The Complete Book of Greed

by M. Hirsh Goldberg

The author of The Blunder Book and The Book of Lies is back - with his most entertaining "human foible" book yet! The Complete Book of Greed romps through the history of human avarice to expose a trove of unimaginable extravagance.
From the ancient Egyptian pharaohs - who filled their massive burial pyramids with gold in hopes of "taking it with them" - to today's oil sheiks and corporate chieftains, Goldberg humorously details the bizarre lifestyles of the rich and greedy down through the ages, including the wife who was awarded the largest divorce settlement in history - $950 million plus property; the billionaire who installed a pay telephone in his mansion for use by his guests; the maharajah who made his six Rolls-Royces into garbage trucks; the spectacular swindle that caused Barbara Walters, Alan Alda, Barbra Streisand, and the chairmen of Pepsico, Citicorp, and General Electric to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars; and the $100 million party that was held in 62 tents spread over 160 acres.
With the droll style and amusing caricatures that Goldberg's readers enjoy, The Complete Book of Greed is an entertaining odyssey through the annals of conspicuous consumption.

Genres: Nonfiction, Trivia

228 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1994

Reviews

[David Ward · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Complete Book of Greed: The Strange and Amazing History of Human Excess by M. Hirsh Goldberg (William Morrow & Co. 1994) (178) (4047).

This is a review of the second of two books authored by M. Hirsh Goldberg that I had sought out from my local public library and have just finished reading. Much like the first Goldberg work that I read and reviewed, this one left a lot to be desired. There were interesting entries to be found, but the entire work seemed to be no more than a rough draft that was far from ready to publish.

To this reader, this book seemed poorly conceived, poorly contrived, and poorly executed. I acknowledge that it was much better than the first M. Hirsh Goldberg book I read (The Book of Lies: Schemes, Scams, Fakes, and Frauds That Have Changed the Course of History and Affect Our Daily Lives (William Morrow & Co. 1990)). Nevertheless, The Complete Book of Greed suffered from a lack of organization and what seemed like little-to-no evidence of editing.

. My rating: 6.5/10, finished 5/26/26 (4047).

[Pete Olds · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I wouldn't think anyone should ever use this book as a primary source, but it did raise a range of interesting perspectives and points. For what could have been a dry subject, it remained reasonably readable.

So if you are looking for non-fiction, but easy to read stuff, this should be near the top of your list.