The Go-Getter: A Story That Tells You How to Be One

By Peter Kyne

The Go-Getter is Kyne's most famous work, first published by William Randolph Hearst in 1921. The story centers around disabled World War I veteran Bill Peck, a worker who must overcome many obstacles in order to build a successful life for himself. At every turn he is thwarted by life's circumstances and must rely on his own tenacity and wits to see him through.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cosimo Classics
• Release date: Mar 1, 2007
• ISBN: 9781616409111

Peter Kyne

American novelist Peter B.Kyne (1880–1957) was born in San Francisco, California. From early on it was clear that he had a gift for writing, and his time in the army during the Spanish-American War and World War I gave him plenty to write about. Kyne’s novels include The Three Godfathers (1913) and Cappy Ricks (1916).

Book preview

BE.

THE GO-GETTER

I

MR. ALDEN P. RICKS, known in Pacific Coast wholesale lumber and shipping circles as Cappy Ricks, had more troubles than a hen with ducklings. He remarked as much to Mr. Skinner, president and general manager of the Ricks Logging & Lumbering Company, the corporate entity which represented Cappy’s vast lumber interests; and he fairly barked the information at Captain Matt Peasley, his son-in-law and also president and manager of the Blue Star Navigation Company, another corporate entity which represented the Ricks interest in the American mercantile marine.

Mr. Skinner received this information in silence. He was not related to Cappy Ricks. But Matt Peasley sat down, crossed his legs and matched glares with his mercurial father-in-law.

"You have troubles! he jeered, with emphasis on the pronoun. Have you got a misery in your back, or is Herbert Hoover the wrong man for Secretary of Commerce?"

Stow your sarcasm, young feller, Cappy shrilled. You know dad-blamed well it isn’t a question of health or politics. It’s the fact that in my old age I find myself totally surrounded by the choicest aggregation of mental duds since Ajax defied the lightning.

Meaning whom?

You and Skinner.

Why, what have we done?

You argued me into taking on the management of twenty-five of those infernal Shipping Board freighters, and no sooner do we have them allocated to us than a near panic hits the country, freight rates go to glory, marine engineers go on strike and every infernal young whelp we send out to take charge of one of our offices in the Orient promptly gets the swelled head and thinks he’s divinely ordained to drink up all the synthetic Scotch whiskey manufactured in Japan for the benefit of thirsty Americans. In my old age you two have forced us into the position of having to fire folks by cable. Why? Because we’re breaking into a game that can’t be played on the home grounds. A lot of our business is so far away we can’t control it.

Matt Peasley leveled an accusing finger at Cappy Ricks. We never argued you into taking over the management of those Shipping Board boats. We argued me into it. I’m the goat. You have nothing to do with it. You retired ten years ago. All the troubles in the marine end of this shop belong on my capable shoulders, old settler.

Theoretically—yes. Actually—no. I hope you do not expect me to abandon mental as well as physical effort. Great Wampus Cats! Am I to be denied a sentimental interest in matters where I have a controlling financial interest? I admit you two boys are running my affairs and ordinarily you run them rather well, but—but—ahem! Harumph-h-h! What’s the matter with you, Matt? And you, also, Skinner? If Matt makes a mistake, it’s your job to remind him of it before the results manifest themselves, is it not? And vice versa. Have you two boobs lost your ability to judge men or did you ever have such ability?

You’re referring to Henderson, of the Shanghai office, I dare say, Mr. Skinner cut in.

"I am, Skinner. And I’m here to remind you that if we’d stuck to our own game, which is coastwise shipping, and had left the trans-Pacific field with its general cargoes to others, we wouldn’t have any Shanghai office at this moment and we would not be pestered by

Reviews for The Go-Getter

[theokester · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

My workplace gave all employees a copy of The Go Getter and encouraged us to read the book and to come up with our own "Blue Vase." There was also apparently a short story by P.G. Wodehouse of the same name and so to avoid confusion I found a couple of places that referenced this book by Kyne as Winning the Blue Vase. Other versions add the (original?) subtitle "A Story that Tells You how to Be One."The book is a very short read (only about 70 pages) and our edition came with an afterword of another ~15 pages of commentary. The story is a parable/fable like tale. It tells the story of war veteran William "Bill" Peck and his efforts to get a job at a Logging & Lumber Company. The company is owned by "Cappy" Ricks but Cappy has delegated out normal management roles to two vice presidents. The book was written and is set in the time immediately following World War One. The book begins with Cappy berating his acting upper management team for their poor choices and their inability to find worthwhile employees. Shortly after that, Peck arrives on the scene asking Cappy for a job. However, he does more than just "ask" for a job. He comes to Cappy without an appointment and basically tells Cappy that Peck is the man for whatever job Cappy wants to throw at him. There are other details as well (Peck had already talked with the other vice-presidents and been turned down, he had a great working knowledge of Cappy's business, etc.) but the short of it is that Cappy is very intrigued by Peck and gives him a chance. However, at the same time, he makes the job as difficult as possible by giving Peck what is considered (as I understood it) the worst sales assignment in the company.I don't want to go through the whole plot with you (it's a short book…and it seems to be in the public domain if you want to read it online for free). But I will say what you've already guessed from the title of the book…Peck continues to impress Cappy and goes on to impress the other vice presidents. At which point, Cappy gives him "the test of the blue vase." The test is a simple personal task that Cappy asks Peck to do, namely to go and purchase a blue vase from a shop window and bring it to Cappy. However Cappy throws all sorts of obstacles in the way to test Peck's ingenuity and resolve.The story is a cute little tale and it does include a number of quippy little comments that can be used as motivational blurbs. The afterward in my edition expounds on the concepts of the book in case you failed to make the leap from the fiction of the story to the moral and practical lesson it's trying to teach. The actual lesson being taught is actually fairly simple and straightforward on paper. It basically involves setting your eye on the prize and doing whatever it takes to get there. In addition it's the idea that you should go above and beyond just the status quo…that you should attempt to exceed expectations, not simply meet them (or worse, fail to meet them). When given an assignment, you should give it your all and do the best you can without excuses. When you see an opportunity, you should leap at the chance to stretch and grow even if it's outside your comfort zone or expertise.Bottom line (as I take it) you should not "settle", you should not "coast." Life should always consist of your best effort, your best talent, your best energy. There will always be obstacles, sometimes more than others. Bill Peck's motto (as taught him by his general in the war) was "it shall be done." Even if he'd never done it before or if nobody had ever done it before, he always went into a task that he could and would finish the task and no matter the obstacles, he continued trying to find a way to complete the task even when others may have given up. He continued after the blue vase even when everything was against him and his allotted time was up. And eventually, he succeeded.This is a fun little read and I can see the reason that employers might want their employees to read it. It's definitely a simple read with a simple message, but it's a worthwhile message.***3 out of 5 stars

[jonathanrbaker-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I finished this book in a couple of hours, but found it helpful. I can see why Dave Ramsey has all of his new hires read the book. If only more workplaces were run in a similar manner!

[knipfty · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Now here is a story about a man that refused to quit; refused to give up on his dream/goals; and did it with integrity. Granted, he was up against some people that lacked some of the same integrity and yet he still manages to win the day. Highly recommended and a short read!