Title: Irritating, meandering, pompous, and sometimes interesting
Product review: It's an interesting subject -- the role of chance in the markets -- it's just too bad Taleb was too busy puffing himself up to get to it. He apparently wants to be a cross between Daniel Dennett and Richard Feyman, but he comes off instead like an insecure blowhard -- like some bore of a party guest who won't stop droning.Is there anything useful in the book? Sure, but honestly, it's not worth the effort finding those few nuggets about fat-tailed distributions and volatility inflation. Read John Allen Paulos's innumeracy series; read Peter Bernstein's "Against the Gods". Hey, even read some books by Dennett and Feynman, if you want. But don't waste your time on this pompous twaddle. Taleb has an insecurity streak you could spot from high-earth orbit -- and it obscures his entire book.
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