Excellent book based on true events (Rigged - Ben Mezrich)

Member Name: gpollock

Product:	Rigged - Ben Mezrich
Date:	29/03/09 (94 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to read

Disadvantages: More could have been made of the ending

Rigged is a great book written by Ben Mezrich which tells the story of a newcomer to Wall Street who ends up changing the world of oil through his dealings with the Sheiks of the United Arab Emirates. The story is meant to be based on a true story but it is fairly loosely based on a true story and all names and time periods have been changed greatly.

The story focuses on the main character, David Russo, a young Italian-American guy from Brooklyn New York who ends up working for the Mercantile Exhange on lower Manhattan where billions of dollars of oil are traded each week. The story follows the experiences of Russo, starting his job and the many barriers he has to overcome along the way - one of which is the general despise from the traders towards an educated guy from Harvard Business School!

I really enjoyed this book as I felt I could really relate to the main character and there are many situations described in the book which many people would be abe to identify with. I enjoyed the stories of the partying, the money and extravagence that goes along with the job as well as the darker side to working in that kind of environment. It's also quite an inspiring book in many ways, making you think that with a lot of hard work and determination anything is achievable!

The story unfolds at a quick pace which keeps the reader's interest and the author really gets across how you would imagine the lifestyle of a New York trader to be like and the adventures that the main character goes through and the dilemmas he is faced with.

The book is also divided up into fairly short chapters also which makes it very easy to keep reading and not want to put down. On the whole, this is a good book. If anything I was slightly disappointed with the ending as I felt that everything was tied up a bit too quickly as if the author got fed up writing and wanted to get it finished - or maybe I just didn't really want the book to end so soon!

Summary: Great book, hard to put down!