Review of Burn Zones
Posted: 09 Jul 2025, 10:24
[Following is a volunteer review of "Burn Zones" by Jorge P. Newbery.]
Burn Zones: Playing Life's Bad Hands is flawlessly written by Jorge P. Newbery. Jorge was quite the young man and began his empire by simply being the local paperboy. He was only seven years old. Even then he was very savvy businesswise. Being as smart and insightful as he was, he doubled his income by distributing the opposing newspaper at the same time. It was at this time that he developed the idea of burn zones. His first burn zone was when it would rain while he was delivering the newspapers on his bike. He would carefully wrap the newspapers to keep them dry but had no way of keeping himself dry. So, he would ride throughout his assigned neighborhood and become soaking wet. Once his route was complete and he returned home, his mother would have a nice hot bath waiting for him. He considered this his reward for hard work well done.
He went from delivering the local newspapers to becoming the local ice cream man at the young age of eleven. Nothing seemed to hinder him.
By the still young age of 17, he had grown his work experience from being a busboy to being an entrepreneur and creating the Youth Manifesto recordings. He enjoyed the punk rock scene and interviewed the local bands and got their opinions on everything that affected them in social circumstances.
During this time, he also faced prejudice in his neighborhood. The neighbors would refer to his family as the gypsies, and they didn't welcome the new neighbors, who were an African American family. His family made friends with the new neighbors and welcomed the punk bands into their home. Jorge could never understand why people treated other people badly. From a young age, he had learned from his parents that you should treat people the way you want to be treated.
It was his trust in people that would become his demise. As a young, trusting promoter and record distributor, he would extend credit to some of the other promoters and store owners. They in turn would often not pay back the loans, or only pay a portion of them. The failure to pay back the loans would cause a cash flow problem for young Jorge. While he had a great work ethic and was honest and treated people like he wanted to be treated, he had to learn the hard way that some other people were not as hardworking as he was, nor as honest. Hard to believe that all of this had happened by the time he was seventeen.
As with any young man, his interests would change and grow into different areas. You'll need to read this wonderful book to find out what happens to Jorge and his burn zones. I really enjoyed reading this story of his life and entrepreneurship. I found there was nothing I would change in telling his story. The editing of this book is flawless. I found no grammatical errors. For all of us that have ever experienced a burn zone, I recommend this book. I really enjoyed learning about the author and his work ethic. There is much to be learned from his story. And for these reasons, I rate this book 5 stars out of 5 stars.
******
Burn Zones
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Burn Zones: Playing Life's Bad Hands is flawlessly written by Jorge P. Newbery. Jorge was quite the young man and began his empire by simply being the local paperboy. He was only seven years old. Even then he was very savvy businesswise. Being as smart and insightful as he was, he doubled his income by distributing the opposing newspaper at the same time. It was at this time that he developed the idea of burn zones. His first burn zone was when it would rain while he was delivering the newspapers on his bike. He would carefully wrap the newspapers to keep them dry but had no way of keeping himself dry. So, he would ride throughout his assigned neighborhood and become soaking wet. Once his route was complete and he returned home, his mother would have a nice hot bath waiting for him. He considered this his reward for hard work well done.
He went from delivering the local newspapers to becoming the local ice cream man at the young age of eleven. Nothing seemed to hinder him.
By the still young age of 17, he had grown his work experience from being a busboy to being an entrepreneur and creating the Youth Manifesto recordings. He enjoyed the punk rock scene and interviewed the local bands and got their opinions on everything that affected them in social circumstances.
During this time, he also faced prejudice in his neighborhood. The neighbors would refer to his family as the gypsies, and they didn't welcome the new neighbors, who were an African American family. His family made friends with the new neighbors and welcomed the punk bands into their home. Jorge could never understand why people treated other people badly. From a young age, he had learned from his parents that you should treat people the way you want to be treated.
It was his trust in people that would become his demise. As a young, trusting promoter and record distributor, he would extend credit to some of the other promoters and store owners. They in turn would often not pay back the loans, or only pay a portion of them. The failure to pay back the loans would cause a cash flow problem for young Jorge. While he had a great work ethic and was honest and treated people like he wanted to be treated, he had to learn the hard way that some other people were not as hardworking as he was, nor as honest. Hard to believe that all of this had happened by the time he was seventeen.
As with any young man, his interests would change and grow into different areas. You'll need to read this wonderful book to find out what happens to Jorge and his burn zones. I really enjoyed reading this story of his life and entrepreneurship. I found there was nothing I would change in telling his story. The editing of this book is flawless. I found no grammatical errors. For all of us that have ever experienced a burn zone, I recommend this book. I really enjoyed learning about the author and his work ethic. There is much to be learned from his story. And for these reasons, I rate this book 5 stars out of 5 stars.
******
Burn Zones
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon