Book Reviews

To Have and Have Not

Hemingway bounces wildly between a bunch of different perspectives and somehow covers an enormous number of ideas in just 180 pages. Race relations, socialism, rebellion, crime, sex, greed, wealth, laziness, family life, gender roles, violence, nature, work, power, etc....

4-stars

The Billionaire's Apprentice: The Rise of The Indian-American Elite and The Fall of The Galleon Hedge Fund

Details the Galleon Group insider trading scandal of 2009 and the central role that the Indian American immigrants played on both sides of the case. The "twice-blessed" wave of Indian immigrants hustled their way to positions of wealth and power, sometimes cutting corners along the way....

4-stars

Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue

How does one conduct a successful conspiracy? "Conspiracy" is a beach read for the grand strategy set. Written like a political thriller, it traces the origin and execution of Peter Thiel's secret crusade to take down Gawker....

4-stars

Red Sparrow series

The "Red Sparrow" spy thriller trilogy falls squarely into the "guilty pleasure" category for me... and I got a lot of guilty pleasure out of it!...

4-stars

Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life

Taleb strikes again with "Skin in the Game". This incendiary book is the source of his notorious "Intellectual Yet Idiot" essay, as well as several other fiery gems, such as "How to Legally Own Another Person."...

5-stars

Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore Banking and Tax Havens

Reveals the mechanisms that are systematically shifting economic burdens from the wealthy to the poor and how this cheating destroys accountability between governing elites and the population at large, especially in developing nations....

2-stars

Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil

Mueller's argument is essentially that 1) the olive oil we eat now is crap and 2) this is because major players in the food business are systematically adulterating "extra virgin" olive oil in ways undetected and unpunished by the authorities....

3-stars

Against Nature

A book with no plot, just a deeply unsympathetic main character whose defining feature is his overwhelming malaise. In some ways it felt like an aristocratic, erudite precursor to "The Catcher in the Rye"...

2-stars

The Ice Man: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer

"The Ice Man" has the distinction of being the second most disturbing book I have ever read (I doubt anyone will be displacing Bret Easton Ellis's "American Psycho" any time soon)....

2-stars

How to Beat The Police Interrogation: Learn Their Dirty Tricks & Tools

Never confess, don't talk more than you are legally obligated to. Besides its brevity, this book's only redeeming feature is a profane sense of humor (including frequent references to the "Graybar Hotel" a.k.a jail). Several of the tactics, including the "shark card" gambit, were also noteworthy....

4-stars

I, Claudius

Graves transports us back to an Ancient Rome whirling with intrigue, grandeur, and violence. As we delve into the depraved lifestyles of the Roman elite, Claudius narrates the book in a delightful tone, full of witty observations, backhanded compliments, and snide quips throughout....

3-stars

Kingpin: How One Hacker Took Over the Billion-Dollar Cybercrime Underground

Explores the early days of large-scale credit card theft, detailing the mechanics of how hackers stole credit card numbers, manufactured fake cards, and employed a team of buyers to make fraudulent purchases with the cards....

4-stars

Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man’s Fight for Justice

Browder documents his fight against crooked oligarchs and his long campaign for justice for one of his lawyers, Sergei Magnitsky, who was murdered while in Russian detention....

4-stars

The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money

GMU prof Bryan Caplan recoils in horror at the low societal ROI of our trillion-dollar annual investment in education (for comparison, Caplan notes, we spend only $700 billion on the dreaded "military industrial complex" annually)...

annual-focus

2018 Focus: Crime and Punishment

Heists, smuggling, white collar, deception, corruption, and violence - this year's reading theme is "Crime and Punishment." Let's get cracking....