A moving story of big business, big love, and big giving
11/07/2016 04:00 pm ET Updated Dec 06, 2017

Did you know that McDonald`s started out as an innovative restaurant with good food, locally-sourced potatoes and fresh milkshakes made from scratch? And that no female employees were allowed for years, lest they distract the customers? Lisa Napoli`s fabulous new book Ray & Joan: The Man Who Made the McDonald`s Fortune and the Woman Who Gave it All Away (Dutton, November 17, 2016) is full of surprises. Acclaimed KRCW- and New York Times-reporter Lisa Napoli not only researched how the salesman Ray Kroc turned a San Bernardino burger stand into one of the largest international brands, but focuses on his unconventional third wife, Joan Mansfield. The entertaining book chronicles the two sides of Ray & Joan’s private life—from glamour and wealth to Ray’s drinking problem and strong temper, which led to Joan’s first philanthropic endeavor—the founding of the alcoholism education program, Operation Cork. Ray & Joan is a moving, extremely well-written story of big business, big love, and big giving.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/a-moving-story-of-big-bus_b_12845984

What a fascinating story. I figured it would be, I mean it’s about the guy who made McDonald’s what it is today and his wife who gave away billions of dollars, but I was still surprised at just how fascinating it was.

When Dutton reached out to me about a copy of the book* I jumped at the chance because not only do I find philanthropy personally fascinating, but I also work in fundraising, so it was a win-win either way for me.

I mean the subtitle “The man who made the McDonald’s fortune and the woman who gave it all away,” caught my attention pretty quick because I knew nothing about the founding of McDonald’s or the people behind it. I had no idea about most of it.

The book was well written and researched. For some reason I got it into my head that the book was about Joan and not so much Ray, so it was a bit of a disappointment there wasn’t more of an emphasis on her story. This being said, Napoli did a really good job of weaving the two biographies together along with the many other key players in their lives and in the founding of McDonald’s.

She also did a great job of writing about the changing face of America during the proliferation of fast food. It’s hard to imagine a time without dozens of fast food restaurants to choose from, but Napoli provided such a great setting and description of the changes McDonald’s (and others) pioneered and ultimately exported around the world.

There were two things I felt that were missing. I wish Napoli would’ve spent more time talking about the corporate philanthropy of McDonald’s. I’m sure she didn’t have unrestricted access, but it would’ve still been nice to have a chapter focusing on the Ronald McDonald houses among other things. I know it wasn’t a direct result of Ray and Joan, but it definitely is one of those iconic philanthropic partnerships up there with Red Cross and Make a Wish.

The other thing I felt missing, which apparently a lot of people docked stars on Goodreads for, [Insert comment about idiocy on Goodreads.], were photos. For such vivacious individuals with such passionate lives I felt there could definitely have been photos to add to the wonderful narrative Napoli created. I wouldn’t dock stars for that though!

Recommendation: This was a very interesting read and surprisingly quick for a biography. I really enjoyed the philanthropic aspect of Joan’s post-Ray life. I find it very interesting that Napoli shed more light on the history of McDonald’s prior to Ray Kroc’s ascension that McDonald’s (Corporate website) barely warrants a sentence about on their “About Us” page. Kroc (Ray) clearly did a good job of indoctrinating the corporation about who to whom they owed their debt of gratitude.

I wasn't sure about this one - upfront, I really wasn't that interested in the story of McDonald's as an empire. I agreed to take a look because of the publicist who contacted me - we've worked together before and she's helped me out with a review request/two, so I wanted to give it a look in return. Once I started reading, I was intrigued by the opening and struck by the philanthropic angle, and Joan seemed like a firecracker from the get-go... The story about the origins of the actual fast food chain were, as I expected, not so interesting to me. There's nothing wrong at all with the writing or storytelling; I just didn't really find it a compelling story that I connected with personally. There were some surprising tidbits and things I'd never thought about before (in a nutshell, Ray Kroc was basically the Henry Ford of food), but still, all in all the early years weren't all that attention-grabbing/-holding for me...

Then Ray met Joan. Firecracker, indeed...

The book really picked up for me after they met. It may really just be personality-based. I really didn't like Ray - he was not exactly what I'd call an inspiration, at least not on any personal level. He may have been brilliant at what he did in business/food service, but he was rather a disappointment in his personal life. Joan saved him (on many levels) both from others and from himself (as much as she could) - and he, in turn, gave her the opportunity to be a truly amazing player on the philanthropic stage. It was a partnership - unusual in form and shape, perhaps, but a partnership nevertheless - and the author does a very nice job portraying the nuance and drama that their particular brand of partnership entailed...