The Mailroom, David Rensin
The Mailroom, David Rensin
List: $29.99 | Sale: $21.00
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The Mailroom
Hollywood History from the Bottom Up

Author: David Rensin

Narrator: Sean Runnette

Unabridged: 16 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 12/25/2018


Synopsis

It's like something out of a Hollywood potboiler: start out in the mailroom, end up a mogul. Only for dozens of Hollywood's brightest, it happens to be true. Some of the biggest names in entertainment—including David Geffen, Barry Diller, and Mike Ovitz—began as trainees in musty talent agency mailrooms. Now, in this fascinating new book, veteran Hollywood writer David Rensin travels behind the scenes and through sixty-five years of show business history to tell the real stories of the marvelous careers that began—and in some cases ended—in the mailroom.

Based on more than two hundred interviews, Rensin unfolds the never-before-told history of an American institution—in the voices of the people who lived it. Through seven decades of glamour and humiliation, lousy pay and incredible perks, killer egos and a kill-or-be-killed ethos, you'll go where the trainees go, do what they must do to get ahead, and hear the best insider stories from the Hollywood everyone knows about but no one really knows. The kids in The Mailroom have done it all: from hanging out with Elvis to delivering a senior agent's urine sample to the doctor; from pouring drinks for Sinatra to sending ice to Johnny Carson on the Nile; from crashing the Academy Awards ceremony to hoping to deliver more than just the mail to sexy actresses' homes.

The Mailroom reveals why Harvard MBAs fight to turn down secure six-digit corporate salaries to start work at a major agency for less than $400 a week; what it takes to appease impossible bosses, outsmart the competition, and "agent" the agents; and how a hungry, star-struck kid can become the next Geffen or Diller by sorting mail, eavesdropping on crucial conversations, and trying anything to get noticed.

Full of revealing stories and delicious dish, The Mailroom is not only a non-stop, engrossing listen, but a crash course, taught by the experts, on how to succeed in Hollywood through hard work, shrewd manipulation, and a hell of a lot of nerve. The Mailroom is classic Hollywood—a vibrant and complex tapestry of dreams, desire, exploitation, power, and genuine talent. If you want to know who rules Hollywood and how they got their power, if you want to know how to start with nothing and get ahead in any business, this is the book you must listen to.

About David Rensin

David Rensin is the New York Times bestselling author or coauthor of several books, including The Mailroom, All for a Few Perfect Waves, and Devil at My Heels. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and son.


Reviews

Goodreads review by mikeramirez03 on March 03, 2008

This book was my bible while I was working in the Mailroom at UTA.......more

Goodreads review by Sergio on November 15, 2012

Do not be too quick to turn over to the first page. You'll be missing the cover which is probably the most interesting part of this book. The rest is slow and often boring. Nobody cares about the recollections of a guy who was a mid-level agent at William Morris in the '70s and left to become a lite......more

Goodreads review by Kristen on December 02, 2023

Don’t tell my boss I’m giving this a 2.5 😬 This was incredibly in depth, and it’s amazing the frankness with which people described their experiences. I feel like today, people would not have been this honest about workplace abuse or, in some cases, idealized it like this during interviews for a book......more

Goodreads review by Caroline on December 15, 2022

So aggravating to read bc of the misogyny 😌 but nevertheless I read bc of my career path choices 😍......more

Goodreads review by Alex on August 19, 2014

I picked up this book on a trip down the rabbit hole that began with Jerry Weintraub's memoir. Since then, I've been fascinated with Hollywood history, and with the mailroom being the base of it all, it only made sense to read about the history from its origin. Although this book is a long one, and......more