- Business & Professional - Topic - Books

The Star System, the collection of companies that built over 70% of the North American Public Switched Network, has broken up as a result of the settlement of an anti-trust suit filed by the US Justice Department. Universal Communications now has its long distance company and its manufacturing arm. The local telephone companies are now seven regional telephone companies, dubbed the Small Stars by the business press.It is a brave new world full of promise and peril.Arnold Quisling has ascended the throne to become the Chairman and CEO of Galaxy Communications, one of the Small Stars. At 5' 2" with an old-fashioned flat-top haircut, oversized smudged glasses and clip-on bow tie he is far from the Hollywood idea of a fearless leader. Nonetheless, he is determined to make decisions, no matter how wrong-headed, to make his company ready for the oncoming competition for its customers. He will have to struggle at the same time with his towering Napoleon Complex and more of his own quirky behavior. Meanwhile in South Jersey, members of the local Engineering, Installation, Line and Splicing Departments must deal with their own issues as Quisling's peculiar new policies affect their work life as they strive to deliver and maintain quality telephone service. Among the local characters are: Dennis Dweebster aka 'Rob from Hong Kong', an Engineer whose meteoric rise within the management ranks of Installation was brought to a spectacular, messy halt by the effects of a gypsy witch's curse and resulted in his banishment to Engineering where the curse's effects continue to plague him; Jeremy Gildenstern aka 'Germy Joe', an Engineering Manager who hides a despicable secret behind a faade of bible thumping righteousness andEliot Feigness aka 'Inspector Clouseau', hot on the trail of Germy Joe.The action ranges from the corporate board room to the side of the telephone pole as the decline in the American Telephone Network is told in a humorous manner.