CAROLYN 101: Business Lessons from The Apprentice's Straight Shooter

People familiar with Kepcher's stern demeanor and grim expressions on Trump's reality TV show will be pleasantly surprised by her sense of humor and her solid career advice. There are plenty of "the Donald" stories, but Kepcher's focuses on practical workplace strategies, from behaving and dressing appropriately in everyday situations to managing difficult bosses, handling office romances, firing employees and more. Kepcher serves up information confidently and unpretentiously, drawing on her own experiences, such as her travails with a nightmare boss when she first joined Trump's empire. These anecdotes yield aphorisms ("If your boss is a bully, you're probably stronger than he is"), which in turn add up to the curriculum–like title. Although some of Kepcher's comments about women using their appearances to get ahead may rankle, her suggestions on interview and résumé protocol, and on asking for a raise, ring true. Following Bill Rancic's You're Hired (Forecasts, Sept. 27), this second book to emerge from The Apprentice this season manages to do what it needs to do. Agent, Esther Newberg of ICM. (Oct.)