Book Review - The Wolf Of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Disappointed.

The book starts off like a Hollywood screenplay and does hold some promise in the first few pages. Alas this isn't a book about Wall Street! What ensues is a repetition of a series of anecdotes about drugs, hookers and illegal money making schemes of a rather dysfunctional individual.

This is an autobiographical account of trader from the late 80s early 90s yuppie generation who believed the world was his playground and anything that made him more money and brought him pleasure was his for the taking. It's a rather comical account of his life with some truly bizarre incidents that sound that they were totally written for a movie.

There are a few chapters that deal with really gritty financial dealings and probably only those well acquainted with that world would truly appreciate them. Yep, I did enjoy those portions of the book!

The author obviously is recounting his glory days which he later admits weren't his noblest. Nonetheless the absolutely insane shenanigans and over the top experiences of the protagonist are kinda too much to handle.

The last few chapters provide a tad relief from the drug infused lifestyle of the protagonist, but not enough to rid you off the sour taste of the remaining book.

I chose to read this book after catching the trailer of the Martin Scorsese movie adaptation starring Leonardo DiCaprio. So obviously I pictured the talented actor as I was reading this book. However there are a number of chapters in the book where I find it hard to visualise Leo enacting them on screen, but then again he's a great actor, so who knows!

Overall, I'm kinda disappointed with the book and wouldn't recommend it unless you're in the mood to learn how different drugs (prescription or otherwise) can be combined in a perfect balance while you are being given a blow job by a set of high priced hookers aboard a private jet headed to Zurich. On second thought, maybe you'd like reading about that kind of stuff!



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