The author ofWinning Through IntimidationandLooking Out for #1shares his insights into achieving success in every area of life--from business and financial security to romance--by advocating the importance of such principles as Lower Your People Taxes, Commit to the Truth, and Refuse Free-Lunch Temptations. 50,000 first printing. Bookswagon.com Review No one can accuse Robert J. Ringer of pulling punches. But, then again, as the author of such previous bestsellers asWinning Through Intimidation andLooking Out for No. 1, it should come as no surprise that this writer calls it like he sees it. Unfortunately, inGetting What You Want, Ringer seems more interested in persuading readers not to like many of the things--and people--he doesn't, as opposed to providing a road map to rational living, as promised by the subtitle. Ringer begins by defining a rational life as "a life guided by conscious effort to make rational decisions that result in an individual's getting what he wants over the long term, so long as actions stemming from those decisions do not involve the use of force or fraud against anyone else." He then divides the book into seven chapters, each focusing on one of his seven principles of rational living, ranging from "Base Your Actions on Truth" (principle 1) to "Avoid Those Who Drain Your Personal Resources" (principle 4) to "Learn from Bad Breaks, and Move On" (principle 7). Ringer repeatedly hammers home the theme that we live in an increasingly values-challenged, irrational world (hence, the need to be rational), offering up examples at every possible opportunity. Consider Ringer's thoughts on Elvis Presley, who, he argues, exemplifies the need of so many people to idolize celebrities--"a contagious strain of self-delusion" that is a direct assault on principle 1: He never wrote a song, couldn't play a musical instrument (other than barely being able to pluck around on his guitar prop), couldn't act, and put himself into an early grave with a remarkable lack of self discipline that ballooned his weight and saturated his body with harmful substances. To his credit, he never championed a cause; in fact, he never claimed to believe in anything. Bill Clinton, criminal defense attorneys, all political causes (including the American Revolution), the rapper Ice Cube, O.J. Simpson, and McDonald's founder Ray Kroc don't fare much better in the author's opinion, each being an affront to one or more of the seven principles. What does all this have to do with getting what you want? Not much, but Ringer, at least, starts off well by noting in his opening paragraph that there have been "thousands of books written on the subject of achieving happiness, each offering the author's views on how to bring about that much-sought-after, but very elusive, state of mind." Want it or not, here's one more. --Patrick Jennings From Booklist Ringer has a knack for misleading titles. HisWinning through Intimidation (1982), for instance, sounds so much like a parody of one-upmanship that even he got caught by it, he reports, and let aTonight Show host (a sub, not Johnny) lead him to make a fool of himself. ButAnd Screw Everybody Else isn't the implicit subtitle ofWinning, his other best-sellerLooking Out for #1 (1984), or this book. Although a success advisor, Ringer doesn't counsel succeeding at the expense of others. He encourages "rational living" --that is, exerting conscious effort, making rational decisions, aiming for long-term results, and not forcing or defrauding anyone else--and proposes seven practical principles to do so. "Base Your Actions on Truth," he says, "Focus on Values, Not Entitlements," "Make Choices with Civility, Dignity, Honesty, and Humility," "Avoid Those Who Drain Your Personal Resources," "Rid Yourself of Major Encumbrances," "Develop the Self-Discipline to Act on Intellect not Impulse," and "Learn from Bad Breaks, and Move On." If his verbia