I’m also reading The Art of the Deal. Great book. It’s not just about business deals, a lot of it is biographical.
When Trump was a kid, he and his brother would pick up coke bottles on the construction sites to return for the deposit. He’s a billionaire now, but has memories of appreciating a few cents in change.
This coming Wednesday will be the one-year anniversary of Jeb Bush getting into the presidential race. With over $100m in the campaign war chest, it was to be a coronation of yet another Bush. Trump on the other hand had his announcement laughed off. I will post a photo below from each announcement. What a difference a year makes.
I really enjoyed The Art of the Deal. I’m reading its sequel, Surviving at the Top, at the moment. It’s not as well written and it jumps around more topic wise, but I think that it too is quite releaving about Trump. He was having a lot of financial and personal troubles when the book was written in 1990, and he seems pensive and unusually self-reflective in the first part of the book. (The second part of the book focuses on business interactions like The Art of the Deal, although he closes with a chapter entitled, “On Toughness.”) On the book’s first page, he says, “Life is a series of challenges,” and one could argue that is the overall theme for the book.
Thinking of his current campaign and its populist bent, I thought this was good quote: “the average working man or woman is a lot better adjusted and more secure than the supposedly successful people who stare down at them from the penthouses.” Another relevant one (considering the accusations made against him) is: “I’m not a crusader for feminism, and I’m not against it, either. I’m just oblivious to a person’s gender when it comes to hiring people and handing out assignments.” I personally found his discussion of Nixon to be interesting too, although the best parts of the book naturally are when he reveals things about himself. I also liked his political books (Time to Get Tough, The America We Deserve, and Crippled America).
I loved that book too Atlantan. I wish everyone would read it. It’s very very interesting. I couldn’t put it down. I’ve read 3 other of his books since.