shopping cart
Call us:  800-878-7323 HELP
McAfee SECURE helps keep you safe from identity theft, credit card fraud, spyware, spam, viruses and online scams.

Related Aisles



Ships free on qualified orders.
$9.95
List price: 13.95
You save: $4.00
TRADE PAPER, USED
Ships in 1 to 3 days
Add to Wishlist
Qty Store Section
2 Beaverton Humor- Narrative


More copies of this ISBN:

One Red Paperclip: Or How an Ordinary Man Achieved His Dream with the Help of a Simple Office Supply

by Kyle Macdonald

One Red Paperclip: Or How an Ordinary Man Achieved His Dream with the Help of a Simple Office Supply Cover

ISBN13: 9780307353160
ISBN10: 0307353168
Condition: Standard
All Product Details
See More Like This

Only 2 left in stock at $9.95!

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Kyle MacDonald had a paperclip. One red paperclip, a dream, and a resume to write. And bills to pay. Oh, and a very patient girlfriend who was paying the rent while he was once again “between jobs.” Kyle wanted to be able to provide for himself and his girlfriend, Dominique. He wanted to own his own home. He wanted something bigger than a paperclip. So he put an ad on Craigslist, the popular classifieds website, with the intention of trading that paperclip for something better. A girl in Vancouver offered him a fish pen in exchange for his paperclip. He traded the fish pen for a doorknob and the doorknob for a camping stove. Before long he had traded the camping stove for a generator for a neon sign. Not long after that, avid snow-globe collector and television star Corbin Bernsen and the small Canadian town of Kipling were involved, and Kyle was on to bigger and better things.

In One Red Paperclip Kyle takes you on a journey around the globe as he moves from paperclip holder to homeowner in just fourteen trades. With plenty of irreverent and insightful anecdotes and practical tips on how you can find your own paperclip and realize your dreams, he proves it’s possible to succeed in life and achieve your dreams on your own terms. Quirky and inspirational, this story of a regular guy and a small, red, now-legendary paperclip will have you looking at your office supplies-and your life-in a whole new way.

Review:

"'MacDonald is just a regular, sharp-witted guy on a quest for 'funtential,' his coined word for the maximum potential for fun. In a casual, playful tone, his account begins as he stares past his computer screen and at the brick wall of his girlfriend's apartment in Quebec; he lives there, and she pays the rent. Wanting to contribute financially to the relationship, he recalls a childhood game, Bigger and Better, and begins looking for something to trade. He's drawn to the red paperclip holding together his rsum and cover letter. The rest of the book traces his exchanges from the red paperclip to a fish pen to a smiley-face door knob and culminates with a house in Kipling, Saskatchewan — all within a year. From the outset, MacDonald insists on making each deal in person, and these personal exchanges provide the book with a human interest that transcends any fascination with quirky material swaps. Trading a door knob for Shawn's camping stove, for example, becomes an excuse for the once strangers to chat over steak sandwiches and beer. So, while the trades are the unifying element of the book, it isn't really about getting a house; it's about people, relationships and living life to its fullest.' Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Synopsis:

MacDonald posted a red paperclip on Craigslist in an attempt to barter it for a home. Fourteen trades later, he was the proud owner of a house in Canada. This irreverent and insightful odyssey shows a regular guy who sought and found his dreams.

About the Author

Kyle MacDonald first posted one red paperclip in July 2005 and has since become one of the most recognized Internet celebrities on the planet. In addition to continuing to trade for bigger and better objects, Kyle has planted more than 100,000 trees around the globe and delivered over 1,000 pizzas but has eaten only 1 scorpion. His previous publisher was Kinko’s.

What Our Readers Are Saying

Add a comment for a chance to win!
Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
Jennifer Short, March 9, 2008 (view all comments by Jennifer Short)
Kyle Macdonald was out of work and had extra time on his hands. He remembered the games of "bigger, better" he played in high school, and decided to see what he could get in exchange for a red paperclip. He ended his trading by moving into a house he got in exhange for a movie role, but it all started with one red paperclip.

Macdonald had some amazing adventures along the way, incluing being onstage with Alice Cooper!

I've said for years that all it takes to succeed in this world is a good idea, and this book proves it. I also wish that when I was in high school the game of bigger better I played wouldn't have ended with a movie poster, but something spectacular, because I see that the sky is the limit when you are resourceful!
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(3 of 5 readers found this comment helpful)
Andranel, September 22, 2007 (view all comments by Andranel)
This is about more than just trading from a paperclip to a house. This, like No Plot? No Problem? by Chris Baty, is about living a dream. Kyle's style of writing is like stream of consciousness, only you can follow it, for the most part. (I'm still confused about the orange banana.) I guess orange bananas are like that.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No
(13 of 16 readers found this comment helpful)
View all 2 comments

Product Details

ISBN:
9780307353160
Subtitle:
Or How an Ordinary Man Achieved His Dream with the Help of a Simple Office Supply
Author:
Macdonald, Kyle
Author:
MacDonald, Kyle
Publisher:
Three Rivers Press (CA)
Subject:
General
Subject:
E-Commerce - General
Subject:
Electronic Commerce
Subject:
Barter
Publication Date:
August 2007
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
310
Dimensions:
8.22x5.62x.78 in. .94 lbs.
  • back to top
Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.