Review: Harold Mitchell’s bio & Mia Freedman’s memoir
Recent weeks have seen me battling through a couple of books that give insights into different aspects of the industry.
Actually, “battling” does them an injustice, as I enjoyed reading both Mia Freedman’s Mama Mia and Harold Mitchell’s Living Large.
And having read the books (and interviewed them both for The Mumbo Report), you couldn’t pick two greater extremes within the industry than the fluffy world of magazine editorial to the grittier domain of media buying.
Both have been at the top of their particular part of the industry, and led large teams, but their approaches are entirely different.
The Harold Mitchell interview was quite interesting although I felt it was a tad bit less about the man professionally and more on the personal facets. Although it’s quite clear who has the biggest ego in the Australian media industry, Tim needs to scale down on getting burrs under the saddle during his interviews.
Just my two bits …
I thoroughly enjoyed both books. Although before I even picked them up, I had a lot of respect for both Mia and Harold, and the books didn’t disappoint me.
For me both books were exciting and inspiring. Mia’s more on a personal level – how she battled through difficult times in her personal life, but still shone at work and in the media industry. Her dedication to women and passion for (at the time) magazines and her work in general are inspirational and I think the book is a must read, especially for women.
I found Harold’s book very inspiring from a professional perspective. Though the prologue shocked me – I didn’t realise the book would be so personal. I love his Epic Lunch stories – this chapter gave me goosebumps. I also loved the tips for Young Entrepreneurs and the chapter on where the media is going. I think we’re lucky to be able to have some insight into Harold’s business, life and mind – even though the book is not a “tell-all”.
very well handled Tim! you’re a Denton in the making
Mitchell = Jabba the Hutt jabbering away
Gee, doesn’t Mitchell have tickets on himself ?!! Who cares ?
He’s nothing but a tireless self-promoter in the most conservative and exploitative industry of our times, and somehow he expects people to be interested in this ?
I don’t think I’d waste my $50 on the print edition on the basis of this
Harold Mitchell’s version of the birth of the first Solo commercial is pure fiction. I know.
I wrote it.
If the rest of the book is as lazy in researching the facts it should be on the fiction shelves.