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Nassim Nicholas Taleb | |
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Author:
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
By Random House
 Nice one, 2010-06-29
Really good book. Can definetely recommend it for anyone having the slightest interest in markets, and the random events that rule our life.
Author:
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
By Penguin
Why all the negative reviews?, 2010-06-03
I found this book a breath of fresh air. We tend to read in an echo chamber of books that confirm our world view. Black Swan is not like this. Telab dismantles our inbuilt pretensions and invites us to live with the mystery of not knowing jack all about the world, the future and knowledge in general. This book is a treasure trove of caustic wit and sharp intelligent insights; from the problem of induction (but in the real world), to the phoney Nobel laureate scam jobs, pseudo geniuses selling mumbo jumbo and other economic modelling idiocies and philosophical paradoxes that have never occurred to me before. Thus this book really got my mind racing. Taleb is a very clever man for sure and he lets us know it. He believes himself to have made great discoveries concerning the stupidity of the bellied up beast we call capitalism and why things generally tend to cock up in unexpected ways. Oh, and he shows why experts don't know as much as you and I, which I find very worrying! Thus this book is well worth the read, just to swim inside the mind of a true intellectual. And not one of those pop intellectuals who grave our culture (and populate the philosophy book shelves at my local Waterstones)! Taleb then is on hand to tell you how it is. He has experience working in the `machine', he's made lots of money and so he's in a good position to insult the map and kick the territory; which he does with venom. He has plenty of funny venomous asides aimed at philosophers and `experts'.
Though I'm not qualified (or clever enough) to comment on the guys massive ego (it really is huge!), he just puts his ideas out in a crystal clear and provocative way which I find irresistible. He writes with confidence you see and so he seems to know what he is talking about. So if you can stomach the man's genius complex, you may well start finding him a charming and somewhat very funny character (as I did). What Taleb has to say he says it really well and so his book is a joy to read and well worth your time. Though it can be challenging in places (you won't finish it in one sitting), you will put it down and so that you can process what you have just read.
I'm therefore bemused by all the negative reviews for this book. Ok, for sure, Taleb does ramble on a bit and he struggles with his punch-lines (get to the point man!) but, I reckon anyway, clever people should be allowed to ramble with impunity, as long as their position is strong and they have something to say. So if you're smart, ignore all the negative winging and whining about Talebs arrogance. God, these days you can buy a book for the price of a Big Mac (I bought this one for $2) and Black Swan is a very digestible read indeed. So just give this book go and stop moaning that Taleb needs an editor and digest the man's ideas instead.
List Price: £31.17
Our Price: £20.87
Author:
Nassim Nicholas Taleb
By Gildan Media Corporation
Nice one, 2010-06-29
Really good book. Can definetely recommend it for anyone having the slightest interest in markets, and the random events that rule our life.
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