Publishers Weekly
Donald Trump, entrepreneur, television star and powerful brand selling suits, perfume and quixotic dreams of fortune in his name, asks in this engrossing romp, "What is it about me that gets Larry King his highest ratings?" O'Brien, a New York Times investigative reporter who has reported on Trump's ups and downs, answers that question in this instructive tongue-in-cheek primer for would-be Trumps. Sometimes hilarious quizzes summarizing the main points of each chapter demonstrate Trump's audacity, itinerant poor judgment and the kind of hubris one can only stand back and watch with astonishment and a sort of clandestine admiration. O'Brien chronicles Trump's rise, fall and rise again from both public favor and the Forbes rich list, and deftly balances irreverence and respect for his subject. The star of The Apprentice appears alternately arrogant and (nearly) humble, whether he is popping Oreos while watching Pulp Fiction on his private jet, discussing the "emotional business" of selling hotels, or dismissing the lure of the jet set. O'Brien's reportorial style, peppered with wit and irony, is the perfect base to Trump's acidic persona; he is the straight man to this contemporary P.T. Barnum. In between, there are lessons to be learned, regardless if the reader ever gets to apply them, for instance: be outrageous in your demands and keep a straight face. That may be hard to do while reading this book, but, as Trump might spin it, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
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Kirkus Reviews
New York Times business reporter O'Brien gets down and dirty-in the most good-natured way-to craft a myth-busting biography of the real-estate developer. The author has been following Donald Trump's story for the past 15 years, watching him rise, fall and rise again on a self-generated tide of publicity and endless hyperbolic statements. While Trump's business trajectory isn't in dispute, O'Brien takes issue with the financial specifics. He punctures decades' worth of bluster and offers his own take on Trump's career and the "kitten's skein of holdings Donald had woven together" by the time The Apprentice anointed him the nation's most successful developer. Highlights O'Brien explores include Trump's early battles with Mayor Ed Koch, his business dealings with known Mafia associates and the bailout by his much-less-famous siblings that kept him from going bankrupt. The Donald's character is almost too colorful; the business deals based on braggadocio, the creative reporting on personal wealth and the trophy wives eventually blend together in a glittering haze. O'Brien keeps coming back to the numbers, however. The book's essence can be discerned in his analysis of the Forbes 400; for each year that the magazine reported Trump's personal wealth, the author has done his own reporting. For example, in 1982, Forbes said Donald had an undefined share of the Trump family's $200 million, "at a time when all [he] owned personally was a half interest in the Grand Hyatt and a share of the yet to be completed Trump Tower." O'Brien also mentions that New Jersey regulators assessed Donald as being "short on cash and in debt up to his eyeballs." It's no shock that Trump is a self-promoter, but it issurprising that he appears to have cooperated with the author, despite having declared O'Brien a "whack job" to the press. A bemused, entertaining portrait of a gold-toned incarnation of the American dream, plus some believable financials for anyone who wants to know the real fiscal story.
