Ben Mezrich's book Rigged is a fast, moderately entertaining read from the same author who wrote Bringing Down the House - the story of the MIT Blackjack team (a great read). This is my second attempt to read a Mezrich book and get the same entertainment value I got out of House (the other was Busting Vegas). Unfortunately, neither Rigged nor Busting Vegas were as good as House. In short - read Bringing Down the House again and skip Rigged. For more, see below.
The title of this post is a bit of a misnomer - I never actually finished The Last Tycoons by William Cohen. The author's 750 page account of the history of investment bank Lazard Freres is a reasonably good read - but no human should be forced to read 750 pages about an investment bank. As a friend who works at Lazard put it to me: "Why would anyone want to read a 700 page book on Lazard?" Putting that basic question aside, it is an interesting read - if you've got the time to work through 750 pages. For more comments, see below.
While on vacation this week I read Alan Deutschman's "A Tale of Two Valleys: Wine Wealth, and the Battle for the Good Life in Napa and Sonoma." As you can tell from other books listed on this blog, I enjoy reading books on wine and the history surrounding the wine industry (House of Mondavi is still tops on my list). Unfortunately, this isn't one of the better ones.
Over a few flights and late nights I recently finished George Taber's Judgment of Paris, The Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine. It's a very well written book and quite frankly an incredible expansion (300 pages) of what was originally a one day, 2,000-word writing assignment for Taber, who was writing for Time Magazine at the time.
If you are a golfer and enjoy watching and reading about the PGA Tour, Chris Lewis' The Scorecard Always Lies is an entertaining read.
Continue reading "Recently Read: The Scorecard Always Lies" »
On my way to Chicago to speak at HostingCon, I finished reading Eric Jackson's The PayPal Wars. Jackson was an early marketing/product manager at PayPal, and tells a reasonable account of the company's early days through IPO and sale to eBay (the book was published in 2004).
I wouldn't put this on the "all time greats" list, but it was an interesting read while traveling, and it provides some decent insight as to the founding of PayPal through IPO to eventual sale to eBay. All in all, worth reading - if you are interested in startups, venture-financed success stories, etc. Caveat: it reads like it was written by a young marketing guy who was working for his first venture-backed startup, which it was.
If you enjoy wine and are interested in the history of Napa Valley as a winegrowing region and/or the Mondavi saga, Julia Flynn Siler's House of Mondavi is a great read. The book goes back to 1906 when Cesare Mondavi, Robert's father, arrived in the U.S., rolls through the public feuding between Peter and Robert over Charles Krug, and takes the reader right up through the acquisition of Robert Mondavi the public entity by the Sands Brothers. Siler is a former Wall Street Journal reporter, and she really appears to have been thorough in her work - the book presents a ton of data and is clearly the result of 100's of interviews with the principal players. It's well written and hard to put down.
After a streak of 2 bad reads, I actually enjoyed reading John Feinstein's Tales from Q School: Inside Golf's Fifth Major. If you are a golfer, and you're a fan of Feinstein's books (The Open and Let Me Tell You A Story are two of my favorite all time reads), you'll enjoy this book.
Talk about not living up to the hype. I grabbed John Perkins' Confessions of an Economic Hit Man hoping to hear tales of global economic warfare backed by hard facts about the U.S. government's (not so) secret relationships with the Saudis and others. With apologies for being overly critical, what I got was one man's relatively pathetic apology for a) attending a private high school, b) cheating on his wife and getting divorced, and c) feeling guilty about his job.
I have no doubt that the Bushes and other senior players in our government have done things we wouldn't be proud of in other countries. And I'd like to learn more about what they are. Unfortunately this book doesn't provide any hard facts or insights that any reader of global newspapers and magazines (see: New York Times, The Economist, etc.) wouldn't already be aware of.
Feeling like I had missed something, I went on Amazon to see what other reviewers were saying, and got pretty much the same. As one reviewer put it "if you are looking for supporting facts, there are none." Sorry, can't recommend this one.
Continue reading "Recently Read: Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" »
I read Ben Mezrich's book Bringing Down the House a few years ago and loved it. If you haven't read it, it's a great read about a group of kids at MIT who take a team approach to counting cards and winning millions in Vegas - and it's supposedly based on a true story.
Unfortunately, if you've read House, I'm not sure why you'd read Busting Vegas. It's entertaining, but it's basically the same story with a few shifts in the plot. I read the entire book on a flight to London. Not a bad way to spend a flight, but I wouldn't put this at the top of my reading list.
Warning: This book has nothing to do with technology, venture capital or business of any sort. But if you have a daughter, Kevin Leman's book What a Difference a Daddy Makes is worth reading. Some of it is "child raising 101," but it's a helpful reminder of what you can do to make an impact on your daughter's life, and the stories Leman tells are entertaining. Bonus: if you're married, your wife will love the fact you're reading this book...
When I saw Greg Norman's book in the airport book store, I thought - golf, business, and wine - sounds like a solid combination to me. An entertaining read if you like golf, but not the most well-written book I've ever read. If you're interested in Norman and/or how he built his $300M+ empire, and can ignore some weak writing, it's worth the relatively quick read.
Dealing with Darwin, the latest entry in Geoffrey Moore's collection of books about the technology space is a good read, assuming you liked Crossing the Chasm and his other works. If nothing else, there are some good reference materials to utilize when making the case for innovation within your own company. The Cisco snapshots are pretty interesting and detailed, bringing life to some of his otherwise rather technical scenarios. This isn't a book you'll put down with a passionate "go read this now!" reference for friends (see my note on Setting the Table or In an Uncertain World for that), but it's a good read for those involved with innovation in a larger organization.
While on vacation last week I had a chance to read Danny Meyer's new book Setting the Table. I thought it was a great read. If you like food and wine, and/or enjoy reading stories about successful entrepreneurs, you'll enjoy the book. There are some good reviews on Amazon which go into more depth than I have time to here.
Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner's book Freakonomics is well worth the read. It's not going to change your life, but it is an entertaining (fairly quick) read with some thought-provoking concepts (including a position that the drop in crime in the 90's was due to the legalization of abortion in the 70's, an in-depth look at the finances of a Chicago crack dealer and his gang, and a data-driven position that sumo wrestlers are cheating). The latest edition of the book has excerpts from the blog the author and economist maintain - one of my new favorite sites. Next book: Danny Meyer's Setting the Table.
Jonathan Knee's book The Accidental Investment Banker is a moderately entertaining read about his career on Wall Street, covering roughly ten years at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley during the 1990's and early 2000's.
Continue reading "Recently Read: The Accidental Investment Banker" »
In an Uncertain World by Robert Rubin is one of my favorite all time reads. Walks through his history at Goldman Sachs and covers in depth some of the major economic events of the Clinton era.
John Battelle's book The Search is a great read - high level history of the search space, as well as reasonable depth and insight into the founding and rise of Google. Worth a read.
Ted Fishman's book China Inc. is worth the read. Very good overview of the history of the country's political system as it ties to the economy, and rise to today's strong presence in the global economy. Includes the typical fare - US companies losing jobs to China - as well as statistics and insight that are valuable to anyone trying to learn more about how China's rise will impact his/her business.
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