Glass Jaw ─ A Manifesto for Defending Fragile Reputations in an Age of Instant Scandal

"In boxing terms, a tough-looking fighter who can't take a punch is said to have a "glass jaw," and so it is these days with targets of controversy. Down the rabbit hole of scandal, the weak are strong, the strong are weak. GLASS JAW is a manifesto for these times, written by crisis management warhorse Eric Dezenhall who has spent three decades inside of some of the most intense controversies in recent memory. In the digital age of 24/7 news, information is easily acquired and quickly spread, and this has changed the fundamental nature of controversy, rendering once mighty organizations and individuals powerless against scandal. Think Toyota, Susan G. Komen, Paula Deen, Tiger Woods, Penn State and Joe Paterno, BP, the Duke Lacrosse players, Lance Armstrong, Manti Te'o, and Anthony Weiner. Here Dezenhall defines this new reality where information moves at the speed of light and reputations are tarnished ever faster. In GLASS JAW, he analyzes controversy and scandal from the perspective of the truth-telling crisis management veteran to demystify the paper tiger "spin" industry, offering lessons learned, crucial corrective measures, and counterintuitive insights, such as: How there really is no getting ahead of a bad story The art of the public apology Why a crisis is not an opportunity and Hemingway's The Old man and the Sea is the I Ching of crisis management (because the old man survived and nothing more) The problem with "getting it all out there" and The Nixon Fallacy: if only he had just said "I screwed up," the whole thing would have gone away-not a chance Why you are the enemy: the self sabotage of technology, cameras, tweets, and emails "--

Eric is the author of nine books, including three non-fiction texts on crisis communications and corporate witch hunts, entitledDamage Control: How to Get the Upper Hand When Your Business is Under Attack (Portfolio, 2007) andNail 'Em! Confronting High Profile Attacks on Celebrities and Businesses (Prometheus Books, 1999), both of which have been widely cited in business, media and academic circles. He is also the author of six novels:Money Wanders (St. Martin's, 2002), Jackie Disaster (Minotaur, 2003), Shakedown Beach (St. Martin's, 2004), TurnpikeFlameout (St. Martin's, 2006) and Spinning Dixie (St. Martin's, 2007). His sixth novel,The Devil Himself (Thomas Dunne, St. Martin's, 2011), deals with the collaboration between the U.S. Navy and organized crime during World War II to secure American ports from Nazi attack.

As an investigative writer, Eric wrote articles about the newly discovered diaries of the late mobster Meyer Lansky, which appeared in theLos Angeles Times Syndicate, the Baltimore Sun, The New Republic, andEthical Corporation. A documentary he co-produced on organized crime aired on the Discovery Channel.

Eric is a graduate of Dartmouth College, where he studied political science and the news media. He serves as a Trustee of the Institute for Responsible Citizenship, an organization devoted to fostering educational and career opportunities for outstanding young African-American men. Eric was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition. He lives near Washington, D.C., with his family.