Bruce uses his memory as a construct to explore his maturing and his enormous success as a businessman results in a most unique reading experience. At times witty and lighthearted - such as the moment in his Introduction as he learns how to pronounce his Polish name form his grandfather: `This was the beginning of my ability to see myself in the third person, which is how I have written my story. You can blame my name.' At other time his words are deeply moving as in the portion titled `A Funeral Message': His mind goes there whenever he thinks of his mother. She is there, somewhere in the abbey. She is there - everywhere - in literature. She is always there, his Missing Person.'
Bruce Piasecki's book is luminous, especially for those of us who are finding ourselves reflecting on the past attempting to understand the present and predict the future. Highly Recommended.
March 23, 2015
As an autobiography, this is more a set of philosophical reflections than a recapitulation of his life. Piasecki is a very good writer, he demonstrates it by turning what is a fairly routine event common to almost all and turning it into a point of interest. The descriptions of his life as a retired person is an act of creative nonfiction.
Throughout the book he covers many of the standard things, finding love, getting married, fathering a daughter, being successful in business and then growing old. Unlike many other people, his lifelong love of reading and mental exploration turn his projected older years into a time of joy, for he can then expend more effort in enjoying the printed word.
His wife Varlissima provides some very funny jokes in the early years, she is witty and if you can stand being the target of some off-color jokes, you would enjoy her company. The term “fulfilling life” is one that is often put up as an ideal, in Piasecki’s case his future is fictional yet plausible. Hopefully he will write about it when it is an actual rather than projected memory.
This book was made available for free for review purposes and this review appears on Amazon.
Throughout the book he covers many of the standard things, finding love, getting married, fathering a daughter, being successful in business and then growing old. Unlike many other people, his lifelong love of reading and mental exploration turn his projected older years into a time of joy, for he can then expend more effort in enjoying the printed word.
His wife Varlissima provides some very funny jokes in the early years, she is witty and if you can stand being the target of some off-color jokes, you would enjoy her company. The term “fulfilling life” is one that is often put up as an ideal, in Piasecki’s case his future is fictional yet plausible. Hopefully he will write about it when it is an actual rather than projected memory.
This book was made available for free for review purposes and this review appears on Amazon.
February 28, 2021
I've known Bruce Piasecki since we were classmates in college, but there is much I didn't know about this self-made entrepreneur and management consultant. Many details of his childhood on the South Shore of Long Island and his adult life in the Capitol Region of New York are contained here, told in a distinctive voice of one who's gone from the trenches to the top and now imparts his wisdom.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews