The creator of reality TV, Burnett reveals the secrets to success he developed over his checkered career as a soldier, nanny/errand boy, professional adventure-tour operator and now producer of the now oft-imitated Survivor, an enormous financial triumph. His simple principles are familiar self-help truisms—"only results count," "have the courage to fail," "be right or be wrong, but make a decision." He catalogues his professional ups and downs, including having to master mountain climbing when his partner/ guide left him, and mishandling his team for a major eco-challenge competition, and he undertakes a brief self-examination for each experience. For example, he concludes that the disappointing eco-challenge "was a blessing in disguise.... Through the devastating act of quitting I gained an incentive to persevere, if only so I would never know that awful sensation.... Babe Ruth failed 70% of the time when he stepped to the plate. That never stopped him from swinging for fences." After several such platitudes and unoriginal insights delivered in a cocksure manner, readers may have had enough. On the other hand, his unflagging, unabashed insistence on banal principles and his resulting physical and material successes may keep readers soldiering on in spite of themselves, not unlike his TV audience. (Sept. 12)
Forecast:This unremarkable addition to motivational literature may garner an early sales spike due to Burnett's visibility and the fall debut of
Survivor III.
