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The Wolf of Wall Street #1
The Wolf of Wall Street
By day he made thousands of dollars a minute. By night he spent it as fast as he could, on drugs, sex, and international globe-trotting. From the binge that sank a 170-foot motor yacht and ran up a $700,000 hotel tab, to the wife and kids waiting at home, and the fast-talking, hard-partying young stockbrokers who called him king and did his bidding, here, in his own inimitable words, is the story of the ill-fated genius they called . . .
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
In the 1990s Jordan Belfort, former kingpin of the notorious investment firm Stratton Oakmont, became one of the most infamous names in American finance: a brilliant, conniving stock-chopper who led his merry mob on a wild ride out of the canyons of Wall Street and into a massive office on Long Island. Now, in this astounding and hilarious tell-all autobiography, Belfort narrates a story of greed, power, and excess that no one could invent.
Reputedly the prototype for the film Boiler Room, Stratton Oakmont turned microcap investing into a wickedly lucrative game as Belfort’s hyped-up, coked-out brokers browbeat clients into stock buys that were guaranteed to earn obscene profits—for the house. But an insatiable appetite for debauchery, questionable tactics, and a fateful partnership with a breakout shoe designer named Steve Madden would land Belfort on both sides of the law and into a harrowing darkness all his own.
From the stormy relationship Belfort shared with his model-wife as they ran a madcap household that included two young children, a full-time staff of twenty-two, a pair of bodyguards, and hidden cameras everywhere—even as the SEC and FBI zeroed in on them—to the unbridled hedonism of his office life, here is the extraordinary story of an ordinary guy who went from hustling Italian ices at sixteen to making hundreds of millions. Until it all came crashing down . . .
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
In the 1990s Jordan Belfort, former kingpin of the notorious investment firm Stratton Oakmont, became one of the most infamous names in American finance: a brilliant, conniving stock-chopper who led his merry mob on a wild ride out of the canyons of Wall Street and into a massive office on Long Island. Now, in this astounding and hilarious tell-all autobiography, Belfort narrates a story of greed, power, and excess that no one could invent.
Reputedly the prototype for the film Boiler Room, Stratton Oakmont turned microcap investing into a wickedly lucrative game as Belfort’s hyped-up, coked-out brokers browbeat clients into stock buys that were guaranteed to earn obscene profits—for the house. But an insatiable appetite for debauchery, questionable tactics, and a fateful partnership with a breakout shoe designer named Steve Madden would land Belfort on both sides of the law and into a harrowing darkness all his own.
From the stormy relationship Belfort shared with his model-wife as they ran a madcap household that included two young children, a full-time staff of twenty-two, a pair of bodyguards, and hidden cameras everywhere—even as the SEC and FBI zeroed in on them—to the unbridled hedonism of his office life, here is the extraordinary story of an ordinary guy who went from hustling Italian ices at sixteen to making hundreds of millions. Until it all came crashing down . . .
528 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2007
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August 26, 2012
The title of Jordan Belfort's first autobiographical piece is misleading in that it compels would-be readers to think that they are picking up a memoir in which finance and market manipulation are central themes. Certainly the thickness of the paperback edition contributes to the assumption that there are some weighty ideas to be found therein and perhaps some useful insights into how Belfort became a self-made success.
Rather, this is a confessional, sensationalist tract that would have benefited from a more aggressive editor. This is not to say that I did not enjoy elements of Belfort's story and there are moments of pure comedy as he recalls his lifestyle in the early 1990s as a banker and power broker, making more than enough money to support an entitled spouse, a routine drug habit and a chorus line of working girls. Belfort however could be in any line of work and this reader grew tired of him repeating (word-for-word across dozens of chapters) his admiration of his wife's buttocks and his conspicuously desperate claims that he lived, worked and partied harder than anybody else. The book is less about Wall Street than it is about a man who, having wound up with everything, consumes to the point of valuing nothing.
This could have been a punchy read. Unfortunately, Belfort seems to be positioning his story as something greater than it is, as if it is worthy of the quantities of paper that someone like J.R.R. Tolkien would have gotten through.
Rather, this is a confessional, sensationalist tract that would have benefited from a more aggressive editor. This is not to say that I did not enjoy elements of Belfort's story and there are moments of pure comedy as he recalls his lifestyle in the early 1990s as a banker and power broker, making more than enough money to support an entitled spouse, a routine drug habit and a chorus line of working girls. Belfort however could be in any line of work and this reader grew tired of him repeating (word-for-word across dozens of chapters) his admiration of his wife's buttocks and his conspicuously desperate claims that he lived, worked and partied harder than anybody else. The book is less about Wall Street than it is about a man who, having wound up with everything, consumes to the point of valuing nothing.
This could have been a punchy read. Unfortunately, Belfort seems to be positioning his story as something greater than it is, as if it is worthy of the quantities of paper that someone like J.R.R. Tolkien would have gotten through.
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October 26, 2013What a fucking douchebag. Belfort is an unrepentant asshole and if I ever meet him, I'll kick him in the taint. This memoir smacks of "but it wasn't really my fault!" Lying douchebag liar.
It's people like him, stock-washing and junk-bond trading in the late 1980's onward that led to the crash in 2008. And I have a huge problem with that. He and his ilk nearly brought the planet's economy to its knees and we will be paying the price for years, while he collects royalties on this extremely poorly written book and the probably-revolting movie.
I am infuriated and contemptuous.
Also, not ever buying a pair of Steve Madden shoes. Just on principal.
Edited: Your daughter is not your most prized possession. She is a person, asshole.
It's people like him, stock-washing and junk-bond trading in the late 1980's onward that led to the crash in 2008. And I have a huge problem with that. He and his ilk nearly brought the planet's economy to its knees and we will be paying the price for years, while he collects royalties on this extremely poorly written book and the probably-revolting movie.
I am infuriated and contemptuous.
Also, not ever buying a pair of Steve Madden shoes. Just on principal.
Edited: Your daughter is not your most prized possession. She is a person, asshole.
June 23, 2017
See this review, and more like it at www.bookbastion.net
__________________
Reading this was an exercise both in suspension of disbelief, and complete mastery of frustration for me.
This is definitely not a book I would normally choose for myself. Most of you know by now that fiction and fantasy are my jam, my last class for University required us to read nonfiction book somewhat pertaining to ethics and business, and this one called to me.
I'd already seen the movie a few times before - it happens to be one of Mr. Bastion's favorites - and while I'm not the biggest fan myself, I figured the antics associated with Belfort's crazy lifestyle of excess would give this enough color to at least make it palatable. While that was true enough for me to read the entire thing, my personal enjoyment of the narrative began to tank somewhere in the first third, when it became clear that Belfort is a complete narcissistic, unrepentant asshole, and one of the most vile human beings on this earth.
He claims in the opening that this autobiographical glimpse into his years on Wall Street exists for his children, so that they might better understand his behavior in the years that led to the destruction of their family. I hoped that what followed might include Belfort actually taking some responsibility for the terrible things he did to his family, his clients, and the economy. Unfortunately, what actually happens is 500 pages of praise for himself, and contempt for the people who were stupid enough to fall for his lies. The narrative is complete devoid of any true sense of remorse or reflection for the terrible things he did. Even worse, the book became a vehicle for him to land one final jab on all of the people he perceived as wronging him over the course of his career.
Not to mention, he's also a racist, sexist, asshole with the ego to match. Belfort has this weird penchant for giving every person he encounters in his life a nickname that he then refers to them as for the rest of the book in narrative voice. Some of his least offensive included "The Blockhead and "Master Forger," while his more offensive included the "Luscious Duchess," (referring to his now ex-wife) and the "Depraved Chinaman," (referring to a rival on Wall Street.)
If there's a chance to insult someone else, while propping himself up on that incredibly high pedestal that exists only inside his mind, you can bet he's going to take it. Mentions of his erection are peppered throughout the narrative, along with an awkward sequence where Belfort, ever the charlatan, asks us his captive audience to buy that a drug and alcohol rehab group celebrated his attempts to masturbate in public with raucous applause instead of rancor. Such is his narcissism.
It's clear that he's an unreliable narrator, as his view of events is colored with a heavy bias that I don't the he's even cognizant of. ,B>His culpability in securities fraud and money laundering is often played down in the narrative, suggesting that his guilt was actually other people's fault - and he was only following the modus operandi of other big bankers at the time. He also tries to justify his lawbreaking by painting himself as a sort of Robin Hood character, as though it's okay that he was fleecing the rich instead of the poor.
if you're looking for a comprehensive take on his crimes, trial and conviction, look elsewhere as you won't find it here. There's too many pages lost to self indulgence, and Belfort completely forgets to cover when, how and why his life came crashing down around him, instead trying to hook the reader at the end to tune in later for a sequel in which he'll finish the story this one had already promised.
Yeah. That'll happen.
While I was entertained enough to finish the book, watching Belfort sink to increasingly new lows becomes a bit too masochistic for me to want to continue the party into another book. Besides that, the prose is a bit too frenetic, oddly paced and poor in parts for my tastes. If I had to read the phrase "loamy loins," "Luscious Duchess" or "Lifestyles of the Rich and Dysfunctional" one more time I couldn't be held liable for any of my actions. My heart goes out to that editor that had to pare down the 1200 page manuscript. I think they probably did the best they could with what they were given.
Just watch the movie. Leonardo Dicaprio is great in it, and you might not have to scrub out your brain quite as hard as you would after spending 5 hours with Jordan Belfort's voice in your head.
⭐⭐✯✩✩ = 2.5 out of 5 stars
__________________
Reading this was an exercise both in suspension of disbelief, and complete mastery of frustration for me.
This is definitely not a book I would normally choose for myself. Most of you know by now that fiction and fantasy are my jam, my last class for University required us to read nonfiction book somewhat pertaining to ethics and business, and this one called to me.
I'd already seen the movie a few times before - it happens to be one of Mr. Bastion's favorites - and while I'm not the biggest fan myself, I figured the antics associated with Belfort's crazy lifestyle of excess would give this enough color to at least make it palatable. While that was true enough for me to read the entire thing, my personal enjoyment of the narrative began to tank somewhere in the first third, when it became clear that Belfort is a complete narcissistic, unrepentant asshole, and one of the most vile human beings on this earth.
"My name is Jordan, and I'm an alcoholic, a Quaalude addict, and a cocaine addict. I'm also addicted to Xanax and Valium and Morphine and Klonopin and GHB and Marijuana and Percocet and mescaline and just about everything else, including high-priced hookers, medium-priced hookers and an occasional streetwalker, but only when I feel like punishing myself... I've been sober for 5 whole days now, and I'm walking around with a constant erection. I miss my wife terribly, and if you really want to resent me I'll show you a picture of her. Either way, I resent every last one of you or being total ******* and trying to take your life's frustrations out on me."^^ an actual quote from this book. ^^
He claims in the opening that this autobiographical glimpse into his years on Wall Street exists for his children, so that they might better understand his behavior in the years that led to the destruction of their family. I hoped that what followed might include Belfort actually taking some responsibility for the terrible things he did to his family, his clients, and the economy. Unfortunately, what actually happens is 500 pages of praise for himself, and contempt for the people who were stupid enough to fall for his lies. The narrative is complete devoid of any true sense of remorse or reflection for the terrible things he did. Even worse, the book became a vehicle for him to land one final jab on all of the people he perceived as wronging him over the course of his career.
Not to mention, he's also a racist, sexist, asshole with the ego to match. Belfort has this weird penchant for giving every person he encounters in his life a nickname that he then refers to them as for the rest of the book in narrative voice. Some of his least offensive included "The Blockhead and "Master Forger," while his more offensive included the "Luscious Duchess," (referring to his now ex-wife) and the "Depraved Chinaman," (referring to a rival on Wall Street.)
If there's a chance to insult someone else, while propping himself up on that incredibly high pedestal that exists only inside his mind, you can bet he's going to take it. Mentions of his erection are peppered throughout the narrative, along with an awkward sequence where Belfort, ever the charlatan, asks us his captive audience to buy that a drug and alcohol rehab group celebrated his attempts to masturbate in public with raucous applause instead of rancor. Such is his narcissism.
It's clear that he's an unreliable narrator, as his view of events is colored with a heavy bias that I don't the he's even cognizant of. ,B>His culpability in securities fraud and money laundering is often played down in the narrative, suggesting that his guilt was actually other people's fault - and he was only following the modus operandi of other big bankers at the time. He also tries to justify his lawbreaking by painting himself as a sort of Robin Hood character, as though it's okay that he was fleecing the rich instead of the poor.
if you're looking for a comprehensive take on his crimes, trial and conviction, look elsewhere as you won't find it here. There's too many pages lost to self indulgence, and Belfort completely forgets to cover when, how and why his life came crashing down around him, instead trying to hook the reader at the end to tune in later for a sequel in which he'll finish the story this one had already promised.
Yeah. That'll happen.
While I was entertained enough to finish the book, watching Belfort sink to increasingly new lows becomes a bit too masochistic for me to want to continue the party into another book. Besides that, the prose is a bit too frenetic, oddly paced and poor in parts for my tastes. If I had to read the phrase "loamy loins," "Luscious Duchess" or "Lifestyles of the Rich and Dysfunctional" one more time I couldn't be held liable for any of my actions. My heart goes out to that editor that had to pare down the 1200 page manuscript. I think they probably did the best they could with what they were given.
Just watch the movie. Leonardo Dicaprio is great in it, and you might not have to scrub out your brain quite as hard as you would after spending 5 hours with Jordan Belfort's voice in your head.
⭐⭐✯✩✩ = 2.5 out of 5 stars
September 22, 2022
I’d heard about (but not seen) the Scorsese film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, concerning this Wall Street guy who basically made a huge amount of money, took bucket loads of drugs and ripped off a group of wealthy investors. It looked like fun… but a bit over the top. Then the opportunity to grab an audio version of the book came up and I was about to dismiss it when I glanced at the blurb and realised it was claiming to be a non-fiction piece. Could this be true, was this guy a real life Gordon Gekko?
In 1962 Jordan Belfort was born to a Jewish family in the Bronx borough of New York City. His parents were both accountants. After college he found work as an entry level assistant in a Wall Street brokerage firm and quickly realised that the place was more ‘zoo’ than office. The brokers treated their assistants badly, took drugs constantly and earned lots and lots of money. Belford was hooked. But he quickly realised – in fact he knew from the start – that he had the drive and personality to rapidly rise to the top in this business. In 1989 he opened his own brokerage firm, Stratton Oakmont, with his friend Danny Porush. He subsequently employed a whole series of old acquaintances and friends as his company grew to become the largest over-the-counter finance firm in the country, through the period of the early 1990’s.
The book does describe how Belford manipulated the market to his own advantage but it (thankfully) doesn’t delve into the micro-detail. The focus is more on the personalities involved and the capers they enjoyed. There is quite a lengthy piece describing how some of the money was laundered but this is interesting in itself and important in the overall context of the narrative.
The audiobook is read (or more accurately ‘enacted’) by American voice-over actor Eric Meyers, and I have to say he does a superb job. Accents, emotions, comic timing – he delivers it all - in spades. His ability to bring this story to life and to draw out the humour is one of the main reasons I warmed to this account. A truly brilliant performance.
It’s a roller-coaster tale (you know it’ll end badly) and most of the fun is tied up in the anecdotes about the wilder elements of Belfort’s lifestyle. He was introduced to drugs in his early days on Wall Street and this was to become an escalating problem – not that he saw it as a problem at the time. His drug of choice was Methaqualone (marketed as Quaalude). It’s a sedative and has muscle relaxant properties – but it’s also a depressant. Consequently, the drug dependence intensified as extra substances were added to balance off its effects and increase the ‘high’. At one point, whilst in London, he called his assistant to demand that an employee be dispatched on the next available Concorde to fly a supply of ‘ludes to him at his luxury hotel. Such extravagances became routine.
It’s a tale of excess and hedonism. Feminists will hate this book – women are treated pretty badly throughout – but most blokes I know will lap up the stories of debauchery in the office and at the parties. It’s crude and it’s lairy but it’s all told in a semi-deprecating way that makes you think Belford didn’t take himself too seriously. As a piece of modern history it’s certainly a cautionary tale, and in many ways the actions described are totally despicable. But as a piece of entertainment it’s something else: a story to make you gasp and cringe and smile and laugh out loud. I loved it.
In 1962 Jordan Belfort was born to a Jewish family in the Bronx borough of New York City. His parents were both accountants. After college he found work as an entry level assistant in a Wall Street brokerage firm and quickly realised that the place was more ‘zoo’ than office. The brokers treated their assistants badly, took drugs constantly and earned lots and lots of money. Belford was hooked. But he quickly realised – in fact he knew from the start – that he had the drive and personality to rapidly rise to the top in this business. In 1989 he opened his own brokerage firm, Stratton Oakmont, with his friend Danny Porush. He subsequently employed a whole series of old acquaintances and friends as his company grew to become the largest over-the-counter finance firm in the country, through the period of the early 1990’s.
The book does describe how Belford manipulated the market to his own advantage but it (thankfully) doesn’t delve into the micro-detail. The focus is more on the personalities involved and the capers they enjoyed. There is quite a lengthy piece describing how some of the money was laundered but this is interesting in itself and important in the overall context of the narrative.
The audiobook is read (or more accurately ‘enacted’) by American voice-over actor Eric Meyers, and I have to say he does a superb job. Accents, emotions, comic timing – he delivers it all - in spades. His ability to bring this story to life and to draw out the humour is one of the main reasons I warmed to this account. A truly brilliant performance.
It’s a roller-coaster tale (you know it’ll end badly) and most of the fun is tied up in the anecdotes about the wilder elements of Belfort’s lifestyle. He was introduced to drugs in his early days on Wall Street and this was to become an escalating problem – not that he saw it as a problem at the time. His drug of choice was Methaqualone (marketed as Quaalude). It’s a sedative and has muscle relaxant properties – but it’s also a depressant. Consequently, the drug dependence intensified as extra substances were added to balance off its effects and increase the ‘high’. At one point, whilst in London, he called his assistant to demand that an employee be dispatched on the next available Concorde to fly a supply of ‘ludes to him at his luxury hotel. Such extravagances became routine.
It’s a tale of excess and hedonism. Feminists will hate this book – women are treated pretty badly throughout – but most blokes I know will lap up the stories of debauchery in the office and at the parties. It’s crude and it’s lairy but it’s all told in a semi-deprecating way that makes you think Belford didn’t take himself too seriously. As a piece of modern history it’s certainly a cautionary tale, and in many ways the actions described are totally despicable. But as a piece of entertainment it’s something else: a story to make you gasp and cringe and smile and laugh out loud. I loved it.
January 22, 2014
Jordan Belfort has a very limited vocabulary. The story of his rise and fall on Wall Street. The bad stuff he does wasn't his fault. The good stuff is because he's a genius. Just ask him, he'll tell you. Repeatedly! I'll list the words and phrases, you can rearrange them and save yourself the time of reading or listening to this book. (The audio version is unintentionally hilarious as the narrator attempts English, French, Swiss and Chinese accents and they all sound exactly the same.
1. Loins -- either luscious or loamy
2. The Duchess -- either doleful or delectable (see 1)
3. Fuck (off, you, me, yourself) Fucks Fucking Fucked (see 1 or 2)
4. She smiled "her strippers smile"
5. Ludes
6. Strattonite (see 3)
7. Rutting (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 6)
8. Everyone sobs, cries or wails "uncontrollably" ... every single time.
9. Brain Stem. Every thought or idea "rises up my brain stem"
10. Lifestyles of the Rich and Dysfunctional. He said it so often I thought the audio was repeating itself.
1. Loins -- either luscious or loamy
2. The Duchess -- either doleful or delectable (see 1)
3. Fuck (off, you, me, yourself) Fucks Fucking Fucked (see 1 or 2)
4. She smiled "her strippers smile"
5. Ludes
6. Strattonite (see 3)
7. Rutting (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 6)
8. Everyone sobs, cries or wails "uncontrollably" ... every single time.
9. Brain Stem. Every thought or idea "rises up my brain stem"
10. Lifestyles of the Rich and Dysfunctional. He said it so often I thought the audio was repeating itself.
December 25, 2016
Between Christmas preparations, presents shopping, and yelling at the kids that they are not gonna get all the shit they put on the Santa's List, I managed to read this book. It was good, better than good. It was mind bugging!!
Through Jordans Buford's simple, humorous, descriptive writing I could easily imagine the life and the struggles of the rich and dysfunctional...
So before all my charge cards bills start coming in mid-January, let me dream about a world where one million dollars a month, every month for years was what expected of good family provider.
Or I can just wrap that book and put if under the Christmas tree for my husband to read. That would teach him a lesson not to ask me how much I REALLY spent on those shoes I had to have !!!
Through Jordans Buford's simple, humorous, descriptive writing I could easily imagine the life and the struggles of the rich and dysfunctional...
So before all my charge cards bills start coming in mid-January, let me dream about a world where one million dollars a month, every month for years was what expected of good family provider.
Or I can just wrap that book and put if under the Christmas tree for my husband to read. That would teach him a lesson not to ask me how much I REALLY spent on those shoes I had to have !!!
April 9, 2013
Because every book by millionaires is about their struggles to get there, I found this book refreshing because for once I don't get to read about someone's struggles but the debauchery that comes with the million dollars - a reality that a lot of millionaires try hard to keep under wraps. It's okay to be human, to be so consumed by money that you forget who you are because as humans we err, no one is perfect. I respect people that can own up to their bullshit than those who only talk about their struggles and act like they have never indulged in acts that society would frown upon because of their wealthy. I will read this book again and again. This guy lived his life to the fullest, the only sad thing is that he hurt people in the process but again we all do that but pretend to act like we are so pure when in the public space. We forget the mean names we have called our business acquaintances, friends and family and portray pictures of perfection and honestly fuck that because I would rather get drunk with an enemy than a pretentious family member or friend.
July 21, 2013
Reading this book will make you feel like a a drug addict. I've never tried Quaaludes, but by the end of reading this book I wanted to cry and apologize to everyone I knew for my addiction to them... (which I should probably reiterate I've never had). He writes vividly about his drug addiction, although sometimes he leans a little too heavily on his back pain to excuse his addiction, even as he explains his back pain is no excuse.
This crazy memoir about Jordan Belfort's time working on Wall Street is an absolute roller-coaster through the late 80s early 90s of people making too much money by moving money around, screwing people over. Then they blew all of that money on drugs, hookers, expensive clothes and vacations. If this is all true, he is a complete asshat. Like most memoirs about drug use and abuse, this story reminds you that it is basically impossible to live out the seemingly awesome parts of his life without crashing down spectacularly, shattering those that you love, yourself and your business.
Fascinating. Scary. Compulsively readable.
This crazy memoir about Jordan Belfort's time working on Wall Street is an absolute roller-coaster through the late 80s early 90s of people making too much money by moving money around, screwing people over. Then they blew all of that money on drugs, hookers, expensive clothes and vacations. If this is all true, he is a complete asshat. Like most memoirs about drug use and abuse, this story reminds you that it is basically impossible to live out the seemingly awesome parts of his life without crashing down spectacularly, shattering those that you love, yourself and your business.
Fascinating. Scary. Compulsively readable.
September 27, 2014
First off, Jordan Belfort is a douchebag to beat all douchebags. The level of douchebaggery that he attained has never before been reached. I listened to the audio book and I'm not sure how the narrator could bring himself to even talk about these things without being ashamed. (The narrator, Bobby Cannavale did an excellent job; I think he was the part of the book that I liked the best.)
All this book consists of is scene after scene of reckless living, snorting massive amounts of cocaine, (20 gram rocks), followed by the downing of quaaludes, Xanax, weed, and anything else he could get his hands on. Bring in a bunch of hookers, labeled as if they were stocks, the blue chips being the best. Toss in some opulence of the highest order, yachts, staffs of 25+ people kissing his ass, cars, airplanes and helicopters. All that together adds up to this book.
This man has no respect for women, has barely any respect for anyone, really. He treats his wife like shit, he calls her the luscious duchess for most of the book. He has pet names for everyone and they got on my nerves.
These scenes are intermixed with his horrible employees at his brokerage firm bullying people on the phone to buy, buy, buy. (I've read that the movie Boiler Room is loosely based on this douche.) Surprisingly, there was more of the douchebaggery that I mentioned above than there is of his illegal activities in the stock market.
All that being said, I do have a slight respect for this man because he started off selling Italian ices on the beach during the summer to earn money. He is a self made man. That's the only good thing I have to say about the guy.
Anyway, I was slightly fascinated with the level of debauchery achieved, and that was the only thing that kept me reading. In the end though, I was just not impressed. That sort of douchery doesn't make for much of a life and doesn't make for much of a book either. Maybe it makes for a good movie, I will have to see.
Recommend for fans of debauchery at the highest levels.
All this book consists of is scene after scene of reckless living, snorting massive amounts of cocaine, (20 gram rocks), followed by the downing of quaaludes, Xanax, weed, and anything else he could get his hands on. Bring in a bunch of hookers, labeled as if they were stocks, the blue chips being the best. Toss in some opulence of the highest order, yachts, staffs of 25+ people kissing his ass, cars, airplanes and helicopters. All that together adds up to this book.
This man has no respect for women, has barely any respect for anyone, really. He treats his wife like shit, he calls her the luscious duchess for most of the book. He has pet names for everyone and they got on my nerves.
These scenes are intermixed with his horrible employees at his brokerage firm bullying people on the phone to buy, buy, buy. (I've read that the movie Boiler Room is loosely based on this douche.) Surprisingly, there was more of the douchebaggery that I mentioned above than there is of his illegal activities in the stock market.
All that being said, I do have a slight respect for this man because he started off selling Italian ices on the beach during the summer to earn money. He is a self made man. That's the only good thing I have to say about the guy.
Anyway, I was slightly fascinated with the level of debauchery achieved, and that was the only thing that kept me reading. In the end though, I was just not impressed. That sort of douchery doesn't make for much of a life and doesn't make for much of a book either. Maybe it makes for a good movie, I will have to see.
Recommend for fans of debauchery at the highest levels.
August 15, 2020
**3.5 stars**
"Making money isn't hard in itself, what's hard is to earn it doing something worth devoting your life to."
-Carlos Ruiz Zafon
There's a point of time when you have got to stop. The quotes like : 'Stop stopping yourself','Don't stop until time stops you', are good at motivating someone, but they shouldn't be the reality around the clock. As Julian asked in The Monk who sold his Ferrari:
"You are very much like a high-performance race car worth millions of dollars;...Knowing the value of this high performance multi-million dollar machine, would it be wise to run it full oh every minute of every day without taking a pit-stop to let the motor cool down?"
You should follow the same thing in case of money-making. At least Belfort, i.e. the narrator tells you to do so. The first part of the book is really addictive, I daresay. Many people around us will kill for the raunchy lifestyle that Belfort pursued: which consisted of only three things: Money, Sex and Drugs. (It sounds pretty hollow to me, but still I loved the book back when I read it for the first time). But I think the book is not meant to be read as just an 'Autobiography'; Belfort understood( I guess) what he did wrong in his ' perfect ' process of earning livelihood. Think for yourself, how come a ' clever ' man who went his own journey from ground level to a billionaire status in a trice lose all of that in a jiffy? Jordan wants you, the reader, to learn from his mistakes: the worst ones may be summed up as to not cheat on anyone and not trust someone enough to be cheated. I thought his worst act was to cheat on his wife for a better 'body'. From the beginning it was evident that Naomie( re. Caridi) was going to leave him at one point of time, right. The double-crossing at the end came as a shock though.
By the end, probably you will be feeling remorse on his behalf. If only he did listen to his father, but come on, who does?
This is an above-average autobiography. I would have liked to say 'good', but even though it was likeable when I read it first time at 13(I know I was a precocious kid), I now feel it is not written by a 'writer', if you know what I mean. Scorsese is one hell of a director, and the movie turned out to be better than the novel. (And don't forget Leonardo DiCaprio...I still think he should have won the Academy Award that year, but come on...you know what it's like...)However the book does contain a few money-making tips, but I will leave that to be found out by you, in case you consider picking it up anytime.
"Making money isn't hard in itself, what's hard is to earn it doing something worth devoting your life to."
-Carlos Ruiz Zafon
There's a point of time when you have got to stop. The quotes like : 'Stop stopping yourself','Don't stop until time stops you', are good at motivating someone, but they shouldn't be the reality around the clock. As Julian asked in The Monk who sold his Ferrari:
"You are very much like a high-performance race car worth millions of dollars;...Knowing the value of this high performance multi-million dollar machine, would it be wise to run it full oh every minute of every day without taking a pit-stop to let the motor cool down?"
You should follow the same thing in case of money-making. At least Belfort, i.e. the narrator tells you to do so. The first part of the book is really addictive, I daresay. Many people around us will kill for the raunchy lifestyle that Belfort pursued: which consisted of only three things: Money, Sex and Drugs. (It sounds pretty hollow to me, but still I loved the book back when I read it for the first time). But I think the book is not meant to be read as just an 'Autobiography'; Belfort understood( I guess) what he did wrong in his ' perfect ' process of earning livelihood. Think for yourself, how come a ' clever ' man who went his own journey from ground level to a billionaire status in a trice lose all of that in a jiffy? Jordan wants you, the reader, to learn from his mistakes: the worst ones may be summed up as to not cheat on anyone and not trust someone enough to be cheated. I thought his worst act was to cheat on his wife for a better 'body'. From the beginning it was evident that Naomie( re. Caridi) was going to leave him at one point of time, right. The double-crossing at the end came as a shock though.
By the end, probably you will be feeling remorse on his behalf. If only he did listen to his father, but come on, who does?
This is an above-average autobiography. I would have liked to say 'good', but even though it was likeable when I read it first time at 13(I know I was a precocious kid), I now feel it is not written by a 'writer', if you know what I mean. Scorsese is one hell of a director, and the movie turned out to be better than the novel. (And don't forget Leonardo DiCaprio...I still think he should have won the Academy Award that year, but come on...you know what it's like...)However the book does contain a few money-making tips, but I will leave that to be found out by you, in case you consider picking it up anytime.
August 29, 2012
What did I think? I thought this book was terrible.
I read "The Wolf of Wall Street" after my husband finished (and assured me I would enjoy it), while on holiday far far away from a decent bookshop.
This whole book read like the wet dreams of an aspiring stock market king. There is no self reflection, no sense of remorse- Jordan seems unwilling or unable to take responsibility for his actions. Which I probably would have been able to deal with, had the story been interesting enough and well written enough to make up for it. But nope, its repetitive, boastful to the point of vulgarity and poorly written.
This could have been an excellent story. It could have been a gritty, honest and fascinating look into the life of a rich man whose world came crashing down around him.
I read "The Wolf of Wall Street" after my husband finished (and assured me I would enjoy it), while on holiday far far away from a decent bookshop.
This whole book read like the wet dreams of an aspiring stock market king. There is no self reflection, no sense of remorse- Jordan seems unwilling or unable to take responsibility for his actions. Which I probably would have been able to deal with, had the story been interesting enough and well written enough to make up for it. But nope, its repetitive, boastful to the point of vulgarity and poorly written.
This could have been an excellent story. It could have been a gritty, honest and fascinating look into the life of a rich man whose world came crashing down around him.
June 9, 2008
I picked up this book after hearing that my main man Marty Scorsese was going to make it into a movie. I think it'll be one of those rare books that will be better as a movie, as the writing is subpar and the author (and main protaganist) is thoroughly unlikable. It's about the rise and fall of a luded and coked-out, hooker-obsessed stock trader. I know, sounds sweet, right? Eh, not so much.
September 4, 2023
“The easiest way to make money is -create something of such value that everybody wants and go out and give and create value, the money comes automatically.”
― Jordan Belfort, The Wolf of Wall Street
Frankly I found this almost unreadable.
DNF.
It is interesting. I saw this movie and loved it but was unable to get through the book. And this is not a book I thought would ever be a DNF. So it was odd.
So first off, barely 30 pages in, I was already tired of it. So much cursing, not really a plot. As I read further, I just had to keep fighting an urge to put the book down and eventually the urge won.
Don't get me wrong. I wanted to read this. It was on my to be read list and I could not have imagined I'd stop reading but "no more" was going through my head constantly.
The book did not seem to about a plot. Somehow, the story is interesting, even fascinating, in the movie version but in the book version, I just kept reading about much bragging, much swearing, much talk of money, money, money....I don't know. More of the same I guess. I was disengaged and was very happy to add it to my DNF pile.
Everyone likes different books and I wound up giving this to a friend who loved it. Even now, I'd see the movie again but the book jumped around all over the place and was not seeming to go anywhere and I got tired of it real quickly. And it is funny to me because it is usually the other way around, where the film is not so good and the book is great. Here, for me, it is completely reversed.
― Jordan Belfort, The Wolf of Wall Street
Frankly I found this almost unreadable.
DNF.
It is interesting. I saw this movie and loved it but was unable to get through the book. And this is not a book I thought would ever be a DNF. So it was odd.
So first off, barely 30 pages in, I was already tired of it. So much cursing, not really a plot. As I read further, I just had to keep fighting an urge to put the book down and eventually the urge won.
Don't get me wrong. I wanted to read this. It was on my to be read list and I could not have imagined I'd stop reading but "no more" was going through my head constantly.
The book did not seem to about a plot. Somehow, the story is interesting, even fascinating, in the movie version but in the book version, I just kept reading about much bragging, much swearing, much talk of money, money, money....I don't know. More of the same I guess. I was disengaged and was very happy to add it to my DNF pile.
Everyone likes different books and I wound up giving this to a friend who loved it. Even now, I'd see the movie again but the book jumped around all over the place and was not seeming to go anywhere and I got tired of it real quickly. And it is funny to me because it is usually the other way around, where the film is not so good and the book is great. Here, for me, it is completely reversed.
August 21, 2013
The fact that Belfort thanks his literary agent in the acknowledgements, who apparently read three pages and told Belfort to "drop everything I was doing and become a full-time writer" is a complete joke. The writing was immature, informal, and unrealistic. There were too many exclamation points, and sometimes one person would talk for multiple pages. Belfort makes himself seem like a god and a victim, and the fact that he's a vile human being would almost be acceptable if he could write a damn sentence. The story itself is interesting and would have been much better written by someone else, with a focus on one of the more sympathetic people affected by Belfort. This will probably do really well as a movie, but I was annoyed the majority of the time I was reading the book.
March 5, 2014
Fun drinking game: try to read The Wolf of Wall Street and drinking for when one or more of the following appears on the page: 1) mention of erections; 2) how much something costs; 3) the use of the acronym WASP. Take a shot if the phrase "loamy loins" is used. By the time you are done you should be thoroughly sloshed enough to put up reading this piece of crap.
October 27, 2013
I would have never read this book if it were not for a movie featuring Leonardo di Caprio being released soon based on this memoir. Truthfully, I have very little interest in anything having to deal with stocks or Wall Street. So maybe the best advertising this book could have had was that a movie was being made on it, and that I am stickler for reading the book before I see the movie. I gave this book a shot, and I am glad that I did.
The Wolf of Wall Street is compulsive reading. The people whose lives fall apart within the pages are the definition of a hot mess. I had never even heard of some of the drugs that are mentioned as being taken. And there is plenty of drug use. There is a level of debauchery in Jordan Belfort’s life that I cannot even imagine. Jordan is called the Wolf of Wall Street because his young age and youthful appearance contrast with his cut throat business methods and erratic behavior. He launders money and plots ways to destroy other people through the stock market. He has a wife and children yet cannot keep away from hookers. His drug addiction is so out of control that when he lists off how many drugs he has taken in a day’s time you are forced to wonder how the man is even alive. In some ways, this story was so sensational because how could it be true. How could people live like this? How could someone sink a 170-ft yacht in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea?
The Wolf of Wall Street and his band of enablers during his “glory days” were some of the most despicable people I have ever heard of. As a reader I held no sympathy for them, yet I could not stop myself from wanting to finish what was being told of their story. I think that others would feel quite the same if they were to give this book a try.
The Wolf of Wall Street is compulsive reading. The people whose lives fall apart within the pages are the definition of a hot mess. I had never even heard of some of the drugs that are mentioned as being taken. And there is plenty of drug use. There is a level of debauchery in Jordan Belfort’s life that I cannot even imagine. Jordan is called the Wolf of Wall Street because his young age and youthful appearance contrast with his cut throat business methods and erratic behavior. He launders money and plots ways to destroy other people through the stock market. He has a wife and children yet cannot keep away from hookers. His drug addiction is so out of control that when he lists off how many drugs he has taken in a day’s time you are forced to wonder how the man is even alive. In some ways, this story was so sensational because how could it be true. How could people live like this? How could someone sink a 170-ft yacht in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea?
The Wolf of Wall Street and his band of enablers during his “glory days” were some of the most despicable people I have ever heard of. As a reader I held no sympathy for them, yet I could not stop myself from wanting to finish what was being told of their story. I think that others would feel quite the same if they were to give this book a try.
March 2, 2015
This is the type of book that you will either love or hate--there is no middle ground. It is a psuedo-autobiography of Jordan Belfort, the guy about whom the movie was made. I haven't seen the movie yet. The book is hilarious, very entertaining, if you can get past the profanity, and the totally debauched behavior. Jordan Belfort wrote this book as a sort of autobiography, or memoirs. As he writes in the book, this is the story of the "rich and dysfunctional."
Belfort was a drug addict and earned incredible amounts of money--like a million dollars every week--as the owner of the brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont. Very smart, very rich, very greedy, needy, craven, sex-driven and very obnoxious. He knew how to talk to people because at heart he was a salesman. He knew how to persuade people to do anything, anything at all. And his enormous wealth and generosity certainly didn't hurt.
The stories in the book are incredibly outlandish. I just read somewhere that the FBI agent who tracked him down for ten years agreed that everything in the book is true.
I didn't read this book--I listened to it as an audiobook. Eric Meyers does a fabulous narration
Belfort was a drug addict and earned incredible amounts of money--like a million dollars every week--as the owner of the brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont. Very smart, very rich, very greedy, needy, craven, sex-driven and very obnoxious. He knew how to talk to people because at heart he was a salesman. He knew how to persuade people to do anything, anything at all. And his enormous wealth and generosity certainly didn't hurt.
The stories in the book are incredibly outlandish. I just read somewhere that the FBI agent who tracked him down for ten years agreed that everything in the book is true.
I didn't read this book--I listened to it as an audiobook. Eric Meyers does a fabulous narration
December 30, 2013
I rarely ever give up on books, but I put this one down about 1/3 of the way through. Belfort is a very poor writer ("luscious loamy loans" is a repetitive descriptor), he repeatedly refers to himself in the third person, and is a thoroughly unlikeable protagonist. I hope Scorsese does a better job telling the story on film than he does in this book.
July 30, 2013
I bought this in hardback in 2007. I'll never know why it took me six years to finally read a book I over payed for.
I should have saved my money, because owning this is a waste. I really didn't care for it at all. Basically, Jordan Belfort is every horrible Wall Street broker stereotype from the late 80's you can imagine, and this memoir is him retelling the period of his life that marks the seeds of his eventual downfall. This memoir was rare, in that I found myself hating him the deeper into the story I went. No one primarily involved in this book is a decent human being. It's all about excessive selfishness. Everyone was a drug addicted greed head, and all of their stories play out in the same way as every other self absorbed criminal's usually do (excluding every banking CEO from the later part of the last decade and two presidential administrations. They still get away with massive fraud.)
By the end of it, I didn't feel better for his getting sober, or finally having to face up to his crimes. He never cared. He represented everything that was wrong with American greed, and was a painful reminder that the same type of criminals are still alive and well, getting paid by US citizens to commit their white collar crimes now. Unfortunately, Belfort will get the last laugh, because I'm sure he still lives well off of his ill gotten gains, and I contributed by purchasing the hardback like an idiot.
I should have saved my money, because owning this is a waste. I really didn't care for it at all. Basically, Jordan Belfort is every horrible Wall Street broker stereotype from the late 80's you can imagine, and this memoir is him retelling the period of his life that marks the seeds of his eventual downfall. This memoir was rare, in that I found myself hating him the deeper into the story I went. No one primarily involved in this book is a decent human being. It's all about excessive selfishness. Everyone was a drug addicted greed head, and all of their stories play out in the same way as every other self absorbed criminal's usually do (excluding every banking CEO from the later part of the last decade and two presidential administrations. They still get away with massive fraud.)
By the end of it, I didn't feel better for his getting sober, or finally having to face up to his crimes. He never cared. He represented everything that was wrong with American greed, and was a painful reminder that the same type of criminals are still alive and well, getting paid by US citizens to commit their white collar crimes now. Unfortunately, Belfort will get the last laugh, because I'm sure he still lives well off of his ill gotten gains, and I contributed by purchasing the hardback like an idiot.
September 6, 2017
No puedo decir que me haya encantado, me gustó, pero definitivamente no es un libro que considere digno de una relectura. No me malinterpreten, la narrativa es fluída, pero siento que el relato es un poco desordenado, es como si estuvieses en una reu y Jordan estuviese por más de 1hr contándo sobre sus estafas, aventuras y adicción a las drogas, puede ser muy interesante todo su relato, pero llega un momento que te aburres de tanta perorata.
Considero que es un libro que debes leer solo si te interesa conocer sobre la alocada vida de un multimillonario estafador y adicto de la vida real, no esperes encontrar recursos narrativos atrapantes, recuerda que el autor no es un escritor.
Mi video reseña: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmBXg...
Considero que es un libro que debes leer solo si te interesa conocer sobre la alocada vida de un multimillonario estafador y adicto de la vida real, no esperes encontrar recursos narrativos atrapantes, recuerda que el autor no es un escritor.
Mi video reseña: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmBXg...
June 21, 2013
It is rare that I praise a book the way I will praise Wolf of Wall Street. The protagonist and author - same person - is a complete degenerate. The storyline is appalling and will make you shake your fist.
But for all the outrage, this is a superbly written book that killed me - I laughed a lot and often. Ranging from wild tales of drug use, treatment of stock brokers, rigging the system and how to engineer a stock run, the Wolf of Wall Street gives you the real ins and outs to what went wrong in the US financial system.
The tale hits high moments between our protagonist and the Duchess, as well as some great moments that had me howling involving "The Cobbler". I found myself looking up the stocks mentioned, the history and what happened next.
You may not want to laugh - you may think to yourself "this guy is an ass---" and yet, you will laugh along with it. This is a brutally funny tale of American Horror.
March 25, 2017
I was thoroughly entertained by this audiobook. The narrator was almost as good as watching the movie. This lifestyle is so over-the-top that it just has be true! I don't begrudge him his money, because he lived hard. Too, too hard.
February 9, 2017
Basically what I expected. The tag lines on the cover say it all.
Full review moved to http://covers2covers.wordpress.com/
Full review moved to http://covers2covers.wordpress.com/
May 20, 2013
Well, you’re either going to love this book or hate it. It’s not going to give you an education on the mechanics of the stock market. However, it will give you an entertaining education on what took place on Wallstreet in the 90’s and the over the top characters that flourished within it.
I personally loved the book and I couldn’t put it down. From the start it takes you on a nonstop ride of debauchery and Quaaludes. Maybe it’s because I work in a similar industry and these type of characters and ego’s are not that unimaginable to me.
If you don’t take life too seriously and you’re not easily offended then I’d highly recommend this book to you. I can’t wait to see what Scorsese does with this.
I personally loved the book and I couldn’t put it down. From the start it takes you on a nonstop ride of debauchery and Quaaludes. Maybe it’s because I work in a similar industry and these type of characters and ego’s are not that unimaginable to me.
If you don’t take life too seriously and you’re not easily offended then I’d highly recommend this book to you. I can’t wait to see what Scorsese does with this.
November 13, 2017
The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort was an interesting novel that left me completely disinterested.
As someone going into business, this book intrigued me. I also really want to watch the movie, but I wanted to read the book beforehand, so that helped me with picking this read. I thought this book would be over the top exciting, since that's all I've heard about the movie, but alas it was not. This book was probably my most boring read of the year, and that's not an over-exaggeration.
This book is said to be non-fiction, but Jordan Belfort's opening lines at the beginning of the book also say he may or may not have changed the timelines, which lead me to believe it's not 100% accurate. (But is anything 100% accurate in a memoir? You are relying on memory, which can tell some pretty epic lies...but that's another story). Reading about all the antics within his career was definitely interesting - it's not something I really thought about. All the drugs, alcohol, prostitutes, etc and all the craziness tied in together was definitely the basis of a really cool read. But, this book fell flat. The first "book" (it's separated into books that have chapters in each) was fast paced and epic! I was hooked to every word I read! But Book two and onward left me feeling "meh". It was slow paced, then it would suddenly pick up pace for two pages, and go back to boring again.
That being said, Jordan's life is definitely worth a read - but maybe by a different author? This is Jordan's first book, so with a little more experience and skill this book could have knocked it out of the park. Jordan definitely has talent in writing, it just needs a little more tweaking before he becomes a really great author.
As the narrator, Jordan does come off as that wealthy rich kid stereotype everyone hates. It is sometimes annoying listening to his ranting about how much money he makes, and his hot wife, and how he cheats and does drugs and will absolutely quit but never does. That felt like it was 60% of this book - the same comments being repeated in different ways. "I'll quit..." then he doesn't, "I'll stop!..." then he doesn't, and so on. There's also no remorse for what he does. He is destroying lives, but hey, I'm rich so whatever! That's what I got out of this book. There was no life lessons at the end, no big "Ta Da! I've done well!", it's just him being rich and all of the bad things he does in his life, and the end! His penis, erection and everything about his sex life is mentioned numerous times - and of course, according to him it's god walking on earth. He rarely insults or looks down on himself, but will quickly do it to anybody else.
Overall, I'm sure Jordan's life was and is interesting, but his story could have been told better. It's almost as if he hasn't learned anything in his life, or at least that's how it's portrayed. And, better yet, there's another book in this series if you want to continue reading because HE DOESN'T FINISH HIS STORY IN THIS BOOK.
2 out of five stars.
Why? It had so much potential, and was so great in the beginning, but tumbled far down about one quarter into the book.
As someone going into business, this book intrigued me. I also really want to watch the movie, but I wanted to read the book beforehand, so that helped me with picking this read. I thought this book would be over the top exciting, since that's all I've heard about the movie, but alas it was not. This book was probably my most boring read of the year, and that's not an over-exaggeration.
This book is said to be non-fiction, but Jordan Belfort's opening lines at the beginning of the book also say he may or may not have changed the timelines, which lead me to believe it's not 100% accurate. (But is anything 100% accurate in a memoir? You are relying on memory, which can tell some pretty epic lies...but that's another story). Reading about all the antics within his career was definitely interesting - it's not something I really thought about. All the drugs, alcohol, prostitutes, etc and all the craziness tied in together was definitely the basis of a really cool read. But, this book fell flat. The first "book" (it's separated into books that have chapters in each) was fast paced and epic! I was hooked to every word I read! But Book two and onward left me feeling "meh". It was slow paced, then it would suddenly pick up pace for two pages, and go back to boring again.
That being said, Jordan's life is definitely worth a read - but maybe by a different author? This is Jordan's first book, so with a little more experience and skill this book could have knocked it out of the park. Jordan definitely has talent in writing, it just needs a little more tweaking before he becomes a really great author.
As the narrator, Jordan does come off as that wealthy rich kid stereotype everyone hates. It is sometimes annoying listening to his ranting about how much money he makes, and his hot wife, and how he cheats and does drugs and will absolutely quit but never does. That felt like it was 60% of this book - the same comments being repeated in different ways. "I'll quit..." then he doesn't, "I'll stop!..." then he doesn't, and so on. There's also no remorse for what he does. He is destroying lives, but hey, I'm rich so whatever! That's what I got out of this book. There was no life lessons at the end, no big "Ta Da! I've done well!", it's just him being rich and all of the bad things he does in his life, and the end! His penis, erection and everything about his sex life is mentioned numerous times - and of course, according to him it's god walking on earth. He rarely insults or looks down on himself, but will quickly do it to anybody else.
Overall, I'm sure Jordan's life was and is interesting, but his story could have been told better. It's almost as if he hasn't learned anything in his life, or at least that's how it's portrayed. And, better yet, there's another book in this series if you want to continue reading because HE DOESN'T FINISH HIS STORY IN THIS BOOK.
2 out of five stars.
Why? It had so much potential, and was so great in the beginning, but tumbled far down about one quarter into the book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 20, 2012
This book begins with a disclaimer of sorts by Belfort about his memories of the events. He says that the events are to his best recollection. This gives him a certain degree of deniability if he is ever called on his memories about some of these events. It seems to be perfectly in line with the actions of the persona he uses throughout the rest of the book, lying about himself and even when he is doing terrible things still talking down to everyone.
One of my main problems with this book is the dialogue. It seems to be written like a really bad B movie which makes the story hard to believe and nearly impossible to connect with any of the characters. I don't care about anyone in this book. At the beginning of the book I let a few of his descriptions of himself slide. Some of these things include his ability to convince his young followers into spending what he spends and getting businessmen to cut secret deals with him, but by the end where he seems to be able to charm anyone he comes into contact with at his rehab facility I could no longer swallow the garbage that Belfort was putting on the page.
The second major problem i had was the tone of the book, It was inconsistent all the way though there were times when he wanted the reader to like him and other when he was condescending to the reader.
The only redeeming quality of this book is that he only changed a few of the names. He put it all out there but in the end what is that really worth when the rest of the book is not all that good.
I bought this at a book sale for two dollars and still felt like I had been robbed by Jordan Belfort. I can only hope that Martin Scorsese can make something valuable out of this piece because as interesting as the story sounds the book was better as an excerpt in Maxim Magazine.
One of my main problems with this book is the dialogue. It seems to be written like a really bad B movie which makes the story hard to believe and nearly impossible to connect with any of the characters. I don't care about anyone in this book. At the beginning of the book I let a few of his descriptions of himself slide. Some of these things include his ability to convince his young followers into spending what he spends and getting businessmen to cut secret deals with him, but by the end where he seems to be able to charm anyone he comes into contact with at his rehab facility I could no longer swallow the garbage that Belfort was putting on the page.
The second major problem i had was the tone of the book, It was inconsistent all the way though there were times when he wanted the reader to like him and other when he was condescending to the reader.
The only redeeming quality of this book is that he only changed a few of the names. He put it all out there but in the end what is that really worth when the rest of the book is not all that good.
I bought this at a book sale for two dollars and still felt like I had been robbed by Jordan Belfort. I can only hope that Martin Scorsese can make something valuable out of this piece because as interesting as the story sounds the book was better as an excerpt in Maxim Magazine.
November 9, 2014
I tried with this one but I had to stop before I finished. I just didn't care. I don't mind reading about an anti-hero but this guy does not think he's an anti-hero. He's an ass but throughout all of his antics is his bro humor. He's just so so impressed with himself.
Also, it's just terribly written. He uses the word "loins" so many times. If I got a dollar for every "loins" I would have made a killing. I wonder if Jordan wrote this with a thesaurus nearby. He uses big words when not necessary. He says someone wears perfume insouciantly. I mean honestly . . . what the heck?
Also, it's just terribly written. He uses the word "loins" so many times. If I got a dollar for every "loins" I would have made a killing. I wonder if Jordan wrote this with a thesaurus nearby. He uses big words when not necessary. He says someone wears perfume insouciantly. I mean honestly . . . what the heck?
May 29, 2022
I wish I was the dustbin here-
P.S- Movie was better. WAYYYYYYYYY better. WAY WAY WAYYYYYYYY better.
P.S- Movie was better. WAYYYYYYYYY better. WAY WAY WAYYYYYYYY better.
January 15, 2014
Saw the (excellent) movie and felt compelled to read the book (with low expectations) only to be pleasantly surprised that the movie stayed so true to the book (how true the memoir itself is, is a different story). Reading the book I was seeing the same movies scenes played out almost exactly, which makes the story more tolerable because the writing is so poor. He tends to overwrite, likely how he would dictate the stories in constant hyperbole, with tons of adjectives beyond what would ever be necessary. For instance, he uses "loamy loins" several times to describe attractive female characters (the same phrase, over and over again - meaningless when it's used to describe every character, and even the same one a few times).
But the book accomplishments a great deal: a period piece of the late eighties into nineties boom; an explanation of how to make money and leverage that money through complicated financials, stocks, ratholes, IPOs, overseas banks, etc, in a way understandable to an English major; a complete drug addiction memoir of excess and rock bottom and rehab; a great party story in a way to live vicariously the life of a rich asshole. If Boiler Room met Tucker Max met Hunter Thompson met Patrick Bateman you'd get a sense of what you're in for.
The book is very long, with many slow overwrought monologues, and it ends before you get to the trial, outcome, prison, etc. I resented being sold on reading the next book (about that part) just as I finished the first one.
For the most part, the movie holds true to the book but it changes (spoilers) when Jordan leaves his company, goes into retirement, and then the book surrounds his drug spike and collapse before ending with the legal strike. Yes, even the aunt and yacht stuff. There's a lot in this book to enjoy, but it won't be the writing.
But the book accomplishments a great deal: a period piece of the late eighties into nineties boom; an explanation of how to make money and leverage that money through complicated financials, stocks, ratholes, IPOs, overseas banks, etc, in a way understandable to an English major; a complete drug addiction memoir of excess and rock bottom and rehab; a great party story in a way to live vicariously the life of a rich asshole. If Boiler Room met Tucker Max met Hunter Thompson met Patrick Bateman you'd get a sense of what you're in for.
The book is very long, with many slow overwrought monologues, and it ends before you get to the trial, outcome, prison, etc. I resented being sold on reading the next book (about that part) just as I finished the first one.
For the most part, the movie holds true to the book but it changes (spoilers) when Jordan leaves his company, goes into retirement, and then the book surrounds his drug spike and collapse before ending with the legal strike. Yes, even the aunt and yacht stuff. There's a lot in this book to enjoy, but it won't be the writing.
September 7, 2015
He should have just told this whole book to a therapist so I didn't have to waste my time.
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