[.ca] American Sucker (ISBN 0316192945)

an interesting look at a self-absorbed, humbled investor:
This is an interesting look at a self-absorbed and humbled investor who fell for the allure of the markets and the get-rich-quick mantra of the late 90s. It chronicles, cliched though it is, the rise and fall of a man's portfolio, along with his ties to some of the more notorious corproate crooks of the past few years. It is worth 4 stars if only because the author is remarkably candid about his greed, his desire for quick riches through the market, and his admiration and jealousy of the 'rock star' CEO embodied in Sam Waksal. There's not much original in here, or interesting beyond that rare candor. Candor, however, is a rare quality in writers, and such makes this an interesting trifle of a read.

Oh, Please...:
As a title, "American Schmuck" may have been more apt. Rarely has there been a more incisive portrait of the effete, weak, narcissistic and self-indulgent New Yorker than this book. Denby is unwilling to recognize the American disease of conspicuous consumption that has left this culture morally bankrupt and spiritually empty. Only an American in the 21st century would think accumulating wealth and possessions could justify his existence. If you must read this, get a library copy. It's not worth the purchase price.

Greed and Envy:
It's hard to feel sympathetic for someone who writes for the New Yorker and owns a seven room apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Too bad he became obsessed with the stock market; well, as he admits, lots of ordinary Americans lost more than he did. This is a story of shallow values, false friends, and calculated social climbing. Denby collected people with celebrity, charisma and most important, wealth. No wonder they betrayed him. He wasn't looking for good people, he was looking for glamorous people to use to enhance his social (and financial) standing. Surprise - they used him instead. It's an old story. Can't feel sorry for him, I'm afraid. There are a lot of dissatisfied people out there, people who will never have enough, and whose accomplishments will never give them happiness. Denby is one, his novelist wife who left their marriage for unspecified reasons, is another. I downed this book in one gulp and returned it to the library the next day. Don't buy it. Do read it, and in conjunction with On Paradise Drive by David Brooks. It's the antidote to much happy theorizing about following one's American bliss.

Dumb, dumber, and greedy:
Having read a good but cautionary review when the book came out and having an interest in the topic, I waited for a copy at the local library. Good idea. Buying this book to learn something about investing would be like buying the stocks Denby chose to make money. At least the reader's intentions or motives would be a bit more rational. Denby apparently has watched too many movies and read too many great books. What he really needed was some good common sense. The title is misleading. Denby's entire downfall is not based on his being "American" or a "sucker". Yes, he was greedy and willing to be gullible. He waxes eloquent on greed and envy. But these are besides the point. Yes, he listemed to precisely the wrong people. But his initial, critical, deadly mistake was to assume that he could make a million dollars in one year by not doing anything other than "invest". He was greedy, envious, naive, uninformed and lazy. He wanted so much to make that million that he ignored red flags, warning bells, and first-year business student advice on investing. He has a cynical view of investing, based on Keynes' observations as to the risks involved. That pretty much explains how he thinks he can make a million in one year just by buying technology stocks in 2000. Denby also decides that taking risks means being irrational, that progress requires irrational behavior. What he fails to do is to listen even to the people who he indirectly accuses of having duped him; even Henry Blodgett told Denby to be more careful. Denby seems convinced that Alan Greenspan's effort to raise interest rates was the market's true undoing, This is a bad case of denial from the recent dot.com bust debacle. Denby's self-absorption with his attempts to maintain his liberal, upscale, upper West Side lifestyle and apartment in the face of a pending divorce speaks volumes for his willingness to do incredibly foolish, shortsighted and greedy things makes this more of a lesson in how not to dissolve a marriage than any sort of morality play, note of sympathy, or tale of snake oil salesmen swindling a poor, innocent, well-read but naive movie critic. It is hard to feel sympathy, even for such a large, personal loss.

An Awful Book by a Selfish Man:
David Denby is a selfish man. He refers to his wife of nearly two decades as the "novelist Cathleen Schine" and hardly ever mentions his kids except as nuisances. His greeds leads him to the diabolical duo of Henry Blodget and Sam Waksal who then fleece Denby out of much of his life savings. American Sucker is the work of a selfish, greedy self-obsessed man. The book is similarly awful. It is a waste of both your money and your reading time.