Julie notes:
"Actually, that book (by
Neil Steinberg) is a good addition to anyone's summer
reading list, if you can find a copy. The opening
chapter, which describes some amazing product-marketing
failures of recent decades, is alone worth the effort.
Steinberg's style is also thoroughly
entertaining."
I'd also highly recommend Complete and Utter Failure,
as well as Steinberg's book on college pranks, If at
all Possible, Involve a Cow. Another book, The
Alphabet of Modern Annoyances, is only fair but worth a
browse if you run across a copy.
I'd throw in
Neil Stephenson's books as worth reading. And if
you're looking for something lighter, try the Brother
Cadfael series of mysteries by Ellis Peters or the
Gordianus the Finder series by Steven Saylor.