Self-Made in America: Plain Talk for Plain People about the Meaning of Success

An ex-New York City cop and a once-failed entrepreneur who was $250,000 in debt at age 25, McCormack has since achieved success with a chain of Houston hair-cutting establishments called Visible Changes. How he managed to turn his life around, aided by advice from millionaires who had started as penniless immigrants, forms one portion of this excellent self-help book. In the other, McCormack, joined by Texas journalist Legge, offers his prescriptions for fiscal success, principally involving education (his comments on the problems of U.S. schools are coruscating), persistence, motivation, self-discipline and assiduous saving. He urges bosses to make heavy demands on workers--but also recommends that they pay as much as possible in salary, commissions and bonuses. (Feb.)