Oil Man: The Story Of Frank Phillips & The Birth Of Phillips Petroleum [Paperback]

Michael Wallis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 1995

A rich, rousing gusher of a biography that captures the life and times of an American hero and the birth of the modern oil empire he created.

Frank Phillips, founder of Phillips Petroleum, was one of the greatest self-made business tycoons of the twentieth century. Here in Oil Man, Michael Wallis, the best-selling historian of the West, present Phillips against a pageant of luminaries and outlaws that includes Will Rogers, Harry Truman, Edna Ferber, J.Paul Getty, and Pretty Boy Floyd. Spanning the finals days of America's frontier West through the Roaring Twenties and two world warn, Oil Man is a bold, colorful biography of the original American entrepreneur. A classic work that continues to gather accolades since its original publication in 1988.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

$18.95. biog Phillips was the prototypical oil man: hard working, fun loving, powerful, flamboyant, and richthe ideal subject for a book. But this is not an ideal biographyit looks closely at Phillips, but not too hard. The author eschews a rigorous examination of his subject's life and work, giving us the light-and-easy approach instead. Frequently, Wallis resorts to cliches, and lacks a sense of proportion, emphasizing Phillips's social life as much as his business dealings. We learn much more than we want to about the high life at the Phillips ranch and much less than we should about the structure and management of Phillips Petroleum. Public libraries in Oklahoma will want this. Kevin M. Rosswurm, Mount Vernon P.L., N.Y.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A masterful account of the man and the shaping of Oklahoma's largest corporation. The book is superior." --The Daily Oklahoman

Product Details

• Paperback: 218 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; First St. Mzartin's Edition edition (May 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312131356
• ISBN-13: 978-0312131357
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,174,282 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is one of the best. Something for everyone., October 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Oil Man: The Story Of Frank Phillips & The Birth Of Phillips Petroleum (Paperback)

This book contains something for everyone. Action, adventure, power struggles, romance, money, geology, the wild west, the roaring twenties, family feuds and best of all...it's all true! Frank Phillips grew up a farm boy in Iowa, started a career as a barber and ended up an oil tycoon. This is an easy read and it is obvious that Wallis' research was very thorough. He almost leads you through a day to day account of Frank Phillips' life. And what a life it must have been. A true gambler, Frank Phillips' started with almost nothing, made a fortune then risked everything he had just to stay in the game. I can highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading. Wallis has brought together a complex man's world and gives the reader an insight rarely seen in biographical writing. He makes the stories come to life and links them all together superbly.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Frank Phillips was one helluva man!, September 21, 2001

By 

W. P. Danitz "Man about Town." (Conshohocken, PA., USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oil Man: The Story Of Frank Phillips & The Birth Of Phillips Petroleum (Paperback)

Frank Phillips, "THE OIL MAN" is a little known multi millionaire who started with nothing but ambition, and made life pay off! If you like business biography, this is one of the best you'll ever read. I enjoyed totally. I am now rereading the book for the third time!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fiction or Fact? Who knows, but it's Western Adventure, July 6, 2002

By 

R. Tiedemann "Sunnye" (Bellevue, NE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Oil Man: The Story Of Frank Phillips & The Birth Of Phillips Petroleum (Paperback)

I've watched Michael Wallis grow as a writer and I wish he had written this book last instead of first. Now don't get me wrong, it's a rip-roarin' tale of a man with ambition and drive who built a gigantic company and fortune. But it's not the exhaustive, documented last work on Frank Phillips's life.

This is as near to an authorized biography as you can get. Wallis was given full access to all the recorded material on Phillips as well as to a great many people who actually knew the man and worked with him. It's a rollicking story.

Using fiction techniques of characterization Wallis shows us an eccentric, ambitious young man who evolves into a successful philanthropist -- and philanderer. Phillips gave tokens to the children of the community but overindulged and neglected his own son until he turned to alcohol. He was a man who appeared devoted to his family six months out of every year, then spent the rest of his time with his mistress in New York City.

He wasn't such a saint in business, either. He took over smaller companies to build his empire and almost fired a Vice President "Boots" Adams because he thought Adams was too ambitious for personal gain.

Legends about Phillips abound and Wallis has recorded them. There's a story, for example, of Phillips paying the mortgages of community churches and herein lies the weakness of this book. He doesn't say whether this generosity is documented or it's simply a tale told by sycophants, and he sure talked to plenty of them.

Wallis weakens his authority by neglecting to support his facts. He speculates. Without documentation it's impossible for the reader to separate fiction from fact. The writing style is that of fiction and that's all the more reason the reader needs to be able to tell what is real fact and what is speculation.

If what you want is an exciting story of the West and people who made great fortunes in the oil fields, you'll love this book. It's well written and well researched. If you want only fact, however, you'll have to write your own book.