Famous Failures: Hundreds of Hot Shots Who Got Rejected, Flunked Out, Worked Lousy Jobs, Goofed Up, or Did Time in Jail Before Achieving Phenomenal Success [Paperback]

Joey Green (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2007

Just graduated with no prospects whatsoever? Been fired from your job? Rejected from a snazzy college? Looking for that next big break but coming up empty handed? Fear not, you’re in excellent company . . . 

 

• Albert Einstein failed the entrance exams to the Swiss Polytechnic Institute.

• J. K. Rowling lived on welfare in an apartment infested with mice.

• Muhammad Ali graduated 376th from a high school class of 391 students.

• Julia Roberts auditioned for All My Children but didn’t get the part.

• Dick Cheney flunked out of Yale University—twice.

• And hundreds more!

 

Each page of Famous Failures features a headline revealing the major failure of a person who later became phenomenally successful, and the smaller type at the bottom of each page explains that person's remarkable achievements. It all goes to show that no one has made the climb to the top without encountering an avalanche along the way. Reading just a few pages of this book makes you want to go back out there and try, try again. 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joey Green is the bestselling author of 38 books, including Champagne and Caviar Again?, Joey Green’s Magic Brands, Joey Green’s Mealtime Magic, The Jolly President: Or Letters George W. Bush Never Read, and Wash Your Hair with Whipped Cream. He has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and Today. He lives in Los Angeles.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Lunatic Press (April 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977259021
• ISBN-13: 978-0977259021
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #993,518 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joey Green--author of "Polish Your Furniture with Panty Hose," "Paint Your House with Powdered Milk," "Wash Your Hair with Whipped Cream," and "Clean Your Clothes with Cheez Whiz"--got Jay Leno to shave with peanut butter on "The Tonight Show," Rosie O'Donnell to mousse her hair with Jell-O on "The Rosie O'Donnell Show," and Katie Couric to drop her diamond engagement ring in a glass of Efferdent on "Today." He has been seen polishing furniture with SPAM on "NBC Dateline," cleaning a toilet with Coca-Cola in "The New York Times," and washing his hair with Reddi-wip in "People."

A former contributing editor to "National Lampoon" and a former advertising copywriter at J. Walter Thompson, Green is the author of more than forty books, including "Sarah Palin's Secret Diary," "Marx & Lennon: The Parallel Sayings," and "The Zen of Oz: Ten Spiritual Lessons from Over the Rainbow." A native of Miami, Florida, and a graduate of Cornell University, he wrote television commercials for Burger King and Walt Disney World and won a Clio Award for a print ad he created for Eastman Kodak. He backpacked around the world for two years on his honeymoon and lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Debbie, and their two daughters, Ashley and Julia.

You can visit him at www.joeygreen.com and www.wackyuses.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A terrifically great read, April 6, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Famous Failures: Hundreds of Hot Shots Who Got Rejected, Flunked Out, Worked Lousy Jobs, Goofed Up, or Did Time in Jail Before Achieving Phenomenal Success (Paperback)

"Famous Failures" is a hefty little 288-page compendium showcasing descriptive vignettes of hundreds of famous and successful people in the fields of entertainment, sports, science, politics, and literature who all shared one thing in common - they experienced failure. From Albert Einstein who failed the entrance exams to the Swiss Polytechnic Institute, to J. K. Rowling (author of the Harry Potter novels) who was so impoverished that she lived on welfare in an apartment infested with mice, to Sharon Stone who could not get a date to her own highschool prom dance, to Dick Cheney who flunked out of Yale University (twice!), to John Wayne who was rejected from the United States Naval Academy, to Steve Jobs (founder of Apple Computer) who dropped out of Reed College in his freshman year, "Famous Failures" lists the well known and well respected who sometime in their lives and careers got rejected, flunked out, worked lousy jobs, goofed up, did time in jail, or had other kinds of failure experiences and frustrations before achieving the successes for which they are now know. A terrifically great read, "Famous Failures" is especially recommended for anyone getting discouraged about overcoming the seeming failures in their own lives and career paths.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational, interesting, and irreverant, August 4, 2007

By 

Robert Stock "Author, Free San Francisco, Fre... - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Famous Failures: Hundreds of Hot Shots Who Got Rejected, Flunked Out, Worked Lousy Jobs, Goofed Up, or Did Time in Jail Before Achieving Phenomenal Success (Paperback)

A fascinating book filled with stories of little-known failures and foibles of the famous and wealthy. It's guaranteed to make you feel better about your own false starts and help you back on the road to success.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Motivator, May 20, 2007

By 

J. Michael - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Famous Failures: Hundreds of Hot Shots Who Got Rejected, Flunked Out, Worked Lousy Jobs, Goofed Up, or Did Time in Jail Before Achieving Phenomenal Success (Paperback)

This book is interesting and motivating. It is neat to know how some of these famous people failed before making it to where they are today.