Book Review "Best Business Writing 2012," published in Library Journal 5/15/12

Dean Starkman. The Best Business Writing 012. Columbia Univ. . ISBN 9780231160735. bus. This first annual collection from Columbia University Press presents 31 of the best English-language writings on business , finance , and economics from magazines , newspapers , blogs , tape recordings , filmed interviews , radio shows , and even a movie. The editors , including Starkman (editor , Columbia Journalism Review) , believe that "ignorance about matters business and financial is no longer an option." They include a brief history of business writing , touching on Business Week in 1929 , Fortune in 1930 , and the Wall Street Journal in 1941 , and organize the articles in sections called "Bad Business , " "Financial Systems and Discontents , " "Over There" (e.g. , foreign countries) , "Politics and Money , " "The Big Picture" (e.g. , food , patents , law schools) , and "Corporate Stories." These exposés and critiques cover companies like Pfizer , Ikea , Countrywide Financial , and coal company Massey Energy; CEOs such as Bill Ford Jr. , Warren Buffett , and Steve Jobs; institutions including the SEC , FBI , and U.S. Department of the Treasury; and issues such as taxes , lobbying , etc. VERDICT For business-interested readers , this book presents revealing , and sometimes shocking , investigations. The lack of an index is a flaw.—Joanne B. Conrad , Geneseo , NY