MILLIONS of copies of management books have been sold in the last two decades, making some business authors second only to rock stars and cover girls as celebrities. People have spent billions on these books. Most buyers probably have actually read them, and doubtlessly some have even tried to implement their ideas. Quite likely, the implementations occasionally have been successful. More often, though, the books' catchy phrases and clever acronyms ultimately have rung hollow. That's why management books and their authors are drawing fire these days.

The books have not delivered results and, worse, have distracted managers from the basics.

A new, non-management book, "The King of California: J.G. Boswell and the Making of a Secret American Empire," by Mark Arax and Rick Wartzman, offers a simple lesson on getting rich: Stick to the basics. This is not to suggest Boswell and his family were simple people. According to the book, the opposite was true. For example, neighbors laughed when the Boswells bought a lot of swampy California farmland. After all, California had plenty of farmland that wasn't waterlogged. But the neighbors quit laughing when they learned the Boswells had gotten back what they'd paid for the land by selling the water off it, winding up with their original capital-and some very good, dry, farmland.