Mr. Sam: How Sam Walton Built Wal-Mart and Became America’s Richest Man

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Blumenthal, Karen. 2011. Mr. Sam: How Sam Walton built Wal-Mart and became America’s richest man. New York: Viking. ISBN 9780670011773

BOOK SUMMARY

“We sell for less”. “Satisfaction Guaranteed.” These are slogans heard by millions and identifiable as Wal-Mart’s trademark claims. Mr. Sam: How Sam Walton Built Wal-Mart and Became America’s Richest Man travels through Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton’s life and journey that established the largest and most recognizable chain in the United States. From competitive child to equally competitive adult, this biography shows the drive and ambition had by the founder of a powerful company.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Author Karen Blumenthal tapped into many resources as she gathered information for this biography. She interviewed people who worked with or knew Walton. Photographs, advertisements, and articles were used to further support this work. The book contains six pages of bibliographic references at the end and numerous photo credits in the title page verso. When “facts” are given they may actually be truth stretchers, Blumenthal mentions their possible inaccuracy. For example, Walton may have half-truthed some of the information in his autobiography, so Blumenthal made mention of that and backed up her thoughts with reputable sources close to Walton.

The chronological order of the book made the events easy to follow.  The chapters flowed in a logical order. However, the table of contents is less than helpful with chapter titles such as “Sell! Sell! Sell!”, “Grow! Grow! Grow!”, and “Go! Go! Go!”. The index helps more with locating specific information.

The design of the book helps readers stay interested. To break up the monotony of pages of print, the author inserts several special features. The most meaningful features are the photos of Walton—as a child, with his family, working with associates, keeping his end of a bet, etc. Photographs (compared with illustrations) make the book seem more authentic.  Many times the pictures complement the text. (Other times, this is not so. Still, this is an enjoyable feature.)

Another added feature is a small insert called “Retail Detail” that gives the reader background information about the retail business (profit, fiscal years, etc.). “Sam Stories” adds flair with anecdotes that otherwise wouldn’t fit in with the chronology of the book. To help the reader grasp the value of the American dollar at different points in history, Blumenthal adds “Our Money” which shows how an average family would spend their money.

The style of the writing is clear and described as “straightforward” and “no-nonsense” on the book jacket cover. Rather than watering down technical terms, the author keeps her audience in mind and explains the meanings of those terms. Blumenthal clearly has an interest and passion for the business world and demonstrates that with the detail she provides. However, the information at times is overwhelming. More is given than what is palatable. Walton’s childhood is described but as he grew older, we read more about what is happening to him in regards to Wal-Mart and less of his personal life.  Conversely according to the book, as an adult, Wal-Mart was his life.  Blumenthal makes mention of Walton’s biography in several places, enticing readers to read what Walton had to say about himself.

REVIEWS

“Written in a fluid, journalistic style and enhanced by photos, boxed-out ‘Sam stories,’ charts tracking changes in Americans' spending habits, and a lavish source list, this account of the man who created what is today the world's largest company makes compelling reading.”

—Booklist, June 2011

“Frequent black-and-white snapshots provide a visual overview, but the more than half a dozen graphics showing the distribution of income for typical American families from 1918 to 2008 don't have a clear connection to the text.”

—School Library Journal, July 2011

CONNECTIONS

Other biographies of successful businessmen:

Isaacson, Walter. 2011. Steve Jobs. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781451648539

Bill Gates Biography: www.biography.com/people/bill-gates-9307520

Walt Disney: A Short Biography http://www.justdisney.com/walt_disney/biography/w_bio_short.html

Ray Krock Biography: http://www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/biographies/ray-kroc.html

Henry Ford: http://gardenofpraise.com/ibdford.htm

Making a Budget

Using one of the “Our Money” dollar value images, make a yearly budget for a family of four.

Entrepreneur Blog

Further research a self-made businessman (or woman) and write a short biography about him/her. Post biography on blog for a compilation of many business biographies.

Bio-Cube

Use the interactive resource from Read, Write, Think to create a printable graphic organizer that summarizes a biography. The print-out can be folded into a Bio-Cube. Find this resource at http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/cube-30057.html.