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
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
A wonderful page-turner written with humility, immediacy, and great style. Nothing came cheap and easy to McCandless, nor...
The excruciating story of a young man on a quest for knowledge and experience, a search that eventually cooked his goose, told with the flair of a seasoned investigative reporter by Outside magazine contributing editor Krakauer (Eiger Dreams, 1990).
Chris McCandless loved the road, the unadorned life, the Tolstoyan call to asceticism. After graduating college, he took off on another of his long destinationless journeys, this time cutting all contact with his family and changing his name to Alex Supertramp. He was a gent of strong opinions, and he shared them with those he met: "You must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life''; "be nomadic.'' Ultimately, in 1992, his terms got him into mortal trouble when he ran up against something—the Alaskan wild—that didn't give a hoot about Supertramp's worldview; his decomposed corpse was found 16 weeks after he entered the bush. Many people felt McCandless was just a hubris-laden jerk with a death wish (he had discarded his map before going into the wild and brought no food but a bag of rice). Krakauer thought not. Admitting an interest that bordered on obsession, he dug deep into McCandless's life. He found a willful, reckless, moody boyhood; an ugly little secret that sundered the relationship between father and son; a moral absolutism that agitated the young man's soul and drove him to extremes; but he was no more a nutcase than other pilgrims. Writing in supple, electric prose, Krakauer tries to make sense of McCandless (while scrupulously avoiding off-the-rack psychoanalysis): his risky behavior and the rites associated with it, his asceticism, his love of wide open spaces, the flights of his soul.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-679-42850-X
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Villard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1995
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