Average customer rating:
|
The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire
Gwenda Blair Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0743210794 Release Date: 2001-11-27 |
Amazon.com
As she did in Almost Golden: Jessica Savitch and the Selling of Television News, journalist Gwenda Blair examines a historical trend through an individual story--or in this case, three--profiling a trio of very different men who happened to be grandfather, father, and son. Friedrich Trump (1869-1918), a German-born barber who got rich providing lodging, food, and female companionship to Klondike gold miners, founded the family real estate empire in Queens, New York. Fred Trump (1905-99) took advantage of new government programs to build affordable urban housing and make lots of money for himself. Donald, born in 1946, was just as interested in being famous as in being wealthy. His first big coup, the Grand Hyatt hotel, opened in 1980, launching a decade of extravagant acquisitions (including two Atlantic City casinos and the Plaza Hotel) that made "the Donald" a byword for '80s excess. Blair conscientiously covers Donald's flamboyant personal life, from the womanizing through the stormy marriage to Ivana and the notorious romance with Marla Maples. Her sometimes portentous prose suits the pumped-up style of the man who promoted his projects by promoting himself with everything from a ghostwritten autobiography, The Art of the Deal, to a board game bearing his name. But the author's main interest, and her book's principal fascination, lies in tracing the evolution of American real estate development over the course of the 20th century, as bare-knuckled individual entrepreneurship gave way to business in partnership with government, which was in turn replaced by high-stakes financial manipulation using image to shape reality. Blair may well be right when she claims that the Trumps' saga constitutes "a singular history of American capitalism itself." --Wendy SmithBook Description
The story of the three Trumps mirrors America's transformation from a land of striving immigrants to a world in which the aura of wealth alone can guarantee a fortune. The Trumps begins with a portrait of Donald's immigrant grandfather, who as a young man built hotels for miners in Alaska during the Klondike gold rush. His son, Fred, took advantage of the New Deal, using government subsidies and loopholes to construct hugely successful housing developments in the 1940s and 1950s. The profits from Fred's enterprises paved the way for Donald's roller-coaster ride through the 1980s and 190s into the new century.With his talent for extravagant exaggeration, Donald Trump turned the deal-making know-how of his forebears into an art form. By placing Donald's much-publicized life within the context of his family, Gwenda Blair adds a new dimension to a glitzy, larger-than-life -- yet ultimately enigmatic -- figure.
Customer Reviews:
Deceiving impression.......2002-09-10
Interest Is Not Where You Might Expect.......2002-06-27
Donald Trump is certainly the most well known, for marketing himself is a large part of whom he is and what he does. He is a man who can only speak in superlatives about anything he is involved in, even if some grand and prominent project bears his name and little else. The name on a building has very little to do with who owns it, who paid for it, or who made it happen. Donald Trump's primary business is Donald Trump. His flair for promotion and obsession with how he is perceived has become his career. There is no question he has had his successful projects, but the question of would they ever have happened without his father is a legitimate one. And he probably would have had much more success and a much larger fortune had he stuck to the business he knew, developing real estate. He got sidetracked with buying an airline, paying absurd prices for casinos that still are far from trophy properties, and while he may have benefited, the holders of stock and various bond issues have not.
Fred Trump is the man you would have given your money to and slept soundly at night. He was an astute man of business, he was self-made, and he spent no time promoting who he was. In this manner he was like many other long time major developers in the NYC area that developed massive amounts of real estate and fortunes to match without having any interest in the world knowing what they were worth.
Forbes Magazine often documents the calls they receive from Donald Trump complaining about where he is listed on their richest people list. This is not something his father or grandfather ever would have contemplated, nor would they brag to anyone listening how they increased their net worth by failing to honor financial commitments. In the end his charismatic style allowed him to get financial institutions so grossly over invested in his view of the world that he could never be allowed to go bankrupt, as the lenders could not afford it.
His predecessors in the family rate much higher on substance, and the newest Mr. Trump rates highly on style. But for all of the perceived satisfaction he would have the public believes he enjoys, in the end the author portrays a man that craves publicity to the detriment of his personal life. Squiring around beautiful women makes for nice pictures, but he and it and getting a bit old.
Behind the gloss, a much different picture.......2001-01-20
THE FOUNDER, THE BUILDER AND THE STAR.......2000-10-20
New York through the lives three fascinating Characters.......2000-09-28
Average customer rating:
|
Bobby Bowden's Tales from the Seminole Sideline
Bobby Bowden , and Steve Ellis Manufacturer: Sports Publishing ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 1582614067 |
Book Description
Bobby Bowden is spending what should be his retirement years gathering victories and collecting more fodder for stories that must be told between staff meetings, film study, cross-country recruiting trips, and even the tackling of hundreds of footballs and posters that daily await the signature of NCAA Division I-A's all-time winningest coach. For the architect of one of college football's great dynasties--14 consecutive seasons of Associated Press top five finishes -- his rocker is a swivel chair that swings easily to his right so that even with the next season six months away, he can study opponent's game tape that almost always fills the large projection screen that dominates his office. His porch is an office crammed with more than 300 books he uses to break from the pressures as the coach of one college football's most recognized programs. It boasts a view of Doak Campbell Stadium, where as an assistant coach and head coach he has been a Seminole for more than 31 years. It is down there and on legendary road trips to Nebraska, Clemson, Florida, and so many other places that gutsy trick plays were called and executed, leading to Bowden's nickname a the "Riverboat Gambler." It is where plays that only Bowden would dare try, including some he now regrets attempting, have unfolded. It is also where the final results of amusing and unexpected events on the recruiting trail were written. They are substance for stories that should not, and will not, wait for retirement. Readers will be among the group that gathers around as Bowden tells his Tales from the Seminole Sideline.Customer Reviews:
Seminole fans will appreciate the stories.......2004-11-30
Average customer rating: |
Bobby Bowden's Tales from the Seminoles Sideline
Bobby Bowden , and Steve Ellis Manufacturer: Sports Publishing ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 1582619581 |
Book Description
This beautiful, limited-edition volume is hand-numbered and autographed by coaching legend Bobby Bowden and co-author Steve Ellis. Certificate of Authenticity included, only 500 copies of this leather-bound edition printed! "Telling stories?I enjoy that. It comes with growing older. But I don?t see the day where I'm sitting on the porch rocking with a bunch of guys around me and I'm telling stories. I can't see that. It's just like golf. People say, 'Aren't you going to the Masters?' No. I don't care anything about going to the Masters. I?d rather go play than see those great players. I'm not a good spectator. I want to play, and that's the way I am. I would rather still be doing this if I can." ?Bobby Bowden
Average customer rating:
|
A History of X: 100 Years of Sex in Film
Luke Ford Manufacturer: Prometheus Books ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 1573926787 |
Customer Reviews:
This book is a mess...........2004-01-19
Because this author can't write worth beans. Everything previously reviewers have alleged about him is true, and more. If there was *any* copy editing or checking involved, it's not obvious. This book IS rambling, discursive, contradictory, aimless, and badly organized.
A passion for pointless footnotes masks not only all this literary chaos but also a very weird, murky, attitude that can only be described as self-loathing. It's like the old crime magazines that used to glorify sex and violence by publicly deploring it - in lengthy and graphic detail. Why somebody who so clearly despises his topic should spin his wheels so furiously about it escapes me.
If you can find this book at a library, yard sale, or etc. it might be worth reading once over lightly. But pay full hardback price for it only if you've got money to burn.
As somebody has already written: surely there must be a better basic source on the subject?
Surely there's a better history?.......2002-12-29
As it is, its facts are wrong, its gossip misleading, and its author clearly conflicted about his love and loathing of sexually explicit entertainment. But it is an interesting enough read (perhaps in the train wreck sense) that I finished the book. I didn't learn much more than I already knew, however. The shame of it is, this could have been a really good book, had some editor taken Ford firmly in hand and made him shape his chapters into a coherent form. It's not for nothing that the man has earned fame as a porn industry watcher; Ford has a trashy tabloid style that certainly grabs the attention (and there's nothing wrong with trashy tabloidism in its place!). But instead of guidance, he was handed a book contract and allowed to ramble without rein. The result is sad and unworthy of being clad between two covers. Blog-like ramblings on a website are one thing; I expect more rigorousness from a book I'm supposed to pay for.
RIVETING!!.......2002-09-30
An Important Work on an Important Topic from Jechu Prospect.......2000-07-07
All in all, one of the most influencial books I have ever read. It got me very very very excited. I especially liked the photograph of Mr. Ford on the cover.
He's No Gene Ross.......2000-06-16
Average customer rating: |
History of X, A : 100 Years of Sex in Film
Luke Ford Manufacturer: Prometheus Books ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: B000O6CS9Q |
Average customer rating:
|
Four Impromptus, Op. 90 (Kalmus Edition)
Giuseppe Buonamici Manufacturer: Alfred Publishing Company ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 0757900259 |
Customer Reviews:
Four Impromptus in Opus 90-F. Schubert.......2005-06-27
Average customer rating: |
Four Impromptus, Opus 142
Manufacturer: Alfred Kalmus Publishing Company ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 079355201X |
Average customer rating: |
The Life and Works of Franz Schubert (Life & Works)
Manufacturer: Naxos ProductGroup: Book Binding: Audio CD ASIN: 1843790653 Release Date: 2004-01-01 |
Average customer rating: |
Schubert Four Impromptus for Piano Op. 90 (Schirmer's Library of Musical Classics, 1125)
Franz Schubert Manufacturer: G. Schirmer, Inc., New York ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000L86O6A |
Average customer rating: |
SIMON AND SCHUSTER'S FUN WITH CROSTICS #3 (Simon & Schuster's Fun with Crostics Series)
Charles Duerr Manufacturer: Fireside ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 0671746235 |
Average customer rating:
|
CFA Fundamentals
Bruce Kuhlman Manufacturer: Kaplan Business ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 1419526820 Release Date: 2005-08-01 |
Customer Reviews:
Good for beginners.......2007-05-13
good book.......2007-03-09
Average customer rating:
|
Vipers in the Storm: Diary of a Gulf War Fighter Pilot
Keith Rosenkranz Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0071346708 |
Book Description
During Operation Desert Storm, Captain Keith Rosenkranz piloted his F-16 "Viper" in 30 combat missions. Here he recounts these experiences in searing, "you-are-there" detail, giving readers one of the most riveting depictions ever written of man and machine at war.Customer Reviews:
A Flight Sim Fan's Review.......2006-06-05
Thank you Rosey!.......2005-12-05
Good look at an AF pilot's experience in modern war........2005-07-25
Combat details derailed by naive political commentary.......2003-12-10
Monotonous.......2003-05-09
Well, maybe the aformentioned personal attributes have actually CONTRIBUTED to my disappointment. This book amounts to a 200+ page detailed information dump about every switch flipped, every button pushed and every word spoken on God-knows-how-many sorties. And beware: each time out it is the same thing.
Want to get some pilot's perspective details about the F-16? Haha...Sucker! Did you think you would get a military man's perspective about the operation in general in anything but the most, let's say, "simplistic" terms? Again, you bought the wrong book. How about an inside look at the real interactions between fellow fighter pilots, perhaps after the mission? Uh-uh. Rosenkranz is a good soldier: a simple box on the chain of command that knows what buttons to push and when to eat and sleep. He gets in the cockpit, reads his mission details for the recorder, and when he nears the target he operates his weapons systems, and then comes home, heads to the beer tent, goes to bed, gets up the next morning, and does it again. And again.
When you read this book you get the impression that Keith Rosenkrantz is under some sort of pressure to keep everything low key and not expose too much, whether personal or professional, because it might affect his career.
The only time when he wrote about his feelings in anything but superficial terms is when he exchanged letters with someone who was against the action in Iraq. "I wish I could have seen his face when he read my letter", Rosenkranz muses, I guess imagining the devastating effect that the tired old "price of freedom" missive he fired back must have had on its recipient.
I would give anything to be able to fly the F-16 and do what Keith did, but only because I don't believe his bland account is all there is to flying such a ship in wartime or any other time, for that matter.
Is the author brave and competent and am I proud that he is a fellow American? Sure! But we can separate what we think about the man from his book and its contents.
Average customer rating: |
Vipers in the Storm: Diary of a Gulf War Fighter Pilot
Keith Rosenkranz Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Professional ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: B000OG1CO8 |
Average customer rating: |
Marines Under Armor: The Marine Corps and the Armored Fighting Vehicle, 1916-2000
Kenneth W. Estes Manufacturer: US Naval Institute Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 1557502374 |
Book Description
In this story of men, machines and missions, Kenneth Estes tells how the U.S. Marine Corps came to acquire the armored fighting vehicle and what it tried to do with it. The longtime Marine tank officer and noted military historian offers an insider's view of the Corps's acquisition and use of armored fighting vehicles over the course of several generations, a view that illustrates the characteristics of the Corps as a military institution and of the men who have guided its development. His book examines the planning, acquisition, and employment of tanks, amphibian tractors, and armored cars and explores the ideas that led to the fielding of these weapons systems along with the doctrines and tactics intended for them, and their actual use in combat.Drawing on archival resources previously untouched by researchers and interviews of both past and serving crewmen, Estes presents a unique and unheralded story that is filled with new information and analysis of the armored vehicles, their leaders, and the men who drove these steel chariots into battle. Such authoritative detail and documentation of the decisions to acquire, develop, and organize armored units in the U.S. Marine Corps assures the book's acknowledgement as a definitive reference.
Average customer rating:
|
The Political Economy of the Cotton South: Households, Markets, and Wealth in the Nineteenth Century
Gavin Wright Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0393090388 |
Customer Reviews:
This one is tough!.......2006-07-27
Political Economy of Cotton South.......2000-10-23
Average customer rating: |
Can Protected Areas Contribute to Poverty Reduction?: Opportunities and Limitations
Lea M. Scherl Manufacturer: World Conservation Union ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 2831708095 |
Books:
Recommended Books