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5 comments about Don't Come Back Until You Find It: Tales from an Antiques Dealer.

1. I was disappointed - I thought it would be more informative instead of self congratulatory.



2. So this is how bad self-serving biographies have reached. Maybe the auther shouldn't come back until he has found a fact checker, a psychiatrist, or competent ghost writer. It is impossible to really know if he is capable of telling anything that isn't an exaggeration or written to embellish himself at other's expense.
   
   Speaking of expense, I have never seen a book like this advertise so heavily in newspapers. Of course this is at the expense of Pratt Institute, whom the author has graciously offered to donate any profits from this book. Shame on him.
   
   Oh, one more thing, in his ads, he quotes an endorsement from Bruce Wolmer, editor in chief of Art & Antiques Magazine. I would hope he realizes that Wolner works at ART & AUCTION MAGAZINE. That's typical of this book.



3. Once I started this book, I couldn't put it down. It was a fast read about the antiques industry and one man's special experiences on how he learned his trade and succeeded by taking his business to the next level.
   
   I felt it was an immodest telling of his meetings with celebrities and how we all would feel if we had dealings with them. I especially liked his anecdotes about Jackie Kennedy.
   
   It was also interesting to learn of his family saga (we all have one) and how he was able to overcome many obstacles along the way.
   
   The tips and tactics section at the end was a great chapter for beginners to get an overall basic view of how the industry works.
   
   I totally agree with Thomas Hoving (the former director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC) who wrote an excerpt on the jacket cover stating that it was "fun...authentic...and a riveting story."



4. This book is written with an ax to grind. It seems that the author's family issues have had a greater effect on his life than his success as a dealer. The author needs a psychiatrist to deal with these issues and this book seems to be his vehicle for resolving them.
   
   However, if that wasn't a problem, his contradictions are glarring. In one line he says he never would buy at auction, (pg 168) and then he describes his bidding experiences (pg 215); he says he wanted to rid Newel of "to the trade only" yet his advertisements carried that statement for years; he disparages dealers who exhibit at antiques fairs and their important clients (pg 139) yet he is awed by celebrities and the rich and famous (is he an A-list wantabee?). On and on, saying one thing then the opposite.
   
   Newel is a great company; to bad the author's ego distorts his own denial about how lucky he was to get it all for nothing, to get the opportunity to head a company that his father had already successfully build for him. It's ashame he couldn't have focused his energies into really enhancing the image of an antiques dealer to the public.



5. This book is titled "Don't Come Back Until You Find It, Tales From an Antique Dealer". What it is not titled is "The Authoritative Book on Antiquing", and true to the title this book presents tales from the authors history in this business.
   
   Having no real exposure to the antique trade before watching the Antiques Roadshow on PBS, I first purchased "Hidden Treasures" by the Keno brothers......famed by their involvement on the PBS show and one of their own now. Where "Hidden Treasures" describes both the involvement of the Keno brothers in the Antique trade from their youth to the present (one a dealer and the other a resident expert on Americana at Sotheby's) as well as insightful advice on how they judge any given piece presented to them, Bruce Newman's book is more of a memoir, a look back over his career in the trade and the major events that he was a part of.
   
   If you are NOT well versed in the antique trade, then Newman's book is a good place to start. As he describes in his book, he enjoyed the role of trying to expand the antique market to as many people as possible, never looking down his nose at inane inquiries or naive amateurs. He accomplishes the same with his book. While it is still more of a memoir, his tales are well told and in a conversational style that makes for a quick and fun read.
   
   I also liked his approach to dealing with his adversaries: If it feels good, don't do it. In other words, by continually taking the high road, you will never find yourself in the gutter.
   
   The last 20% or so of the book gives some basic guideposts as to how one might approach the antique trade, and many of his thoughts are very well received. It is certainly not a How-To guide but that's not what he attempts to do right from the start.
   
   I enjoyed this book, commiserated with him on his business dilemmas over the years (family and otherwise) and genuinely believe that his manner and approach to life, to treat people with respect and integrity, helped him have the successful career and life he describes in his book. Nicely done, especially his involvement with Jacqueline Kennedy to start the book. I too felt the air rush out of the room reading it.

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5 comments about Winning Ways.

1. The best feature of Winning Ways by Michael B. Davie is the collection of success tips from each profiled business leader. Read these tips and you'll soon map out a strategy in your own mind to help you achieve your own degree of success.
   Also of great interest are the life stories of people who overcame great obstacles and went on to achieve fame and fortune.



2. Winning Ways by Michael B. Davie serves up a a great recipe for achieving success. First, the author presents the intriguing and inspiring success stories of those who have made it big. Then, he analyzes how they achieved success and closes off each chapter with a collection of a given business leader's tips for achieving success. The featured business leaders are quite impressive and include billionaire businessman Michael G. DeGroote of Laidlaw fame and Teresa Cascioli, the only female president of major brewery in Canada, who took the brewery from bankruptcy to profitability. What a great book. I absolutely love it.



3. I thoroughly enjoyed Winning Ways. In addition to some truly inspiring life stories of successful people, each chapter ends with a list of success tips and these alone are worth the price of the book. All in all, a first-rate business book with terrific insight into the ways one can achieve success.



4. I think the most valuable aspect of Winning Ways by Michael B. Davie is the listing of success tips by the prominent business leaders featured in this business book.
   In reading the various chapters on business leaders - including Teresa Cascioli who rescued lakeport Brewing from bankruptcy and made it a success - I learned a great deal about how to achieve success. Then, I learned even more by reading each leader's list of tips for success. The stories are interesting and inspiring. The success tips are enlightening and educational. This is a great book.



5. As the title suggests, Winning Ways is all about the successful approaches taken by a number of prominent business leaders.
   I particularly enjoyed the chapters on Teresa Cascioli the lady who took a bankrupt brewery and turned it into a major success; and, Rudy Reimer, a man who excaped Nazi Germany as a child and built a life of incredible wealth and prosperity in a new land.
   But perhaps the most useful and educational aspect of this book can be found in the many Success Tips these proven success stories offer up. What a great book. I absolutely loved it!

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