Mr. Ballpoint

by Gerald Everett Jones

In 1945, Milton Reynolds introduced the ballpoint to the United States and triggered the biggest single-day shopping riot in history at Gimbels in Manhattan. The Reynolds International Pen Company made $5 million in eight weeks during the first non-wartime Christmas season. Thereafter, increasing competition from established companies such as Eversharp triggered several years of the "Pen Wars." An exuberant entrepreneur who had already made and lost several fortunes, Reynolds bragged that he "stole it fair and square." This novel is told from his mild-mannered son Jim's point of view, about coping with Milton's outrageous schemes, then their sudden success.

Genres: Nonfiction

280 pages, Hardcover

First published July 18, 2014

About the author

Gerald says, "I write mystery-thrillers and literary fiction for adult readers who seek insight, fascination, and delight in the adventures of their own lives."
Gerald Everett Jones is a freelance writer who lives in Santa Monica, California. Harry Harambee's Kenyan Sundowner is his eleventh and most recent novel. From 2020-21 he won ten book awards - one in business, four in literary fiction, and five in mystery-thriller. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, the Dramatists Guild, Women's National Book Association, and Film Independent (FIND), as well as a director of the Independent Writers of Southern California (IWOSC). He holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honors from the College of Letters, Wesleyan University, where he studied under novelists Peter Boynton (Stone Island), F.D. Reeve (The Red Machines), and Jerzy Kosinski (The Painted Bird, Being There). Learn more at geraldeverettjones.com.

Reviews

[John Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remember the days when reading was just pure joy?

It’s become a nauseating cliche and familiar rankle to try to slug through the works of so many contemporary writers who spend more time taking themselves too seriously than coming up with stories you can’t put down, written in prose which honors literary tradition, delivered with genuine style, originality and flourish. You know the type. They think that they’re going to solve the world’s problems or answer the great questions in 270 pages of masturbatory muck.

Well, along comes Gerald Everett Jones. Here’s an author who shows as much mastery of the English language as he demonstrates contempt for such pretenses.

And who is the beneficiary of this author’s enlightened perspective on his job as a writer? Anyone who picks up this book!

“Mr. Ballpoint” is an excellent, fun read by a phenomenally talented writer.

It’s a great story, amusing and entertaining the way literature is supposed to be.

If you want to enjoy reading again, if you want intelligent, well-crafted fiction, confident story telling which doesn’t pretend to be any more or any less than what it is, this is the book for you. Enjoy! You might not get the chance again until Mr. Jones comes out with his next one.

[Thomas Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

Your first reaction to Gerald Jones’s latest book is disbelief. Mr. BallPoint intertwines the wartime RAF's top secrets , Hungarian Jewish inventors in Argentina, American life post atomic bomb, Harry Truman, Howard Hughes and Macys war with Gimbels around a man's life that puts American Hustle to shame. Jones has a marked talent for laying a methodical patina of logic over the most outlandish characters and events in his Rollo Hemphill novels. With Mr. Ballpoint he has turned that estimable gift to the true story of the wild entrepreneur Milton Reynolds who hustled his way to millions with the lowly ballpoint pen in the late 1940s. Reynolds was the inventor of the "talking price tag" (you must read the book to find out what that is) and author Jones proves that a great salesman is a creative and imaginative performing genius. This man's life was the obverse of the mournful Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman. Milton Reynolds lived the full, exciting “life of a salesman” and his outlandish career proves that truth can bat fiction out of the park any day.

[Madeleine Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr ballpoint. Was a interesting amusing and enjoyable read.The story based on true events was full of strong characters and kept up the pace from start to finish.A good read for any age.

[Roxanne Arcement · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Gerald Jones has written such a very amazing book that was one I could not put down. I loook forward to every chapter and page of this book. The characters were so well described and you could feel their emotions whether it be sad, happy, and even funny! The book was written with Mr. Milton Reynold's son James telling the story and it was like he was sitting in my home telling the story to me! I would recommend the book to anyone that would want to read it and if anyone would be interested in paying the postage I would be glad to send it to them to read! I won this book and I believe in passing I good book on and sharing them with someone that truly will finish the book and then share with someone else! Anyone wanting to read this book you will not be disappointed ENJOY!!!!

Roxanne

[Rachel Chiapparine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was blessed enough to receive a free ebook copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review which is as follows:

To be completely honest I didn't really understand the father son dynamic of the book (maybe I might have gotten it and the humor more if I was a guy) however I found the stuff about the competition around when the ballpoint pen was first introduced to be pretty interesting, it's funny how something so common place nowadays was such a big deal back then. Overall I personally rate this book a 4/10.

[C-shaw · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fictionalized account of the man credited with inventing the ballpoint pen, a real character named Milton Reynolds. Interesting man, but the story was not so much. Meh.

[Sandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this one. It was funny and entertaining to read. Great characters with funny lives. It takes place at the end of WWII so it was like watching an old movie. I highly recommend this one.