I was browsing the business section of a bookstore recently when I came across a bright orange book called Never Eat Alone. What also caught my eye about it was that the author’s name was familiar: Keith Ferrazzi. Keith was my year at Yale, and in the same residential college there, Berkeley. To be honest, he did not seem like my type of guy, more red-faced fratboy than the folks with whom I was comfortable. His main goal at the time was to be Republican governor of Pennsylvania. I do not remember having a conversation with him in the four years we ate in the same dining hall. He writes in his book, "if you knew me as a younger man, you may not have liked me."  I wonder whether the people who know meet him now think of him as manipulative, or whether he comes off as more polished.

Nevertheless, on the strength of recognizing his name from twenty years ago, I was curious and picked up the book. I would call it a business networking memoir. Keith was frenetically focused on networking himself into a world of those who matter: CEO’s and famous people and movers and shakers and other status seekers. His thesis, cast in its best light, is that generosity is central to creating useful relationships; that by helping friends connect with other friends, you can create a network that becomes a giant asset to you while helping others.

Notable tips include: "take the first class section on the airplane."

I get the sense that his style may work best on the other Keith Ferrazzi's of the world.  Keith has made business relationship-building into an art form, but it is hard to discern what is authentic about him. I just checked and something is working for him; his book is ranked #267 on Amazon right now.

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