The Secret of Their Success: Interviews with Legends & Luminaries [Paperback]

Burt Prelutsky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 18, 2008

What drives someone to become a success? Why do people persevere when the odds are against them? Is there a secret to becoming successful? The best way to find out is to interview people who have been there, and done that, who have spent their lives in a pursuit of success in one form or another. And that's exactly what Burt Prelutsky has done in this amazing collection of interviews. The top people of yesterday and today offer their insights into their success and into their lives. In a conversational style, these easy-to-read interviews explore the minds and lives of 78 different celebrities, businessmen, titans of industry, entertainers, and entrepreneurs, all who have achieved the pinnacle of success in their fields. For many like Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Dinah Shore, and Billy Wilder these were the last interviews they gave, making this a truly unique collection of interviews.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Burt Prelutsky, a very nice person once you get to know him, has been a humor columnist for the L.A. Times and a movie critic for Los Angeles magazine. As a freelancer, he has written for the New York Times, Washington Times, TV Guide, Modern Maturity, Emmy, Holiday, American Film, and Sports Illustrated. For television, he has written for Dragnet, McMillan & Wife, MASH, Mary Tyler Moore, Rhoda, Bob Newhart, Family Ties, Dr. Quinn and Diagnosis Murder. In addition, he has written a batch of terrific TV movies. View Burt's IMDB profile. Talk about being well-rounded, he plays tennis and poker... and rarely cheats at either. He lives in the San Fernando Valley, where he takes his marching orders from a wife named Yvonne and a dog named Duke.

Product Details

• Paperback: 364 pages
• Publisher: Expanding Books (January 18, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934443980
• ISBN-13: 978-1934443989
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,101,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful interviews - excellent book, January 16, 2008

By 

Cheryl Kirk "AKBookLove" (Anchorage, AK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret of Their Success: Interviews with Legends & Luminaries (Paperback)

I've had the pleasure of being the first to read (and review) this book and I still find it fascinating to go back and re-read many of these interviews for inspiration.

It's a large collection of interviews - some 78 - written in a magazine-style format and comprises some of the last interviews of some legends of our times like Gene Kelly, Ginger Rogers, Dinah Shore, and Billy Wilder. The author also interviews a whole host of today's successful like Dominik Dunne, Pat Sajak, David E. Kelly, Ed Asner, Harland Braun and a whole host of others too lengthy to name.

The interviews move along at a fast past and the entire book is a quick read. These aren't long drawn-out in-depth interviews, but what they may lack in length they make up in substance. They showcase these legends as real people, complete with mistakes and missteps they've had along the way.

What's interesting is that you get a sense of all the various reasons why people become successful. There's no one 'formula', but rather a combination of things. For me, it was fascinating to read about how many picked themselves up after financial and personal disasters only to continue on.

This book is great bedside reading and for some may bring back a sense of nostalgia as you read interviews with legends long gone and learn about many behind-the-scenes composers, musicians, writers and directors who've made some of the great masterpieces of our time.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quick, fun, and enlightening, January 27, 2008

By 

Kenn Fong "infinitely curious" (Bay Area, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Secret of Their Success: Interviews with Legends & Luminaries (Paperback)

Burt Prelutsky is the rare interviewer who listens to his subjects. You can see this in his follow-up questions. He's actually interested in his subjects, and his interest is infectious. Some of the names are classic movie stars, and their answers add to their canon.

You can dip into this book at any point, and skip around as you please. The answers won't appeal to the "get-rich-quick" crowd, but those of us who are interested in common-sense real-life advice from achievers will feast on this book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars secrets of their success, January 22, 2008

By 

June B. Smith (LOS ANGELES) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret of Their Success: Interviews with Legends & Luminaries (Paperback)

I have been a Burt Prelutsky fan from the very first moment I discovered his erstwhile column in the Los Angeles Times. How I miss it.
His humor and clarity resound. He is a political writer to be reckoned with. There is no one like him. He will always impart wisdom, but never at the expense of his delicious humor.