Selling a Good Time (Paperback)

~ Ken Scelfo (Author)
Key Phrases: winery reps, silver hatchback, New York, Bunglewood Vineyards, Blue Balled (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Chet Fisher wasn’t going to be like everyone else. He was going to be creative, an underground writer or meaningful musician. Unfortunately, as a victim of his own lazy infatuations, he becomes the worst wine salesman in the entire state of New York.

At twenty-eight, Chet Fisher is easily the youngest among the winery representative crowd and already the most disillusioned. Smothered at the bottom of the sales heap, he receives an ultimatum to improve or else be fired. Faced with impending unemployment, Chet sets out on a journey to discover what lies within his job . . . and himself.

Rumbling through New York State in a fog of booze, drugs, and indecision, Chet spends endless hours at wine shops, hotel bars, sales meetings, and wine tastings. As he gradually learns how to sell, he sinks deeper into the very world he despises—a world of chronic greed, stale corporate mentalities, and unfettered competition. Growing further away from his friends, his youth, and his own personality, Chet awakens to the reality that his life is a façade.

Selling a Good Time ultimately ponders the question: how important is keeping a job if it robs you of everything else in life?

About the Author

Ken Scelfo has worked in the wine and liquor industry since 2001. Born and raised in New Jersey, he graduated from Chapman University in Orange, California, and now lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Selling a Good Time is his first novel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 238 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (November 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595441181
• ISBN-13: 978-0595441181
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,291,501 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Selling a Good Time, August 29, 2008

By	S. Petersen "Scott in Sales" (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Selling a Good Time by Ken Scelfo is a fantastic book and I recommend it to everyone. If you're considering a career in sales (any sales), skip the usual suspects (e.g. Sales 101, 100 Tips for Getting Ahead, etc.) and read this book. If you've been in sales and got out, or currently work within the sales industry, you'll appreciate the main character and the demons he must face, head-on, on a daily basis. It's accurate, hilarious and insightful. Yes, a career in sales can be rewarding and prosperous. Or, it can be dreadful, strip you of your self-respect and tear you down emotionally. I know this firsthand. Enjoy it as it explores the highs and the lows of being a wine salesman in this fictional book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Candid, funny and a great read, February 15, 2008

By	Jolie311 - See all my reviews

Picked up this book and got through it in a couple of hours. It is an honest look into the wine industry. The story is candid, honest and best of all funny. Anyone in a sales position would enjoy reading Scelfo's novel and immediately relate with his adventures, the sales meetings, the trade shows, disgruntled clients and sales people. Can't wait for the second book.

4.0 out of 5 stars The bottle was dusty but the liquor was clean.., January 27, 2008

By	Kyle Dugan "Col. Forbin" (Southern California) - See all my reviews

"Selling a Good Time" is an extremely fun novel, written with wit, sarcasm, and a sense of the moment. The life of Chet Fisher transcends into "your buddy in the sales industry", "that guy I used to party with in college", or "the dude I used to borrow music from". You feel like you know him, and most likely you do.

The book is written in a format that allows you to gain a sense of what it is like to try and sell your soul for a paycheck. Chet ponders this theme throughout the novel, especially during his chats with his neighbor Gus.

In all, this novel is a fun read. I plowed through the countless tales of Chet Fisher and his crummy sales job, laughing out loud at some of the wasted nights he has spent searching for his sanity and dignity..not to mention the accurately placed musical and sports references. Constanly, Chet is left thinking "is all of this wine sales worth it, if I can't even sell myself on what it is I'm doing?". Chet might not know what the future holds, but he will be living on his own terms, which in turn will be the ultimate sense of accomplishment. "I feel, the feeling I forgot....FREE"