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Tom DeMarco

Goodreads Author

Born

in The United States

Website

http://www.tomdemarco.com

Genre

Fiction, Science Fiction, Business

Member Since

January 2017

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Tom DeMarco is the author of fifteen books, including five novels, a collection of short stories and the rest business books. His most recent work is a seemingly jinxed love story, The One-Way Time Traveler.

Traveler Cover

Before that he wrote Dark Harbor House, and before that Slack and Peopleware and The Deadline. ...more

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Combine Editions
Tom DeMarco’s books

Average rating: 4.1 · 14,729 ratings · 990 reviews · 33 distinct works • Similar authors

	Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams by Tom DeMarco (Goodreads Author), Timothy Lister 4.14 avg rating — 9,907 ratings — published 1987 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Deadline 4.15 avg rating — 2,547 ratings — published 1997 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency 4.02 avg rating — 1,631 ratings — published 2001 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Waltzing With Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects by Tom DeMarco (Goodreads Author), Timothy Lister 3.98 avg rating — 780 ratings — published 2003 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Adrenaline Junkies and Template Zombies: Understanding Patterns of Project Behavior by Tom DeMarco (Goodreads Author), Peter Hruschka, Timothy R. Lister 3.97 avg rating — 310 ratings — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The One-Way Time Traveler 4.07 avg rating — 123 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Why Does Software Cost So Much?: And Other Puzzles of the Information Age 3.69 avg rating — 55 ratings — published 1995 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Structured Analysis and System Specification by Tom DeMarco (Goodreads Author), P.J. Plauger (Adapted by) 3.61 avg rating — 36 ratings — published 1978 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams 4.29 avg rating — 17 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Controlling Software Projects: Management, Measurement and Estimation 3.72 avg rating — 18 ratings — published 1982 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by Tom DeMarco

Darkworld Chronicles (2 books)
by

Tom DeMarco (Goodreads Author)

3.23 avg rating — 22 ratings

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Tom DeMarco rated a book it was amazing The Grizzlies and Us by Lynne Seus	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Imagine, if you can, a book so full of unique lived experience that only one person on earth could have written it. Imagine further that the author’s unique experience is so upbeat, so full of fun and purpose, that your vicarious experience of the he ...more
Dec 05, 2025 08:28AM · like · see review
Tom DeMarco rated a book it was amazing Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Julian Fellowes is best known for Gosford Park and Downton Abbey, both of which take place pre-WWI or between the wars. Both were admirable enough, but Past Imperfect is his masterpiece. The book is in the form of a quest. It shifts back and forth ...more
Mar 10, 2024 12:37PM · like · see review
Tom DeMarco rated a book it was amazing The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Triffids is, to my mind, the finest apocalyptic novel ever written. That doesn't set the bar as high as you might think, since most apocalyptic novels are dumb shoot-em-ups or endless escape sagas, whose sole plot theme is Gee, look how awful anarchy ...more
Feb 04, 2024 10:13AM · 1 like · like · see review
Tom DeMarco rated a book really liked it The Last List of Mabel Beaumont by Laura Pearson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The Last List of Mabel Beaumont begins with Mabel's husband dropping suddenly dead of natural causes. (He was just about my age, but let's not get hung up on that.) Mabel stares at his lifeless body and can't quite grasp what's happened and, while sh ...more
Jan 30, 2024 11:25AM · like · see review
Tom DeMarco rated a book it was ok The Bee Sting by Paul Murray	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I so looked forward to The Bee Sting, Paul Murray's fourth novel. I had loved Skippy Dies, his second, and found much to like about An Evening of Long Goodbyes, his first. And I forgave him the miss that was The Mark and the Void. But Bee Sting was a ...more
Jan 30, 2024 10:57AM · 1 like · like · see review
Tom DeMarco is starting The Bee Sting The Bee Sting by Paul Murray progress:	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 30, 2024 10:56AM · like · see status

More of Tom's books…

Quotes by Tom DeMarco (?)

“The manager’s function is not to make people work, but to make it possible for people to work.”
― Tom DeMarco, Peopleware : Productive Projects and Teams

16 likes

“The fundamental response to change is not logical, but emotional.”
― Tom DeMarco, Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams

11 likes

“Quality takes time and reduces quantity, so it makes you, in a sense, less efficient. The efficiency-optimized organization recognizes quality as its enemy. That's why many corporate Quality Programs are really Quality Reduction Programs in disguise.”
― Tom DeMarco, Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency

tags: 2001, quality, quality-assurance, quality-control, quality-over-quantity, quality-vs-quantity, total-quality

8 likes

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