An Enterprising Life
Author: Jay Van Andel
List Price: $24.00
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 0887309976
Publisher: Zondervan (01 September, 1998)
Sales Rank: 76,357
Average Customer Rating: 4.7 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 5 out of 5
This is a GREAT read!
In spite of the obviously biased review wirtten by an unnamed reviewer in the Kirkus Reviews, I maintain that this is an entertaining and enlightening story aboout the author's life. This is precisely the type of biographical sketch that Jay Van Andel set out to write, and he succeeded admirably. Along the way he sets the record straight about a number of misconceptions about the Amway business. Anyone who reads this book with an open mind will enjoy a great story and receive an education in the process.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Needed more Vitamin D
Were others reviewing the Amway business, Van Andel, or the book? I see that a few were of the book, and this is too. I loved the first part where he talked about their other businesses and travels through S. America. Great detail and I could really feel the joys and pangs of their challenges. It was fun. I wish that the rest of the book had been this way.
What made Amway? What made MLM? What changed the course of business history in the US and possibly the world? The battle with the FTC! Amway winning this case alone has created thousands of millionaires in the US and possibly the world and has allowed for hundreds of other legitimate MLM firms to become successful. But this part of the book WAS ONLY ABOUT 12 PAGES!
Deciding to keep the book short to get more readers was the wrong way to go with this story. Like it or not, Amway changed business history. The story needed more detail and feeling for how they changed history.
The story further deteriorates as the writer chose to use the book as a soapbox (esp. towards the end). This took away from the suspense and flow. I expected an autobiography, not a pontification.
2 1/2 stars. Good book for those interested in business from a purist point of view. Van Andel was a good example of tenacity and no-quit in action.
Rating: 5 out of 5
An Enterprising Life
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