The Greatest Salesman in the World Review The summer after my freshman year in high school, a ton of years ago, I was miserable. I didn't have any new friends at school, I was having a hard time at home, and I was trying to get through everyday with a smile on my face. I took a trip with a bunch of people I didn't know, a 10 day backpacking trip to an island in lake superior. Our guide was a 75 year-old man named Dave. Everyday, Dave read us a chapter from this book, and everyday my respect for him grew. The day I got off the island I bought the book and began my ten month journey through the scrolls it contained. I've followed the instructions, reading each chapter for one month, several times. I've worn out several copies and given away several others. This book profoundly changed my life. Not only am I extraordinarily successful in terms of "material" success, but I am happier than I ever imagined it was possible to be several years ago before I went on that island. Buy this book, follow it's instructions, and even if you are never the richest woman or man on earth, you will be among the happiest. --By A Customer on December 11, 2000I don't know if I misread the instructions or if I'm the only one who actually followed them. If you follow scroll I, it should take you the better part of a year to finish the rest of the book. Following that, I'm only 2/3rds of the way through scroll II (I got the book a couple of months ago, but didn't consistently follow scroll II daily and at the 16-day mark, decided to start again at day 1). I can definitely say it has changed my life, and even the lives of those around me (most of all a person I work with who is hard to get along with and hence gets along with no one--except, now, me, and it really has seemed to make his attitude at work more positive overall). Though difficult at first, it quickly became easy to apply the first principle, and finally find myself easily "making people your greatest resource" as so many *other* authors suggest you do for success in life, although it is not specifically suggested in this book. I have gotten a half dozen new and better job offers in the couple of months since I started the book, accepted one of the first ones and am currently in the process of exploring the others. I see all these "couldn't put the book down till I finished" and I think, wow, you went a year with a book in your hand? Personally I'm still in considerable suspense waiting to see what scroll III says, let alone the entire rest of the book! --By A Customer on November 1, 1999I can see why some people will give this book less than 5 stars. If you are looking for fancy smancy selling techniques, look elsewhere. This is not about technique, it is about the habits; the character that makes up a great salesman. I first started using this book 9 years ago. I would read a chapter a day, three times a day and cheated by reading ahead. More importantly, I began to make these habits my habits. At that time, my sales were less than satisfactory. Within weeks, my sales climbed and I began winning contest after contest. When people asked me what I was doing, I would pull out this book which I carried with me. Some would leaf through it and giggle. And they wondered why their sales were so low! I also found that when I got sick of this book and felt like I had mastered it, a short while later, my sales fell again. So did my attitude. So I started the process all over again and you guessed it, I started making sales again, this time faster than before. Over the years, I have bought many copies of The Greatest Salesman in The World. Some were dog eared and worn out, some I just lost or sometimes I kept one at the office and one at home. --By Tony DeFrancisco on September 30, 2005 				    	 					 About the Author According to the 1930 U.S. Census, Og Mandino was born in Natick, Massachusetts on December 12, 1923 to parents Silvio and Margaret Mandino, and was named Augustine after his paternal Italian grandfather.[2][3] Mandino was once the editor of his high school paper and planned to attend the University of Missouri's journalism school When in the summer of 1940, before he was able to enter college, his mother died from a massive heart attack, he decided to work in a paper factory until 1942. Afterward, he joined the United States Army Air Corps where he became a military officer and a bombardier. He flew for thirty bombing missions over Germany on board a B-24 Liberator during World War II.[4] During this time, he flew with fellow pilot and movie star, James Stewart. After his military duties, Mandino became an insurance salesman. One wintry November morning in Cleveland, Mandino contemplated committing suicide. But as he sorted through several books in a library, volumes of self-help, success and motivation books captured Mandino's attention. He selected some titles, went to a table and began reading. Mandino followed his visit to the library with more visits to many other libraries around the United States. He read hundreds of books that dealt with success, a pastime that helped him alleviate his alcoholism. It was in a library in Concord, New Hampshire, where he found W. Clement Stone's classic, Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude, a book that changed Mandino for the better.