Breakfast at Bucks: Tales From the Pancake Guy [Paperback]

Jamis MacNiven (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2004

Breakfast at Bucks: Tales from the Pancake Guy was inspired by Buck's Restaurant in Woodside, California, the Silicon Valley enclave of rich and famous technology entrepreneurs. Buck's is legendary for being the spot where many famous deals were inked in the days leading up to and during the dot-com boom, when TV cameras flooded the restaurant, and everyone from Warren Buffett to Mike Tyson was vying for a seat and a stack of pancakes. Proprietor and Silicon Valley celebrity Jamis MacNiven provides a hilarious look at the Valley and a provocative peek into his life, too. The book is stocked with laughs and full-color photographs throughout.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Finally! Silicon Valley produces a great literary work. Jamis is one hell of a writer! -- Paul Saffo, Director - Institute for the Future

I didn't like being referred to as a dirtbag. -- Henry Kissinger, unemployed diplomat

About the Author

Jamis MacNiven has been called the "Prime Minister of Silicon Valley" and it doesn't take too many pages of his memoir-cum-diatriabe to figure out why. MacNiven is alternately hilarious and sentimental, offering a whirlwind ride through his life that is truly unforgettable. He dedicated the book to the Sultan of Brunei, the reasons for which he discusses in the introduction. In the next chapter, he tells the highly entertaining tale of his attempted seduction of Zsa Zsa Gabor. A must-read.

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Liverwurst Press (March 2004)
• ISBN-10: 0974278300
• ISBN-13: 978-0974278308
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,949,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Somewhere between David Sedaris and Hunter Thompson, April 14, 2004

By 

M. Selig (Woodside, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Breakfast at Bucks: Tales From the Pancake Guy (Paperback)

Neither Jamis-the-person nor the story-of-his-life-to-date fit neatly into categories, boxes, bowls or baggies. This book illuminates Jamis' unique ability to explore and exploit and expand on his myriad adventures in a wonderfully personal and articulate way. I'm sure he'd loathe being tagged as "inspirational," but who cares? Anyone who does what he's done, and has the artifacts and scars and sparkle and a real life to prove it... well, that's sort-of inspiring, right?

This book is a fun read, a terrific peek at the world from Jamis' eyeballs and the fertile, creative mind behind them.

It isn't a cookbook; pancakes are irrelevant. It's mainly personal ethnography, social observation, and cultural history. It's set in the place that has probably had more impacton peoples' lives world-wide, over the past two decades, than any other spot in on the map.

So -- for those of us who miss David Sedaris (did he have to move to Paris just to smoke legally?), there's Jamis. Much closer, no passports required, and he usually speaks our language. And THIS book has terrific, scandalous, humorous photos, too.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laughter in a serious world, May 14, 2004

By 

a reader (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Breakfast at Bucks: Tales From the Pancake Guy (Paperback)

I spilled mustard on Zsa Zsa Gabor's face and it wiped right off---the quality of paper is that good! But more importantly this book is beautifully written, engaging, and funny as hell. So if you're in the mood for a little entertainment in a serious world, a good beach read, or a book that will make that cross-country or intercontinental plane flight seem as if it took only minutes, this is the book for you.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Happy-happy-joy-joy, April 23, 2004

By 

Diana Grippo (Los Altos, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Breakfast at Bucks: Tales From the Pancake Guy (Paperback)

Breakfast at Buck's is a delight. Jamis is inspirational as a writer and a person. The history of the dot-com-boom-and-bubble-and-bust is all here. Jamis explains that he is personally responsible for the bust, in fact. Such a relief when people admit their mistakes. Read it for the laughs and get a surprise jolt of true inspiration. It's a joy.