Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3780 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Synopsis
A candid, often outrageous portrait of life at a major Wall Street investment house rips the cover off high-finance, exposing the grueling work schedules and shocking abuses common in this high-octane lifestyle. Reprint.

Customer Reviews

From lap dances to the ladder of success
From reading this book, it seems for to me to be quite a mixed read. It is definitely a very vulgar and humorous book which does give the essence of the IBD world from one perspective, a very pessimistic perspective indeed.

It does explain the hard long nights coupled with the luxurious pleasures which the IBD world have become very accustomed to but also gives good principles on WHAT NOT TO DO and HOW NOT TO SCREW UP and burn out.

Be warned, it is very patriarchal and has obviously been taken from a male perspective!! It does have well, explicit humour but it just makes it even funnier as you read on.

In terms of IBD, it does outline business and basic aspects such as Valuations and Pitches but do remember this is a bias view of two who have left the IBD world and are quite bitter about their experiences and do tend to contradict themselves by criticising others on behaviour which they themselves partake in.

If you want to laugh, this is a book is a "laugh and a half" for each page. From swearing, to lap dances, to midnight runs in the copycentre, you won't be disappointed!

However looking at banking and the IBD world, hmm it's mixed. It is hard, it is a long ride, but so are most jobs. This is a very bias view and anyone going in to it shouldn't just take it on what these two profess.

Water Under the Bridge
I actually read the book shortly after I finished a summer job in M&A (Mergers&Acquisitions) at a leading IB (Investment Bank) and upon the recommendation of one of my colleagues. I have to admit that then I found the book somehow entertaining but it did by no means reflect the reality I experienced; hence I would not recommend it as a guide to people who consider a job in IB.

Although I decided not to start a career in M&A, for various reasons, I found Monkey Business hopelessly exaggerated and also agree with Donald's note of "Locker Room Humor". The book might have been more accurate during the internet bubble, when a lot of (crazy) deals happened, people and IBs "earned" a lot of money and M&A was considered as the most prestigious area in IB.

Since these days are over, the book from today's perspective should more be seen as a tribute to some wild years, which will probably not happen again in this form for a very long time.

It is for this reason I also find the book not very insightful, since M&A and IB in general has changed substantially over the last 4-5 years. Although it is for example still true (as masterfully pinpointed in the book) that there are (in particular from the perspective of young bankers) stupid procedures, such as the pitch book preparations, many other vividly described occasions (e.g., excessive parties) and realities (e.g., huge salaries, financial modelling, etc.) do either not exist to this extent any more or have become far more standardised.

In conclusion: If you want to read a historic satire about the heady days in IB and M&A in particular the book is a good choice. Nonetheless, if you want to gain a deep insight into the business you will be disappointed, at least once confronted with reality.

Frighteningly true
As a former City solicitor, I can say that this book reads very true to life. When you are living in the world described in the book, you think that it's normal. It's only once you get out that you realise it was a bizarre and unpleasant way of wasting years of your life. (Of course, there are lots of other bizarre and unpleasant ways of wasting time, and most of them don't pay so well, so maybe potential recruits shouldn't be put off too much.)

Anyone thinking about becoming a lawyer should turn to page 182: "As junior bankers, whenever we were feeling low, we'd watch the junior lawyers and start feeling better . . ."

Clients of investment banks should read this book too. Exactly why do US banks get 7% commission on new equity issues? Pierpont Morgan and the other robber barons of the 1920s must be laughing their socks off in their graves. I hope companies don't pay that much here in Europe.