Vantage Point Magazine operates as a non-profit venture. Proceeds from the Vantage Point Book Store are used to help defray operating costs. The virtual shelves of this bookstore share publications and videos related to current and past articles as well as choices of the publisher's favorites.  You may want to consider purchasing the following: 

1. Shattered Air - Yosemite National Park is a natural wonder that can cause your jaw to drop.  Unfortunately, its beauty and fame tends to attract people; lots of people. Most will visit, appreciate the spectacular falls, peaceful meadows, clear rivers and streams, as well as sheer granite faces and leave inspired.  It is, however, a natural place and poses risks for people who disregard safety rules.



This book tells us about a small group of reckless young men who, in 1985, exposed themselves to great danger. They knowingly disregarded the warnings on posted signs; the admonitions of others, and proceeded to climb to the summit of Half Dome (shown above) just as an intense lightning storm closed in on the monolithic granite peak. The story relates the events that led up to that fateful night and the horrible price they paid. The story is also about true courage and the wonderful people who helped to save lives that night.



2. Into the Wild - Jon Krakauer wrote this book after he developed an article on the same subject in Outside Magazine. also wrote the book "Into Thin Air" about the disaster while climbing Mt. Everest.  Here is what Krakauer has to say... 

"Working on a tight deadline, I wrote a 9,000-word article, "Death of an Innocent," which ran in the January 1993 issue of the (Outdoor) magazine, but my fascination with McCandless remained long after that issue of Outside was replaced on the newsstands by more current journalistic fare. I was haunted by the particulars of the boy's starvation and by vague, unsettling parallels between events in his life and those in my own.

"Unwilling to let McCandless go, I spent more than a year retracing the convoluted path that led to his death in the Alaskan taiga, chasing down details of his peregrinations with an interest that bordered on obsession. In trying to understand McCandless, I inevitably came to reflect on other, larger subjects as well: the grip wilderness has on the American imagination, the allure high-risk activities hold for young men of a certain mind, the complicated, highly charged bond that exists between fathers and sons. The result of this meandering inquiry was a 70,000-word book, titled Into the Wild, published in January 1996."

Young McCandless (shown above) tragically loses his life before he can return from his quest. Krakauer speculates in the book what may have occurred, but the actual cause of his death may never be known.

The journey Chris takes through the southwest is also fascinating and includes stops in Bullhead City, AZ, Lake Meade, canoeing down the Colorado River to Mexico, a stopover in "Slab City" in the California desert, a stay near the Salton Sea, to name a few of the unusual points of interest and new friends along the way. By the way, the Sean Penn directed movie (See Amazon video offer on the right), of the same title, is faithful to the book. 

Additional information on the Chris McCandless story>



Book                            Video

3. When We Get to Surf City - Jan and Dean met in high school in West Los Angeles. They grew up in the late 50s/early 60s. They had a string of hits and were closely associated with the Beach Boys. Eventually the spotlight shifted to other artists and different music. Surf music faded in popularity.  But Jan and Dean continued to do "oldies" concert events across the U.S. every summer.

Bob Greene, author of "Duty" and "Once Upon a Town" explores, from an inside perspective, what it is like to be a musician during the summers when Jan and Dean and their band toured the country.  Greene calls it, "A journey through America in pursuit of Rock and Roll, friendship and dreams." From a Vantage Point perspective, a reader is able to visualize how hard Jan (shown on the left side of photo below) had to work just to be in the band after his nearly fatal car accident and traumatic brain injury. It also paints a word portrait of Dean who was a true friend through what must have been the most difficult of times.





4. Born Standing Up - This book offers insights into the unique Vantage Point of comedian, Steve Martin.  It candidly shares experiences along the path that Martin took and offers returns to a few Southern California clubs that no longer exist. Both his failures and successes along the way are candidly discussed. The result is a tangible, first-person thumbnail of who Steve Martin was when he got started and the often lonely road he took to became the well-known star he is today. 



Perhaps you shared my view that Martin's path to success was quick and heady, particularly after zany appearances on the Tonight Show and Saturday Night Live. The book dispells that notion, instead giving a real-world timeline of Martin's ups and downs from the late 1960s through to the late 1980s. A very enjoyable read. His well-deserved 2007 recognition from the Kennedy Center must have been an especially sweet evening for him.



5. Surfing the Edge of Chaos - This paperback book was recommended by a friend while we were on a fishing trip in the mountains. I picked it up and kept finding ideas about how companies could be so much better. 

 If you have not come across this book already, you will be pleasantly surprised to find a number of excellent case studies. I was amazed to learn that the U.S Army was sited by the authors as an organization that is getting it right. Another case study was an analysis of the leadership styles of the CEOs at Sears. The authors explain what caused otherwise excellent Sears marketing and consumer mindshare initiatives to fail...and fail they did right on the sales floor.



6. These two management books were cited by Rick Maurer in the Vantage Point Interview article titled, "Best Practices on Making Organizational Changes."