Book 39

How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else by Michael Gates Gill

Type: Nonfiction

My rating: 2 stars (out of 5)

Why I chose it: I grabbed this paperback off my bookshelf and threw it in my backpack while heading off on vacation as a light read on the plane.

What I liked about it: This book has "The New York Times Bestseller" on the cover. I suppose this book was meant to be an inspirational book for those in lousy jobs to get off their butts and do something that they enjoy in life. I just found most of the book to be "woe is me" complaining from a guy who grew up in an affluent family, went to an ivy league school, had a very senior-level position in advertising and then was fired from his job when he likely made too much money and was replaced with a lesser paid person. He then took a job at Starbucks to make ends meet and claims, I think, that this is what he should have been doing all his life. This book came out in September 2007 just before the economy began to tank and well before the unemployment rate began to approach double digits. This guy got a book published because of his story. I think this story will be played out again and again over the next several years as many people will be forced to take jobs well below their skill level just to put food on the table and keep a roof over their head.