Guess Who's Listening at the Other End of Your Telephone by Barry H. Harrin

This is probably one of the funniest telecom books you will ever read.

That may not be saying much, as most telecom books have a distinct lack of humor in them, but Barry H. Harrin's Guess Who's Listening at the Other End of Your Telephone? is one of the most amusing books of any genre that I've read in awhile.

It's title may bit a bit misleading to some. The book is actually the professional autobiography of the author, who rose from a "craft" at Ma Bell to a top telecom executive at a regional long distance company. Harry's rise to fame did not happen overnight. He put in many difficult years at the frustrating system that was "the phone company" during pre-divestiture. The story details his frustration with the Bell System, unions, supervisors, co-workers, executives, venture capitalists and crooks who have infiltrated our industry.

This candid overview of one man's telecom business experiences will ring familiar bells (no pun intended) with many of you, and expose others to the sometimes frustrating world of corporate telecom. Throughout the book, Harry maintains his sarcastic sense of humor an wit. He pulls no punches, and tells you exactly what he thinks of those working in management, craft, sales and engineering.

I would have a difficult time believing that anyone in the telecom industry would not enjoy some aspect of this book. It really is quite fun to read, and I looked forward to reading each new chapter. The book has a rather ugly cover design and suffers from a desperate need for proofreading, but is extremely readable and humorous.

The book is short, only about 120 pages. If you have a spare evening free and need a good laugh, I would highly recommend it. I had a difficult time putting my copy down, and didn't do so until I had read the entire volume. It definitely deserves a place on everyone's telecom bookshelf.

Chapters:

1. Late As Usual, But I Need The Job Anyway
2. AT&T: We Are The World Sucka
3. Ma Bell's Indoctrination
4. Let The Career Begin, Bring In The Lions
5. Management - New York Style
6. Dancing With The Scorpions
7. We Ain't Got No Culture And We Show It
8. Making Money The Old Fashioned Way... With Overtime
9. "Ya Better Get Wid Da Program, Ya Jerk - Or Else!"
10. The First Christmas - AT&T Style
11. When The Supervisor's Are Away The Telephone Company's Customers Should Pray
12. We're In The Union, Right? So Let's Go On Strike
13. A New Supervisor From Sales - How Can We Screw Him?
14. So You're Graduating College - Who Cares?
15. Escape From New York - The Final Version!
16. Welcome To Southern Fried Bell
17. Attack Of The Clay People
18. Promote Him? But He's Not Wearing A Dress
19. Telephone Taps And Drug Kingpins
20. Disco Dancing At The Bell System
21. Spring Break - Phone Company Style
22. Playing God In A 3-Piece Suit
23. Ambush Under The Palm Trees
24. The Bell System's Last Great Strike
25. Y'all Craft Or Management
26. Ma Bell's Shotgun Divorce
27. Laser Beams And Alligators In The Everglades
28. The Sadaam Hussein Of Boca Raton?
29. Bringing Civilization And Fiber Optics To Texas
30. Son, I'm A Texan, My Handshake Is A Contract!
31. The Texas Dialtone Massacre
32. Dinosaur Skin Boots, Gold Chains, Grab Ya Groin, Ya Wallet, And Run
33. Let's Make A Deal - Welcome To Telecom Conventions
34. Yes, Satan Was A Venture Capitalist
35. Welcome To Prairie Dog Town And Sandstorms
36. Hi, I'm From Texas, Let's Do Some Bidness
37. Pirates Of The Potomac
38. Slut Puppies And Other Sales Tricks
39. The Mouse That Roared
40. David Versus Goliath Part II

Amazon: $19.95