4.13

1

Apr 30, 2016

America's favorite, number-one con man expounds on how great he is. And, how easy it is to fool people.

It is no overstatement to call this book America's premier political tract of the 21st century; It embodies the heart of darkness that is the "fuck everybody but me" mentality carefully groomed into the populace by the Right-Wing machine and which drives today's rejection-of-the-commonweal politics. Trump one-ups Machiavelli.

It is truly the Bible of Fox News/Ayn Randian culture. And just America's favorite, number-one con man expounds on how great he is. And, how easy it is to fool people.

It is no overstatement to call this book America's premier political tract of the 21st century; It embodies the heart of darkness that is the "fuck everybody but me" mentality carefully groomed into the populace by the Right-Wing machine and which drives today's rejection-of-the-commonweal politics. Trump one-ups Machiavelli.

It is truly the Bible of Fox News/Ayn Randian culture. And just because Trump is callow doesn't mean he's not honest. He tells you outright that he's out to screw you. But in America there is something ingrained in the citizenry that equates this kind of openly ballsy mercenary behavior with goodness, quality and substance. Moxie as an inherent good. The simple appeal of the loud strong man. Action over the cerebral. Thoughtfulness? Constitutional muster? Historical lessons? Screw all of that. Leave that shit to liberal philosophy professors. Trump voters love a con man. They would, of course, hate him if they'd found he'd hacked into their bank accounts directly and taken all their money. But they'll love him when he takes their money by perpetuating the present corporate mercenary system. Because they will be too stupid to know they've been robbed when it happens through the back door. Putting two and two together equals some number they can't quite calculate.

Let's give Trump credit for being the first politician to openly reveal the long-unstated view that the Republican Party has of its fact-challenged base: "I love the poorly educated."

There are some alternate titles for this book that would be just a valid:
* The Art of the Con, or
* The Art of Being an Asshole, or
* The Art of the Deal for People Who Have Millions of Dollars to Play Around With From the Get-Go, or
* The Art of How to Bully People, Exploit a Corrupt System, and Make a Bundle While Producing Nothing of Value in the Process.

Opening of the book, with my modest amendments:
"To my parents, Fred and Mary Trump..." who gave me millions of dollars the rest of you don't have, to pull myself up by my bootstraps with...

"I owe special thanks to several people...Ivana Trump, my wonderful wife..." who I will soon divorce when her trophy value has declined...

"And, [to] my three children..." whom I would bed in a heartbeat if they weren't my daughters, because, hey, they're hot; let's get real, people. But not the son, because, c'mon I ain't no homo.

Luckily, the Donald deigned to make time to share these kernels of wisdom with us, because, as he makes it known repeatedly, he is a very busy man, and thus hardly able to spend time on a book. We are to infer our privilege from this, and should be grateful that Trump dictated this to his ghostwriter, Tony Schwartz. And that's what this feels like: a piece of dictation. Trump could have talked into a tape recorder and had a transcriber write the book. Maybe that's close to how this actually happened. The book feels very much like a Donald Trump political speech: Full of braggadocio, flippant false sincerity, shallow statements lacking detail or justification, pandering provocative fear-mongering insults that trigger lizard-brain endorphins, and rambling jumps from one unrelated thing to another.

This is more or less the narrative of this book: "I got a call from *insert name of famous or powerful person* about *insert pending business deal* and I told *famous or powerful person* to: *(A: get back to my lawyer on it, or B.) I look forward to doing business on this, or C.) I'm gonna sue your ass*."

Valuable things I learned:
* I'm a winner.
* "I make deals, that's how I get my kicks." (at least he starts off honestly)
*If I weasel my way into an organization, people will pay to get rid of me.
*I will threaten you with lawsuits, even criminal ones that don't really apply, if you try to take actions I don't like. That always makes 'em nervous.
*I file a lot of lawsuits, and win them (except the ones I lose or withdraw, which I don't mention in this book).
*If your name is Donald Trump, everyone wants to sue you.
*It pays to sometimes be a little wild, and a bully.
*I'm a populist hero who helps little old ladies keep their farms against big bad cold-hearted foreclosing bankers (except when I do the same thing, which I have, but don't mention in this book).
*I use the word "ridiculous" a lot, as shorthand and in lieu of actually explaining my justifications.
*I know a lot of celebrities and business leaders who do me favors and give me free stuff. They're all very nice guys.
*Other people who are pompous... I don't like them so much.
*I'm such a micromanager that I even get involved in the Christmas decorations that are hung in Trump Tower. I hate all of the decorating options except for one really huge gold wreath because, as I say, "Less is more." [seriously]
*My son has my genes, because he won't take no for an answer. (But hey, neither do rapists. OK, I just threw that in for fun.)
*I love people who tell me things in 20 seconds because they don't waste my time.
*When I don't have a real answer, have no substance or no progress to report on a project I'll just call a press conference and (and I quote): "What the hell...I'll wing it and things will work out." [in other words, this will be the template for my future political speeches...and the dummies won't know the difference].

This gets three stars for unintentional laughs. If I were the Donald I would use some of my cash to get better hair, and then I would review my book thusly:

"Let me tell ya, folks, it's a mess."

(KevinR@Ky 2016)
...more

5

Nov 25, 2015

Most autobiographies of real people suck.

Biographies usually suck just as bad - and I'd know, I've read bios of every president and wealthy family in the U.S., the founding fathers, and on and on. They hire people to tell a gilded view of a selective history.

Trump's book is part autobiography, part bragging (come on, it's Donald Trump), but 100% interesting. Who wouldn't want to be young, rich, and good looking? But he's also smart and a shrewd businessman. Reading this book taught me business Most autobiographies of real people suck.

Biographies usually suck just as bad - and I'd know, I've read bios of every president and wealthy family in the U.S., the founding fathers, and on and on. They hire people to tell a gilded view of a selective history.

Trump's book is part autobiography, part bragging (come on, it's Donald Trump), but 100% interesting. Who wouldn't want to be young, rich, and good looking? But he's also smart and a shrewd businessman. Reading this book taught me business lessons that are so simple but so essential. He learned how to negotiate at his father's knee in the toughest business - construction - in the toughest city - New York. He went to military school and was an athlete, including being a boxer, which is not an easy sport.

I have an MBA taught to me by eggheads who'd never spent much time in the real world, and this was one of the best business books I ever read. I was just as incredulous as Trump over a million dollar deal done initially with a handshake that, when it came time to do the paperwork and the economy had changed so the deal was now a bad one for the other party, they honored it because they gave their word. Yeah, there are still people like that. I learned about having several irons in the fire because not every deal comes through, a tactic I still use today when negotiating a business deal or an editor or a vacation or a water softener for my house.

I'd check the politics of anybody who bashes a guy who started with a lot (estimates are $12 million to $100 million) but turned it into a fortune worth several billion dollars. Most children from wealthy families are wealthy bums. Most big lottery winners are broke 3 years later. Most NFL players have ZERO cash to leave to their grandkids. Trump has build his father's company into an international brand and turned his father's name into one of the wealthiest in U.S history, and say what you want, but his kids obviously love him or they wouldn't work for him.

He's probably gonna be president because he outworks everybody else. He's a lot of talk but he's also a lot of action. So was Muhammad Ali back in the day. America could do a lot worse.

You'll learn a lot about the man and business and people, and if you're reading it with an open mind, you'll be glad you picked it up. I proudly display it in my bookshelf with all those other bios I mentioned. ...more

1

Jul 20, 2018

This is the strangest book. I would have been more than happy to have gone throughout my life without ever knowing who Trump was. I don’t watch TV and had never seen his show, which I believe truly was one of the greatest shows of all time, but I still don’t watch television, so I guess I’ll just have to take his word for that. And I’ve never been all that interested in business, and although he is the hotel and real estate visionary of the century (at least, according to the blurb at the back This is the strangest book. I would have been more than happy to have gone throughout my life without ever knowing who Trump was. I don’t watch TV and had never seen his show, which I believe truly was one of the greatest shows of all time, but I still don’t watch television, so I guess I’ll just have to take his word for that. And I’ve never been all that interested in business, and although he is the hotel and real estate visionary of the century (at least, according to the blurb at the back of this book) I would have remained unlikely to have read a book with this title. And even though he is clearly a fabulous deal maker, deal making has never really struck me as something I would particularly like to spend time reading about. So, if it wasn’t for his political career – one, I can only assume this book helped along, I would never have read this book at all.

This book is a hagiography, rather than an autobiography – the fact Trump himself didn’t write this book (the journalist and publisher say he played no part at all in writing it), he merely paid for it to be written, shifts it from one category into the other. Even with this being a hagiography, he doesn’t come out of it terribly well. He is singularly unlikeable, which is clearly his tragic flaw, since he is obviously dying to be loved. The problem is that he seems unable to quite understand that other people have feelings too.

This book is a series of triumphs that are almost invariably due to Trump’s very own ‘instinct’ for a ‘deal’. He doesn’t seem to notice that withholding information from people you are dealing with is effectively lying. That getting people to come see a building site where worker are being paid to ‘look busy’ is also lying. He presents himself as a constant winner, and this image is, unfortunately, undermined by our being told very early in this book that he believes he must think big and bullshit big to present an image – because exaggeration and excess play well in people’s dreams and that the only real promotion is self-promotion – again, even when based on lies. And so, given all that, it isn’t unreasonable to assume that just about everything we are going to be told in this book is, well, a lie. Even if it is called ‘marketing’ or ‘advertising’ or whatever else.

And so, there are things that are said repeatedly throughout this book, but I’ve no way to know if they are true. For instance, he invariably says that he finishes his projects on time and on budget, or ahead of time and under budget and so on, while everyone else finishes them over time and over budget. And perhaps this was always true, but I don’t know and I don’t feel I can trust this book to have not been anything other than a series of cherrypicked best examples.

He also comes across as a remarkable hater. I mean, this guy knows how to hold a grudge and it is clear that one of the reasons he had this book written was to put some of his enemies in their place. The Mayor of New York, Ed Koch, gets an extended hatchet job done on him, for instance. The thing is that even people he says nice things about are presented mostly by their flaws. For example, lawyers are often described as brilliant, but that they put off the jury by their excessively showy clothes. Or someone rich doesn’t have showy enough clothes. Or someone he doesn’t like is criticised for being overweight. He is a man who sees the fault in others and this could well be his defining characteristic – it is a repeated theme throughout this book, and like I said, true for friend and enemy alike.

I want to focus on his instincts. This is another repeated theme. Often, when he is about to make a deal, everyone on his side is telling him not to do it, but he just has a feeling about the deal that means he has to ignore everyone else’s ‘head’ and go with his ‘gut’. Naturally, this inevitably and invariably pays off. This works both ways, of course, so when he pulls out of deals too, it is because of his gut. As he says at one point when he missed a bullet, “That experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut, no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you’re generally better off sticking with what you know. And the third is that sometimes your best investments are the ones you don’t make”. Now, what is particularly odd about him saying stuff like this is that other than the gut lesson, he doesn’t particularly seem to follow any of the other bits of this advice. I mean, he is a real estate agent and building developer who gets into hotels, television shows, casinos, and American rules football.

So much of this book is based on his ‘instincts’ or ‘gut’, and that makes this book almost entirely useless for what I’d just assumed it was intended for. I sort of thought this was a kind of ‘I got rich – you can get rich too – let me show you how’ book. But repeatedly we are shown how other people stuff up because their instincts are just not up to the task of divining the right path in the same way Trump’s gut proves to be.

Trump has a clear and ongoing problem with democracy throughout this book too, something the US is learning nearly daily now. For instance, ‘committees are what insecure people create in order to put off making hard decisions’. Or later, ‘I like consultants even less that I like committees. When it comes to making a smart decision, the most distinguished planning committee working with the highest-priced consultants doesn’t hold a candle to a group of guys with a reasonable amount of common sense and their own money on the line.’ Repeatedly throughout this book Trump makes clear his disgust at the regulations that stop him from doing whatever it is he wants to do. Invariably, these regulations are presented as counter-productive, in that he is able to ‘prove’ they achieve the exact opposite of what they sought to achieve – but given he is clearly the one who was going to benefit from these regulations not existing, he can hardly be considered the most objective judge of that. This book is an exercise in explaining why he is a great man of history – and to do that everyone else is presented either as fools, flawed, obstacles or there to be manipulated so as to achieve the great man’s vision.

There is a long discussion here on the building of an ice-skating park. The short version is that the city had been trying to build this, and they constantly stuffed up. It was years behind schedule and massively over budget, and so Trump offered to build it on time and on budget basically as a gift to the city. Anyway, after a lot of toing and froing eventually he did build it. Not that the city was particularly grateful, still, he did. He then explains that this story is basically proof that a single capitalist working alone and with his own money on the line is much better at getting stuff done that horrible public servants who don’t understand the value of money because it isn’t theirs’ in the first place. You know the song well enough to hum along, I’m sure. But almost immediately after telling this story he then talks about some other businessman who stuffs up a project and causes, it seems, just as much trouble. Trump comes to the rescue, but, naturally enough, this time the other businessman’s mistakes aren’t presented as proof that individual capitalists can be just as stupid as evil bureaucracies. The question of why everyone should just have to live with the preferences of rich guys – even when they occasionally destroy art works (as he admits to doing himself on one of his buildings – it was ugly anyway) or build ugly buildings (as just about every developer other than Trump is accused of doing in this book) is something everyone else in the city has to put up with, because, well, capitalism…

This book is a bit like the Bible. It is clearly written for you to come away liking God (or Trump in this case) but somehow you never quite can. There is just something fundamentally unlikeable about them both. All the same, this was a best-selling book and was presented, in part at least, as a business advice book. As I’ve already said, this has virtually no advice anyone could actually use in running their own business – other than somehow acquiring Trump’s gut. You might think that would have been a problem in an advice book, but it seems not. ...more

1

Nov 08, 2016

I have not read the book.

But then hey, Trump did not write it.

DONALD TRUMP’S GHOSTWRITER TELLS ALL

27/03/2017

Well, I guess he's not such a great deal-maker after all. The first chance he had to make one in the White House, he failed miserably.

Or maybe he's just a dealer?

04/08/2017

I am interested in what kind of "deal" he's going to make with North Korea.

25/01/2019

Opposing bills to end US shutdown fail in Senate, with no clear path forward

What's the deal now, Donny?

5

Mar 17, 2016

Everyone compares Trump to Hitler. I've read Mein Kampft and this book is nothing like it. What gives?

5

Dec 31, 2015

A remarkable treatise authored by a modern day Anglo-Saxon king.

5

May 04, 2014

I have read this book twice. I read it for the second time because I had decided that I would read all books by Donald Trump again. I would say that it was not a waste time. This is definitely one of the best books written on business, negotiating & deal making. I think that Donald Trump has been very candid & sometimes even blunt in expressing his views. But this is the thing most popular about him. He is the kind of guy who does not beat around the bush. He stands for his ideas & I have read this book twice. I read it for the second time because I had decided that I would read all books by Donald Trump again. I would say that it was not a waste time. This is definitely one of the best books written on business, negotiating & deal making. I think that Donald Trump has been very candid & sometimes even blunt in expressing his views. But this is the thing most popular about him. He is the kind of guy who does not beat around the bush. He stands for his ideas & beliefs, even fights for them.
Trump initially was only in the real estate business. Like all great businessmen & entrepreneurs he initially only focused on one business & built it into something of great value & prestige. The Trump name is synonymous with high standards & perfection.
In the start Trump sheds light on his parents especially his father who was one of his greatest influences in life. He then writes about his family life & how he was brought up. The Trump children were always taught to follow the conventional & everlasting principles of ethics & morality. He was always taught to be a man of solid character & this thing even transcends into his business. That is why he is so candid & sometimes even very blunt because he has so much confidence.
Trump also writes in details about the huge deals that he undertook in the start of his career. These were very big deals & could bury him if he failed. But Trump persisted & came out successful. He also writes about his day to day life & how he deals with people. There are many useful insights regarding dealing with people especially in the business of real estate development. He gives tips & suggestions which can be implemented for a successful deal.
Overall this is a very informative & even a very interesting book for all those working in the real estate or any other business. ...more

4

Jul 05, 2017

Our culture and our nation currently find themselves in a remarkably politically charged, volatile, angry, and sometimes utterly ignorant environment. So much so that one could potentially be labeled and stereotyped simply for reading this book and publicly posting same. With that said, I offer this brief review anyway.

Having been in the business world all my adult life, I don't know how I overlooked reading this book back when it was published. It's not really a biography; more like a dairy of Our culture and our nation currently find themselves in a remarkably politically charged, volatile, angry, and sometimes utterly ignorant environment. So much so that one could potentially be labeled and stereotyped simply for reading this book and publicly posting same. With that said, I offer this brief review anyway.

Having been in the business world all my adult life, I don't know how I overlooked reading this book back when it was published. It's not really a biography; more like a dairy of some of Trump's bigger or more memorable business deals. Yes, he had the advantage of a father who was in the real estate business. Yes, Donald Trump has an ego. Yes, he can be arrogant, demanding, blunt, outspoken and much more. No one, absolutely no one, is lukewarm about him. Folks either voted for him, or they hate him beyond their ability to describe.

So just a quick word about the merits of this book. The man has clearly been a success in an incredibly tough city and industry. From the stories he recounts here, one can learn a lot about the challenges and rewards of commercial real estate and construction, the degree to which deals can be complicated and require patience, how to learn from the mistakes and overreaches of competitors, and much more. If a reader is able to put any personal prejudice aside, a lot can be learned about business in general from this book.

Interestingly, you'll also notice aspects of Trump's strategy and approaches to promotion that later served him well in the Presidential campaign. One example will suffice. When he set out to build Trump tower, there was an old existing building on the site, the Bonwit building, which had to be demolished. At the last minute, the Metropolitan Museum of Art expressed interest in saving two large Art-Deco sculptures on the exterior of the building. Trump was willing to donate them to the museum, but because the sculptures were so large and heavy, special scaffolding was required, and preserving them would've meant several weeks of costly delay. So naturally, Trump made a business decision and had them torn down.

What ensued was much public outrage and lots of bad press. But even the bad press still drew attention to the Trump Tower project, and caused an upsurge in demand for apartments when the Tower was completed. Notice Trump's take on the whole affair, which foreshadows his capturing of almost every news cycle in his Presidential campaign:

"I'm a businessman, and I learned a lesson from that experience; good publicity is preferable to bad, but from a bottom-line perspective, bad publicity is sometimes better than no publicity at all. Controversy, in short, sells."

In spite of the constant controversy that swirls around Donald Trump, I found this book to be a worthwhile and interesting read, with much insight into both the business world and the man himself. ...more

5

Mar 16, 2017

Good God ! The 1987 tell-all book overflows with complex business deals in Trump’s sledge-hammer style. Salted with hyperbole, Trump spills the beans on entering a privileged, difficult world he himself was new to in the 70’s. Skating rinks, railroads, luxe buildings, television, football… Trump’s calculated risks are so vast, learning from his hits/misses is as rewarding as it is emotionally rattling. Make no mistake: This is one gutsy, sharp guy. Also, circa 30% of the book concerns financial Good God ! The 1987 tell-all book overflows with complex business deals in Trump’s sledge-hammer style. Salted with hyperbole, Trump spills the beans on entering a privileged, difficult world he himself was new to in the 70’s. Skating rinks, railroads, luxe buildings, television, football… Trump’s calculated risks are so vast, learning from his hits/misses is as rewarding as it is emotionally rattling. Make no mistake: This is one gutsy, sharp guy. Also, circa 30% of the book concerns financial contracts and legalities, so prepare to parse thru some more nuanced fiscal landscapes.


TIDBITS :
—————-

“I tend not to give up on something I started.”

“I also earn more than $10 million in commissions as a sales agent from apartments in Trump Tower."

“When you set the highest possible standards, they’re expected to maintain.”

“A friend of mine is a highly successful and well known painter … A few months back he invited me to come to his studio. We were standing around talking when all of a sudden he said to me, “You wanna see me earn $25,000 before lunch?” Sure, I said, having no idea what he meant. He picked up a large open bucket of paint, and splashed some on a piece of canvas… When he was done, he turned to me and said “Well, that’s it. I’ve just earned $25,000. Let’s go to lunch.” He was smiling, but he was also absolutely serious. His point was that plenty of collectors wouldn’t know the difference between his two-minute art and the paintings he really cares about. They were just interested in buying his name. I've always felt that a lot of modern art is a con, and that the most successful painters are often better salesmen and promoters than they are artists.”

“My style of deal-making is quite simple and straightforward. I aim very high, and then I just keep pushing, and pushing, and pushing to get what I’m after.”

“Protect the downside and the upside will take care of itself. If you can plan for the worst, if you can live for the worst, the good will always take care of itself.”

“Maximize your options.”

“Use your leverage. The worst thing you could possibly do in a deal is seem desperate to make it. That makes the other guy smell blood and then your dead. The best thing you can do is deal from strength, and leverage is the biggest strength you can have. Leverage is having what the other guy wants, or better yet needs, or best of all simply can't do without.”

“Perhaps the most misunderstood concept in all of real estate is that the key to success is ‘Location, location, location’. Usually that’s said by people who don't know what they're talking about.”

“What you should never do is pay too much, even if that means walking away…”

“I play to people’s vanity.”

“After he lost the election to Ronald Reagan, Carter came to see me in my office. He told me he was seeking contributions to the Jimmy Carter Library. I asked how much he had in mind, and he said “Donald, I would be very appreciative if you contributed $50 million."…. Until then I had never understood how Jimmy Carter became president… Jimmy Carter had the nerve, the guts, the balls to ask for something extraordinary. That ability above all helped him get elected...”

“I don't kid myself. Life is very fragile, and success makes it more fragile. Anything can change without warning.”

“Money was never a big motivation for me, except as a way to keep score. The real excitement is playing the game. I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about what I should have done differently, or what’s going to happen next. If you ask me what the deal is going to add up to, I don't think I have a very good answer, except that I had a very good time.”

“I learned from my father that every penny counts because before too long, pennies turn into dollars.”

“You can’t be scared. You do your thing, you hold your ground, you stand up tall, and whatever happens, happens.”

“My father had done very well for himself, but he didn’t believe in giving his children huge trust funds. When I graduated from college, I had a net worth of perhaps $200K, and most of it was tied up in buildings in Brooklyn and Queens.”

“I don’t drink, and I’m not very big on sitting around… I remember wondering if every successful person in Manhattan was a big drinker. I figured if that was the case, I was going to have a big advantage.”

“If you’re going to make a deal of any significance, you have to go to the top… Everyone underneath the top guy is just an employee. An employee isn’t going to fight for your deal… he’s fighting for his salary increase… the last thing he wants to do is upset his boss. So he’ll present your case with no real opinion.”

“I was relentless.”

“Skyscrapers are machines for making money.” - Arthur Drexler

“…Which he said translated into a 20-story building with 10,000 square feet of usable space per floor. Immediately I told him to transform it to a 40-story building with 5,000 square feet per floor."

“I leased 50,000 square feet … for an annual rent of $3 million, plus a percentage of their profits… My carrying costs were approximately $2.5 million a year. In other words I was paying out $2.5 million to own the site, and getting $3 million back… a profit of $500,000 a year, and owned the land for nothing, all guaranteed, before I even began construction.”

“I’ve hired a lot of women for top jobs, and they’ve been among my best people. Often, in fact, they are far more effective than the men around them.”

“When we went to the quarry, we discovered that much of the marble contained large white spots… That was jarring to me… So we ended up going to the quarry with black tape, and marking off the slabs that were the best. The rest we just scrapped, maybe 50% of the total. By the time we were finished, we had taken the whole top of the mountain…”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the rich, it’s that they have a very low threshold for even the most mildest discomfort.”

“The cycles of buyers at Trump Tower became something of a barometer of what was going on in the international economy. At first the big buyers were the Arabs, when oil prices were going through the roof… After the Europeans, we got the South Americans and the Mexicans…”

“I have a very simple rule when it comes to management. Hire the best people from your competitors. Pay them more than what they were earning…That’s how you build a first class operation.”


BONUS : NO-HOLDS-BARRED BEAN-SPILL :
-------------------------------------

“Unfortunately, rent control is a disaster for all but the privileged minority who are protected by it:

** Mia Farrow, for example, has ten rooms overlooking the park. She pays about $2,000 a month for an apartment that might rent for upward of $10,000 a month on the open market.

** William vanden Heuvel, a very prominent attorney who served as ambassador to the United Nations under Jimmy Carter, pays less than $650 a month for his six-room apartment in a terrific building on E. 72nd St.

** Suzanne Farrell of the New York City Ballet has a fourteen-room duplex near Lincoln Center, for which she pays under $1,000 a month.

** Alistair Cooke, the TV personality, pays about $1,100 for an eight-room apartment on Fifth Avenue.

** Fashion designer Arnold Scaasi, for example, has a six-room duplex facing the park, for which he is paying $985 a month.

** The most notorious example of all may be Ed Koch… He pays $350 a month… The worst thing, though, is that Koch doesn’t even live in his rent-controlled apartment. He lives in Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor."


. ...more

2

Aug 30, 2015

After watching him fire a bunch of people on a stupid TV show, I thought I'd seen the last of this bloke with a badger on his head, but NOOOOOOOOO...we now get US election updates here in Australia.

I was watching him make some sheila tug at his hair to prove that it WASN'T a dead badger after all and thought, "Hey! I remember reading a book written by this dude." It all came flooding back. If you're looking for a book on how to do deals - this is probably worth reading - but I just didn't get After watching him fire a bunch of people on a stupid TV show, I thought I'd seen the last of this bloke with a badger on his head, but NOOOOOOOOO...we now get US election updates here in Australia.

I was watching him make some sheila tug at his hair to prove that it WASN'T a dead badger after all and thought, "Hey! I remember reading a book written by this dude." It all came flooding back. If you're looking for a book on how to do deals - this is probably worth reading - but I just didn't get it. Perhaps it doesn't apply to us peeps outside of the USA. You've got to hand it to him, he has accumulated the dollars, and not from being a dummy. It seems his method is to beat his enemies into submission. Gotta hand it to him though, he managed to fix up Wollman Rink. I made a special trip to see it when I visited the Big Apple a few years ago. Not a bad job Donny.

Maybe my lowish score is because I have some sort of inferiority complex, or maybe I remember thinking, by buying his book, I was ripped off. Actually, I remember thinking it was just plain boring.

EDIT: I would add half a star in light of the author's obvious negotiating skills - getting him elected president and attempting to broker peace with North Korea. Maybe Donny read his own book again. ...more

1

Jul 29, 2016

Terribly uninteresting. Filled with mind numbing details of every deal he has ever done. Please don't read.

1

Mar 15, 2016

Very little wisdom, a whole lot of self-serving platitudes; I had very low expectations of this book but they weren't low enough. Trump once said at a GOP Debate about the Obama administration, "they clearly didn't read 'The Art of the Deal.'" Not sure how superficial first-hand and self-flattering accounts of a few deals in New York and Atlantic City would have any baring on the Iran Nuclear deal, but in Trump's universe it's all the same.

Two useful insights about Trump from this book:

1 - Trump Very little wisdom, a whole lot of self-serving platitudes; I had very low expectations of this book but they weren't low enough. Trump once said at a GOP Debate about the Obama administration, "they clearly didn't read 'The Art of the Deal.'" Not sure how superficial first-hand and self-flattering accounts of a few deals in New York and Atlantic City would have any baring on the Iran Nuclear deal, but in Trump's universe it's all the same.

Two useful insights about Trump from this book:

1 - Trump worships himself and believes he is incapable of poor decision making in any capacity. He never talks about mistakes or instances of bad judgment, only of collateral damage or the incompetency or bad intentions of people around him. This total lack of humility would make him unbelievably dangerous person to give political power.

2 - iI's clear that Trump has no real beliefs, just bargaining positions. He says what will accomplish whatever goal he has and therefore pretty much all means are justified by ends. I couldn't be more confident that he has no intention to deport 11 million people if elected President, and he does not care what damage his message does, so long as it can be used as leverage for his own goals, which may be totally disconnected from his stated goals.

In short, this book unintentionally offers some valuable insights into the Donald, however it is still was a general waste of time; one of the worst non-fictions I have ever chosen to pick up. ...more

4

Jun 16, 2016

I read all but the last 40 pages or so of this book. After a while the story becomes the same.

What is that story? Pretty much, take a hands-on approach to your business, make your intentions known, and then wait until things fall into place for you to move.

A lot of the time Trump was dealing with licensing and zoning boards. He always went to those meetings himself, took an active interest. He mentions many who took the opposite approach, and things didn’t go well for them.

There’s a lot on him I read all but the last 40 pages or so of this book. After a while the story becomes the same.

What is that story? Pretty much, take a hands-on approach to your business, make your intentions known, and then wait until things fall into place for you to move.

A lot of the time Trump was dealing with licensing and zoning boards. He always went to those meetings himself, took an active interest. He mentions many who took the opposite approach, and things didn’t go well for them.

There’s a lot on him calling people up personally, and how these people were often happy to have that done. There’s a lot on Trump choosing the marble for the floors or brass for railings, even taking an interest in air conditioning and piping.

He’s clear what this mean - millions of dollars in savings and projects that come in on time and on budget.

Overall, this is a good book even 30 years after it was written. I got it at the library and read it because Trump is about a month away from the presidential nomination. I wanted to understand his early business background and influences better, and this book does a good job.

Is it biased? You bet. But it’s a fun read and it’s pretty honest and I like how he presented himself in it. I’m glad I picked it up and gave it a read.

...more

5

Aug 26, 2014

Perhaps a guilty pleasure, but I really enjoyed this book. It's both very readable and very engaging. It serves as a good example of what it means to be proactive.

0

Jul 29, 2015

Source

Mr P and Mr T doing grown-up transactioning

My exclusive shelves:
read
currently-reading
to-read
wish-list
lookedinto-decidedagainst
off-tbr-and-into-wpb
maybe
noway-josé
abandoned
onhold Source

Mr P and Mr T doing grown-up transactioning

My exclusive shelves:
read‎
currently-reading‎
to-read‎
wish-list‎
lookedinto-decidedagainst‎
off-tbr-and-into-wpb‎
maybe‎
noway-josé‎
abandoned‎
onhold‎ ...more

5

Mar 21, 2016

This book was not what I was expecting at all, but now I can see why it is considered a classic. It is surprisingly accessible for a book about how to make successful business deals. It contains a lot of wisdom that can be applied to life in general, about how to treat others and also about marketing yourself and your skills.

The book documents various deals Trump is interested in during one week in his life. He discusses each project in depth and concludes with a summary of which deals were This book was not what I was expecting at all, but now I can see why it is considered a classic. It is surprisingly accessible for a book about how to make successful business deals. It contains a lot of wisdom that can be applied to life in general, about how to treat others and also about marketing yourself and your skills.

The book documents various deals Trump is interested in during one week in his life. He discusses each project in depth and concludes with a summary of which deals were successful, which ones were not, which ones he had to rework and so on.

His dealings with the New York city planning council and the mayor were particularly amusing. Anyone who has any knowledge of Trump already knows that he is a straight talker and isn't afraid to tell the truth about people or situations as he sees it. The same applies here, but it is written with a great sense of humour. This is Trump in his 40's, debonair and confident.

Very enjoyable and well worth the read! ...more

4

Nov 30, 2012

This is how Donald Trump made it into the business world. I always find it interesting to find out how successful people made their breakthrough.

Some snippets of wisdom I got from the book:

-"I always go into the deal anticipating the worst. If you plan for the worst-if you can live with the worst-the good will always take care of itself"

-"I also protect myself be being flexible. I never get too attached to one deal or one approach. I always come up with at least a half dozen approaches to making This is how Donald Trump made it into the business world. I always find it interesting to find out how successful people made their breakthrough.

Some snippets of wisdom I got from the book:

-"I always go into the deal anticipating the worst. If you plan for the worst-if you can live with the worst-the good will always take care of itself"

-"I also protect myself be being flexible. I never get too attached to one deal or one approach. I always come up with at least a half dozen approaches to making it work, because anything can happen, even to the best-laid plans."

-"The worst thing you can possibly do in a deal is seem desperate to make it. That makes the other guy smell blood, and then you're dead"



Overall an interesting read and insight into the making of "The Donald". ...more

1

Jul 07, 2016

I didn't expect to like this book, but I was amazed how boring it was!

0

May 09, 2019

“I put lipstick on a pig. I feel a deep sense of remorse that I contributed to presenting Trump in a way that brought him wider attention and made him more appealing than he is.” -- Tony Schwartz

1

Mar 18, 2016

I had to put it down. This man's ego is really something. I did find it interesting however to draw the line from his thoughts in this book to how is like on the campaign trail.

4

May 02, 2016

I read this expecting empty rhetoric and posturing, and while there certainly was a bit of that, most of the book is an honest look into how deals are actually made in the business world. Connections, favors, backdoor deals, bluffs and lies. It's really accurate, and seeing how Trump navigates it is amazing.

Would recommend to people who are worried about Trump's efficacy as a businessman or leader

0

Oct 28, 2018

I read this when I was thirteenish? I found it in a used bookstore and read it. The only thing I remember many, many years later is that it recommended washing your used car before selling it to get the best price, which seemed pretty obvious to me. Best summed up as forgettable.

5

Aug 15, 2018

i've been told by english teachers at universities and schools all over the world that THIS BOOK is the NUMBER 1 TOP BOOK IN ALL THE BOOK RATINGS. this novel has been translated into more languages than that LOSER Gatsby was. A big "DEAL!!"

5

Oct 11, 2015

This is partially a biography but also shows an insight of what Trump is thinking about in the heat of a deal. It starts out giving a week of his life explaining his daily habits. But, where it really gets to be about the serious business life as we know is when he explains the “Elements of The Deal”. He gives characteristics of a quality deal-making situation and how he uses it in his profession. Then he has flashbacks of the good times of his juvenile days in New York growing up with his This is partially a biography but also shows an insight of what Trump is thinking about in the heat of a deal. It starts out giving a week of his life explaining his daily habits. But, where it really gets to be about the serious business life as we know is when he explains the “Elements of The Deal”. He gives characteristics of a quality deal-making situation and how he uses it in his profession. Then he has flashbacks of the good times of his juvenile days in New York growing up with his family and looking up to his father, Fred Trump, a hard-working and hard man. Through those times he became the high stakes man he is today and begins to further explain how one can become a man like he. But, he does this in an implicit way through how he goes about the deals that were taking place at the time. Insightful look into perhaps the nation's most talked about man.

***** 5 out of 5 stars, Honestly, I really don’t believe too many people these days would like this book unless you are interested in the heavy deal-making strategies necessary to learn to be successful. Millennials feel as if they are entitled to being successful, but never do the work to support their case. Not many people my age (just after Y2K) will be able to fully read this with 100% of their attention. And that’s sad, because this is a book not one person should pass up. It’s like having a front row seat to a deal-making speech. There is always evolution happening. From the first contact of the client, to the final signing of the contract.

If you’re into making money and hardcore business grinding, this novel is a godsend to you. I mean it literally gives you the eleven essentials to being successful and becoming an A-list businessman (The Elements of the Deal 45). This is a classic, timeless, and important how-to for real estate or business. This is recommended to ages 14 and up, unless you have some sort of business outlet in your life like I had, my father. It may become boring to read for the ones who need action just to be able to read a book. It’s always better to have a little prior knowledge, but to really be able to comprehend this book, that is essential. Best book I have ever read. ...more

1

Mar 29, 2017

Look, Donald Trump on Donald Trump was never going to get a rave review from me. We all know this. But my gosh, this was probably one of the deadliest dull books I have ever read in my entire life. It's predictably boring in a way that defies even Fifty Shades of Grey to out-beige. I bet Trump thinks this is The Art of War for aspiring yuppies like Patrick Bateman, but it's really Mein Kampf for lazy, entitled trust fund babies.

The good news is that I have *plenty* of material on Trump as Look, Donald Trump on Donald Trump was never going to get a rave review from me. We all know this. But my gosh, this was probably one of the deadliest dull books I have ever read in my entire life. It's predictably boring in a way that defies even Fifty Shades of Grey to out-beige. I bet Trump thinks this is The Art of War for aspiring yuppies like Patrick Bateman, but it's really Mein Kampf for lazy, entitled trust fund babies.

The good news is that I have *plenty* of material on Trump as yuppie icon for the article on which I'm working. ...more