Fire The Pretty Girl: A Speechwriter's Awkward Journey

by John Morton

Overview

"With dry wit and self-effacing honesty,Fire the Pretty Girl follows the author's clumsy, fake-it-till-you-make-it journey from the hospitality industry to business school, and then to eventual success as a speechwriter for, and trusted confidant to, the movers and shakers in the corporate world"

"The writing is so entertaining that even those who aren't drawn to reading about the business world will be engaged throughout...entirely unique and engrossing. Young professionals in particular, beginning blundering journeys along their unmapped career paths, will devour it." - Foreword Clarion Reviews

"Insightful...funny...courageously true." - Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781500457433
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	08/25/2014
Pages:	236
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

John Morton and his family are proud residents of Austin, Texas. He currently writes speeches for the University of Texas System.

Editorial Reviews

2014-10-17
Morton's autobiography focuses on his career path from the ordinary world of restaurant management to the exciting milieu of corporate speechwriting. In his debut, the author offers self-deprecating humor and business insight as he tells his life story. It spans from his college days to when he launched his own communications firm and became a husband and father. Morton recalls when he was a bar manager in college and had to fire the most attractive girl on campus for workplace drunkenness: "If she weren't so pretty, I wouldn't have fired her." He then explains his reasoning: If the bar were to earn a profit, the staff had to stop giving away free drinks, and "[i]f the prettiest girl in school could be fired, so could they!" He also remembers his stint as a restaurant-management trainee after college, during which he was trying to impress a waitress; however, she thought that he was mentally disabled, because "[w]ith my garbage bag apron splattered with crab bits and my DeWayne hat, I cut a fine figure." There are other funny stories from his youth, such as those involving an arrest for a minor traffic infraction while riding his scooter, an ice-cream-eating contest gone wrong, and his time as a reclusive DJ. But, he notes, his life improved dramatically after he completed his MBA and got a job with American Airlines. At this point, the memoir seems destined to fizzle, with the author stuck in a cubicle doing financial analytics—but then Morton reveals that he was promoted to speechwriter for the company's CEO. He goes on to provide a number of insightful, often funny recollections from his 20-year career writing speeches, press releases and corporate policy memos, addressing everything from corporate turnaround efforts to labor negotiations. Overall, the memoir works best when it reveals Morton's transformation from a "funny kid who skated through business school" to a "sage business advisor who helped shape corporate policy." Along with his many personal reflections, he offers readers valuable advice about remaining courageously true to oneself. An entertaining memoir about a successful corporate career.

Kirkus Reviews