cover image The Salesman of the Century

The Salesman of the Century

Ron Popeil. Delacorte Press, $23.95 (306pp) ISBN 978-0-385-31378-0

With the charm of a born spiel-spinner, an eye for low-priced gadgets people will buy and a robust sense of self-esteem (``I'm now a celebrity''), Popeil, by his own account, successfully worked county-fair midways as a young inventor-salesman and, eventually, on video home-shopping channels, became a multimillionaire acclaimed on 20/20 as ``the grandaddy of TV hucksters.'' Among his top-selling items: spray-on relief for baldness, an inside-the-shell egg-scrambler and a pasta-making machine that comes with a bagel-cutter that allows you to quarter a bagel so it will fit in your toaster. Popeil provides remarkably detailed information on product innovation and effective marketing, along with many often overlooked details of patent law, copyright, FCC regulations, manufacture at home and abroad, pricing, order fulfillment, publicity and advertising. A behind-the-scenes, fun-to-read look at the basic American business of selling. Graham is a TV columnist for USA Today. Illustrations. (Oct.)