What goes into the canon of popular business literature?  I've read a bunch of business books, but many of them have been histories, and many of those have been unsatisfying.  Can't say the same about Barbarians at the Gate, the tick tock of the KKR LBO of RJR Nabisco - it's every bit as good as everyone tells you it is.  And Liar's Poker, about the go go junk bond era from the perspective of Michael Lewis, who spent some time in Salomon's bond department, is also really, really memorable.  There's no doubt that James Suroweicki's The Wisdom of Crowds and Malcolm Gladwell's Blink have made both authors rich on business meeting speaking engagements, but it's not easy to pin down the precise implications of their theses (which are "crowds are [sometimes] magic!" and "initial reactions are [sometimes] magic!" respectively).  And the canonical business case study text, In Search of Excellence, by Peters and Waterman, is fascinating, but characterized by, and, heck, maybe invented, what I call the "eight squishy rules" rule of how-to business books.  P&W recommend "simple form lean staff" and "simultaneous loose-tight properties," that sort of thing.  Which is thought-provoking, and maybe that's all you want, but is also the kind of thing that, if these rules were laws, would drive lawyers nuts.

Any other suggestions for the canon? Please do comment.

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