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Hot Air Promotions - An Autobiography of a Mining and Oil Stock Sucker

Stanley McShane (Goodreads Author)

really liked it 4.00 · Rating details · 5 ratings · 4 reviews

"There's a Sucker Born Every Minute," thought to be contributed by P. T. Barnum was actually uttered by a competitor of the Barnum & Bailey Circus. While he was referring to the customers of that famous circus, the saying could certainly be attributed equally to that period of time when mining and oil stocks were exploding on the exchanges early in the first and second dec ...more

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Paperback, 193 pages

Published July 1st 2013 by Rose Point Publishing

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Dec 06, 2015 Ian Hunter rated it really liked it

You might think autobiographies make for rather dull reading, but in the case of this author, at least, you would be wrong.

As a young kid, he sails the world on a boat that ultimately sinks and claims all the lives of everyone on board except for him, including the lives of his parents. That alone would destroy most people. But he returns to the sea, where he will be shipwrecked again and again. After many years of a rollicking life on the high-seas, he ventures into mining, joining the gold r You might think autobiographies make for rather dull reading, but in the case of this author, at least, you would be wrong.

As a young kid, he sails the world on a boat that ultimately sinks and claims all the lives of everyone on board except for him, including the lives of his parents. That alone would destroy most people. But he returns to the sea, where he will be shipwrecked again and again. After many years of a rollicking life on the high-seas, he ventures into mining, joining the gold rush when there was money to be made. Although he freely admits that he didn’t exactly hit the market in its prime. Making not one but several fortunes, only to lose them time and again, he returns along with his friends to the gold and silver mines many times over in hopes of finally getting a nest egg that won’t be stolen from him.

The life I’ve described to you, so far, is as hard and as fraught with adventure as any, but our hero and his pals are in their element, and so despite the odds, they do rather well. It’s literally the stuff that period movies are made of.

When our hero and his friends set upon their next adventures, however, this is where they start to get out of their depths. And so, this is where they start to get into real trouble.

Our hero, Stanley McShane, takes us through the early days of the stock market, where “there’s a sucker born every minute.” Our naïve investors, fresh from digging riches out of the gold and silver mines, are keen to double and triple their money with stock investments. Each time, they lose their shirts to scrupulous con artists. Each time, they go back to the mine and earn more money, determined this time not to be taken. And they do smarten up. With each round of having their money snatched from their hands, they get wise to the schemes, the way the other side thinks. They come in to the next situation all the more forearmed and forewarned. But it doesn’t seem to matter how much smarter they get, the other side always has a con they’re blind to, is always better at reading their tells than they are their adversaries’, always better at pushing their buttons than they are at playing the bad guys off one another.

You can’t help rooting for Stanley and his pals because they are so determined to make good despite all obstacles; as the proverbial underdogs, they face off against impossible odds with determination, tenacity and, most of all, a big heart. Theirs is a battle between the soulful against the soulless. As difficult as it was to watch our heroes get swindled again and again, I rejoiced with these guys in the things that really matter, their ability to appreciate the elements of life that seem lost on the bad guys, and Stanley and his friends’ determination to enjoy all of life’s pleasures. Up and down in their luck, repeatedly, they continue to climb out of the valleys of despair and self-recriminations that come with each defeat again and again, like children reborn to face the world anew, with fresh eyes. Their shining spirits—which no amount of experience seems to tarnish—makes them lousy stock market gamblers, but it makes them graduate students when it comes to all that’s important in life.

You could read Hot Air Promotions as a remarkable tale of a larger than life hero who is, all the same, not at all made up. You could read it as a choice piece of historical fiction. Or you could read it as a parable for our times, because I found the schemers they were up against very reminiscent of the power brokers of today who continue to ensnare us in their short and long cons. Maybe the stage has shifted to the corporate world, and maybe the con artists of today are all the more hidden behind intermediary players so as not to put a face or a target on the very evil that needs to be eradicated from society. But the nature of the game, sadly, really hasn’t changed. Which makes this book as valid a primer for how to survive in the trenches today as ever. And maybe the lessons are more easily absorbed precisely because they’re coming at you in the guise of period fiction, putting a century or more between you and the truth as a buffer. Any of these reasons by themselves would be compelling enough reason to read the book. And taken together, the tale becomes even more magnetic. But with all that, I can’t say it’s why I continue to enjoy this author. I believe in my case it’s his spirit that hypnotizes me. I don’t think I’ve met a hero (fictional or otherwise) with quite the same combination of heart and humor, a thirst for adventure, and a determination to see the world always through the fresh eyes of an unspoiled soul as Stanley McShane.
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Aug 29, 2013 Tammy Downing rated it really liked it

This is the true story of a man and his mining partner who gets sucked into the world of worthless stocks. They keep getting suckered into buying BS stocks on non-existent mines and lose money hand over fist. They remain honest and true friends. I am so glad I won this book through Goodreads First Reads context.

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Mar 29, 2014 Alice rated it it was amazing

Thank you GoodReads :) Also, Thank you Stanley McShane for sharing your Dad's story. It was a well written and very entertaining book. I would read it again and will reccommend it to my friends:) ...more

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Jul 04, 2014 Stanley McShane rated it it was amazing · (Review from the author)

My grandfather wrote this book back in the 1930's when he tapped his manuscript out with his two index fingers on an ancient Underwood. Earlier in his youth, Rose (McShane) had caught the gold bug and traveled north to Alaska after he stepped foot off the last ship he sailed. From there, he looked for gold in California, Nevada, and Arizona. Failing the discovery of a life-changing gold mine, he traveled back to San Francisco and began the long risky road of mining stock investments back in earl ...more

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About Stanley McShane

Stanley McShane

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I am Virginia Williams, the granddaughter and editor/publisher of historical author, Patrick John “Stanley McShane” Rose. I have published six of his manuscripts. In an effort to market and promote his books, I began a blog called Rosepoint Publishing. I currently review 2-3 books per week and welcome review submissions using the Submission Guide on my website. I submit reviews for the books I rea ...more