Trump

November 2, 1987
This boastful, boyishly disarming, thoroughly engaging personal history offers an inside look at aspects of financing, development and construction in big-time New York real estate. "I don't do it for the money,'' maintains Trump, the son of a Queens realtor who, at age 27, bought and transfigured the colossal Hotel Commodore at Grand Central Terminal. Now 40, he has built, among other projects, and owns outright, Fifth Avenue's retail and residential Trump Tower (where he occupies a double-triplex suite); owns and operates Trump's Castle, a casino in Atlantic City; is arguably the most visible young man on Manhattan's celebrity circuit (``Governor Cuomo calls. . . . dinner at St. Patrick's Cathedral. . . . I call back Judith Krantz''); and is currently developing a controversial 100-acre West Side ``Television City'' project that is planned to include the world's tallest building. For those who would do likewise, Trump articulates his secrets for success: imagination, persistence, skill at ``juggling provisional commitments'' (e.g., for land or lease options, bank financing, zoning approval, tax abatement, etc.) and most crucial of all, a true trader's instinct. 135,000 printing; first serial to New York magazine and Vanity Fair; Fortune Book Club main selection; BOMC alternate.

March 1, 2004
With a central role in NBC's The Apprentice, Trump's star is soaring. In his fifth book (after The Art of the Deal, he offers a cursory glance behind the scenes of the hit reality show, but the bulk of the text consists of business advice ("Be Tenacious";"Play Golf";"Be Optimistic, but Always Be Prepared for the Worst") with illustrative details culled from his real estate and media dealings. (The glimpses he presents of his transformation of 40 Wall Street hint at a story that might deserve a more serious book all its own.) There are some surprises; at times, the quintessential New Yorker sounds almost like a California New Ager as he recommends up to three hours of quiet reflection a day along with the writings of Carl Jung. But he's soon back in recognizable form, advising readers to"screw enemies back" and explaining why various people (including former governor Mario Cuomo and talk-show host Joy Behar) are dead to him. Trump appears comfortable with himself, and he even makes light of potentially touchy subjects, such as his hair:"My hair is one hundred percent mine. No animals have been harmed in the creation of my hairstyle." There are occasional missteps, like an imitation of the New York Post's iconic gossip column"Page Six," which reads more like an annual Trump Christmas letter. But Trump's books have done an effective job of capturing his grand personality in print, and this volume is no exception. B&w photos throughout.

October 1, 2004
There's no one better at promoting Donald Trump than the man himself. In this slim guide, which Trump says readers should consider "the second part of an ongoing conversation between you and The Donald" (the first part being his previous book, How to Get Rich), he offers his two-cents on everything from picking a mortgage broker and selling a house to dressing and grooming for work. Unfortunately, the book is packed with more cliches and glowing comments about his various properties (including his Mar-a-Lago resort, "one of the most beautiful places on earth") than practical advice. For instance, his advice on how to spot a fraud is, "If it seems too good to be true, it is," and his counsel on grooming is, "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have." Even his "Mar-a-Lago Diet" boils down to eating balanced meals. Each topic is covered in two pages or less, even big ones like How to Sell a House and How to Manage Debt, while other segments--such as A Week in the Life, which superficially covers a rather uneventful week in Trump's life--run on far too long. The final third of the book consists of a teaser for the new season of The Apprentice. Trump provides a general overview of the first four episodes, but doesn't give away any specifics about who gets the boot. Instead, he coyly says, "My first firing wasn't terribly difficult, although I always feel bad for the first person to go because he or she will miss out on so much." Though Trump claims in the book's introduction that "if you absorb only ten percent of the wisdom in this book, you'll still have a good shot at becoming a millionaire," many a reader will likely finish this book feeling distinctly unenlightened.

July 29, 1991
In this updated autobiographical sequel to Trump: The Art of the Deal , ``The Donald,'' with freelancer Leerhsen, attempts to track his continually shifting fortunes and foibles, from the construction of Atlantic City's Taj Mahal to his notorious split with Ivana.

September 29, 1997
Some might consider that Trump extols his own brilliance (one of his favorite words) ad nauseam here. His audacity is further on display in his challenge to his publisher not to excise his criticism of New Yorker editor Tina Brown for printing an unflattering profile she had assured him he'd "love"--Brown's husband, readers will recall, is Harry Evans, head of Random House in the Newhouse conglomerate that owns Trump's publisher as well as the New Yorker. His book also becomes an occasion to get even with perceived wrongs: "You've got to tackle and hit real hard." Writing with CNBC correspondent Bohner, The Donald lets rip--at the press, which is rarely complimentary toward him; at women who, like Alley Cat, claim he's smitten with them; at folk who try to shake his hand (he has a thing about germs). Readers will be amused that Trump considers himself irresistible to women but doesn't seem to have factored in his wealth as an aphrodisiac. As his book's title makes clear, Trump, who had widely reported financial problems earlier in the decade, now has many real-estate projects under way, which he publicizes so extensively here that sections of his book read like a sales brochure. Photos. 250,000 first printing; author tour. (Oct.) FYI: Trump is embargoed for prepublication review.