Sam Walton: Made In America (Mass Market Paperback)

by Sam Walton (Author), John Huey (Contributor) "Success has always had its price, I guess, and I learned that lesson the hard way in October of 1985 when Forbes magazine named me..." (more)
Key Phrases: variety store business, customer number one, Ben Franklin, New York, Wall Street (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
The late Sam Walton was one of the shrewdest and richest merchants in America. Centered on the building of his Wal-Mart empire, his book, like fellow magnate Sandra Kurtzig's CEO: Building a $400 Million Company from Ground Up ( LJ 5/1/91), is light on biography. However, readers will enjoy the folksy narrative of the small-town millionaire who revolutionized retail distribution. Walton also addresses accusations against him, such as running the competition out of town. Coauthor Huey does a fine job of incorporating candid testimonials from family members and associates, who thought Walton's ideas were sometimes silly. Shortly after Walton's death, the book was given an overly sentimental postscript (a minor detraction) and rushed into print. Highly recommended for public and academic business collections.
- Rebecca A. Smith, Harvard Business Sch. Lib.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"[A] wise and inspiring autobiography--Walton tells his quietly fantastic story with conviction and makes no bones about his mistakes."
-- San Francisco Chronicle

"It's a story about entrepreneurship, and risk, and hard work, and knowing where you want to go and being willing to do what it takes to get there.  And it's a story about believing in your idea even when maybe some other folks don't, and about sticking to your guns."
-- Sam Walton

"Here is an extraordinary success story about a man whose empire was built not with smoke and mirrors, but with good old-fashioned elbow grease."
-- Detroit Free Press

"A sure-fire all-American success story."
-- The New York Times Book Review -- Review

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (June 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553562835
• ISBN-13: 978-0553562835
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (88 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,427 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #3 in	Books > Business & Investing > Industries & Professions > Retailing
  #16 in	Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Business
  #21 in	Books > Business & Investing > Biography & History > Company Profiles

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good - especially with Wal Mart now taking heat, February 10, 2005

By	M. Strong (Milwaukee, WI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

First off, this is a very strong story of a man and a business. Walton does a nice job of telling a clear, concise story about how he built the business of Wal Mart. It's very enlightening to hear him admit with pride that he invented very few of the ideas that made the store such a success, instead borrowing the best ideas from every store he visited (and he visited a lot).

Secondly, this book contains a valuable example of how capitalism forces the evolution - for better or worse - of industries. Walton takes the reader from the days of the small-town five and dime all the way through the mega Wal Marts of today. It's a valuable read for anyone interested in business.

Third, reading "Made in America" provides the reader with some important context for considering all of the attacks on Wal Mart in the popular press. You get to see that Wal Mart was built with really good intentions and that even though not everything born of Wal Mart's rise to dominance is an unmitigated good, it has done a lot of positive things for American consumers. That's really valuable because Wal Mart has become a bit of an unequivocal evil in the modern press and that simply isn't an even-handed treatment of the subject.

Highly recommended for those who would like to understand the motivations behind Wal Mart being what it is today and a great business story to boot.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!!, November 4, 2004

By	cg4l (Vancouver, Wa. USA) - See all my reviews

I have been interested for a while about the life of the man behind the Wal-Mart empire. And the man who would've been the richest man in the world had he been alive today. This book was an enjoyable first hand account written by the man Sam Walton himself in his own words. With some comments from some of the key people in his life. I felt that I kind of got to know Mr. Walton personally as I read this book. He also, of course, has some great insight on how to build and run a successful business. I highly recommend this book, whether you want to learn more about Mr. Walton himself or just Wal-Mart. Also has some great black & white as well as color pictures included in the book.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You feel as if Grandpa was talking to you., October 29, 2001

By	Alvin Tanhehco "kerki" (Kowloon, Hong Kong) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Despite my hesitation at picking up an autobiography, I must say Made in America turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise. In it, Sam intersperses story telling with quotes from his colleagues, family and the media. After reading the story, you get a very clear picture of Sam's humble beginnings as a local boy who delivered papers, a boyscout who saved a person's life, a variety store franchise owner who was driven out of town because his lease expired and he didn't know that it was part of the contract he signed. In it you also learn what the Walmart Way was about. It's about hard work, passion for the job and thoughtful spending.

He completed it just before he died of cancer. And a good thing he did because nobody can tell the story better than the person who's lived it.