Meyer, G.J. 1940- (Gerald Meyer)

PERSONAL:

Born 1940.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New York, NY.

CAREER:

Writer and journalist. Worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and was vice president in communications at McDonnell Douglas.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Nieman Fellowship, Harvard University; Edgar Award for Nonfiction, for The Memphis Murders.

WRITINGS:

(As Gerald Meyer) The Memphis Murders, Seabury Press (New York, NY), 1974.

Executive Blues: Down and Out in Corporate America, Franklin Square Press (New York, NY), 1995.

A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914-1918, Delacorte Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Contributor to periodicals, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, and Harper's.

SIDELIGHTS:

G.J. Meyer is a journalist whose first book, The Memphis Murders, received an Edgar Award for nonfiction. In Executive Blues: Down and Out in Corporate America, written two decades later, Meyer recounts how, after working for years in corporate public relations, he was let go as a vice president at McDonnell Douglas. The author relies largely on his journals to provide his viewpoint of how corporations work. As expected, the author writes about the disregard corporations have for their employees, but also notes that this factor is only one small symptom of what is wrong with corporate America. David Rouse, writing in Booklist, called Executive Blues "a different, disturbing take on the ‘re-engineered firm,’ ‘post-capitalist society,’ and ‘turnaround management.’" Fortune contributor Andrew E. Serwer also had high regard for the book, noting: "If beat poet Allen Ginsberg were a laid-off 1990s executive he might have written Executive Blues: Down and Out in Corporate America." Serwer added: "Like Ginsberg's 1956 poem ‘Howl,’ Executive Blues is brilliant, original, and raging."

Meyer's third book, A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914-1918, is a condensed history of World War I that covers a wide range of topics, from the differences in military counsel to the devastating carnage inflicted. The author also briefly discusses what he considers to be fundamental contributing factors to the war, such as the Armenian genocide, Alsace-Lorraine question, anti-Semitism, and numerous other topics. Frederic Krome, writing in the Library Journal, noted that the author provides an "interesting narrative twist: chapters on specific events are followed by ‘background’ sections … [detailing] a case study or theme."

A World Undone received many favorable reviews. "This is an outstanding survey," wrote Jay Freeman in Booklist. A Publishers Weekly contributor commended the book, noting that Meyer was successful in "constructing a readable, coherent text." The reviewer also commented that the author "accomplished [it] with brio." Several reviewers noted the author's ability to simplify the subject yet retain a comprehensive evaluation. For example, in a review in the Smokey Mountain Sentinel, Larry Cox wrote: "World War I was so complex, it is difficult for most people to get their mental arms wrapped around the subject. G.J. Meyer … has pulled off the almost impossible with his fascinating new book." BookLoons Web site contributor Tim Davis also commended the author for providing a history of the war accessible to nonhistorians. Davis noted: "More than an excellent history, which it is, A World Undone is a provocative analysis of one of history's most perplexing events."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 15, 1995, David Rouse, review of Executive Blues: Down and Out in Corporate America, p. 122; May 15, 2006, Jay Freeman, review of A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918, p. 19.

Entertainment Weekly, October 4, 1996, review of Executive Blues, p. 57.

ETC.: A Review of General Semantics, summer, 1996, Martin H. Levinson, review of Executive Blues.

Fortune, August 21, 1995, Andrew E. Serwer, review of Executive Blues, p. 117.

Library Journal, May 1, 2006, Frederic Krome, review of A World Undone, p. 99.

Publishers Weekly, April 10, 2006, review of A World Undone, p. 63.

Smokey Mountain Sentinel (Hayesville, NC), June 7, 2006, Larry Cox, review of A World Undone.

St. Petersburg Times, July 2, 2006, David Walton, review of A World Undone.