Shameless Exploitation In Pursuit of the Common Good: The Madcap Business Adventure By the Truly Oddest Couple | 
| Author: Paul Newman And A. E. Hotchner
Publisher: Thorndike Press
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 672616
Format: Large Print
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 380
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.7 x 5.5 x 1.2
ISBN: 0786262303
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.766458092273
EAN: 9780786262304
Publication Date: March 22, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A Book of the Month Club, Doubleday Book Club, Literary Guild, and Quality Paperback Book Club Selection In 1978, Paul Newman and A. E. Hotchner decided they would offer Paul's salad dressing (usually distributed to neighbors at Christmas) to a few local stores. It was enthusiastically received, and the freewheeling, irreverent entrepreneurs became major players in the food business. Here they recount the picaresque saga of their nonmanagement adventure, describing how they systematically disregarded the advice of experts and succeeded through instinct, imagination, and luck.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
 Making a difference with a smile November 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book has come out in paperback with the shortened title of "In Pursuit of the Common Good". This was a fun book to read which both made me laugh and tear up. What Newman and Hotchner accomplished by just being themselves and making practical decisions is truly amazing. Their journey from making salad dressing to donating 200 million to charity illustrates that when people see a thing that makes sense in its goals and how it is run, they will pitch in both amazing amounts of money and time to help. What a wonderful creation the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps are.
 Paul Newman - A man for all seasonings April 14, 2008
John D. Rockefeller, Sr. struck gold in oil in the 1870s and, if memory serves, gave $524,890,792.07 to charity during his lifetime. More recently, Paul Newman struck gold in salad dressing and, similarly, has given over $200 million to such causes. This book, among other things, tells us how he was able to do it.
But that isn't the reason I read this book. I didn't read it to learn about the grocery business or about how Newman became a successful entrepreneur. I certainly had no desire to learn how to make salad dressing, and, despite the book's rather glib title, I didn't read it to be entertained. I had simply heard so much, and yet so little, for so long about "Newman's Own" salad dressing, his charitable contributions, and his "Hole in the Wall Gang" camp that I wanted to know more about him and about them. And this book did not disappoint.
For, along with gaining a much broader insight into the grocery business and a much better understanding of how to make salad dressing, I also got to see just how far honesty, integrity, persistence, and a little flamboyance can get you - especially if you have a prominent name and an outstanding product, and your heart is in the right place. And Newman's heart, and that of his partner, A. E. Hotchner, certainly were in the right place, especially when Paul finally relented and agreed to be pictured on every bottle of salad dressing - but only if all profits made from their sale went to charity. From then on, the business which they had started as a lark took on a life of its own and carried them along in its wake.
It is hard to summarize this book since the achievements which it outlines are simply too great. In keeping with its title, it is written in a jocular vein and, for the most part, is written in such a way as to downplay the contributions of the authors. But the good works which they have done, especially with their "Hole in the Wall Gang" camp for desperately ill children and the similar camps which their efforts have inspired, and which they have supported, around the world, speak for themselves. They must be justly proud. They are definitely men for all seasonings. Now go out and buy a bottle or two of "Newman's Own." I did.
First Half is EXCELLENT!!!! July 14, 2007
The first half of this book is excellent!! The authors may not have intended it, but the first half offers great business advice as it details the amazing story of how Paul Newman was able to get his homemade salad dressing bottled and sold in stores. It's also very funny. Just an amazing story of taking risks, not accepting "no" for an answer and following your vision. The only reason I didn't give this little book five stars is because the second half loses steam. The first half offers all the details of how Newman and Hotchner worked to sell their idea, but once the book shifts to pasta sause and the charity works, it's more an overview but they are not as involved. It's great that they helped that many charities and established the great summer camps for children, but those stories are told factually and not with the humor and insights of the creation of the salad dressing. It's still a very good book and I learned a lot from it. I will also be glad to buy his products because they taste good and they help a lot of people.
Entrepreneurship 101 March 30, 2005
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Everything I ever needed to know about successful entrepreneurship I learned from SHAMELESS EXPLOITATION. 1) It begins with a creative product, not in the search for a way to make money (sorry, Mr. Sinatra). 2) It begins with a product that fills a hole in a market (in this case, salad dressing made with fresh ingredients, no additives, conspicuously absent from mainstream grocery store shelves back in 1980). 3) Time-honored production and marketing methods can also be time-ragged and not right for your product. 4) Ask questions of everyone you know. 5) Put out a little venture capital and don't overreach (these guys put out $40,000 and lived within those means). 6) Don't compromise the integrity of your product, find ways to accommodate it. 7) There are other ways to publicize the product other than expensive advertising. 8) A movie star's name means nothing; it's all in the product and the hard work that goes into it (sorry, Frank). 9) You have to love and believe in your product. 10) You have to love the process of getting the product out there. 11) If you build it, they will come.
Everything I ever needed to know about pursuing the common good I learned from SHAMELESS EXPLOITATION: 1) Just do it. 2) Invite everyone to participate. 3) Miracles can happen.
Everything you ever needed to know about this book: 1) It's a fast read. 2) It's an honest read. 3) It's an insightful read. 4) It's an inspiring read. 5) The part about the charities served by Newman's own will blow your socks off. 6) The authors are highly entertaining tour guides of their adventure. 7) There are a few recipes to boot. 8) It is refreshingly free of those simplistic aphorisms that plague most business world books.
Wonderful & Inspiring--and not your average business book. March 28, 2005
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is a fun light read, about a foray into business by the seat of their pants. This is certainly a sucess story that flies in the face of Strategic Planning.
Newman and Hotchner had great and expensive advise from the traditional gurus of business, and for their own reasons they went the exact opposite way, and it came through in spades.
This is realy refreshing in the business world, a smalltime producer of an innovative and all natural product subverting the traditional modes of business. Years before words like "all natural" and "organic" were in regular use at grocery stores, Paul Newman, of all people, was sneaking in under the radar and getting shelfspace and loyal customers.
Not only is their product good & fun, but in another 'accidental twist' they give one hundred percent of their profits ot charities. 100%! This fact alone was enough to make me read the book, and so many redeeming qualities made it hard to put down.
The book is light and not layden with industry jargon, has a bunch of entertaining anecdotes, cartoon strips, personal letters from customers and children, and a visually pleasing layout. The two are never self congratulatory, in fact they are more apt to poke fun of themselves and be modest..a pleasant aftertaste.
The second half of the book centers around the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps the pair set up for seriously ill children. These camps not only made a huge difference in the life of these campers but set off a series of these camps around the world.
The distance of our reach is far beyond what we ever dreamed.
This book will not disappoint, is fun, and a refreshing tale of business and life on your own terms.
Also recommended for ethical business books:
Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield [Ben & Jerry], Gary Erickson [Clif Bar], Anita Roddick [Body Shop]
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