Donald Trump’s Ghostwriter Tells All

Jane Mayer, Donald Trump’s Ghostwriter Tells All. The New Yorker, 25 July 2016 issue (18 July 2016 in the digital edition). [Tony Schwartz ghostwrote “The Art of the Deal,” Donald] Trump’s 1987 breakthrough memoir, earning a joint byline on the cover, half of the book’s five-hundred-thousand-dollar advance, and half of the royalties. The book was a phenomenal success, spending forty-eight weeks on the Times best-seller list, thirteen of them at No. 1. More than a million copies have been bought, generating several million dollars in royalties. The book expanded Trump’s renown far beyond New York City, making him an emblem of the successful tycoon…. Starting in late 1985, Schwartz spent eighteen months with Trump—camping out in his office, joining him on his helicopter, tagging along at meetings, and spending weekends with him at his Manhattan apartment and his Florida estate. During that period, Schwartz felt, he had got to know him better than almost anyone else outside the Trump family.”

Update: Jane Mayer, Donald Trump Threatens the Ghostwriter of “The Art of the Deal.” The New Yorker, 20 July 2016. “When Tony Schwartz, Donald Trump’s ghostwriter for his 1987 memoir, “The Art of the Deal,” decided to tell the public about his concerns that Trump isn’t fit to serve as President, his main worry was that Trump, who is famously litigious, would threaten to take legal action against him. Schwartz’s premonition has proved correct.”

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