This book was good in places and bad in a whole lot of places. Here are the pros and cons.
Pros:
-This book definitely had some parts in it where it introduced some pretty neat concepts that could have been really expanded on. The whole dying before death is a very applicable art to trading, and losing the ego can be discussed at length to help the trader achieve better results.
-Some of the quotes in this book were very applicable and thought out; I really enjoyed some of them and read some that I had never heard before.
Cons:
-This book is basically a rehash of other books written on the subject. The author is CONSTANTLY quoting other books, going so far as to actually have two whole pages devoted to market wizard’s quotes. Using quotes in writing is great, adds credibility, gives other perspectives, but I literally felt like I wasn’t reading HIS book, but other’s.
-Basically you will not find much Taoism from the author in this book. He quotes the Tao Te Ching quite a bit, but I don’t really think he understands what he is talking about. He also takes a lot of stuff from Zen Buddhism, which is NOT Taoism. They have many similarities, but the author does not take the time to really give the reader the sense that he understands the differences. He kind of just lumps all that “east” stuff into one category.
-The author repeats himself quite a bit, I don’t know what the editor was really thinking after reading this book, but the copy paste buttons should not be used that liberally in any book. He repeats things in lists in different ways over and over again. What exactly is a winning attitude? Well it’s the attitude you have when you are a winner of course. Way oversimplified, way too many nonsensical one liners, and if this guy has really been in the business for this long, I get the sense that he really didn’t write this book (how can you be that experienced AND that ignorant).
-The author constantly contradicts himself, one of hand he will say that to be good in the market, you much be positive, have a winning attitude, etc, then will say that you must be a good loser. It’s like he wrote half of the book, then had some two bit inspirational writer fill in the rest with your generic, useless feel good jargon.
-The author goes on for a good while about jazz….yes jazz… I don’t know what he was thinking, but I guess telling me how certain types of jazz sounds in writing makes me a better trader. Why do I care that Jazz player X sounds like Z. Isn’t writing about music totally defeat the purpose that you are trying to get across in the first place? I mean sure, reference jazz, go into it a bit, but page after page of “the smooth beat of Miles Davis, or the Strong beat of Armstrong…” doesn’t do ANYTHING for me reading the book. Am I supposed to feel that improvisational nature of jazz now? I don’t know…
-One of the worst things that this author did was use the classic “Leading professionals say…” or “Top traders I know think…” This just DESTROYS credibility. He can quote the whole world through his book, but cant give a citation here? How are we supposed to know “top traders” said that? Its 8th grade essay writing at its finest here.
To sum it up, don’t buy this book, don’t waste your money, I am not usually this negative, but this book is truly abysmal and if you enjoy it, you have a long way to go in your trading. If you are really looking for mysticism in trading try “the Psychology of Trading,” it delves into meditation and the intuitive nature of trading, and the author knows what he’s talking about.
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