Customer Reviews
Drugs, greed and money - captivating - By: Dr. Joanne Cronin, 08 Nov 2008 
Jordan Belfort was living proof of the American dreamin the heady days of Wall Street. Nicknamed the "Wolf of Wall Street", he livedin a fabulous mansion, with his beautiful wife & child, flew his helicopter, indulgedin copious amounts of drugs, all while running a busy brokerage firm, Stratton Oakmount, which he had founded.
Stratton Oakmount found fame as one of the biggest "boiler room" brokerage firms. Belfort was eventually convicted of selling purpotedly profitable stocks at inflated prices & spent two yearsin jail. This book attempts to tell the tale of his high life & how it all fell apart around him as his drug addiction spiralled out of control.
There is no doubting what this man, & his company did, was odious. But as you read the book, what really comes across are Belfort's superb skills as a salesman & motivator.Also apparent from the book is the scale of Jordan's intelligence. He comes across as quite a clever person, who however, devoted a significant part of his life to circumventing stock trading laws. His descrption of how he bugged the SEC personnel who were investigating his books is quite amusing & novel.His descriptions of his drug taking make you realise how easy it can be for an intelligent person to persuade themselves that their drug problem is under control not a problem at all.
This book is quite a quick-paced, interesting & amusing read. Granted, the subject matter is unpleasant to some, but it is entertaining & quite an interesting insight into the mind of Jordan Belfort.
Superb book - By: Thomas Parrott, 03 Oct 2008 
I confess that I did not buy this from Amazon, having read an articlein The Guardian about this book & the author, I was fascinated & added it to my reading list. I struggled to find itin the book store as they had decided to list it under business books - it is definitely notin that category!
If you enjoyed reading (not the films)American Psycho, Bonfire of the Vanities, Wall Street, Bright Lights, Big City, Howard Marks or Fear & Loathing, then you will enjoy this hedonistic autobiography which almost parodies the authors own rise & fall. The books' tempo is dictated by the emotional roller-coaster created from a cocktail of drugs consumed throughout each chapter.
I found myself laughing out loud at various points when Jordan's decline had reached embarrassing levels. There are also some tragic moments within the storyline but these are lightened as Jordan explains the situation & his [over]reactions through a fog of narcotics.
Maximum respect to him for making it out alive.
Totally complelling, totally insane - By: Mr. J. Lewis, 22 Sep 2008 Wow, what a book. I read it practically cover to cover on a long haul flight, I just couldn't put it down.
Jordan Belfort is like James Bond gone bad. His life represents excessin every way conceivable - money, drugs & women. But the strange thing is that no matter what he does you can't but help find yourself liking the guy as you read his book. The writing isn't top drawer to be truthful but that really doesn't matter because this book grips you from the first page.
For aspiring Gordon Gekko's - this book will not give you any useful insights into how to be a successful businessman. What it does is tell a story that is so crazy you'd it swear must be fiction, if you didn't know it was true.
WHAT A MAD BOOK, BUT WHAT A GREAT READ. - By: MOD., 04 Aug 2008 THIS IS A PAGE TURNER. YOU JUST CANNOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN AS YOU WANT TO READ WHAT "THE WOLF OF WALL STREET" DOES NEXT. FANTASTIC READ.
A thouroughly enjoyable read - By: Murray Golding, 03 Jun 2008 Sure you have understand this is a virgin author, & there are some gaps such as the missing years - the early ones, but look upon this as a wonderfuly honest tale, & so funny i laughed out loud many times. He has an interesting lifestyle & he is a guy with true charisma !
Looking forward to the sequel !
