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The Art of the Deal (平装)
by Donald J. Trump
| Category:
Entrepreneurship, Business, Motivation, Self help |
| Market price: ¥ 108.00
MSL price:
¥ 98.00
[ Shop incentives ]
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
Entertaining, insightful and inspirational, Trump's account is a real American success story. |
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AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 10 items |
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Mike Wallace (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
This reads like Trump unvarnished – vainglorious, combative, ambitious, and unafraid to let us know about it. I find it fascinating all the way. |
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New York Times (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
He makes one believe in American Dream again. |
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Rolf Dobelli (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
This book is as smooth as its namesake author. Long before "You're fired!" entered the popular lexicon, "The Donald" was piecing together deals that changed Manhattan's skyline. The book includes a diary of Trump's typical week. He flirts with a hostile takeover of Holiday Inn (which nets him tens of millions of dollars), has a friendly conversation with radio personality Don Imus, selects Christmas decorations for the Trump Tower atrium, chats with NBC executives, talks with Ivan Boesky just two weeks before Boesky pleads guilty to insider trading, meets with a top New York banker who begs him for his business, has a conversation with Missouri senator John Danforth and speaks with international designer Calvin Klein - all by Tuesday. If you conclude that Trump is a self-promoting, silver-spooned name-dropper, take your shirt off now and hand it to him - before he tears it off your back. Trump plays for keeps. Tony Schwarz has done his usual masterful job of co-authoring this book. (If nicely spun anecdotes could be used as collateral, Schwarz could be a real estate magnate himself.) Of course, some of the less rosy chapters in Trump's career are downplayed, and his major bankruptcy problems (and bounce back) happened after this book's initial publication. We strongly recommend it to anyone who wants an entertaining look at some of the actual reality show behind Donald Trump's towering success. |
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Shane A. Brewer (MSL quote), Canada
<2006-12-27 00:00>
"The Art Of The Deal" by Donald Trump is an excellent book outlining Trump's life and deals that he made over the first 20 years of his life. While this is dated somewhat by now, it is still a fantastic look into the mindset of a billionaire real estate developer.
Each chapter deals with a major deal that he undertook, with a couple chapters dealing with his childhood, what he considers necessary for a deal, and an outline of a work week for him (which is quite humbling for me).
Each of the chapters are more autobiographical but there are pieces of wisdom hidden throughout. I for one enjoyed reading through how each of his deals came together, the hurdles and struggles he had to go through to get them finished, and attitudes you need to get the job done. In Trump style, this book shows Trump's huge ego and somewhat narcissistic nature, but I think one would need that to take on the projects that he has done.
However, I very much enjoyed a peek into the thinking of Trump and a behind the scenes look at his deals. I highly recommend this book to any business-people out there or anyone interested in "thinking big". 5 out of 5 stars.
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J. Robinson (MSL quote), Canada
<2006-12-27 00:00>
Let us give him his due. He has great style and tenacity and the nerve. This book was written in better days before his fall. I have visited a number of his buildings - which I understand that he was closely and personally involved in the design and construction - and they are beautiful.
The book gives a nice picture of his move from Queens as told by him, and his developments in Manhattan. But let us not forget it is not as hard as one might think to become a billionaire if you start off with 250 million. He had a great start with his father including his father's business acumen and a development base and finances. His father gave him a lot of responsibility and the young Trump responded and went from Queens to Manhattan to make his mark. He was creative and did well. No question. Only a few are in his class.
But then he got carried away. He thought he had the Midas touch - maybe believed his own book. In any case he thought the "Trump" name itself had tremendous value. He put it in on airplanes. He got over extended and dropped the ball, all on his own and driven by his own nerve and ego. The guy knows how to hire and manage, something he learned from his father and he has taken all that to the next level.
I have read and enjoyed all of Trump's books but he leaves out the practical aspects of dealing with unions and the mob and shady lawyers. They are books with a certain façade just like his buildings, so enjoy the book but it is just part of the story.
The books are short and bolster his PR - but are a good read. |
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George Taylor (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
We all know of Donald Trump. What's not to know - he is in our face on a consistent and almost daily basis. He has several books - most are fluff and for entertainment. But before How to Get Rich and Think Like a Billionaire there was The Art of the Deal. This book is considered a real estate classic regardless of how you may feel about The Donald.
This book gets inside the head of a billionaire at a very young age. Written before we were bombarded with "sound-a-like" real estate gurus and written when Trump himself was unique from the noise. The highlights of this book is how Trump provides you a first-hand account into his upbringing, his philosophy on business, and inside (to what he will allow) his approach to some of the biggest deals in real estate history. It's not just about his success stories - there are some failures contained such as his acquisition of the Generals (USFL football team) and relationships going from bad to works (Koch versus Trump). Most appealing about this book is how he thinks big! Many say he had a head-start. He did. However, many business giants have had a head-start and didn't know what to do with it. Trump did. He doesn't gloss over the fact that his father was a success, but he does highlight how he is unique from his father in his approach to making the big deals.
Many say there are very few Trumps. Where that may be true (and it is) - there are more Trumps out there than the average reader knows about but are a lot less vocal in their accomplishments. The fact that Trump invites you into his world during the greed driven period of the 80s is an accomplishment for him and of great value to the reader.
Take this book - read it, study it, and reference it! Like The Donald, it's in a class by itself. Oh, by the way: If you buy only one of his books - this is the one! |
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Karl Mohd (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
Donald Trump has transformed his project scope over the years, but one thing he has always had is east coast bravado. The bragging flair of the Trump name with its corporate jets, name plastered on every property, and TV show "The Apprentice", is described in its rise and ascendancy in this book. Having attended the University of Wharton - the pre-eminent finance school in the nation, Trump went about accumulating and managing several projects. Using capital inherited from his father, who by the way was the largest apartment landholder in all of New York on his own merit, Trump went on to lead the construction and financing of numerous landmarks. These included the Jacob Javits Center, the Central Park Ice Skating Rink, The Trump Taj Majal in Atlantic City, and the Trump Tower. This book leaves off in the late 1980s and since then the "Donald" has gone bankrupt twice and continues to move on to bigger and more advanced projects (no we're not talking women or baby-making, but property), as witnessed by "The Apprentice."
Overall this biographical study of the middle aged mind of Donald Trump gives a good background on the negotiating and management processes necessary to create and construct a sizeable project in one of the most competitive real estate markets in the world, New York City. |
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Shane Brewer (MSL quote), Canada
<2006-12-27 00:00>
The Art of The Deal by Donald Trump is an excellent book outlining Trump's life and deals that he made over the first 20 years of his life. While this is dated somewhat by now, it is still a fantastic look into the mindset of a billionaire real estate developer.
Each chapter deals with a major deal that he undertook, with a couple chapters dealing with his childhood, what he considers necessary for a deal, and an outline of a work week for him (which is quite humbling for me).
Each of the chapters are more autobiographical but there are pieces of wisdom hidden throughout. I for one enjoyed reading through how each of his deals came together, the hurdles and struggles he had to go through to get them finished, and attitudes you need to get the job done. In Trump style, this book shows Trump's huge ego and somewhat narcissistic nature, but I think one would need that to take on the projects that he has done.
However, I very much enjoyed a peek into the thinking of Trump and a behind the scenes look at his deals. I highly recommend this book to any business-people out there or anyone interested in "thinking big". 5 out of 5 stars. |
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Michael May (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
Though I was expecting this book to come across the way most other reviewers describe it (arrogant, egocentric, etc.), to me it really didn't. We all probably have pre-conceived notions about Trump and the way he does business. Personally, I set them aside and picked up this book with an open mind. In the end, his writing will either reinforce any negative views you might have of him, or you will come away thinking he is a visionary, bold, and big-thinking individual. Honestly, I came away with more of the latter. Of course, I'm not naive enough to believe that Trump didn't skew some of the stories and characters to cast himself in the best possible light. With that in mind, you might have to take some stories with a grain of salt, but that fact doesn't really tarnish the final product. There's always lessons to learn, and the style is quick, smart, humorous, and entertaining. It really takes you back to the time period- the revitalization of certain dying parts of New York City, and later the building of skyscrapers all the way from the early planning stages to completion.
One of my favorite parts is when Trump describes a visit from a potential partner in a casino/hotel in Atlantic City. Prior to taking the interested party to the construction site, Trump phoned ahead to his construction manager to tell him to get every bulldozer and dump truck he could to the site that day. It didn't matter what the equipment operators did, he said, so long as they were doing a lot of it- even if they were simply digging holes and refilling them. The point was to make an impression on his guests that construction was moving swiftly and in grand style.
So how much of this writing was exaggerated to give the reader the impression that Trump's operation and backstories are grander than they really are? Only he truly knows. But all in all, I must say I was thoroughly engrossed in The Art of the Deal from cover to cover. |
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Bulcha (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-27 00:00>
You never know whether to ever really trust what Trump says or not. I actively avoided reading this book for some time. I just resisted it. I must have felt that it is a propaganda piece and I was right. It is just another win for Trump. Another chance to boast about himself and his competence. And the ironic thing is the lesson to be learned by the man on the street is exactly that. In real estate, it is simply connection and bravado after a certain level of core competencies have been achieved. This book does not go into the details of how to do what he has done... as step by step approach besides being boring would have been ridiculous. First thing to do is go back in time and be born in a family where your father is a wealthy builder. And be born to a father who was historically in the right situation himself - building homes when the soldiers came home and started families. The second thing is go to the premier business school in the nation. After that, you do a few deals with your father and learn the business inside and out. After that make some connections through your father's friends. And the most important thing is to start your career and venture when the real estate market is absolutely depressed. You can't help but make money.
But beyond being at the right place at the right time, Trump has much to his credit that shines through this book. It is attitude. It is audacity. A simple lesson one can learn reading something else. But it is also something that probably is not learned or at least, there must be something inside that can be sparked. Everyone is given luck. But it is the mark of smarts to be able to master luck. You have opportunities as a real estate investor at your door. And historical situations exist for anyone to take advantage of. But it is those who have a certain attitude and audacity that are able to exploit situations and make it work for them. And then after the fortune has been made, write a book about how great you were for having done so.
That is in essence, the entire book. The deals themselves are just place holders. The real thing that the Art of the Deal focuses on is: Trump himself and how great he is, how he is better and how he is more competent than anyone else. |
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1 Total 1 pages 10 items |
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