Its pulp fiction of course and doesn’t approach the quality of prose in Orwell’s 1984, but somehow the world Elton paints with his use of modern vernacular, imagery and concepts appears scarily possible.

This book fits my definition of a ‘classic’ worth reading; short, to the point, relevant, and with a dark sense of irony.

I actually listened to the audiobook version of this, purchased from Audible, and it is read by Malcolm Gladwell himself. It was the first audiobook that I have listened too.

A few points…

• Gladwell is a great reader to listen to, he adds the right amount of enthusiasm to his speech without being over the top. I couldn’t always clearly discern when he was reading the dialogue of people speaking in his text.
• Listening to an audiobook requires alot more engagement than I had expected. I listened to it whilst walking or on the bus, but am not sure I would have got as much out of it as if I had just been sitting in a chair with my eyes closed (but then I may have fallen asleep if too relaxed!)
• I had hoped that the iPod/Audible integration would result in better navigation of audiobooks, perhaps by providing a table of contents and navigation in this fashion.

Whoa. It took a long time to finish and I now need to go back through the end-of-chapter summaries to review the key concepts. It has shone a bright light onto the many aspects of capital markets and the behaviour (frequently irrational) of many of its participants. As an introductory text for understanding capital markets I recommend Valdez’s Introduction to Global Financial Markets first, if that whet’s your appetite then Trading and Exchanges is next.

I think this is a book that definitely needs to be more widely read. It has encouraged me to do what I can to remove the inequities between the developed and developing world.

This is a good book, although long. In between the somewhat verbose prose there are many invaluable insights. Eric Evan’s has also defined language and patterns for a domain of software development that sorely needs one. If it was half as long it would be brilliant.

Bill Bryson is one of the best writers I have ever read. His dry wit has an ability to make me laugh that is equalled only by the late, great Douglas Adams.