Published just seven weeks prior to the Presidential Election of 2024, the stunningly well researched and written Lucky Loser, the sordid tale of “How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success” makes me even more afraid of another term with this con man/grifter in charge. I sort of understand how people might be taken in by his schtick, but I just can’t see how they could advocate for him to he handed the nuclear codes after reading this book.

Buettner and Craig are investigative reporters for The New York Times (she is Canadian) and have done a mountain of research into this sleazy story. Although Trump likes to present himself as a successful businessman, the truth is that he inherited a boatload of cash from his father, squandered it and lost millions upon millions in one terrible business failure after another, only gaining any real financial success with his TV show The Apprentice. He has sold the rights to his name over and over, cheated seemingly everyone who had the bad luck to work for him, and has a seemingly endless supply of the”ick” factor, increasing each year.

He might be President again…really? Incredibly true, but many of us live in hope that he will wear an orange junmpsuit before he enters the Oval Office again. Regardless of one’s political leanings, this is truly astonishing reporting, investigative journalism at its best. If he IS elected, we will get what we deserve. No one can say they weren’t warned…especially if they have read this book. Five stars.

This is an excellently researched and well written book. I fear that while every voter should be aware of the information in this book, the only people who will probably read it will be those who have already formed a strong (negative) opinion about the former president. Well, you can’t say we weren’t warned. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you, Penguin Group, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I just finished Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune And Created The Illusion Of Success, by Russ Buettner & Susanne Craig.

This was an excellent look at Donald Trump’s lifelong career as a failed businessman. The book starts with a look at Trump’s early life, as well as his father’s many misdeeds and unscrupulous actions building the family fortune before it turns to Donald’s career. It book does a great job documenting his failures. It covers times in which he was inflating his assets on the one hand, in order to get loans, while significantly deflating them on the other hand, to cut taxes.

One of the enjoyable sections of the book was the discussion of Trump and the USFL.

The one success of his business career, from a money-making venture for himself, was the Apprentice. It served to boost his image while providing a very distorted view of what was happening in the show’s competitions and his involvement. Those areas of the book are also among the many highlights.

I give this book an A+ and inducted it into the Hall of Fame. Goodreads requires grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an A equates to 5 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

After finishing the book, I got the audiobook version, so will also be able to listen to it.

This review has been posted at my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews, and Goodreads.

I finished reading this on September 25, 2024.