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Rigged: The True Story of an Ivy League Kid Who Changed the World of Oil, from Wall Street to Dubai
by
Ben Mezrich
After conquering the hallowed halls of Harvard Business School, an Italian-American kid from the streets of Brooklyn decides to take on the testosterone-fueled Merc Exchange in lower Manhattan--where billions of dollars in oil money trade hands every week and where fistfights are known to break out on the trading floor.
Soon our hero is living the good life in the gold-l
...morePaperback, 294 pages
Published
August 1st 2008
by Harper Perennial
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Chazz
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Recommends it for:
peoplo who like hearing about other people's sexy jobs
The book is more promise than delivery. Mezrich writes in an interesting style, but at bottom, I don't really believe what the protagonist accomplished actually will change the world. On the other hand, all things Dubai really are pretty fascinating, so the book wasn't all bad, either.
The sales pitch on this book caught my eye cause I used to intern at a commodities trading company after my sophmore year in college, so I was curious to learn more about commodities trading.
The book itself was well written, but lacked a little more excitement. Though I burned through the book in a week, it didn't have quite the excitement as I felt reading Monkey Business (About Ibanking) or Liars Poker (Securities Trading).
I did learn some cool things about what effec...more
The book itself was well written, but lacked a little more excitement. Though I burned through the book in a week, it didn't have quite the excitement as I felt reading Monkey Business (About Ibanking) or Liars Poker (Securities Trading).
I did learn some cool things about what effec...more
A true story about a young Ivy league kid who goes to work on the New York Mercantile Exchange. He then is instrumental in setting up an Exchange in Dubai. I learned a lot about the Mercantile Exchange. The only thing I knew about it before reading this book was from the movie Trading Places. Seems to be a sophisticated casino. Also learned about Dubai. Sadly enough I knew only that it was in the Mideast. Sounds like an incredible place that will be very trendy and popular in the years to...more
Enjoyable read - gave it 4 stars because it sucked me in quickly, read like beach blanket fiction and made the industry that I work in completely accessible to anyone. And considering they have sold the movie rights to it, I suspect people who are NOT in my industry would enjoy the true story as well. It basically had the rags to riches theme, along with the underdog vs the establishment theme, along with the sex and money and intrigue themes that capture the imagination and get the blood racing...more
The oil exchange is a fascinating topic I knew nothing about, but that didn't seem to matter. The entertainment value that Mezrich puts into his books is what makes them...even though the ending of this one was a little ho hum. This book tells the rags to riches story of a bunch of guys from Queens & Brooklyn who make it big trading oil on the Merc Exchange in NYC, specifically following main character David Russo, a guy in his early 20's who helps develop an oil exchange in Dubai by seducing sk...more
Picked this up on my way home for Thanksgiving and finished it before I landed. It's about this bright kid who got his MBA from Harvard and somehow found himself as the VP for Strategy at the New York Merchantile Exchange a few months later. He teamed up with a counterpart in Dubai to create an Oil Exchange, the first of its kind in the Middle East. The exchange is suppossed to bring transparency and accountability to middle-eastern oil prices which could have HUGE implications for global stabil...more
I loved this book! I read it in two days and was totally intrigued the whole time.
I am a sucker for stories of rags to riches- young and passionate people who want to change the world and work their asses off to get there against insurmountable odds. It's the american dream. And the best part? Its a true story!
The main character, David Russo (name changed from the actual guy, whose name is John D'Agostino) is a Italian-American Harvard grad from Brooklyn who is a hardworking, ve...more
I am a sucker for stories of rags to riches- young and passionate people who want to change the world and work their asses off to get there against insurmountable odds. It's the american dream. And the best part? Its a true story!
The main character, David Russo (name changed from the actual guy, whose name is John D'Agostino) is a Italian-American Harvard grad from Brooklyn who is a hardworking, ve...more
"Rigged" follows the same non-fiction novel style as "Ugly Americans" and "Bringing Down the House". The book tells the story of a recent Harvard grad and his start at the New York Mercantile Exchange and focuses on the trading of oil. The title is a little misleading as it implies some sort of indictment of big oil or some other conspiracy.
Overall an enterntaining read that goes by pretty quickly. I've you've read his other books and enjoyed them - y...more
Overall an enterntaining read that goes by pretty quickly. I've you've read his other books and enjoyed them - y...more
Interesting read on the oil business and the creation of the Dubai Mercantile Exchange. I didn't want this book to end and want to see the movie now.
In the acknowledgements, Ben Mezrich claims that this is the best book he has ever written. I would not agree as I enjoyed some of his other books more, such as "Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions," which was made into the movie, "21," and "The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook: A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal," which was made into a movie as well ("The Social Network").
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It was a fun, energizing read - but I liked Bringing Down the House better. Rigged runs against those same lines - youth, power, speed, and money.
Good, well-written book. Overall, a fast read. Beginning is a little slow if you know anything about the Wall St/ trading world since he breaks it down and explains the basics. But interesting- a true story about this guy who changed the NYMEX and its role in the global marketplace when he was 25 yrs old or something ridiculous.
This was a good read. Less scholarly than expected... well, even less biographical than expected... more thriller/national geographic episode of "Locked Abroad" without anyone actually getting arrested... but you get my jist... nonetheless, a page turner... i could not put the book down... after i stopped myself from expecting more out of the book than what it was... i started enjoying it... there was something about lavish, extravagant Dubai kept me going... or was it my fascination f...more
This author is awesome. I love everything he does, terrific non-fiction. Read this in 4 days. Very interesting and I do not even like anything having to do with financial trading, or oil. But that is what this is about bringing an exchange to the country of Dubai. True story, with names changed.
Very fast read. I enjoyed learning a little bit about Dubai and the massive growth that is happening. Interesting to note the reluctance to move from old school to new tech by some and the advocacy of others. If you liked Bringing Down the House, you'll like this. Can be read in about 3 hours.
Very engaging exploits of Dave Russo, an HBS graduate, and his role in getting NYMEX to start an oil exchange in Dubai.
Not a lot of insights into the workings of the NYMEX, but more of a story about a driven Brooklyn Italian American and how he overcame long odds to get the project approved.
Not a lot of insights into the workings of the NYMEX, but more of a story about a driven Brooklyn Italian American and how he overcame long odds to get the project approved.
This is my second book by Ben Mezrich and I've found his style of writing to be very engaging. This was a very interesting read about the birth of the Dubai Mercantile Exchange and how a guy my age defied age barriers to make this new marketplace a reality.
This is really a terrific story. It's certainly plausible, if only just. Giving it the benefit of the doubt that it's more fact than fiction is fairly, but if you can swallow your disbelief, it obviously makes the tale just that much more fascinating.
While certainly an entertaining read, this book lacks so much including a decent climax. As he has done with previous efforts Mezrich strings us along with a tale of "rags to riches" and the ensuing over-the-top lifestyle. I would equate it with any celebrity reality TV show - no substance, just watching rich people do stuff.
There was something about this book that also seemed particularly over the top even by Mezrich standards. This book is non-fiction with an asterisk, bu...more
There was something about this book that also seemed particularly over the top even by Mezrich standards. This book is non-fiction with an asterisk, bu...more
Fast and fun, Mizrich does it again. The kind of shit this guy pulls off makes me think of some of the students at Davis High. Some people are simply on a different level intellectually. Different level? Different planet.
My husband actually picked this book out for me and at first glance I was not impressed...but to not judge a book by(you know the rest)......was greatly intrigued by the world of oil exchange and the up and coming Dubai
This book is focused on the inner workings of the commodities exchange in New York. It is a pretty interesting read, and very quick! Very good for those working in FS or interested in the corrupt nature of America.
Fascinating and engaging. Written by the guy who wrote book the movie "21" was based on. Wonder what impact the ways of the merc has on today's gas price horror.
Found the book by chance sitting on a bookshelf for free... and for some reason I started reading and was not able to stop...
I think what atracted me the most is the fact that you in a way want to be the character... he is living the life that maybe every young professional would like to have... to include the good luck of making it to the top fast...
But... I what really made the difference was the fact that I visited Dubai not long before starting reading the book and I ...more
I think what atracted me the most is the fact that you in a way want to be the character... he is living the life that maybe every young professional would like to have... to include the good luck of making it to the top fast...
But... I what really made the difference was the fact that I visited Dubai not long before starting reading the book and I ...more
The old-school traders at the 'merc' or NYMEX don't like upstarts, specially ones with balls the size they once had. And thats just the begining of David Russo's issues - his prized Harvard business degree means less than nothing on the trading floor, and to top that he threw up in his first board meeting.
But Ben Mezrich wouldn't have writted the story if David was a quitter, so what follows till the halfway mark of the book is David's exploits in building a solid & eye-balling rep...more
But Ben Mezrich wouldn't have writted the story if David was a quitter, so what follows till the halfway mark of the book is David's exploits in building a solid & eye-balling rep...more
Mezrich's writing is as solid as always, but this book did less for me than Accidental Billionaires. It provided an insider's look at the NYMEX (or the Merc, as it's known in the book), the New York commodities trading exchange that primarily deals in oil futures. The main thrust of the book was that one very young American (and a ton of Dubai oil money) was responsible for opening the Dubai version of the oil exchange. Somehow the contracts there don't compete with the oil contracts traded at t...more
So I read "Bringing Down the House" a while back, and it was sweet. I saw this book in the store and got really excited because of the author and subject matter. Then I was looking for reviews of it online, and came across a bunch of articles that calls Mezrich's "true stories" into question. Apparently he might not exactly be giving factual accounts of all this stuff...who would have thought?
So I read it, and I blew threw it, and it was exciting, and it was good...but ...more
So I read it, and I blew threw it, and it was exciting, and it was good...but ...more
Barely a 3 star. Quick read, kind of entertaining, but I have a real problem with supposed non-fiction stories that read like fiction. I can't help but wonder how much of the dialogue is completely made up, and how much liberty was taken with the characters/stories. Especially when the author prefaces the book with the statment that some of the characters are composites. What really happened? What was speculation/filler to make the story look good? Intersting topic, but I would've prefer...more
As far as I am concerned, this book is the best book that Mezrich has written. Not only does it deal with geopolitical issues through the vehicle of business, but it also beautifully describes the essence of why traders do what they do.
When I thought of high-finance I always thought it was boring, but after reading this book I understand why people who are competitive do it. At its very essence, high-finance is about WINNING and the EGO-BOOST that one gets as the result of doing ...more
When I thought of high-finance I always thought it was boring, but after reading this book I understand why people who are competitive do it. At its very essence, high-finance is about WINNING and the EGO-BOOST that one gets as the result of doing ...more
Really enjoyed the first half of the book, especially as I read it staight after a trip to Dubai. The second half seemed to drag its heels to a less than exciting conclusion than I expected and I felt a bit disappointed, having spent the last few chapters assuming it would get better. It reads more like a book of the film rather than being the original (true) story. Interesting though to learn about the Mercentile Exchange.
Won't be rushing to buy anything else by the author.
Won't be rushing to buy anything else by the author.
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Ben Mezrich is an American author from Boston, Massachusetts, who started out writing fiction but now has made his foray into non-fiction. He graduated magna-cum-laude from Harvard in 1991. He has since published eight books which have together sold over a million copies in nine different languages. Some of his books have been written under the pseudonym Holden Scott.
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