Jordan Belfort

The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort was an interesting novel that left me completely disinterested.

As someone going into business, this book intrigued me. I also really want to watch the movie, but I wanted to read the book beforehand, so that helped me with picking this read. I thought this book would be over the top exciting, since that's all I've heard about the movie, but alas it was not. This book was probably my most boring read of the year, and that's not an over-exaggeration.

This book is said to be non-fiction, but Jordan Belfort's opening lines at the beginning of the book also say he may or may not have changed the timelines, which lead me to believe it's not 100% accurate. (But is anything 100% accurate in a memoir? You are relying on memory, which can tell some pretty epic lies...but that's another story). Reading about all the antics within his career was definitely interesting - it's not something I really thought about. All the drugs, alcohol, prostitutes, etc and all the craziness tied in together was definitely the basis of a really cool read. But, this book fell flat. The first "book" (it's separated into books that have chapters in each) was fast paced and epic! I was hooked to every word I read! But Book two and onward left me feeling "meh". It was slow paced, then it would suddenly pick up pace for two pages, and go back to boring again.

That being said, Jordan's life is definitely worth a read - but maybe by a different author? This is Jordan's first book, so with a little more experience and skill this book could have knocked it out of the park. Jordan definitely has talent in writing, it just needs a little more tweaking before he becomes a really great author.

As the narrator, Jordan does come off as that wealthy rich kid stereotype everyone hates. It is sometimes annoying listening to his ranting about how much money he makes, and his hot wife, and how he cheats and does drugs and will absolutely quit but never does. That felt like it was 60% of this book - the same comments being repeated in different ways. "I'll quit..." then he doesn't, "I'll stop!..." then he doesn't, and so on. There's also no remorse for what he does. He is destroying lives, but hey, I'm rich so whatever! That's what I got out of this book. There was no life lessons at the end, no big "Ta Da! I've done well!", it's just him being rich and all of the bad things he does in his life, and the end! His penis, erection and everything about his sex life is mentioned numerous times - and of course, according to him it's god walking on earth. He rarely insults or looks down on himself, but will quickly do it to anybody else.

Overall, I'm sure Jordan's life was and is interesting, but his story could have been told better. It's almost as if he hasn't learned anything in his life, or at least that's how it's portrayed. And, better yet, there's another book in this series if you want to continue reading because HE DOESN'T FINISH HIS STORY IN THIS BOOK.

2 out of five stars.
Why? It had so much potential, and was so great in the beginning, but tumbled far down about one quarter into the book.… (more)

Jordan Belfort is a self-made man. Starting out with almost nothing and selling ice cream to pay for tuition, he soon realizes his knack for the stock market and gaming the system. Under his leadership, his brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont becomes both famous and notorious. Belfort, the Wolf of Wall Street, exploits the system to make a fortune every day. His lifestyle is equally fast and reckless. Starting with drugs to get some relief from his back pain, he enters a downward spiral that makes him become an addict whose life merely consists of taking drugs and spending money as soon as he entered his thirties. The Wolf of Wall Street relates the events in his life from his own perspective and in a very vivid way.

I liked the book for the tale it tells and how it is told. At points it made me want to vomit and I wanted to put the book away entirely, but I found myself unable to quit. Eventually, though, the narrative is exciting, even it is - luckily - far removed from what I expect life to be like. 4 stars.… (more)