On the Firing Line

Gil Amelio's hard-hitting and frank account of his life as CEO of Apple Computer begins with this astonishing, never-before-revealed encounter. Five hundred tumultuous days later, Jobs himself would play a prominent role in influencing Apple's board of directors to fire Amelio.

On the Firing Line is Gil Amelio's gripping and fast-paced recollection of what happened, told from his unique perspective as the occupant of Apple's hot seat. This is the revealing story of how a proven high-technology turnaround artist took on the biggest challenge of his career — and perhaps his life.

In his own words, Amelio exposes a company that continually undermines its own best efforts. Amelio gives credit where credit is due. But he also reaches beyond the damning headlines to candidly apportion blame for Apple's failures — even when the person to blame is himself.

On the Firing Line is an entertaining and shocking exposé of corporate folly and a remarkable insight into the enigma that is Apple.

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1. A Winter's Tale — I am Hired
2. Tight-Fisted Homunculus — My Contract Goes Through Hell and So Do I
3. Borrowes and Lenders — Solving the Cash Crunch
4. A Tempest and a Brave New World — Some Bad Times and Good
5. Measure for Measure — We Hammer Out a Strategy
6. Tragedy of Errors — My Mistakes Begin to Pile Up
7. Two Gentlemen in Redmond — I Call on Bill Gates
8. Done Well If Done Quickly — Shaping My Executive Team
9. Nerd's Labors Lost and Found — Solid Guidelines for New Products
10. A Piece of Work — Launching the Quest for a New Operating System
    
11. Crack of Doom — Dysfunctional Relationships
    
12. Once More to the Breach — More Bad News, and We Compound the Sales Problem
13. To Be or Not to Be — Whether 'Tis Nobler to Choose Be or NeXT
14. Much Ado — MacWorlds Lamentable, Laudable, and Laughable
15. Discontended Winter — A Reorganization I Don't Want But Must Do
16. A Very Palpable Hit — Steve Jobs Reveals His Hand
17. A Pound of Flesh — People Who Want a Piece of Apple
18. Bullets Wrapped in Fire — I am Dismissed

• Epilogue: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Alas, Poor Apple
  

Amelio's story about Apple. And you have to give the man credit, as what he did really made a difference at the turn-around that occured after he was ousted by Steve Jobs (and Steve took credit for instead).

All in all, a decent book that describes the tenure of a non-IT (and non-cult follower) CEO in the IT business. Could be written a lot funnier, but you may endure.