3 Review(s)

Love him or loathe him, you've got to admit it, Richard Branson hasdrive. And guts. And enough ambition to sink a battleship--orperhaps that should be a jumbo jet--or even a whole company ofjumbos if the Virgin Atlantic/British Airways debacle (which takesup a huge chunk of this already huge tome) is anything to go by. Branson's autobiography makes immensely fascinating reading.Whatever you think of Britain's most famous entrepreneur, the oddsare that you will enjoy reading his autobiography. You may snort atdescriptions of his "poor" childhood--spent eating bread anddripping while living in a house the majority of us visit on BankHolidays and attending a "minor" public school. You may groan atmemories of early initiative tests: how about being ejected fromthe family car and told by his mother to find his way home--at theage of four? You may flinch at accounts of his early business daysas an unwashed, unshod, hippy magazine publisher living en famille with his staff in the crypt of a West Londonchurch. But, all in all, you'll get to understand where the guy'scoming from--man. And, like the man himself, there's no holds barred here.Richard bares his soul, from childhood, school days (cheating atexams), loves and losses (lost one wife when a spot ofwife-swapping went drastically wrong--for him), death-defyingadventures (yes, the balloons are all there), to the rise and riseof the Virgin empire. His interviews for Student magazine and theearly days of Virgin Music read like a chronicle of popular musicand culture in the late 20th century. Famous names bounce off everypage. Prepare to be enthralled by the life and times of a walkingpublicity machine. -- Carey Green