License to Pawn: Deals, Steals, and My Life at the Gold & Silver

Great book. Read it cover to cover on the plane on my way to Vegas. The book has wonderful insights on Rick's beginnings and his struggle to overcome his seizures. The book goes on to discuss their life in San Diego, right down the street from Jack Murphy stadium (Qualcom stadium now) in Mission Valley. The old man comes into the living room one day says "time to move on boys, we just can't make a go of it here anymore." Back then the mother and the old man were into real estate. The family moves to Vegas were Rick talks about how he fought the city about getting a pawn license. Apparently in Clark County the rules are that you have to get a pawn license based on the city's population. So Rick checks in weekly to find out what Las Vegas city's population is. At the time he started calling in, the city's population was 220,000 people(that was back in the late 70's). He called in till the cities population grew to 250,000 people. Apparently Clark County only issues pawn shop licenses for every 50,000 people. So when the cities population grew to 250,000, Rick went to the city's courthouse to get a license and they said they were not issuing licenses. The words that Rick used were "we aren't accepting those", What a crock, so the old man and Rick get a lawyer and fight the city to get a license and succeed. The original location of the pawn shop was downtown on Freemont Street, but then they moved and got zoned to move the Pawn shop to Las Vegas Blvd in 1988. You'll love the story about the local councilman who was against the Harrison's opening the pawnshop and then changed his tune to fully support them. (Guess Brad Pitt has it right in Ocean's 11; in this town your luck can change just that quickly). Pretty interesting story about Corey and Chumlee and how they were on drugs from age 17 to 22 on meth. They used to just sit in a trailer and just do drugs all day. I guess one day Rick and Old Man had them sent to a job program in Reno which did them a lot of good. Corey comes back from the job program to start doing drugs again, but midstream stops doing drugs and swears off of it for life. He starting telling himself every time he wanted to get "high" he would eat a double bacon cheeseburger at Carl's Jr. Back then Corey was about 150lbs. Chumlee also stoped doing drugs and both of them starting to work for Rick. One of Rick's moneymaking ideas was buying a Quizno's by the federal building downtown Las Vegas. Chumlee and Corey worked there for a while. The thought was that having this business would do well since many other restaurants were father away and federal workers would want to order sandwiches from this Quizno's. But Rick failed to check into the food court that was built inside the federal building and because of this the business failed. Oh well, good try. The way the old man is on the show is how his story is told in the book. He is pretty "crusty" and is comes through in his section of the book. However, he is a good man, takes care of family and served the Navy proudly for 20 years. So the guy you see on TV, is the same guy in the book. One story that the old man is very familiar with is their recognizable customers. There is a story about a guy who came into the shop every day and used to do chores for "buck". The story is great about how he carts a load of alcohol up and down Las Vegas Blvd for "buck". The story ends with him getting into a rather unusual act with "peaches"(Corey's cousin") and Corey has to tell the guy he has to leave. The guy dies 6 months after that. Pretty sad. Rick ends the book with a some his thoughts and people he has run into. Like he says in "Pawn Stars", "one thing I learned after 21 years, you never know that is going to walk into that door". For anyone who loves the show will love this book. Highly recommend.

Love this book. Couldn't put it down and read it in a few evenings. Just to set expectations: I don't like/watch ANY reality shows except for my recently discovered vice, Pawn Stars. Love the show, love the cast, love the stories. This book gives you a peek into their lives, and it's amazing/inspiring to hear what they have lived through in order to get where they are today. These guys have backgrounds not to be proud of, yet they share them with us, and they've managed to rise above them to become TV stars who feel more like friends. If you like the show, you'll love the stories in this book. If you've never watched the show, you'll still find it very entertaining. While I'm sure there were some ghostwriters, or at least very hands-on editors involved here, you never feel like these words came from anyone else. You hear Rick's voice in these stories, and in the chapters by Corey and Chumlee as well. A lot of care went into capturing their personalities in print. It's hard for me to award 5 stars to something that's obviously not high literature, but I strongly recommend it. My only wish, and I can understand why they didn't fulfill it, is that there are some situations in the show that absolutely MUST have been staged... characters doing things that are so obviously going to get them in trouble, you know it had to be for the sake of the cameras. I would have liked to have read a little backstage revelations on some of these shenanigans. Keep it up Pawn Stars!

This book is excellent. Rick Harrison is a smart, interesting dude and he's led quite a life. People give the show a bad rap saying they screw people over which honestly isn't true. Offering 50% of full retail is a pretty good deal considering the fact they are often buying things that nobody else is. You get a look at to how the shop became what it us. Rick used his knowledge of history to turn his shop into something very different than what the major pawn chains could be. He made a name for himself by being able to accurately appraise rarities, old guitars, and all manner of other things other pawnbroker chains didnt have a clue about. That's a smart business, plain and simple. Related to that, Rick Harrison thinks about money in a way I always have, and I learned a lot about thinking outside the box to make money. He talks about capitalizing on fads, and other unconventional ways to generate cash. I felt from a very young age that just working a job for a paycheck seemed incredibly limited. Why not make money using every avenue available to you? That's what the Harrisons do. Anything can be part of their business as long as it's profitable. And it's helped them excel at making the most of their fame. By the way, the show was Ricks idea and he worked for years to get it made. Knowing their success isn't because of the whim of a tv producer is a testament to the acumen Rick Harrison possesses. Corey, Chumlee and the Old Man each get a chapter as well and they're all more insightful people than you might give them credit for as they are definitely playing up their personalities on tv. It's a very enjoyable book and it's full of cool stories and bits of information you didn't know you wanted to know. A highlight is a story about learning nickels could be scrapped for more than 5 cents, and going on a mad scramble to obtain nickles. Spoiler alert, it turns out you aren't allowed to do that. But hearing about the process of having an unusual idea like this makes you realize there is money to be made everywhere you look if you can think about the situation the right way. I love this book.

perfect !!! thank you !!!

EXCELLENT!!!

This was a very enjoyable read, I have followed the T.V. Show religiously and enjoyed it enormously and the book did not disappoint in any way, I was quite taken aback to learn about Rick's early life, and Corey too it was a real eye opener with quite a few shocks, the old man (who I have a soft spot for) Comes across as a very hard working devoted family man , so a very informative , hugely enjoyable book, well done Rick!!! Would love another book possible about the clients over the years?

Super bouquin. Dommage qu'il ne soit pas traduit en français pour les aficionados non-bilingues des Rois des enchères que nous voyons sur la TNT, chaînes D8 et 17. C'est un complément utile pour une compréhension plus pointue de la série.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the Harrison family, and Chumlee, and how they got to be where they are today. As a fan of the programme this was a really interesting read and as well as finding out more about those involved in the business, I learned some really interesting facts. My only complaint would be that it was a bit of a short autobiography, I definitely think Rick could have shared more of his experiences, still, a great read for anyone who likes the show.

The story of Rick Harrison and its Pawn Shop and crew. The book is fun to read and full of surprises : I've read it in 3 days !!