How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else (Paperback)

~ Michael Gates Gill (Author)
Key Phrases: tall latte, bean wall, condiment bar, New York, Grand Central, Walter Thompson (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“In the best tradition of The New Yorker, How Starbucks Saved My Life is one great read.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“An intriguing look behind the counter of one of the world’s most recognizable brands.”
—The Christian Science Monitor

“How Starbucks Saved My Life works as an interesting memoir of one man’s transformation. But it could also work as a wake-up call to corporate America.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune

Product Description

Now in paperback, the national bestselling riches-to-rags true story of an advertising executive who had it all, then lost it all—and was finally redeemed by his new job, and his twenty-eight-year-old boss, at Starbucks.

In his fifties, Michael Gates Gill had it all: a mansion in the suburbs, a wife and loving children, a six-figure salary, and an Ivy League education. But in a few short years, he lost his job, got divorced, and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. With no money or health insurance, he was forced to get a job at Starbucks. Having gone from power lunches to scrubbing toilets, from being served to serving, Michael was a true fish out of water.

But fate brings an unexpected teacher into his life who opens his eyes to what living well really looks like. The two seem to have nothing in common: She is a young African American, the daughter of a drug addict; he is used to being the boss but reports to her now. For the first time in his life he experiences being a member of a minority trying hard to survive in a challenging new job. He learns the value of hard work and humility, as well as what it truly means to respect another person.

Behind the scenes at one of America’s most intriguing businesses, an inspiring friendship is born, a family begins to heal, and, thanks to his unlikely mentor, Michael Gill at last experiences a sense of self-worth and happiness he has never known before.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Gotham; Reprint edition (September 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592404049
• ISBN-13: 978-1592404049
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #203,496 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Dignity of Work, April 30, 2009

By	D. Rowe (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else (Paperback)

I loved this book! It was very easy to read and I love true stories. The author lost everything; his job, home, wife, etc. and started over at the bottom accepting a job in retail at Starbucks. Over the months he developed caring friendships with his coworkers, customers, and adult children while learning new job skills 'beneath' his former high-level position. Mike redeemed himself after making some very poor choices and learned valuable life lessons about respecting others and the dignity of work. A great story about a work ethic that is rarely on display nowadays and the resulting pride and self-respect of a job well done. This is a keeper on my bookshelf; I'll read it again.

28 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Gill still doesn't get it, November 3, 2008

By	M. Douglas "M. Douglas" (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This is a quick, easy read. It is relentlessly positive and borders on corporate PR for Starbucks. I do give the auhtor great credit for his enthusiasm and embracing a corporate culture and hard work even when it might have been embarrassing or difficult.

I came away, ultimately, with a tremendous respect for Starbucks, but not much regard for Michael Gates Gill.

His great tale of being a normal working man came after he had no one to support but himself. I saw his Starbucks adventure as a second adolescence for him -- just him, his chosen path, and no other responsibilities. Was this really that different than his self-indulgent career at the advertising agency and the absentee fatherhood it brought with it? The author seemed to miss this parallel entirely.

The author's great tale of personal victory came after he had already cheated and failed his family. How do you not tell your wife you're having a baby with another woman until after it's happened? Gill talked endlessly of the steps Starbucks took to respect its employees, but the steps he took to mend things with his family -- talking to them for a few minutes when they visited his store, seeing his son play lacrosse a couple times a year, emailing his daughter now and then -- seemed to fall far short of the standard Starbucks set for interpersonal relationships. Gill's coworkers showed Gill more respect and care than Gill showed his own family. He was never apologetic about his absenteeism and infidelities, citing his sexual needs and a cold marriage in an off-hand manner, as if that was plenty of explanation. At least he managed to feel sorry on a basic level about the apathy he had shown for his children's lives, but that was as far as his reform managed to get.

I don't go to Starbucks, so I have no rooting interest. But I came away from this book with a solid respect for their organization and the way they treat their employees. I wish I could say the same for the author.

30 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This book could have been better, rather than meh, February 27, 2009

By	Danielle George "book bug" (Seattle, wa) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else (Paperback)

When I picked this book up and first started reading it, I thought I would really enjoy it. It's about a former rich high and mighty ad exec losing his job and having to work at Starbucks and realizing he actually likes it. And the parts of the book where he was learning to be humble and appreciate the little things in life, and work with people different than him were very enjoyable to read. But sadly, each chapter would have a flash back of his rich arrogant life, with no reason or purpose, and he would shamelessly name drop. He might be rushing to the train to get to his starbucks shift on time, and it will for some reason, cause him to recall the time he worked with Jackie O for a fundraiser, and she personally thanked him because he saved the day. Or another time he is talking to a co worker who is having tea, and this makes him want to write for 3 pages about the time he met the Queen of England, and how impressed she was with him. That and his cheesy sales tactics he loves to talk about...you know, the kind smarmy motivational speakers use, really knocked the book down quite a bit. I ended up flipping past several pages a chapter. But again, when he was his new humble self, i enjoyed reading about his adventures. But how humble is your new self when your book, which is entirely about how humble and happy you are in your small life is about half filled with celeb name dropping and achievements galore?