House of Lies

January 17, 2005
Complete with an appendix of terms like "brain dump," "pulse check" and "swag" (an acronym for "smart wild-assed guess"), this somewhat disjointed, highly intelligent and deeply funny debut memoir skewers a segment of the economy that nearly every white-collar worker has learned to fear and loathe: consultancies. Kihn, who has been nominated for an Emmy as a comedy writer, went to Columbia Business School and has spent the last few years working as a consultant; he writes the "Consultant Debunking Unit" column for Fast Company
. Kihn argues that many consultants know little or nothing about the firms they're hired to help; furthermore, he contends, they often offer companies information that companies already have. For him, the consulting industry is a shell game, imparting an air of authority and expertise rather than actual authority and expertise. To achieve the illusion, Kihn says, consultants use mechanisms ranging from legions of Harvard MBAs in Oxford shirts to reams of incomprehensible blather presented as winning corporate wisdom. His reconstructed dialogue from within his (unnamed) firm and from his time serving clients is alone worth the price of admission, as is his relentless taunting (by name) of McKinsey, Deloitte & Touche and others. Agent, Simon Lipskar at Writer's House.

March 15, 2012
Stand-up comic and Emmy Award-nominated author Kihn takes listeners on a humorous journey through the pitfalls and shenanigans of management consulting. Deciding to "go straight," Kihn left the hustle and bustle of comedy, earned a Yale MBA, and began consulting. His keen wit shines in this irreverent insider's look at a field the author describes as filled with people who cannot really do anything but are very good at wasting time, energy, and huge sums of other people's money. This will appeal to fans of John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge's "The Witch Doctors", which takes a similar approach to management gurus. Note that the material is the basis for the new Showtime TV series "House of Lies", starring Don Cheadle as Kihn, which adds appeal. Audie Award winner and "Audiofile Magazine" Best Voice narrator Johnny Heller's crisp, lively reading nicely steadies the pace of this entertaining, engaging material. VERDICT With the author's limited experience in this field, his perspective does not serve as a definitive, inside analysis, but Kihn's humorous approach makes it of interest to business school students, as well as those inside this industry.--Dale Farris, Groves, TX

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2005
With sharp wit, consultant Kihn tears down myths surrounding the highly profitable and revered management-consulting industry. Presenting stories from his own career in a large management-consulting firm, this tell-all book sketches a picture of a consulting firm with teams of brilliant professionals who are hired by companies that pay millions of dollars in fees for an analysis of their organization and its processes. The author contends that consultants merely provide information the client already knows, and he offers insight into the effect consultants have on the company's employees and their culture. Language plays an enormous role in dealings both within and outside the firm, and the inclusion of a dictionary of important words for management consultants is revealing and entertaining. No activity avoids Kihn's scathing pen, including his highly critical analysis of business books. This will be popular among those engaged in consulting as well as clients who pay dearly for their advice.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)