Amazon.com: Customer reviews: How to Fool All of the People, All of the Time (Singles Classic)

Top positive review

41 people found this helpful

May Be "Dated," But I Doubt DJT Has Changed in 25 Years! Well Worth 99-Cents!

ByJust Curiouson July 27, 2016

This is an electronic "reprint" of an article appearing in SPY magazine in April, 1991. This IS NOT A BOOK...again it's a magazine article... I've often wondered if DJT was as "rich" as he says he is...This article gives considerable insight into Trump's finances and how he (doesn't) manage - but manipulates - them...Some may say the information contained in the article is "dated," but this is of no real consequence since Donald Trump is still alive...just 25 years older...so this is still historically relevant. I doubt his behavior/attitudes have changed since this was originally published. Well Worth 99-cents!

Top critical review

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40 people found this helpful

Dated and Mistitled

ByCredit Secrets Series Authoron July 23, 2016

A favorite expression of my father (no Trump fan) is that, “You can’t argue with success.” Even those who don’t like Trump have a grudging respect and admiration for his bluster and the success, however questionable, that this bluster has achieved.

Now that Trump has become the nominee of one of the two major political parties in the United States—the party of Abraham Lincoln, no less—understanding how he came to occupy that exalted position is certainly a worthwhile endeavor.

Connolly’s 1991 essay is a very interesting piece, focusing on Trump’s financial affairs, as of that point in time. The essay is well written and well researched, marshaling a substantial amount of objective information to make the point that Trump has employed a “smoke and mirrors” approach to bluster his way to financial success (or at least the aura thereof: because if he didn’t really have all the wealth he claimed to have, can he really be deemed to be so financially successful?).

Personally, I am no fan of Trump, either, but I fault this publication on several accounts:

First, having been written 25 years ago, the content is extremely dated. Trump is now the Republican nominee for president. Anything that is published in 2016 about Trump really should do more than offer a 25-year-old financial analysis. The “Spy, 1991” on the cover should be reinforced by something in the introduction to the effect that the essay was written in 1991.

Second, relating to the first point immediately above, the title itself is somewhat misleading, in a 2016 context. The book is not really about how Trump managed to fool people, as of this point in time. A better title might be something along the lines of HOW THE EARLY DONALD TRUMP MANAGED TO MAKE HIMSELF APPEAR RICH WHEN HE REALLY WASN’T.

Third, this is not really a “book.” It’s more of an essay, which is fine, but that should be made clear to prospective readers, perhaps in a subtitle such as AN ESSAY FROM A 1991 PERSPECTIVE.

Given these weaknesses, was it really appropriate to confer upon this publication the exalted imprimatur of Kindle Single? I wonder.

People who like Trump may not like this review, I realize, because I am not criticizing the author for criticizing Trump. People who don’t like Trump may not like this review, as I am not giving this critical treatment of Trump the highest rating. So be it. I stand by my analysis. (Please be aware that my automatic notifications are turned off, so I won’t be reading any comments.)

Daniel K. Berman, Ph.D., Amazon author
The Newest Story of O: How to Legally Pay 0% Interest on the Money You Owe & Eliminate Your Debt in a Fraction of the Time—Secrets to Making the Credit System Work in Your Favor