Unplugged: Adventures from MTV to Timbuktu
Autor Tom Frestonen Limba Engleză Hardback – 4 dec 2025
In this entertaining and freewheeling memoir, media mogul Tom Freston takes us behind the scenes of his adventurous, globe-trotting life—from hitchhiking around the world, to running a clothing export company out of India and Afghanistan, to cofounding MTV and taking it around the world, eventually becoming CEO of Viacom.
Tom Freston’s path to the C-suite was decidedly non-traditional. After getting his MBA, he bartended his way across the United States and the Caribbean, which sparked a lifelong passion for travel.
After a brief stint in advertising, he dropped out to cross the Sahara Desert, ending up in Afghanistan and India, where he stayed for eight years. There he launched Hindu Kush, a fashion company that designed and manufactured collections of contemporary clothing for export.
Freston crafted a life around his two passions: music and travel. He joined the small team that launched MTV and successfully climbed the ladder at Viacom, eventually overseeing not just MTV but also Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, VH1, CMT and much more, placing him among some of the greatest cultural influencers of the twentieth century in the heyday of cable television.
In this thoroughly unique memoir of risk-taking, cultural exchange, and rule-defying, Freston takes us along on his inspirational and colorful journey of a life lived on his own terms.
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Livrare economică 23 ianuarie-04 februarie 26
Specificații
ISBN-10: 1668089793
Pagini: 320
Ilustrații: 16-page 4-C insert
Dimensiuni: 152 x 229 x 25 mm
Greutate: 0.54 kg
Editura: Gallery Books
Colecția Gallery Books
Notă biografică
Tom Freston is a cofounder of MTV and the former CEO of Viacom, where he oversaw Paramount Pictures. After launching a successful clothing export company out of Afghanistan and India, Freston transitioned into the media landscape, helping found MTV and bringing it to international fame in more than 150 countries. Before his Viacom roles, he ran MTV Networks for seventeen years, overseeing Nickelodeon, VH1, Comedy Central, and other legendary networks. He is a board member of Imagine Entertainment and a board member emeritus of both the American Museum of Natural History and the think tank New America. He currently serves as Board Chair of The ONE Campaign, an anti-poverty advocacy organization focusing on Africa.
Recenzii
“This is a brilliant business book wrapped inside of a wild adventure story. Funny, insightful, and filled with colorful characters, it tells the story of how Tom and his gang created MTV, built a multibillion-dollar company, and changed both the music and television business. He broke rules, took risks, made amazing friends, and had a hell of a ride, from Manhattan to Timbuktu." —Walter Isaacson
“Only Tom Freston could give us a magical evocation of the joys of travel—to Afghanistan, to Burma, to Mali and Morocco—while also sharing a front-seat view of life at the top of both Hollywood and MTV. He evokes foreign wonders with a vividness and precision I can only envy, and he shows us how a big-hearted and maverick spirit can throw open the most unexpected doors. Unplugged is pure delight--a history lesson, an adventure story and a handbook on how to succeed in business all at once." —Pico Iyer
"Tom Freston hasn’t just lived life Unplugged--he’s lived it full throttle. From designing and exporting clothes in India and Afghanistan to co-founding MTV and becoming CEO of Viacom, he broke the rules and made his own luck. This memoir takes you along for the ride as Freston comes of age during the Vietnam war and remains a central figure amidst some of the most important cultural influencers over the past fifty years." —Lee Woodruff
“Lively, inventive, charming, and often exhilarating. An enjoyable telling of a life well lived.” —Rory Stewart
"Tom Frestons’s Unplugged is the most thrilling rock & roll literary ride of this era, full of excitement and zany counterculture cool, spiced with his razor sharp observations and quick wit. The adventures never cease.” —Fab 5 Freddy
"Tom Freston had led the most enviable and enjoyable media career imaginable, shaping popular culture and influencing music taste like few other figures in recent times. He also knows how to tell a great story. The result is an extraordinary memoir, ranging across many cultural worlds and several continents. Freston has not just helped shape the modern media landscape; he has done so while remaining personally level-headed and likeable. Unplugged is as droll as it is revealing, as gossipy as it indiscrete and as warm as it is witty and wise." —William Dalrymple
“This freewheeling debut memoir… is equal parts industry tell-all, escapist travelogue, and glittering glimpse into the golden age of music videos….It’s a memorable ride.” —Publishers Weekly
“This book is something different: a cheerfully optimistic look at the life and career of a man whose path to the business world was somewhat unconventional…. Music and pop-culture fans will appreciate Freston’s account of the origins of MTV …. Freston is impressively self-aware…. An unexpectedly charming and self-effacing business memoir.” —Kirkus
“Like a cat with nine lives, Freston charges through a drama-filled life, leaving counterculture entertainment sprawling in his wake… With pacing resembling a page-turning thriller…truly, there is never a dull moment…. A fun and fascinating memoir.” —Booklist
“The latest in a recent run of must-read memoirs from media moguls, this book by MTV co-founder Tom Freston shares the story of how a peripatetic young man became one of the world’s most influential creative thinkers, and the surprising lessons a career that went from bars to boardrooms taught him.” —Town & Country
Descriere
In this entertaining and freewheeling memoir, media mogul Tom Freston takes us behind the scenes of his adventurous, globe-trotting life—from hitchhiking around the world, to running a clothing export company out of India and Afghanistan, to cofounding MTV and taking it around the world, eventually becoming CEO of Viacom.