What if, in an attempt to create a bomb-proof container, you instead created a device with immense destructive power? Two authors, born over a half-century apart and writing completely different kinds of books, could tell you first-hand.

Sammy Glick is a powerful, loathsome, complicated man. Born in Hollywood from the mind of author Budd Schulberg in his seminal work, What Makes Sammy Run?, Sammy sprang to existence in the 1940s as a cautionary tale of ambition, greed, and hubris run amok. Somewhere along the way, as the 20^th century morphed from the united age of WWII to the cynical era of Vietnam, Sammy himself morphed into something of a role model – not only for wannabe Hollywood executives, but also for up-and-coming business executives in a hurry to get to the top. All of this to the horror of Sammy’s creator, Budd Schulberg: