The Whole Story

This is an easy-to-read account that, for the most part, focuses on the founding and growth of Whole Foods Market. There are philosophical discussions in between as well as discussions about his athletic activities and relationships. Yes, there is a rant at the end about the 'evils of socialism' but for the most part, this is a nice biography.

The book is fairly chronological and begins with the author soul searching, doing drugs, and trying to figure out the meaning of life in his early 20s. He'll say many times in the book of how tired he became of being labeled a hippie but it is pretty hard to discount that he was the cliché of that definition/it informed so much of the person he would become. Fortunately, after the philosophical musings about life and love from the drug induced stupors, he goes into how he came about the founding of "Safer Way" - the forerunner of Whole Foods.

From there, the book gets very interesting: discussions of government interference, building and destroying colleague relationships, mergers and acquisitions, union agitation, multi day hikes, and the women with whom he shared his life. The underlying theme through it all is that he had a driving desire to grow his company - likely stemming from being a very competitive person.

I found a lot of the book to be fascinating: while I did not always agree with his world view, it is always a pleasure to read when the author can give his points good discussions on the nature of business. Admittedly, I could probably do without the hippie philosophizing, religion discussions, and the pages dedicated to long hiking treks - but they are a part of the makeup of the man. He is a person of his time and place, growing up in the 1970s with all that entails.

As with so many biographies, the author always seems so perplexed by those who turn against him. It always seems to be explained by greed and that it was inexplicable that someone would just dislike him. But certainly being in big business is never easy and there are some good lessons here about how to (and how not to) do things. Certainly, one has to respect that he worked hard to ensure people had healthier alternatives and more ecological friendly options when shopping for groceries.

The author does go into things done wrong - e.g., earning the derisive 'Whole Paycheck' sobriquet that dogged the company in the 2000s. The book ends not long after the Amazon buyout and his ousting/leaving the company. I respected that he didn't use the book as a promotional vehicle for his new venture and instead left it up to the reader to explore that on their own.

In all, some fascinating business information here as well as a great perspective on the late baby boomer generation and how the idealism and then pessimism of the 1970s (as well as the drug and counterculture) influenced the creation of a health foods empire. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.