Against the Odds: An Autobiography

click here for more details, find new or used items	James Dyson Used from £8.84 Pages: 320 (Hardcover) ISBN: 1587991705 Pub: Texere Publishing,US Pub date: 2003-04-17 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 349500

Reader Reviews:

Highly entertaining (0/0 people found this helpful)

I thoroughly enjoyed this highly entertaining account of James Dyson's long journey in bringing a number of products to market from the ball-barrow to the very successful Dyson vacuum cleaner. While fighting an uphill battle against lawyers, back-stabbing corporate "colleagues" and sceptics, the author never lost his sense of humour or determination to bring his ideas to market. He explains in a very straight-forward manner the concepts behind his many inventions. I never thought vacuum cleaners could be so interesting !!! Highly recommended.

Slow and steady wins the race (3/4 people found this helpful)

Well I picked up this book when it was referred to in a management magazine(!). Despite this the book started off at a very slow pace, but gently building up momentum. By the middle of the book I was thoroughly hooked and it became my replacement for evening television (that's no comparison). There are some brilliantly simple snippets of advice in the pages and some great tales of how he has managed to persist. I admire Dyson as an entrepreneur and for his products, and this book confirmed that his dogged determination saw him through. I'm also very impressed with his wife who stuck through thick and thin. I've now passed this on to the MD of our company!
So although I haven't told you much about the actual book, I can say READ IT - it will inspire and ask you to raise questions about your own company, although you may not agree with all of his philosophy, since it is more relevant to some businesses than others. I would happily read this book again next year.

Stories of an Innovator: Building the Better Vacuum Cleaner (0/0 people found this helpful)

This book is subtitled "an autobiography," but it isn't really about James Dyson, the man. It is about James Dyson, the inventor and designer who conquered the vacuum cleaner market. The difference? Dyson includes everything that might explain his success as an inventor, but gives only limited attention to his personal or interior life. Dyson briefly mentions some crucial points, like the strain his ongoing travels put on his marriage, or his wonderment at his companies' many lawsuits, but if you're seeking a man's inside emotional story, this isn't it. However, if you're looking for an exciting account of an inventor who proceeds, as Dyson puts it, in an Edisonian fashion, read this book. We recommend it to anyone engaged in design, engineering, marketing or innovation. The stories it contains, especially the descriptions of inspiration or frustration - are refreshing in this theoretical age, as is his advice on creating and marketing innovative products. Dyson's book proves that a vital place still exists for individual vision and old-fashioned perseverance.

Intrieging, fascinating and inspirational. (4/4 people found this helpful)

This intrieging, fascinating and compelling story should be an inspiration to all would-be inventors and entrepenuers. With humility and candour, James Dyson injects his own unique brand of passion, tenacity and enthusiasm, offering a wealth of interesting technical facts and even a little home-spun Dyson philosophy into this beguiling autobiography.

A British manufacturing success story (3/3 people found this helpful)

This is a great story, because the good guy wins in the end - against all the odds. Ranged against Dyson were rapacious American multinationals, deadwood British manufacturers, and financial organisations and government agencies that poured cold water on Dyson's dual cyclone ideas. But he turned the tables on them all, and how he succeded is a rare British manufacturing success story that ought to be compulsory reading for Britain's politicians and business leaders. In it Dyson presents his own agenda for a manufacturing revival in Britain, with creativity restored to prime position, rather than finance or advertising as is usually the case.

The book is written in an enjoyable informal style, and peppered with the occassional slightly rude expression, making it readable and often funny.

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