REGARDING VICTORY

Wallack discusses Miami’s economic revival in this debut memoir.

As COO of Wallack Holdings, the author has more than two decades of entrepreneurial experience in South Florida. His career includes a stint as vice chairman of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, and he was named by the Orlando Business Journal as the 2017 “CEO of the Year.” Written chronologically, the book begins with Wallack’s quintessentially 1980s childhood in Miami: “My parents, very busy all the time, mostly didn’t know where I was at any given moment” as adventures on his Huffy dirt bike took him to destinations across the city. As a student at the University of Florida in the late 1990s, the author was invigorated by the tech boom and the “energy of this once-in-a-lifetime period,” soon becoming enmeshed in “the entrepreneurial wave sweeping the nation.” The jump into Florida’s business scene was almost predestined for Wallack, whose family has long been among South Beach’s most prominent movers and shakers. While their hotels and other venues have helped shape the city’s most well-known strip, Ocean Drive, the crown jewel of their business empire is Mango’s Tropical Cafe, with the longest continuously running nightclub live show in the United States. The author offers readers an insider’s perspective on the fast-paced, exhilarating, and emotionally draining life of a 21st-century entrepreneur. The book’s later chapters are of particular interest, told in part through reprints of local news stories about the complexities of navigating Covid 19–era lockdowns in an industry driven by tourism and surges in spring break nightlife. Written in a dynamic style, the book effectively immerses readers in the adrenaline-charged business scene of South Florida, from board rooms to VIP suites at the NBA Finals. Despite his occasional self-indulgence, the author often pauses to remind readers of the “unbreakable” bonds of family.

A capitalist thrill ride in America’s tourist mecca.