( 7 reviews )
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( 1 of 1 found this review helpful ) Posted: Aug 12 2009
I am surprised to see all the negative reviews about this book because I found it valuable. No single book or resource gives an investor everything he or she needs to know to be successful. I personally read maybe over 300 books on investing and still learned from this book. It is another tool to add to the tool box. This book helps readers identify places where the management may be too aggressive or borderline illegal with financial reporting. I believe that this book, along with Financial Shenanigans and Creative Cash Flow Reporting, should be on the shelves of serious investors. - Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market
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Posted: Apr 21 2009
There is a lot of great material in this book for investors but there are also serious flaws with the organization and presentation of the book. The book reads more like a textbook for an MBA or accounting school. The advantage of the format is that each chapter can be read out of order. One could also read the chapters that sound interesting. Each chapter is followed by a summary, glossary and bibliography. I read/skimmed all the chapters and I must admit that I did not have fun while doing it. As much as I hate skimming books, I just could not bring myself to read everything as presented due to two main problems with the book. First, the book is ridiculously redundant and poorly written. There is redundancy within chapters and also among chapters. When you reach a point that has already been made, the temptation to skim or even better to skip is just too great to pass. Unfortunately when you skip then it's hard to know when to start reading carefully again. I wish I had the patience and endurance to have read it all, but what I can I say ... I just could not do it. Second, the book is filled with numerous examples many of which add nothing to the author's point. I would have preferred fewer examples but more in depth analysis. It was way too wordy. With a better editor and better organization this book could be cut to one third its current length and be made into a huge gem. In its current form, I still recommend the book to patient readers. You can also extract a lot of value out of it by selectively skipping and skimming parts as I did.
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( 7 of 7 found this review helpful ) Posted: Jul 17 2006
I thought this was going to be a penetrating, incisive look at financial statement chicanery -- instead I got a recap of things I already learned in HOWARD SCHLIT's (better edited, clearer) book. Most of what is in this book is either a) something you already know or b) material you can get for free on the web (investopedia.com tutorials, etc). Given the fact that the book's authors are well-known names in the field, I expected much more from this offering. Save your money...
