How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else

by Michael Gates Gill (Goodreads author)

book data

1,371 ratings, 3.24 average rating, 518 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		11%
4		28%
3		38%
2		15%
1		5%

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published

September 20th 2007 by Gotham

binding

Hardcover

isbn

1592402860 (isbn13: 9781592402861)

description

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. By...more

[close] 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. By the time he turned sixty, he had lost everything except his Ivy League education and his sense of entitlement. First, he was downsized at work. Next, an affair ended his twenty-year marriage. Then, he was diagnosed with a slow-growing brain tumor, prognosis undetermined. Around the same time, his girlfriend gave birth to a son. Gill had no money, no health insurance, and no prospects.

One day as Gill sat in a Manhattan Starbucks with his last affordable luxury—a latté—brooding about his misfortune and quickly dwindling list of options, a 28-year-old Starbucks manager named Crystal Thompson approached him, half joking, to offer him a job. With nothing to lose, he took it, and went from drinking coffee in a Brooks Brothers suit to serving it in a green uniform. For the first time in his life, Gill was a minority--the only older white guy working with a team of young African-Americans. He was forced to acknowledge his ingrained prejudices and admit to himself that, far from being beneath him, his new job was hard. And his younger coworkers, despite having half the education and twice the personal difficulties he'd ever faced, were running circles around him.

The other baristas treated Gill with respect and kindness despite his differences, and he began to feel a new emotion: gratitude. Crossing over the Starbucks bar was the beginning of a dramatic transformation that cracked his world wide open. When all of his defenses and the armor of entitlement had been stripped away, a humbler, happier and gentler man remained. One that everyone, especially Michael's kids, liked a lot better.

The backdrop to Gill's story is a nearly universal cultural phenomenon: the Starbucks experience. In How Starbucks Saved My Life, we step behind the counter of one of the world's best-known companies and discover how it all really works, who the baristas are and what they love (and hate) about their jobs. Inside Starbucks, as Crystal and Mike's friendship grows, we see what wonders can happen when we reach out across race, class, and age divisions to help a fellow human being. [close]

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08/18/08

Jamie rated it:

Read in September, 2008

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...more 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 a Starbucks almost accidentally offers this old White man a job as a lowly Starbucks barista. And so begins his re-evaluation of all his assumptions about everything from what makes him happy to the ugliness of class and race inequality.

Okay, as far as memoirs go, this isn't a bad hook. It was good enough to make me read the book, but the problem is that How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else is so badly written and so badly executed on every level that it's a shoe-in for the worst book I'll read this year. The ONLY good thing about this book is that it's giving me the chance to use, without irony, the word "maudlin" to describe it.

How Starbucks Saved My Life has got all the art and subtlety of an After School Special for the geriatric set. Not only is the prose clumsy and boring, but Gill seems intent on explaining every single reaction or sentiment you're supposed to have. After someone pays him a compliment, for example, Gill looks you in the figurative eye and tells you "This made me happy. Because blah blah blabity blah blah..." and he goes on for a whole paragraph explaining something that he thinks you're too emotionally retarded to pick up on by yourself. Generally every sentiment and insight and thought is telegraphed in this manner, with the author telling you exactly how you're supposed to feel or interpret the events of the story, the telling of which is often completely lost in this mawkish exposition.

And this isn't surprising, considering the author's background. He may be making change and scrubbing toilets now, but Gill's legacy as an advertising man is all too apparent here. Worse, most of the book reads like some kind of stealth marketing for Starbucks, with everything --EVERYTHING-- about the place sold and oversold as some kind of realm of mythical happiness for hourly workers where the baristas fart sunshine and the espresso machines dispense unicorn giggles. With the single exception of one bitchy co-worker who tries to get Gill written up for mishandling his cash register, everyone he works with is an overflowing fount of happiness, good intentions, and sentimental epiphanies.

It's not that I mind some of these things or think these people can't exist, but the ENTIRE experience is unbelievably hyped and presented in such an artificially positive light that I no longer felt like I was reading an authentic memoir or even a halfway credible fiction, which is the same problem I had with A Million Little Pieces even if it skewed in a slightly different emotional direction. So it's not only poorly written, but transparently disingenuous as well. Like, I suppose, most other advertising.
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02/10/08

Jeanette rated it:

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in March, 2008

recommends it for: fans of starbucks, mitch albom and happy endings

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...more

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09/15/08

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

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2 comments

09/08/08

Cortney rated it:

Read in September, 2008

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...more

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09/18/08

Kaye rated it:

bookshelves: audiobooks, non_fiction

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 ...more

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04/09/08

Holly rated it:

Read in April, 2008

recommends it for: Starbucks employees... I mean "Partners"

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Ok, I feel guilty about rating someone's personal transformation story poorly. But I also don't want to skew my ratings anymore than I already do.

I picked up this book at the library because the title made me roll my eyes and gag simultaneously. Then I saw that it was about a rich white guy who loses his fancy job and ends up working at Starbucks and learns to be a better person, etc. I know that makes some of you roll your eyes and gag, but I love people's individual stories a...more Ok, I feel guilty about rating someone's personal transformation story poorly. But I also don't want to skew my ratings anymore than I already do.

I picked up this book at the library because the title made me roll my eyes and gag simultaneously. Then I saw that it was about a rich white guy who loses his fancy job and ends up working at Starbucks and learns to be a better person, etc. I know that makes some of you roll your eyes and gag, but I love people's individual stories and I am pretty forgiving when inspiration and life lessons are involved.

But this book read like a Starbucks marketing piece. I actually did not let myself read the entire book jacket until the end, just in case it did turn out to be published by Starbucks. It isn't, as far as I can tell, but man oh man can this guy gush about that company. I mean, I know they have great health benefits for their employees, but he lost credibility when he said that he loves their chocolate chip cookies. No way, not possible. Also, I refuse to believe that Starbucks is the world's best company and so unique and different from the rest of American capitalism. Everyone knows that Google holds that spot! (Kidding. Mostly.)

Plus, from the acknowledgments at the end, it seems that they are planning (or were planning?) to make it into a movie starring... Tom Hanks. (Who else?!) No, I am not kidding. I guess it will be like "Pursuit of Happyness" in reverse.

AND I was actually a little disappointed by his personal transformation. Yes, he learned about the value of hard work and not to judge people, etc. But he came across as having no self-confidence in anything, and it seemed sort of patronizing. (Seriously, you went to Yale and were a big advertising exec for 30 years and now you're terrified to make coffee drinks?)

The book was written poorly, but I can't decide if maybe that was intentional, to make it accessible to everyone. But I am guessing not. There were some cool stories about the famous people he met, though (back when he was rich, and yes, it did come across as obnoxious name-dropping) such as Warhol, Hemingway, Frost. I can just tell you those stories in person though... perhaps over a cup of mediocre coffee?(less)

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02/02/09

Jill Blevins rated it:

(review of isbn 1592404049)

Read in June, 2008

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

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02/13/09

Elizabeth added it

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

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01/05/09

Joyce McCombs rated it:

Read in December, 2008

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...more

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11/10/08

Amanda rated it:

Read in November, 2008

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

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12/31/07

Beth rated it:

Read in December, 2007

recommends it for: lovers of the 'bucks

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 ...more

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07/14/08

P'ster rated it:

Read in July, 2008

recommended to P'ster by: Karen

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...more

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01/07/09

Laura rated it:

bookshelves: ewww

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...more

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01/22/09

Jensownzoo rated it:

bookshelves: 2009-reads, biographies

Read in January, 2009

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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01/05/09

Beth rated it:

Read in January, 2009

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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03/14/08

Wendi rated it:

bookshelves: memoir

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...more

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04/22/09

Cheryl Pashlin rated it:

Read in April, 2009

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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03/28/09

Marvin rated it:

bookshelves: rivertown-loans

Read in January, 2009

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...more

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03/13/09

adventurat rated it:

(review of isbn 1592404049)

bookshelves: 2009, non-fiction

Read in March, 2009

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 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 his industry, had survived being fired to make way for younger blood at the age of fifty-three, and how he had gone from a life of affluence and privilege to taking the subway and wearing a green Starbucks apron.

The answer to the first question is "not very successfully", and to the second is "by accident, and for the health insurance".

Being the only white face among the African-American workforce at a Starbucks on Broadway in New York, being sixty-three and male and working for a 28-year-old woman, going from cruising along on connections and privilege to being the best cleaner of toilets and scrubber of grout makes for an interesting story.

The author's first year at Starbucks (the period covered in the book) is replete with revelations about what is important and what is not, and it's satisfying to watch him derive satisfaction from doing a job that he would never have noticed before, and to being invisible to the people he once knew who he encounters at work, because of the uniform.

Although there is reference to improvements in the author's relationships with his children, his family get very little airtime; the book focuses primarily on the new relationships, especially with boss Crystal and the other Partners (Starbucks parlance for 'employees'), and on one level the whole thing reads like one great big advertisement for Starbucks as an employer and career foundation.

His past life of success, privilege and affluence gets fairly frequent mention, in the form of name and occasion dropping: working with Jackie O to help save Grand Central Station from demolition; committing a serious faux-pas before Queen Elizabeth, an encounter with Frank Sinatra. These were always in reference to some new revelation, but in some ways seemed self-conscious, a sort of desperate attempt to reclaim the life that had been taken from him (work) or that he had squandered (family).

The writing was good, though, and the story engaging, which outweighed the flaws, for me. (less)

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02/19/09

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 ...more

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