While Satyajit Das presents a grim view of the world of derivatives, the entire book is quite entertaining. For example:

Traders and quants belong to different cultures. Traders are like two- or three-year-olds, have very short attention spans and want instant gratification. They are easily distracted, fortunately. Quants are precocious, bright individuals of the same age group, entirely self-absorbed and full of their own self-importance. They need constant reassurance and a fair bit of stroking and praise to keep them going. They are also prone to the odd tantrum and hissy fit. It helps to have the skills of a kindergarten teacher to run a trading room.

Satyajit manages to explain a lot of complicated ideas in an easy to understand fashion. I finally understand the difference between R, NR, MR, and MMR credit events.

The book also covered about every major disaster in the 25 years which derivatives have been actively traded. The author occasionally concedes that derivatives have done some good, his main thesis is that one should be approach them with extreme caution.