Title: The Making of Mr. Irresistible
Author: Larry J. Gould
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 978-1-6655-8001-4
Genre: Memoir
Pages: 225
Reviewed by: C.C. Thomas

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Most memoirs on the bookstore shelves focus on inspirational stories of heroes or heroines overcoming amazing odds to achieve some remarkable feat. While those are always a good read, they are hard to identify with. After all, most of us are just ordinary folk. This memoir, The Making of Mr. Irresistible, by author Larry J. Gould, is a delightful change and one which most readers will be able to easily connect with. In the preface, Gould explains that his is the story of a “successful failure.” Since most of us fail often, and some of us fail most of the time, reading a story of a regular guy making a success all the while being extremely human and not at all heroic is a fun read.

Now, don’t get me wrong — the author has achieved great things in his life. His journey from poverty to prosperity, though, isn’t the result of some happy accident or divine intervention. Instead, Gould achieved his success the old-fashioned way — through hard work. While there’s nothing flashy in the message, the read is still motivational.

Gould grew up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Leeds, England. His family shared an outdoor toilet with an entire tenement and, while they were poor, they were also fairly happy. That is, until his mother was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the tender age of 28 years. After this, Gould’s family life deteriorated and he endured rough treatment at his father’s hands and childhood migraines brought on by the stress and beatings.

Gould doesn’t dwell on these moments and use them as excuses. He describes them matter-of-factly and even finds humor in the darkest of situations. Throughout every description and detail of his life, he shares what he learned in that moment. For example, when he was a young boy, he remembers earning enough money to buy his sister an ice cream cone. He compares that to the pride an executive might feel when buying an expensive car and relates that a person’s past does not determine their future. At that moment, he explains, he became a businessman.

Gould goes on to share the process through which he became a success, and each step is filled with humor, realism, and a great desire to become his better self. This isn’t solely a book about succeeding in business, though. It is more a story about succeeding in life, or at least enduring the painful, messy parts with humor and aplomb. Gould also details ugly relationships, bullying, disease, and other painful, inevitable life topics and describes how he dealt with all of it. He never tells readers what to do, but simply shares what he learned when he invariably messed things up…or succeeded despite it all.

In Larry Gould’s The Making of Mr. Irresistible, the author provides an inspirational read through detailing every failure in his life. It is the learning through those failures that caused Gould to be the success he is today, a CEO of an international company. Throughout the pages, Gould’s sense of humor and earthiness shines through. While readers will probably never meet the author in person, they will feel as if they have by the last page. Gould is, without a doubt, irresistible.