Ray & Joan

August 22, 2016
Golden Arches aficionados worldwide have been scarfing down their Big Macs and fries in ignorance of the tumultuous, glamorous love story of its founder, Ray Kroc, and his third wife, Joan. This glitzy history by journalist Napoli (Radio Shangri-La) follows the titular couple through the first years of the legendary company, the growing popularity of the McDonald’s brand, Ray’s early career and marriages to (and divorces from) his first and second wives, and all the way to Joan’s heroic philanthropic efforts before and following Ray’s death. They met when she was a restaurant pianist and he was an ambitious, newly wealthy businessman. She supported his business efforts in a way he hadn’t experienced with his previous wives, and their long, happy marriage weathered success, lawsuits, and a changing business world. Joan substantially supported myriad causes in her lifetime, notably embarking on a dedicated crusade to help people struggling with alcoholism. Napoli’s energetic, slightly tabloidesque narrative style make this a must-read for anyone who loves a good love story behind a business success. Agent: Dan Conaway, Writers House.

A dual biography of the man who made McDonald's ubiquitous and his third wife, who, after his death, spent the last two decades of her life becoming one of most generous philanthropists in American history.Journalist Napoli (Radio Shangri-la: What I Learned in Bhutan, the Happiest Kingdom on Earth, 2011) intended to write a sole biography of Joan Kroc (1928-2003), but she wisely decided to first document the life of Ray Kroc (1902-1984), who rose to become a billionaire via fast food after decades of marginal success as a traveling salesman hawking various products. Joan Beverly Mansfield Smith was playing piano and singing in a St. Paul, Minnesota, lounge when she caught the attention of her future husband, more than 25 years her senior. The romance was complicated not just by the age difference, but also due to the fact that Ray and Joan were both already married, with children in the mix. Ray would not be denied, although the road to remarriage took years to pave. Joan felt passion as well, apparently not fully comprehending Ray's alcoholism, his authoritarian personality, his unpleasant prejudices against almost everybody different from himself, and his inability to wrest attention from the business of expanding McDonald's. Publicly, Joan mostly suffered in silence until Ray's death, but behind the scenes, she often went about her life in a passive-aggressive manner. Napoli skillfully assembles the saga of their lives as a couple and just as skillfully portrays Joan's blossoming as a philanthropic force after Ray's death. She donated hundreds of millions of dollars to causes he would have vetoed, including hospice care, alcoholism treatment, AIDS research, Salvation Army recreation centers in low-income areas, National Public Radio, and much more. In the author's telling, Ray never emerges as a sympathetic man, but Joan slowly morphs into a sympathetic heiress. A book characterized by deep research and a seamless weaving together of the details of different lives. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from September 15, 2016
When it comes to odd couples, it may be that Ray and Joan Kroc were the 1-percenters' poster pair, according to journalist Napoli's (Radio Shangri-La, 2011) in-depth examination of the man who turned McDonald's into a mega-money machine and the much younger woman he eventually married. Kroc, something of an open bookone he wrote about how to micro-manage fast-food shopswas married when he fell for the diminutive pianist Joan, as was she. It took a decade for them to wed. Napoli tells the stories of that time of longing and waiting in great detail, and then, suddenly, access to their private lives ends. Joan once filed for divorce, but the petition was inexplicably and quickly withdrawn. Clues to their troubles can be detected in the form of Joan's personal commitment to the treatment of alcoholism and its effect on family, which suggests that Ray had a substance-abuse problem. What is clear is that once he died, Joan transitioned from being a model conservative wife to a progressive and extraordinarily philanthropic leader who proceeded to spread Ray's McWealth as far and as wide as it and her generous nature could reach. Napoli provides a fascinating look at the founding couple behind a world-altering corporation and far-reaching generosity.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

June 15, 2016

In the 1950s, salesman Ray Kroc wrested control of a successful burger stand from the original owners and turned McDonald's into the golden-arched fast-food phenomenon it has been for decades. Meanwhile, third wife Joan followed her fierce philanthropic instincts and donated more than $3 billion to various causes. The late-summer release of The Founder, a film about the Krocs starring Michael Keaton and Linda Cardellini, will give this book a boost.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2016

It's hard to remember a time when McDonald's was not available in every town across America. Yet all colossal corporations have a beginning. Journalist Napoli (Radio Shangri-La) takes us back to when McDonald's was a small hamburger stand to explore the lives of Joan (1928-2003) and Ray (1902-84) Kroc and the origins and unlikely rise of the company's empire, which Ray joined in 1954. The author does an outstanding job of connecting these three stories in a way that makes sense and is engaging, as all are thoroughly interwoven. Joan, the book's ultimate focus, was a philanthropist, crusader, and humanitarian who used her money and influence to make a difference where she could. Her contributions, however, would not have existed without the success of McDonald's and the fortune her husband left behind after his death. To understand Joan, readers must understand Ray. Napoli clearly addresses the flaws of these larger-than-life characters while also endearing them to audiences. VERDICT A great book that will cause readers to never look at McDonald's the same way again. [See Prepub Alert, 5/23/16.]--Sonnet Ireland, St. Tammany Parish Pub. Lib., Mandeville, LA

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 1, 2016
A dual biography of the man who made McDonald's ubiquitous and his third wife, who, after his death, spent the last two decades of her life becoming one of most generous philanthropists in American history.Journalist Napoli (Radio Shangri-la: What I Learned in Bhutan, the Happiest Kingdom on Earth, 2011) intended to write a sole biography of Joan Kroc (1928-2003), but she wisely decided to first document the life of Ray Kroc (1902-1984), who rose to become a billionaire via fast food after decades of marginal success as a traveling salesman hawking various products. Joan Beverly Mansfield Smith was playing piano and singing in a St. Paul, Minnesota, lounge when she caught the attention of her future husband, more than 25 years her senior. The romance was complicated not just by the age difference, but also due to the fact that Ray and Joan were both already married, with children in the mix. Ray would not be denied, although the road to remarriage took years to pave. Joan felt passion as well, apparently not fully comprehending Ray's alcoholism, his authoritarian personality, his unpleasant prejudices against almost everybody different from himself, and his inability to wrest attention from the business of expanding McDonald's. Publicly, Joan mostly suffered in silence until Ray's death, but behind the scenes, she often went about her life in a passive-aggressive manner. Napoli skillfully assembles the saga of their lives as a couple and just as skillfully portrays Joan's blossoming as a philanthropic force after Ray's death. She donated hundreds of millions of dollars to causes he would have vetoed, including hospice care, alcoholism treatment, AIDS research, Salvation Army recreation centers in low-income areas, National Public Radio, and much more. In the authors telling, Ray never emerges as a sympathetic man, but Joan slowly morphs into a sympathetic heiress. A book characterized by deep research and a seamless weaving together of the details of different lives.

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.