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roxymaybe's review against another edition
2.0
This author is so far up his own was it's almost impossible to take anything he says to heart. Even when agreeing with his points I found myself rolling my eyes at his self-righteous, self-aggrandizing, self-congratulatory moaning. The only person smarter than you, dear reader, is the writer himself. And the only one stupider than anybody who disagrees with any of his opinions, is the critic who negatively reviewed his last books. I'd be interested to read another book on the same thesis by someone with a little more sympathy for the human race.
alabhyajindal's review against another edition
3.0
There are an obscene amount of references to the Middle East in this book. I was rolling my eyes 1/3 into the book. And of course, there are lots of repetitions of the central message - which I take is that the world should be run by people who have something to lose when things go south. There is considerable use of annoying words like "tawk" and "bullshitter". I didn't like reading it. The talk given by the author in relation to this book at Google was amazing, however.
micmo's review against another edition
1.0
I really tried to get through this book, because I think there are some interesting ideas here. However, I they were strongly overshadowed by the author’s aggressive, pretentious, hypocritical tone and I just had to stop. Save your time and skip this one.
the_schaef's review against another edition
4.0
This is certainly a book that made me think and ask questions that challenged the status quo. While clearly at time the author was pointing a finger at me, and often in an insulting manner, he does make a very strong case for the benefit that accrues to society at large when individuals have an equal share of personal downside for risks that one incurs either for oneself or on behalf of others. This clearly makes one want want to take a more proactive perspective on our personal risk profile and to understand the probabilities of tail risk in our choices.
rsr143's review against another edition
3.0
This is a good book, but I much preferred anti-fragile. The central theme of the book is as the title suggests, that without skin in the game it’s very hard to come up with theories that apply accurately to how life works. Those who have something at stake or at risk are much better at determining how things work. On the other hand, those who are simply theoretical tend to over complicate things and often get fundamentals very wrong.
The authors style is bombastic, which is quite entertaining. However there are many parts to this book that I just didn’t understand. The manner in which Taleb writes can be confusing, in a way that I don’t think adds to the overall impact of the book. The central theme of the book is worthy of a solid 5 star rating but the opaqueness of the writing brings my review down to a 3.
The authors style is bombastic, which is quite entertaining. However there are many parts to this book that I just didn’t understand. The manner in which Taleb writes can be confusing, in a way that I don’t think adds to the overall impact of the book. The central theme of the book is worthy of a solid 5 star rating but the opaqueness of the writing brings my review down to a 3.
surfshack_tito's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
5.0
Read it, live it, love it. Like his other books, the lessons are applicable to every domain.