No Such Thing as Over-Exposure: Inside the Life and Celebrity of Donald Trump - Hardcover

Slater, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0131497340 ISBN 13: 9780131497344

Publisher: Pearson FT Press, 2005

Synopsis

The First Deep Look at Donald Trump — Now Reissued

In the wake of his incredibly successful TV show, The Apprentice, Donald Trump went beyond celebrity to an outsized American figure and icon. At that time, nobody had ever fully captured the man so Robert Slater set out to reveal the man in full. In 2005, Slater convinced Trump to give him unprecedented access: over 100 hours of private conversations and meetings. Wherever Trump went, Slater was there: as a 'fly on the wall' at secret deal-making sessions, on a Gulfstream jet trip to the dedication of Trump's newest skyscraper, everywhere. Slater interviewed 150 Trump employees and colleagues -- even top competitors such as Kirk Kerkorian and Steve Wynn. As a result he was able to paint a complete picture of Trump: the businessman and dealmaker, strategist and survivor, celebrity and personality always striving for more attention and success, whatever the obstacles, and now the 2016 Republican nominee for the President of the United States. Learn how Trump transformed himself from an unknown local real estate developer to a global magnate. See how he really does business, discovering lessons that go beyond anything he's let the public see before. Witness his media management...watch him leverage his celebrity to save his casino business from billion-dollar debts, not once but twice. Most remarkable of all, discover how Trump really felt about his celebrity, his empire, his life a decade before announcing his presidential campaign.

 

Robert Slater was born in New York City on October 1, 1943, and grew up in South Orange, New Jersey. He graduated from Columbia High School in 1962 and graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966, where he majored in political science. He received a masters of science degree in international relations from the London School of Economics in 1967. He worked for UPI and Time Magazine for many years, in both the United States and the Middle East.

About this title

Review:

"A refreshing antidote to the mumbling modesty that bedevils much of our culture. Trump understands that self-promotion and fame is the best insurance of power already attained. Slater captures this lesson beautifully in this fast-paced, punchy book, packed with interviews, savvy, and insight into one of the phenomena of our age."

-- Paul Levinson, Professor of Communication and Media Studies, Fordham University, and author, Cellphone: The Story of the World's Most Mobile Medium

 "There is no bigger ego that ever walked this earth than Mr. Trump.  Beyond his success as the world's preeminent developer, he's built THE power brand that stands for wealth and success around the world. Slater's book takes us farther inside the workings of the Trump mind than anything else to date."

-Barbara Corcoran, Chairman and Founder, The Corcoran Group,  Author of "If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons On Your Pigtails"

"This is a fascinating look at one of today's more interesting and unusual personalities."

        Steve Wynn , Owner of Wynn Las Vegas 

 

 

"The Donald Trump that I have come to know over the years is not easy to capture in a book.  It was a pleasure to read Robert Slater's well-researched, fascinating look at what makes Trump tick.  Other than reading Trump's own books, there is no better way to find out why Donald is so successful."

 Alan C. Greenberg, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Bear Stearns.   "Donald Trump is one of the most interesting personalities in modern times and Robert Slater is, without question, unparalleled at capturing
the essence of our captains of industry. The combination is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at Donald's charm, his business
intuition, and the richness of his character. A must-read."
Alex Yemenidjian, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc

From Library Journal: 

"SLATER, ROBERT. No Such Thing as Over-Exposure: Inside the Life and Celebrity of Donald Trump. Prentice-Hall. Mar. 2005. c.256p. ISBN 0-13-149734-0. $24.95. BUS It's hard to imagine an ego larger than Donald Trump's. Before veteran business biographer Slater (Jack Welch and the GE Way) had even put pen to paper, Trump threatened to sue him. But after Jack Welch gave Trump the thumbs up on Slater, Trump ushered the writer into his inner sanctum. Based on 100 hours spent jetting around with Trump, as well as 150 interviews with those in the know, this fully authorized biography outlines Trump's deals, business strategies, leadership style, and ability to craft his own image in the media. Trump's legendary status as a real estate and casino developer comes through clearly, and while there are a few moments of humility, like the real estate bust of the early 1990s, it's hard to understand why Slater is so smitten with his subject. Nevertheless, Trump's higher-than-ever profile will ensure this book's popularity in public library business collections."

-Carol J. Elsen, Univ. of Wisconsin, Whitewater

 

 

From the Author:

December 14, 2004
What’s So Special about Donald Trump?
By Robert Slater
For years, while I was writing books on other major business personalities, I asked myself what was so special about Donald Trump. I always came back with a ho-hum kind of answer: Not very much. I thought, quite frankly, that he was too struck with his own self-importance for me to write about him as a serious business leader.

But then he began hosting the television reality show, "The Apprentice" in January 2004 and in a matter of weeks, he was the hottest property in the entertainment world. No other business figure had reached the heights of his celebrity, watched by millions of people week after week. I began hearing his name mentioned on one television talk show after another. He suddenly sounded very much like a serious business player.

Hence, he seemed like the perfect subject for a book and so a year ago I set out to write No Such Thing as Over-Exposure: Inside the Life and Celebrity of Donald Trump, which Prentice Hall published in March 2005. What had changed my mind? After the show, the same personal traits that had diminished Trump as a business figure before had now made him the most popular business leader in America.

I also concluded that Trump behaved differently from most business leaders: He does many things that other business executives eschew; he lets people peek into his life. No one has been as successful as Trump in cashing in by linking his name to his products. Finally, he loves being in the limelight. He dislikes anyone saying that he craves publicity, feeling such a quest shows a lack of seriousness. He believes that he has earned the publicity by becoming the largest real estate developer in New York; gaining a major foothold in the casino hotel world; and acquiring super-star status through "The Apprentice."

Whether he craves publicity or not, Trump is exceedingly comfortable being the object of massive media attention. That is his single most important distinguishing feature. Other business figures treat the media as if it were a flame that might burn them if they got too close. Trump sees the flame and can’t wait to get close, pleased as punch at the dozens of television cameras lined up at some event, or the "Trump groupies" shouting his name out as he walks down a New York street.

He believes fervently that he is, as he puts it, "a ratings machine" or a "marketing machine". He sees no reason to sit home – or to sit in his office - when he could be out promoting. He actually doesn’t like to leave his office very much and he has figured out ways to stay put. His own Trump Tower, on 57th and Fifth in Manhattan, where his organization has its headquarters, is fitted with so many mock board rooms and studios that he can do many promotions simply by taking an elevator ride.

When others suggest that he take a time-out from all the publicity, Trump rejects such advice. He has no idea how long his fifteen minutes of fame will last and he certainly doesn’t want to be the one to pull the plug.
Television is the best possible vehicle for Donald Trump – as well as having the number 1 TV show in the US, "The Apprentice", towards the end of 2004, Trump was talking happily about producing a new television program, a soap opera that would be modeled after "Dynasty" and would have a Donald Trump character as the lead.

It is likely that he will want to be on television in one format or another for the rest of his career. It has been television that has given him massive popularity. It has been television that distinguishes him from the many other business leaders of the day. It is television that Donald Trump excels at, outdoing all other business figures. No wonder he loves the medium.
Trump knows, however, that he cannot concentrate on television at the expense of his other business pursuits. It always struck me as significant, as I spent all that time with Trump this past year, that he talked a great deal about his real estate holdings and about "The Apprentice" but very little about his hotel casinos, only that he was going to pull off a great deal and get them back on their feet. For a long time Trump denied that he would become involved in more casino hotels. But in private conversations he makes clear that wants to develop a casino foothold in Las Vegas. He’s already announced that he will build a luxury tower on the strip; but he has his eye on becoming a major player in Las Vegas, and so getting a hold of or building a new casino hotel seems very much in the cards for him.
The single most perplexing question that Donald Trump never asks himself – at least in public – and no one wants to ask him – is what he will do with himself if and when his "fifteen minutes" of fame and glory come to an end. Sometimes he gives a strong clue of how he will handle such a setback: when he faces any kind of adversity – the 2004 bankruptcy proceedings involving his casino hotels is a good example – he minimizes the harsh realities and acts as if everything will right itself in the end. He says openly that he hates failure. He will never describe any negative turn of events as a failure. He will employ what he likes to call "truthful hyperbole", the art of exaggerating the truth, something he is a master at, and something that a forgiving public has watched him do over and over again. For the present, it is no wonder that he does not voice any concern about the future. For the moment, Donald Trump remains in his glory.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pearson FT Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0131497340
• ISBN 13: 9780131497344
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272