An evenhandedly written and aptly timed glimpse of the man behind the mogul.
A straightforward biography of the billionaire Republican presidential hopeful.
Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist D’Antonio (Mortal Sins: Sex, Crime, and the Era of Catholic Scandal, 2013) scrutinizes the life of Donald Trump in a portrait that’s consistently even-keeled and neither applauds nor particularly vilifies the billionaire businessman. Drawing heavily on a sizable archive of previously published media (as well as 10 hours with the man himself), the author paints Trump in much the same light as his public persona allows: he is an egotistical, self-absorbed, successful business tycoon and undoubtedly the “most recognized businessperson of our time.” The author writes of Trump’s “relentless pursuit of profit,” which began as he came of age in 1970s-era Manhattan after assuming control of his father Fred’s real estate development firm. Time spent at a military academy also molded his temperament and workhorse discipline. Appeasing his indulgences for sex with scores of beautiful women and garnering a reputation for being a ruthless property owner, Trump as always demonstrated a narcissistic braggadocio and hubris, which permeates much of this biography. He’s shrewd and he knows it, and he even takes full credit for the rejuvenation of midtown Manhattan in the late 1970s. Commentary from his ex-wives, son Donald Jr., and a slew of business associates all further confirm The Donald’s lofty hierarchal status as a prolific author, reality TV star, and surprisingly popular political candidate. The past catches up with the present in the book’s final chapter, which offers more refreshing personal perspectives. Even though Trump excommunicated D’Antonio early on for entertaining the opinions of detractors, the author still manages to produce careful, solid spadework in presenting Trump’s life and entrepreneurial legacy through the achievements, failures, and self-promotional salesmanship that continue to captivate media outlets today.
An evenhandedly written and aptly timed glimpse of the man behind the mogul.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2015
ISBN: 978-1250042385
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2015
The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the...
Elie Wiesel spent his early years in a small Transylvanian town as one of four children.
He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions.
Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2006
ISBN: 0374500010
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Hill & Wang
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
Well-told and admonitory.
Young-rags-to-mature-riches memoir by broker and motivational speaker Gardner.
Born and raised in the Milwaukee ghetto, the author pulled himself up from considerable disadvantage. He was fatherless, and his adored mother wasn’t always around; once, as a child, he spied her at a family funeral accompanied by a prison guard. When beautiful, evanescent Moms was there, Chris also had to deal with Freddie “I ain’t your goddamn daddy!” Triplett, one of the meanest stepfathers in recent literature. Chris did “the dozens” with the homies, boosted a bit and in the course of youthful adventure was raped. His heroes were Miles Davis, James Brown and Muhammad Ali. Meanwhile, at the behest of Moms, he developed a fondness for reading. He joined the Navy and became a medic (preparing badass Marines for proctology), and a proficient lab technician. Moving up in San Francisco, married and then divorced, he sold medical supplies. He was recruited as a trainee at Dean Witter just around the time he became a homeless single father. All his belongings in a shopping cart, Gardner sometimes slept with his young son at the office (apparently undiscovered by the night cleaning crew). The two also frequently bedded down in a public restroom. After Gardner’s talents were finally appreciated by the firm of Bear Stearns, his American Dream became real. He got the cool duds, hot car and fine ladies so coveted from afar back in the day. He even had a meeting with Nelson Mandela. Through it all, he remained a prideful parent. His own no-daddy blues are gone now.
Well-told and admonitory.Pub Date: June 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-06-074486-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Amistad/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
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