My first impression of a person who reviews others’ work for a living came at age 12 from watching the Mel Brooks film History of the World Part One where we’re introduced to Ugg, the world’s first artist, and then the world’s first art critic. He delivers a scathing verdict on Ugg’s cave painting without saying or writing a word.
I am very happy to report that neither of the two fine publications, The Los Angeles Times nor The Economist, that have so far reviewed my book peed on it. This is what the LA Times had to say:
Jakab is a former investment banker who currently writes the Wall Street Journal’s “Heard on the Street” column; he knows what he’s talking about. He’s skilled at translating concepts like puts and calls and short sales and gamma squeezes into language most anyone can understand — a true gift.
LA Times
And later in the review:
Like so much reporting in recent years, Jakab’s book is both depressing and necessary … Anybody who buys and sells stocks, and anyone who “invests” in anything old or new, should read this book.
LA Times
Now that’s nice. And The Economist, which I have been reading for 30 years now, came through with a really flattering take too.
Spencer Jakab, a columnist at the Wall Street Journal, unknots the threads of this complex financial tale. His is a pacey and comprehensive account that takes in the structural changes in finance and the media that made the turmoil possible.
The Economist
And lower down
…Mr Jakab’s knowledge of Wall Street shines in the historical context he provides and the industry aphorisms he relays (the retail investors who can lose out when hedge funds prosper are typecast as “a lot of dentists”). Despite the density of the subject matter, which includes “rehypothecation” and “gamma squeezes”, the story is deftly told. If the first draft of history was not quite on the money, as Mr Jakab contends, his second go has set the record straight.
The Economist
Please check out the book.
Spencer Jakab 