The Go-Getter [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Peter B. Kyne (Author), Alan Axelrod (Author), Arthur Morey (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 4, 2003

The classic motivational parable (over 500,000 copies sold worldwide) that shows you how to make your own opportunities in life, updated for the modern reader by bestselling business author Alan Axelrod

Ever since its first printing by William Randolph Hearst in 1921, The Go-Getter has inspired employees and entrepreneurs to take initiative, increase their productivity, and excel against the odds. Now, more than half a million copies later, Alan Axelrod, bestselling author of Patton on Leadership and Elizabeth I, CEO, updates the tale to address today's most pressing work issues.

In The Go-Getter, Bill Peck, a war veteran, persuades Cappy Ricks, the influential founder of the Rick's Logging & Lumbering Company, to let him prove himself by selling skunk wood in odd lengths-a job that everyone knows can only lead to failure. When Peck goes on to beat his quota, Rick hands Peck the ultimate opportunity and the ultimate test: the quest for an elusive blue vase. Drawing on such classic values as honesty, determination, passion, and responsibility, Peck overcomes nearly insurmountable obstacles to find the vase and launch hia career as a successful manager.

In a time when jobs are tight and managers are too busy for mentoring, how can you maintain positive energy, take control of your career, and prepare yourself to ace the tests that come your way? By applying the timeless lessons in this compulsively readable parable, employees at all levels can learn to rekindle the go-getter in themselves.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although Kyne's tale of business smarts has been around for some time (it was first published by William Randolph Hearst in 1921), it doesn't feel dated. Indeed, lumber wholesaler Cappy Ricks's situation (he "had more troubles than a hen with ducklings") mirrors that of many business leaders today. It's a straightforward parable about a young war veteran who's handed an opportunity that will either make or break his career. If he accepts the job and pulls it off, he's a go-getter; if he fails, it's curtains. The kid's motto-"It shall be done"-sums up Kyne's point: even if you're unsure, say you can do it. Then figure out how to do it and make sure you succeed. Go above and beyond. The 82-year-old story gets some slight spiffing up by business book writer Axelrod (Everything I Know About Business I Learned from Monopoly), and the afterword is especially helpful in pinpointing Kyne's main ideas.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Peter B. Kyne was a prolific screenwriter and the author of the 1920 bestseller Kindred of the Dust. His stories of Cappy Ricks and the Ricks Lumber & Shipping Company were serialized in The Saturday Evening Post and Cosmopolitan magazine. He died in 1957.

Historian, Alan Axelrod is the author of the bestsellers Patton on Leadership and Elizabeth I, CEO. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

 

Arthur Morey has recorded countless audiobooks, including titles by such authors as M. Scott Peck, John Updike, Richard Russo, Anne Tyler, and John Irving. He attended Harvard and the University of Chicago and has taught performance and writing at Fordham, Northwestern, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Arthur has appeared in a host of off-Broadway and off-Loop productions. In 2009, he was awarded AudioFile magazine's Best Voice in Nonfiction & Culture award. His work has also garnered multiple AudioFile Earphones awards, and he has been nominated for an Audie Award.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio; Unabridged edition (January 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559278404
• ISBN-13: 978-1559278409
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (74 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,248,014 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Timeless Classic, Quick Read, Great Business Short Story, December 12, 2004

By 

Chief Exec - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Go-Getter: A Story That Tells You How To Be One (Hardcover)

This one needs to be added to every young business person's essential reading list. Though written in the 1920's, it does not feel dated, and its lessons and examples are still applicable today.

The young character in the book, Bill Peck, has just returned from the war and is determined to get a job with the leading lumber company. He displays confidence, and that's the first lesson in the book. He refuses to take no for an answer when rejected by two of the top executives of the company. He takes his case directly to the founder of the company, who is impressed by his determination. Bill's confidence is demonstrated by the fact that he had his business cards printed before he had even spoken to the company.

The second lesson is execution. Bill doesn't just throw out empty promises, but promptly delivers when turned loose in the field. It does not matter that he has been given an inferior, difficult to sell product. He finds a way to make it irresitible to his customers.

Finally, the company's founder decides to give Bill the final test, asking him to "deliver the blue vase." Bill shows his resourcefulness and refusal to quit in fulfilling this quest.

Though you can knock this book out in just one sitting, its lessons will stay with you throughout your career.

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The Go Getter: A Parable of Thuggery, September 7, 2010

By 

J. Carpenter (New York) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Go-Getter (Kindle Edition)

I realize this is the minority opinion, especially for a book with a price tag of $0.00, still in all, I found "The Go Getter" a very strange book.

The protagonist is a one-legged, 1 1/2-armed ex army sniper who lands a job with a lumber company. The guy clearly can sell ice cubes to Eskimos but as we go deeper into the story we find there's a bit of Joe Pesci's character in "Goodfella's" in him. To achieve his ends he bullies, threatens to beat the crud out of those who stand in his way, and at one point considers robbery to fulfill a promise to his boss.

And I thought Kevin Trudeau was extreme.

Stick with "A Message to Garcia". The Kindle edition will set you back $.95 but it has one thing going for it the other doesn't come close to: it's a classic of the genre. You don't have to plunge for this, of course, but as the protagonist of "The Go Getter" might say, "Listen, chum. You're going to download this or by God, I'll beat you with my stump and throw you off a bridge!"

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the top five books I have ever read!!!, September 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Go-Getter: A Story That Tells You How To Be One (Hardcover)

There have been times in my life when I was behind the eight ball and I remembered the story of the go-getter. It has gotten me through many a tough situation.

It is not a very long book. If it takes you more than an hour to read, then you have reading problems. However, it is the story that makes the book amazing.

I have read hundreds of books, and I would rank only four or five of them five stars, and this is one of them.

If you want to succeed at something then read this book first. You will not regret it!!!