In his fifties, Michael Gates Gill had it all: a mansion in the suburbs, a wife and loving children, a six-figure salary, and an Ivy League education. But in a few short years, he lost his job, got divorced, and was diagnosed with a brain tumor. With no money or health insurance, he was forced to get a job at Starbucks. Having gone from power lunches to scrubbing toilets, from being served to serving, Michael was a true fish out of water.

But fate brings an unexpected teacher into his life who opens his eyes to what living well really looks like. The two seem to have nothing in common: She is a young African American, the daughter of a drug addict; he is used to being the boss but reports to her now. For the first time in his life he experiences being a member of a minority trying hard to survive in a challenging new job. He learns the value of hard work and humility, as well as what it truly means to respect another person.

Behind the scenes at one of America’s most intriguing businesses, an inspiring friendship is born, a family begins to heal, and, thanks to his unlikely mentor, Michael Gill at last experiences a sense of self-worth and happiness he has never known before.

Received in the mail today. Sounds good, thanks!!!

Michael Gates Gill had it all: a great job as a director of an ad agency, four kids, a nice house, and a wife. Then his life started to fall apart. He was laid off from his job because he was too old, he had an affair and another child and got divorced where he lost his house too, and he developed a tumor at the base of his brain that impeded his hearing. After 10 years of being a consultant and consistently losing clients, 60-something year old Gill is in a Starbucks when a young lady comes up to him and asks him if he would like a job. On a whim, Gill says yes and starts a new journey in his life working at Starbucks.

Gill learns a bunch of lessons while working at Starbucks that he never learned in his previous life as a director and learns to accept his job and eventually love it. He realizes that he didn't spend enough time with his kids or really live in the moment at all in his younger years.

This book was endearing at times, although some of the lessons that Gill had to learn would be common sense for most of us. While overall, I did enjoy this because it was rather cute (written by an elderly man it's kind of funny to say that!), there were a few issues that bothered me. First, Gill mentioned his tumor a few times but there was no resolution on this by the end of the novel. And second, at times the book felt like a big advertisement for Starbucks. Are "Partners" supposed to make conversation with guests while they order and pay for their coffee? This rarely happens to me.

The other rather ironic thing here is that Gill speaks about how he is satisfied with his life now as a barista, and yet he goes and writes this book, which I sure gave him a pretty penny!

Dad read this an enjoyed it though thought it was a bit repetitive. This is now available!

Left this at the Starbucks in terminal 3. Hope the next reader enjoys!