Book 465: A Truck Full of Money – Tracy Kidder

Ugh. (Nothing to do with the book, which I quiet enjoyed.)

This is what I get for not responding to my reading of the book in a timely manner. Like the other book published this week (You Will Not Have My Hate), this has been sitting in my queue to be responded to for almost an entire month.

I wish I could say what took me so long to respond but I have no idea. I’ve just been so busy at work and with Thanksgiving that I dropped the ball. Unfortunately that means my normal Opening and Closing Lines at the end aren’t there because this was a book from NetGalley* and by time I went to write this, they’d already archived it 🙁

I came across this book from one of the last few episodes of Books on the Nightstand and I’m glad I checked it out. From growing up in a poorer area of Boston to becoming one of the richest persons in the state this is a fascinating look at Paul English’s life up until recently. I of course loved it because it is set in Boston, but what really got me was English’s story.

I knew nothing of him, but of course knew about Kayak.com. This is the story of the founding of Kayak and the other companies English has been involved with. It’s also a fascinating look at his (and others’) philanthropy. I definitely would’ve loved to know more about that.

Overall though, it was definitely Kidder’s writing that sold the story. His tying together English’s work life, personal life and mental health struggles definitely kept me engaged. I really want to know if this is due to his writing (based on how others follow his books regardless of who they’re about I think it is) or whether it’s just about English’s story.

Recommendation: I’d definitely recommend it. The only thing that bothered me was that there wasn’t an “end” to the story. Unfortunately, that’s how biographies go when the person is still out there living life and creating new things. I did go to the website mentioned to see what they were working on next!