A Passion to Win

Rating:
Summary: The House of Sumner
Review: A spirited view into the Man who has created one of the greatest media empires to date. A Passion to Win is a display of what one person can accomplish if they stick to what they believe in and love what they do. The book is the basis of what his business philosophy is, stemming from his up bringing and schooling at Boston Latin School. The book raised my respect for the man who amassed accomplishments upon accomplishments prior to his Viacom years. The only missing details are the lessons learned in his earlier failures or mistakes made prior to Blockbuster. Your given a sense that he did everything write until that point. The only early failure noted is a mistake he made in a spelling contest. I wish he would have humbled himself to the quote I once read from him, "Success is not built on success, but on failure, frustration and catastrophe". Outside of that, it was a great and highly recomended read.

Rating:
Summary: Sarah's Review
Review: As a highschool student, I found this book to be extremely inspiring. Anyone who has ever thought of entering the field of business should read this book. I did and it helped me channel my i nner ambition. Redstones inspiring stories (he survived a terrible fire) made me want to get out and conquer the world. At times, Redstone seems a bit full of himself, but anyone who can climb to the top usuallly is. This book is a great read to anyone wanting to find passion by reading from a passionate person.

Rating:
Summary: How Does an Innovative Business Genius Think?
Review: Being from the Boston area, I have long followed and been interested in the career of Sumner Redstone. This autobiography greatly added to my knowledge of the man by describing the thought processes behind the many successful innovations he has helped pioneer. The main drawback of the book is that you will find his personality unappealing at times. He savages those who do not meet his exceptionally high standards.

If you do not know who Mr. Redstone is, let me fill you in a little. He is a self-made multibillionaire, who is the chairman and controlling shareholder of Viacom. This is the company that brings you the CBS television network, Paramount motion pictures, and many popular cable networks like MTV and Showtime. Mr. Redstone may well be the brightest owner of a major company in the world. He is certainly one of the best educated. But beyond that, he is undoubtedly one of the most competitive. The combination gives him the impact of a Mack truck when he decides to move.

The book begins with the most famous story about Mr. Redstone, how he survived almost being burned to death in a fire in Boston's Copley Plaza at age 55. You will come away impressed with his determination from reading about this experience. If you are like me, you will come away even more impressed that this experience had little psychological impact on him. It was just one more challenge.

The story then picks up with the horrible problems he had in turning around Blockbuster Video after purchasing it during Viacom's acquisition of Paramount. To succeed required recruiting two different top officers of the company (the first one was not successful) and renegotiating the fundamental way that motion picture studios were compensated for video rentals (substituting a revenue sharing arrangement for purchases of video tapes).

Mr. Redstone always wins in business. It's that simple. In fact, in this autobiography, he can recount few occasions when he did not in any aspect of his life. He bitterly resents the injustices present from those few instances. One was when a professor of law gave him a D in constitutional law at Harvard Law school (when he had taken the course earlier at another law school, he had received an A+). While an appellate lawyer for the federal government, he won 18 appeals in a row.

"I am hands on . . . but I also invite confrontation." Mr. Redstone acts as though each penny involved is potentially his own, and that the principle at stake is a life-and-death one. This gives his focus an intensity that no one I have ever met could match. His descriptions of bidding contests to buy businesses and efforts to win legal cases will provide fruitful examples of best practices for generations to come. If you want to win in business or law, think like Mr. Redstone. And get the best talent to help you . . . particularly if you are not a towering genius like Mr. Redstone.

The title of the book is somewhat misleading. Mr. Redstone is equally devoted to being a committed person who acts with courage and good character. In other words, he wants to win for the right reasons and in the right way. It's the principle that counts. For example, he gave the money he won suing the hotel where he nearly died to the burn unit of the hospital that treated him. He was originally attracted to law because it was supposed to be about justice. He found that practicing law, however, was just a business rather than a way to do justice. Almost all of his major business victories were aided at least in part by legal actions that he masterminded.

On the other hand, most people would not find the way he spends his time to be the ideal life. You'll have to decide for yourself how a single-minded pursuit of winning should be balanced by other interests and considerations.

I do encourage you to be more understanding and accepting of lesser mortals than Mr. Redstone is in this book. There is, after all, only one Sumner Redstone.

Rating:
Summary: Passion--that all books need
Review: One has to agree with the Editor Review that this is a rather self-serving account, yet it offers readers much more than it was given credits for.

It went into details of many tough deals Redstone has participated in, which are important cases studies for all business executives, particularly those in entertaiment industry.

It also demonstrated how a kid could grow up from an average beginning to become a top player in the world--a true demonstration of the Amercian dream.

The writting is simple--that is what we need. Who cares about Queen's English with many adjetives and adverbs! Throughout the book, the author was constantly standing right in front of you talking and arguing--so lively and entertaining!

You have to admire Redtsone's determination, energy, passion and drive. One may argue that he is too willing to sue, while history has shown that he was more right than not in suing his adversaires.

This is an excellent book for all business school students and aspiring executives.

Rating:
Summary: Why Retire When You are Having Fun
Review: The story that is being told is five stars, but perhaps the written book as a piece of literature is four stars. In any case it is a very interesting read.

There is an expression that goes to the effect as follows: if you brag but if you can do it you are not boasting. That pretty well sums up this book.

Here is a guy that came from a competitive neighborhood in Boston. Went to Boston Latin and excelled, then went to Harvard and excelled. It is an upward success story. After the war and his law degree he joins his father and never looks back. Step by step they expanded and expanded from humble movie drive in theatres to chairman of Viacom. He has a sense for business, how to negotiate, who to trust, when to cut, when to litigate, and when to take a chance. Like him or not one must admire what his tenacity and his business smarts have accomplished.

Some people will be critical, but does it matter? He did what he wanted to do and he is a media giant and he accomplished his goals. One cannot deny that fact. It all makes for a fascinating and inspirational story.

Good read Four stars.

Jack in Toronto

Rating:
Summary: You will love talking about this book.
Review: Whether you buy this book for self-help or because you want to know how the top people made it in their careers, this book will satisfy you. Well written and focused, you catch a glimpse into the life of Sumner Redstone as he rose from a "poor, Jewish boy" to becoming a media conglomerate who is well respected (and feared) in his arena.

Reading about people like this, you can't help but be inspired. Whether you agree with Mr. Redstone's tactics, you will admire and respect his fortitude and resilience. He takes you through a journey of his life, and you see how successful people overcome the obstacles in their lives. I don't want to give away everything in the book, but Sumner faced many "obstacles". What's nice is he also names the names of the people who have infuriated him throughout his career. He has guts!

I recommend this book. Honestly, though, it may not be for someone who has already "made it" in life. I think the best person to read this book is a recent high-school or college graduate who has his/her whole life ahead of them. This book will make an excellent gift to someone and will definitely inspire them.