DUH! : "The good Lord set definite limits on man’s wisdom, but set no limits on his stupidity and that’s just not fair" Konrad Adenauer

Douglas R. Manley

Outskirts Press (2010)

ISBN 9781432746360

Reviewed by Joseph Yurt for Reader Views (10/10)

Douglas R. Manley, author of "DUH!," spent over three decades as a controller in auto dealerships. The controller, he contends, is the one person in the dealership that sees it all. Written primarily for the entertainment and self-reflection of dealers and others in the industry, "DUH!" will also amuse consumers and have many nodding in agreement.

The book focuses on "self-made," intergenerational dealerships that pioneered the industry and still populate it today. Coincidentally, I spent several years consulting with this dealership segment about their marketing strategies, or in most cases, their lack thereof. I would certainly concur with most of the author’s observations.

Auto dealers love to swap stories, which might explain Manley’s penchant for heavily peppering "DUH!" with humorous anecdotes and accounts of life in "Dealerland." I especially enjoyed his witty description of the cast members, or "Gene Pool and Friends" as he calls them, of the stereotypical family owned and operated dealership. "Pa," the dealer, Pa’s son "Junior," a recent graduate of Dumb-Dumb University, are joined on the payroll by a host of fifteen or so other relatives and "best friends." "Mr. Beatumup" concludes every weekly sales meeting with "All right, let’s go sell some cars - GO TEAM GO!" For the most part, Manley does not hold back in questioning and challenging the old-school dealership model.

A quote from a Honda dealer that appears on the back cover of the book proclaims that it "Should be required reading for all dealers and general managers." At the very least, "DUH!" should be a must read for those dealers I call "Dinosaur Dealers," you know, the ones that are so poorly run that you wonder why they aren’t extinct. And, I recommend "DUH!" to anyone who has a love/hate relationship with the car buying process.

Duh! is available at http:// www.dumbdealer.com