An Autobiography (Trailblazers)

Rating:
Summary: Me Me Me: Ogilvy on Ogilvy not a pretty read
Review: If, like me, you read, re-read and enjoyed "Ogilvy On Advertising" and thought the man's autobiography would be similarly interesting, think again.

"David Ogilvy, An Autobiography", is a self-centred stinker.

As you might expect, its words are sufficiently well-crafted to allow easy and rapid reading. What sets this apart from Ogilvy's advertising writing is its egotism.

Some of it is outright - rabbiting on about all manner of subjects as if eager disciples were at hand to treasure every word (which perhaps, in the sixties, they were). Even worse though, is his quoting of both himself ("and then I said the most extraordinary thing") and others in search of yet another way to bury himself in praise.

In parts, the book is reminiscent of a cocktail party bore retelling episodes in which he was the chief comedic hero.

Name-dropping abounds to the point of tedium, and this is made worse by the fact that a present day reader will never have heard of most of the names.

For a reader interested in advertising, the book is disappointingly light on this part of Ogilvy's life. He seems to have made the mistake of thinking that, just because we admire/admired his work, we will also find every other aspect of his existence (most boringly his bloody Chateau) fascinating.

Perhaps the whole work is epitomised by its last chapter - a series of lists of the author's favourite plants, recipes, words (OK, we'll let that one go) and, in a final orgy of name dropping, friends. Mostly famous, of course. Who CARES what David Ogilvy's favourite plants are?!

Avoid this book. There are better ways to spend an afternoon.

Rating:
Summary: Curmudgeonly and terse
Review: Not your typical autobiography. It's really a memoir because it is less structured than an autobiography. Ogilvy is an asymmetrical thinker who likes being obnoxious. I liked it because he does not disappoint; he does it his way. I was not bored by it.

Rating:
Summary: Egg on the face
Review: Shame... Shame...

A self confessed Ogilvy fan has finally found out that this Scotsman can be egotistic as hell!

Ogilvy on Advertising was indeed a great book but this book... would take you to a completing different direction. The book was simply a self-satisfying, trumpet blowing bio and Ogilvy would just not let it go. The book was also like the man was trying to kiss his own rear-end.

But... Ogilvy is known to be a proud man and you can't blame him. The man built one of the most famous ad-houses and wrote two great bibles (Confession... & Ogilvy on Advertising)!

So, what do I think of this book? I think the book was written during the time when Ogilvy regret his baby is with WPP (I may be wrong as the book may have been written prior to that event) and the book's sole purpose was to reinforce his achievement to the world.

Read it if you have the time but make sure you got it from the local library.