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Bitter Brew
- The Rise and Fall of Anheuser-Busch and America's Kings of Beer
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
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Publisher's summary
The engrossing, often scandalous saga of one of the wealthiest, longest-lasting, and most colorful family dynasties in the history of American commerce - a cautionary tale about prosperity, profligacy, hubris, and the blessings and dark consequences of success.
From countless bar signs, stadium scoreboards, magazine ads, TV commercials, and roadside billboards, the name Budweiser has been burned into the American consciousness as the "King of Beers". Over a span of more than a century, the company behind it, Anheuser-Busch, has attained legendary status. A jewel of the American Industrial Revolution, in the hands of its founders - the sometimes reckless and always boisterous Busch family of St. Louis, Missouri - it grew into one of the most fearsome marketing machines in modern times. In Bitter Brew, critically acclaimed journalist Knoedelseder paints a fascinating portrait of immense wealth and power accompanied by a barrelful of scandal, heartbreak, tragedy, and untimely death.
This engrossing, vivid narrative captures the Busch saga through five generations. At the same time, it weaves a broader story of American progress and decline over the past 150 years. It's a cautionary tale of prosperity, hubris, and loss.
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A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist tells the story of the self-made billionaire who built the Kendall-Jackson empire from nothing into the biggest-selling brand of premium wines in the U.S. Jess Stonestreet Jackson was one of a small band of pioneering entrepreneurs who put California's wine country on the map. His life story is a compelling slice of history, daring, innovation, feuds, intrigue, talent, mystique, contrarianism, and luck, offering a unique window on the elegant, adventurous, and cut-throat worlds of Jackson's two passions: wine and horseracing.
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Required listening for any wine maker
- By Michael Carr on 01-10-15
By: Edward Humes
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Mr. & Mrs. Hollywood
- Edie and Lew Wasserman and Their Entertainment Empire
- By: Kathleen Sharp
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 18 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Ever wonder why so many B actors wind up as A-grade politicians? Or how the casting couch worked? Acclaimed author Kathleen Sharp traces the influence of show business through the lives of its first power couple. Edie and Lew Wasserman built the world’s largest talent agency, MCA, created the multibillion-dollar Universal Studios, and helped shape Washington, DC.
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Best Book I Have Heard In A Long Time!!!
- By James M. Patton on 09-25-16
By: Kathleen Sharp
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Dethroning the King
- The Hostile Takeover of Anheuser-Busch, an American Icon
- By: Julie MacIntosh
- Narrated by: Joyce Bean
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
How did InBev, a Belgian company controlled by Brazilians, take over one of America's most beloved brands after barely a whimper of a fight? With timing - and some unexpected help from powerful members of the Busch dynasty, the very family that had run the company for more than a century. From the very heart of America's heartland to the European continent to Brazil, Dethroning the King is the ultimate corporate caper and a fascinating case study that's both wide-reaching and profound.
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Good Story but Narration Can be Annoying
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By: Julie MacIntosh
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Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right
- Opinionated Columns on American Life
- By: Michael Smerconish
- Narrated by: Michael Smerconish
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
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Opinionated talk show host and columnist Michael Smerconish has been chronicling local, state, and national events for the Philadelphia Daily News and the Philadelphia Inquirer for more than 15 years. He has sounded off on topics as diverse as the hunt for Osama bin Laden and what the color of your Christmas lights says about you. In this collection of 100 of his most memorable columns, Smerconish reflects on American political life with his characteristic feistiness.
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All about Smerc and who cares about the victims
- By Mark J. Rosen on 12-10-20
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Fins
- Harley Earl, the Rise of General Motors, and the Glory Days of Detroit
- By: William Knoedelseder
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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This audiobook chronicles the birth and rise to greatness of the American auto industry through the life of Harley Earl, an eccentric six-foot-five, stuttering visionary who dropped out of college and went on to invent the profession of automobile styling, thereby revolutionized the way cars were made, marketed, and even imagined. Harleys Earl’s story qualifies as a bona fide American family saga. It began in the Michigan pine forest in the years after the Civil War, traveled across the Great Plains on the wheels of a covered wagon, and eventually settled in Hollywood, California.
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Great report of amazing history but could do without the WOKE lean..
- By joshua Shaw on 07-02-22
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Mar-a-Lago
- Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump's Presidential Palace
- By: Laurence Leamer
- Narrated by: Todd McClaren
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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To know Donald J. Trump - to understand what makes the 45th president of the US tick - it is best to start in his natural habitat: Palm Beach, Florida. It is here he learned the techniques that took him all the way to the White House. Painstakingly, over decades, he has created a world in this exclusive tropical enclave and favorite haunt of billionaires where he is not just president but a king. The vehicle for his triumph is Mar-a-Lago, one of the greatest mansions ever built in the US.
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No surprises but would have liked more
- By B. Howard on 02-19-19
By: Laurence Leamer
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Glass House
- The 1% Economy and the Shattering of the All-American Town
- By: Brian Alexander
- Narrated by: Bob Souer
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
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The Anchor Hocking Glass Company, once the world's largest maker of glass tableware, was the base on which Lancaster's society was built. As Glass House unfolds, bankruptcy looms. With access to the company and its leaders, and Lancaster's citizens, Alexander shows how financial engineering took hold in the 1980s, accelerated in the 21st century, and wrecked the company.
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What really happened to the American Dream?
- By Bill on 05-10-17
By: Brian Alexander
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How Chuck Feeney Made and Gave Away a Fortune
- The Billionaire Who Wasn't
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In 1988 Forbes magazine hailed Chuck Feeney as the 23rd richest American alive. No one knew until then that he was extremely wealthy. Or was he? Born during the Depression in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Feeney had made a fortune as co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers, the world's largest duty-free retail chain. How he did it is one of the great untold retail stories of modern times. The greater untold story is that Feeney had in fact given away his fortune, in its totality, to endow Atlantic Philanthropies - one of the most generous and secretive philanthropic funds in the world.
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Horizons I never knew were there!
- By DTU_Garza on 08-13-17
By: Conor O'Clery
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Supreme City
- How Jazz Age Manhattan Gave Birth to Modern America
- By: Donald L. Miller
- Narrated by: Frangione Jim
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In four words - "the capital of everything" - Duke Ellington captured Manhattan during one of the most exciting and celebrated eras in our history: The Jazz Age. Radio, tabloid newspapers, and movies with sound appeared. The silver screen took over Times Square as Broadway became America's movie mecca. Tremendous new skyscrapers were built in Midtown in one of the greatest building booms in history.
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the background to the NYC we now live in
- By Marcie on 03-05-15
By: Donald L. Miller
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The Asylum
- The Renegades Who Hijacked the World's Oil Market
- By: Leah McGrath Goodman
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 16 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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They were a band of outsiders unable to get jobs with New York's gilded financial establishment. They would go on to corner the world's multitrillion-dollar oil market, reaping unimaginable riches while bringing the economy to its knees. Meet the self-anointed kings of the New York Mercantile Exchange. In some ways, they are everything you would expect them to be: a secretive, members-only club of men and women who live lavish lifestyles; cavort with politicians, strippers, and celebrities; and blissfully jacked up oil prices to nearly $150 a barrel while profiting off the misery of the working class.
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A far better book than its come-on implies
- By Philo on 01-05-14
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The Year That Broke America
- An Immigration Crisis, a Terrorist Conspiracy, the Summer of Survivor, a Ridiculous Fake Billionaire, a Fight for Florida, and the 537 Votes That Changed Everything
- By: Andrew Rice
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Before there was Coronavirus, before there was the contentious 2020 election or the entire Trump presidency, there was a turning-point year that proved momentous and transformative for American politics and the fate of the nation.
By: Andrew Rice
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Napa
- By: James Conaway
- Narrated by: John Morgan
- Length: 20 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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James Conaway's remarkable bestseller delves into the heart of California's lush and verdant Napa Valley, also known as America's Eden. Long the source of succulent grapes and singular wines, this region is also the setting for the remarkable true saga of the personalities behind the winemaking empires. This is the story of Gallos and Mondavis, of fortunes made and lost, of dynasties and destinies.
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Excellent But Marred by Non-Stop Mispronunciations
- By Robert R. on 08-15-13
By: James Conaway
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The Teapot Dome Scandal
- How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House
- By: Laton McCartney
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins
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The Teapot Dome scandal of the early 1920s was all about oil - hundreds of millions of dollars� worth of petroleum. When the scandal finally broke, the consequences were tremendous. President Harding's legacy was forever tarnished, while �Oil Cabinet� member Albert Fall was forced to resign and was imprisoned for a year. Others implicated in the affair suffered prison terms, commitment to mental hospitals, suicide, and even murder.
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Harding's return to normalcy: corruption
- By Paul on 03-05-08
By: Laton McCartney
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What listeners say about Bitter Brew
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- TCfla
- 04-19-17
Good things don't last
Really enjoyable audio book about the king of beers. Or at least what used to be the king of beers. Filled with a mix of history and personal anecdotes, it details the rise and fall of AN as clearly stated in the title. Not knowing much about beer companies, it was a bit hard to follow some of the mergers and acquisitions between competitors. Surprisingly a lot of baseball history as well with the Cardinals and Busch Stadium. Unfortunately the last part of the book talks mainly about the fourth and his envy of poor life choices, which is essentially the end to a long standing family owned company.
I was intrigued by this book after going on an AB brewery tour and glad I listened to it. It's unfortunate such a successful American run business couldn't outlast a buyout from an even bigger corporation, but keeping it in the family isn't always the best business decision.
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- Mike in NC
- 09-06-22
nepotism vs business. you get what you get
it's hard to believe an American empire so poorly managed by the very leaders/founders of the company.
by the time they got to the 4th generation AND GAVE him the reins the mold had been set for total capitalistic annihilation of one of America's pioneering companies.
money, fame, and family were no match for the trappings of big money.
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- Evadiva
- 02-24-23
Great story about AB and it’s leader/family members
I liked the rise of AB and it’s expansion over the decades. Also I like the stories about rich privilege, especially related to August 4.
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- Rich Swin
- 07-26-20
Truly Felt Revealing Account
This content was a business and family account that could be truly felt. It starts heroic and sadly dramatic. AB-InBev definitely makes a very good business study case.
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- Kay
- 12-05-12
Very Interesting
What made the experience of listening to Bitter Brew the most enjoyable?
Learning more about the history of AB and the each generation.
What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?
The thing that drove me crazy was the mispronunciation of St. Louis locales.
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- Dayna
- 07-28-13
Makes History Memorable
This audio book is excellent. The story is real which makes it all the better. The author paints a picture with such detail that you can see the drama unfolding in your mind's eye. The reading was also excellent. This is a book that you will find yourself discussing and thinking about whenever you have a drink. There are only a handful of spots that the story lags, otherwise it is faced paced.
I often try to imagine a future where big corporations rule the economy. This book gives me an insight into what may be the future. Instead of Congress stopping monopoly and oligopoly powers, the businesses may become so big that they fail to deliver their brand promises to the consumer, their stockholders and their employees. Budweiser does have good quality beer but other companies and markets they tried to swallow up failed to be profitable. With the new hedge fund managers who have raped and pillaged the company, you have to ask yourself how long will they continue to have good beer? Will management who is looking for short term profits in the end be the downfall of the company? Will small breweries be able to get a foothold in their local communities if the Budweiser quality is sacrificed for short term profits? Maybe the rise of multi-national corporations gaining power through politicians taking their political contributions is just a phase of capitalism. Maybe they will get so big that they fail.
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- Tim
- 07-03-13
Birthrights
I haven't been a consumer of Anheuser Busch products for well over a decade. It's a part of my life that I just outgrew, but when I was drinking Budweiser was one of my favorites. "Bitter Brew" is an excellent business story, where generations after generations ruin the family business because of their birthrights.
Instead of getting the job base on merits, August Busch IV (The Fourth), became CEO and ruin the legacy of the family and the business. Not only he made really bad business choices for Anheuser Busch, but he was also a big time substance abuser and playboy. It is because of his family's name that he became the head master brewer.
It's really interesting to read these kinds of books. Not only it's informable, but the ultra wealthy crumbles because of birthrights.
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- Nate W.
- 04-15-13
An American Family Empire Down the Drain
I worked at A-B for several years and can attest first-hand to the Busch family cult of personality described in "Bitter Brew." If anything, I found it to be even more palpable and all-consuming in the corporate culture than what is described in the book.
The decades-long story that unfolds is fascinating in a way akin to reading about a royal family -- the aspirations, the battles, the treacheries, the grudges, and the grooming of heirs are all the same.
In this way, I see the whole thing as less a cautionary tale of cutthroat capitalism, than a tragic account of fatal and flawed family dynamics.
My only complaint is that Knoedelseder's telling is more plain and flatly journalistic than the vivid subject matter deserved, and in the end could've benefitted from more descriptive analysis into the meaning of it all.
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- Scott W.
- 09-21-20
Eye opening
I recommend for anyone that is interested in the history of a Busch family and the brewery
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- Ty
- 01-13-17
Great true story.
I loved it. Great true story. I have been to Grant's Farm and the StLouis brewery and have been a AB drinker my whole adult life. But I think will be switching to Kraftig after listening to this.
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