In his fifties, Michael Gates Gill had it all: a big house in the suburbs, a loving family, and a top job at an ad agency with a six-figure salary....
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Sep 07, 2010
Jeanette
rated it: 
someone left this on my plane trip to sydney and i picked it up. its so refreshing after reading that piece of crap eat pray love. im anti-starbucks (sorry jessica!) but i do have to say that this was a great book and it made me a little less anti starbucks. its a great story about an older gentleman who loses his successful job in advertising (his own mentor fired him) and finds himself at a starbucks one day where they happen to be conducting an open house. hes mistaken for a job applicant and
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4 comments
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(10 people liked it)
Oct 07, 2008
Jamie
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Author Michael Gates Gill was handed a cushy job as an executive at a major advertising agency, but he had sacrificed a lot of time with his family and opportunities for personal development to get where was. Eventually Gill is unceremoniously fired from that job for being too old and too expensive, and soon after THAT he has an affair that leaves him with a broken marriage and a new son. Gill is edging ever closer to being financially destitute when a 28-year old African American woman managing
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3 comments
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(25 people liked it)
Sep 15, 2008
cat
rated it:
i wish there were a Goodreads shelf for "read a little bit, threw up in my mouth, and returned the book to the library as quickly as humanly possible because i felt dirty with it in my hands".
DO NOT read this book (or attempt to listen to it on CD, as i did). the NYTimes does a way better review than i ever could, so go here http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/books/... or just read this snippet from the review and back away from the book quickly:
"From there More...
DO NOT read this book (or attempt to listen to it on CD, as i did). the NYTimes does a way better review than i ever could, so go here http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/books/... or just read this snippet from the review and back away from the book quickly:
"From there More...
6 comments
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(14 people liked it)
Mar 14, 2009
Cortney
rated it: 
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was impressed with the depth of introspection that Mr Gill explored. While reading this book, I was reminded of another book I recently read- Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America by Barbara Ehrenreich. The books were similar and yet so very different. Ms Ehrenreich conducted a sort of social experiment in which she took on low-wage jobs to see how people manage to make ends meet on minimum wage. Mr Gill took on a job at Starbucks after he lost everyt
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2 comments
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(7 people liked it)
Oct 06, 2008
Kaye
rated it: 
Oh my, this book went on and on. The parts I liked: Michael Gates Gill trying to fit in with his new life. What I didn't: everything else. Basically, the flaws are these: Gill repeats himself ad nauseum, as if I can't remember the role that a barista plays in a Starbucks. Each chapter involves a recap where he re-explains how to weigh the cash, or that he has to pour coffee and take money. Ugh. I found the repeated explanations kind of insulting, to tell the truth. Also, the entire thing
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Apr 21, 2008
Holly
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5 comments
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(2 people liked it)
Feb 02, 2009
JM
rated it: 
Okay, I have a confession to make: I hate, hate, hate rich people. All the rich people I've known act like I don't know sh*t because I don't have as much money as they do.
Michael Gates Gill isn't rich, he's mega-uber-elitist rich. His Dad, Brendan Gill, was one of my favorite writers at the New Yorker, though, so I gave him a shot. He didn't disappoint, at least on the writing and the "rich people deserve to be hated" problem I have.
His life before his down More...
Michael Gates Gill isn't rich, he's mega-uber-elitist rich. His Dad, Brendan Gill, was one of my favorite writers at the New Yorker, though, so I gave him a shot. He didn't disappoint, at least on the writing and the "rich people deserve to be hated" problem I have.
His life before his down More...
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(5 people liked it)
Feb 13, 2009
I'm not exactly sure how many stars to give this book. First off I hated the title, but then I found myself crying while I read it. What has happened to me? I think I was hijacked by some sort of crazy case of sentimentality, but then again, I have to admit that the tone of the book was really quite moving. The writing style is extremely simple, but in each page you could find a lot of optimism and joy.
In a way, I think this book is a great foil to Eat Pray and Love. Both writers a More...
In a way, I think this book is a great foil to Eat Pray and Love. Both writers a More...
Jan 05, 2009
Joyce
rated it:
A friend recommended this and I thought it would be a bit dry and business like, but it turned out to be an exhilarating read, full of every day wisdom, real people and situations that anyone can identify with. The author, a high powered business man who loses everything (marriage, kids, high paying job) takes a job at Starbucks that literally changes his life. The pace of the book is quick, and the lessons he learns are honest, and there's no heavy handed moral tone at all - just profound gra
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(2 people liked it)
Nov 15, 2011
Sarah H.
rated it:
i admit that i have decided to read this book because of my desperate need for a job that adds a value to my life, So i read it to get some inspirations and motivations. Frankly, I hate Starbucks, i rarely go there and if i did i only order a frappuccino with extra caramel, plus, i don't drink coffee. As i go through Michael or Mike "as his partners at Starbucks call him" life, i can feel his desperate need for a job after he had been fired. He is so optimistic, determined, tolerant,
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(1 person liked it)
Nov 18, 2008
Amanda
rated it:
I've been super scattered on reading actual books lately, so I've switched to audio books to keep me going while driving around and while knitting. This was on my list of books to read and since the library had it, I gave it a go.
This is a memoir type book about a man, who was born to privilege and lived a life of privilege. His parents had money, but not always time. He went to an Ivy League school and got a great job right out of college. Gill was a top executive for a long time, e More...
This is a memoir type book about a man, who was born to privilege and lived a life of privilege. His parents had money, but not always time. He went to an Ivy League school and got a great job right out of college. Gill was a top executive for a long time, e More...
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 02, 2008
Beth
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The premise of this memoir is that a 64 year old former exec. is fired from his lucrative job in advertising only to find himself working at a Starbucks store. As you may have gathered by the title, the author actually found that his job schlepping coffee was more rewarding (though not more lucrative) than his former life of privilege. I enjoyed this book, but the flaws lie largely in the fact that the author is not a writer--nor, apparently was he very aware of the world around him. When he
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(2 people liked it)
Nov 08, 2008
P'ster
rated it:
While I appreciate the 'better late than never' spiritual awakening at the core of this memoir, it's also got to be the biggest product placement ad I've come across in a long while (case in point: I don't even frequent Starbucks and it made me crave a Mochachino). While feelgood tales will always abound of white folks, and white men specifically, realizing the lifelong racist, sexist, ageist, etc. attitudes that come with power and privilege, and, as in Michael Gates Gill's case, realizing tha
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 17, 2009
Laura
rated it:
I forced myself to finish this. It was predictable, slow and painfully drawn-out. The entire book is basically this man talking about coffee and making coffee and how he has trouble making coffee and why he likes making coffee. He talks about how he used to work at an ad agency and what he learned at the ad agency and how it's different from making coffee and how he loves making coffee but he has trouble making coffee and he was good at working at an ad agency and how it's different from maki
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Jan 22, 2009
Jensownzoo
rated it:
You know, this book didn't have any great revelations or really any surprises. Where this book shined was as a character study--the author had a truly authentic voice that I found fascinating. Also appreciated that there was little to no whining in this book about lost privileges--the author seems to appreciate the journey that he is on.
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 05, 2009
Beth
rated it:
Another memoir to add to my list-The lessons learned by this author were very touching and he seemd to tell it in such an honest and soul searching way..An interesting story which highlights the concept of "serendipity" and points out the "humaness" of many people -not to be realized unless we happen to come in contactwith them..
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(1 person liked it)
Mar 14, 2008
Wendi
rated it:
I listened to the audiobook version at work, which may have tainted my listening a bit. The strangely melancholic piano music didn't help things. I found it interesting that the writer is from and lives in Bronxville, and even ends up working at the Bronxville Starbucks (which, yeah, I've been to), but I didn't believe in him and the story he was telling. His constant apologizing for how horrible he'd been to his children and his unthinking endorsement of all things Starbucks ... none of that se
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May 02, 2009
Cheryl
rated it:
Most enjoyable.........almost wants to make you work at Starbucks. I found this book uplifting......it takes a lot of courage to go from a high powered executive job to a coffee barrista and then to realize how much happier you really are.
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 19, 2011
Kimberly
rated it:
Meet Mike!
He's White!
He WAS rich... Came from a RICH family...
But, what have we all learned about men in power? They get mistresses / sideline ho's! Mike got a sideline ho - but, also gets her pregnant. Seeing that her husband now had a bastard child by his mistress, his wife leaves him and takes the kids.
Mike loses his job.
Mike loses his friends.
Mike is very sad. Poor Mike.
Things do not look well for our dear Mike. Until one day, while at Starbucks contemplating life and how White privilege has More...
He's White!
He WAS rich... Came from a RICH family...
But, what have we all learned about men in power? They get mistresses / sideline ho's! Mike got a sideline ho - but, also gets her pregnant. Seeing that her husband now had a bastard child by his mistress, his wife leaves him and takes the kids.
Mike loses his job.
Mike loses his friends.
Mike is very sad. Poor Mike.
Things do not look well for our dear Mike. Until one day, while at Starbucks contemplating life and how White privilege has More...
Mar 28, 2009
Marvin
rated it:
I am so torn about reviewing this book. There are some things I like about it and some things I didn't. First, it is a uplifting story. A man of privilege entering the down-and-outs take a job at Starbucks and learns the meaning of hard work and caring for others. It is written in a light and casual style that makes it entertaining and goes easy down the gullet like a peppermint mocha frappuccino. But when he writes about his childhood in a rich and educated family (he is the son of New Yorker w
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Mar 14, 2009
adventurat
rated it:
I borrowed this book from a co-worker, who had picked it up at Starbucks. The description (above) completely overstates what interested me about this book, and the significance of the lives and events it relates, I think.
I was intrigued to learn more (based on my co-worker's retailing of the first few chapters) about how a man who had worked a job he hadn't even had to try to get (it was all set for him when he graduated from Yale), for twenty-five years, and had been at the top of More...
I was intrigued to learn more (based on my co-worker's retailing of the first few chapters) about how a man who had worked a job he hadn't even had to try to get (it was all set for him when he graduated from Yale), for twenty-five years, and had been at the top of More...
Feb 19, 2009
Ruanne
rated it:
While I admire the concepts in this book (finding dignity in any sort of work, transforming one's life after a downfall, learning that people's skin pigmentation is not an indication of their character ) I just couldn't get past the writing style and the unadulterated worship of Starbucks' corporate culture. Gill writes simple declarative sentence after simple declarative sentence, until he sounds like what my 4th grader wrote like in 2nd grade. The exception to this is when he is talking about
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Jan 15, 2009
Barky
rated it:
After working many years with an advertising agency, Michael Gates Gill, age 60, is downsized. He starts up his own consulting firm, but after awhile the business fails to attract a steady clientele. Meanwhile, Gill must work through a number of personal problems that make it difficult to concentrate on his professional life and career. One day he finds himself in the midst of a Starbucks job fair – unemployed, depressed, and somewhat desperate. When his manager-to-be, Crystal Thompson, asks
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(1 person liked it)
Jan 05, 2009
Chris
rated it:
Started strong, finished weak. The book begins with every salaryman's nightmare -- the author (Michael Gill) is fired at the height of his career (and pay scale) without any real prospects for making a comparable living. The reversal of fortune is particularly galling for him, since beforehand he lived a life of easy privilege -- hobnobbing with Hemingway, Jackie Kennedy and others while living off of (and burning through) family money. The author's quick and candid juxtapositions between the
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Feb 05, 2012
Book Concierge
rated it:
Audio book read by Dylan Baker
Gill was a highly-paid executive with the largest, most prestigious advertising agency in New York City when, at age 53, he was fired. The agency had a new owner who wanted “young” people in charge, and Gill had become superfluous. He struggled with forming his own consulting firm, and had some modest success … for a few years. But 10 years later, when the reader first meets Gill, he is sitting at Starbucks hoping against hope that his phone will ring a More...
Gill was a highly-paid executive with the largest, most prestigious advertising agency in New York City when, at age 53, he was fired. The agency had a new owner who wanted “young” people in charge, and Gill had become superfluous. He struggled with forming his own consulting firm, and had some modest success … for a few years. But 10 years later, when the reader first meets Gill, he is sitting at Starbucks hoping against hope that his phone will ring a More...
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(1 person liked it)
Oct 13, 2011
Joshua
rated it:
The only way I could actually finish this nauseating book by Michael Gill was the fact it was an audio book and listened to it driving across country. Not sure why my girlfriend picked this one out as it really isn't her style. Yet she did, and we did, and I wish I didn't. Gill's incredibly upbeat and positive portrayal of getting a job at Starbucks is so one-note, so completely awash in corporate praise I'm very suspicious. Did Starbucks pay him to write this book before he wrote it? Did Starbu
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Oct 07, 2011
lj
rated it:
Born poor, born wealthy, born working class... Doesn't matter then does it, once you realize that life is life. There are lessons for all walks of economic lifestyles. Hopefully lessons are given AND taken by every person as in this story that seems to be told truthfully by this author.
No, you may not like what choices he has made, but do you like all of the choices YOU have made? I'm embarrassed at many things I've done and said, I hope that I've recognized this and altered my behavi More...
No, you may not like what choices he has made, but do you like all of the choices YOU have made? I'm embarrassed at many things I've done and said, I hope that I've recognized this and altered my behavi More...
Sep 14, 2011
Cj
rated it:
My sister who lives in Manhattan bought this book for me, I don't remember why, a birthday or Christmas or. ..... something. lol.
It's a good book.
Michael is in all the right places, a rich man in all the right cliques. Until he suddenly finds himself on the end of no job, a divorce, and a pregnant mistress, with his kids hating him.
In an unlikely event, he finds himself on the register side of Starbucks. The company with nearly one store on every corner her More...
It's a good book.
Michael is in all the right places, a rich man in all the right cliques. Until he suddenly finds himself on the end of no job, a divorce, and a pregnant mistress, with his kids hating him.
In an unlikely event, he finds himself on the register side of Starbucks. The company with nearly one store on every corner her More...
Aug 29, 2011
Jessica
rated it:
This book reads like a transcript of an overzealous training video for Starbucks. That being said, if you enjoy motivational business books, you'd probably enjoy this. I did not, and largely because I found the story of this man's fall from the upper-elite to regular-joe unconvincing, a bit unbelievable, too convenient and too easy. Although Michael Gates Gill screws up his life, it seems odd that someone who spends every opportunity name dropping (Queen of England, Frank Sinatra, Frank Lloyd Wr
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Jul 28, 2011
D. Jennifer
rated it:
Just finished this one an hour ago, on loan from friend.
I liked it enough to cry at the end. And, maybe because of the place I am in my life right now, the author's feelings of searching for the most authentic and good version of himself spoke loudest. At 47, and out of the traditional rat race of corporate and business work, I have been working for the past several years doing a variety of creative jobs, and am back in the service/restaurant industry. Although, unlike Gill's discove More...
I liked it enough to cry at the end. And, maybe because of the place I am in my life right now, the author's feelings of searching for the most authentic and good version of himself spoke loudest. At 47, and out of the traditional rat race of corporate and business work, I have been working for the past several years doing a variety of creative jobs, and am back in the service/restaurant industry. Although, unlike Gill's discove More...
