About book Rigged: The True Story Of An Ivy League Kid Who Changed The World Of Oil, From Wall Street To Dubai (2007)
I loved this book! I read it in two days and was totally intrigued the whole time. I am a sucker for stories of rags to riches- young and passionate people who want to change the world and work their asses off to get there against insurmountable odds. It's the american dream. And the best part? Its a true story! The main character, David Russo (name changed from the actual guy, whose name is John D'Agostino) is a Italian-American Harvard grad from Brooklyn who is a hardworking, very intelligent smart-ass. He gets a crazy change to work at the Mercantile Exchange and from there he is on a fast paced ride upwards that takes him to amazing places, specifically Dubai, on a path to DO SOMETHING great.I loved the way Ben Mezrich wrote this book- I seriously couldn't put it down. It was snappy and funny, while keeping me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I loved the adrenaline fueled pace of someone who comes from a humble background, knowing they have nothing to lose. This guy had character and guts. I loved his in-your-face attitude and his determination. I loved learning about Dubai and frankly it made me want to go there to visit. I thought Ben Mezrich did a great job explaining the NYMEX without confusing readers, and explaining the absolute necessity of oil and natural gas to the modern world. The cultural differences were very interesting to me to read about. I also thought he did a good job describing the sentiments of people on all sides after 9/11. It would be hard to write about this subject matter and not step on any toes. I thought he did a great job presenting the different perspectives and prejudices from all sides. I liked the idea expressed by Khaled that prejudices can only be replaced when there is something positive to focus on. "You change people's minds by giving them a future." I loved Khaled, who was so grateful for the opportunities afforded him through his uncle's money. It would have been so easy for him to get sucked into a lifestyle of luxury but rather, he saw the bigger picture and knew that he had the means to make changes to the world that would positively benefit many of those around him. I will definitely pick up other books by Ben Mezrich, starting with Bringing Down the House, which I'm not sure why I haven't read....LOVED this book!
A fascinating & suspenseful story that will hold you attention from start to finish. David Russo (in fact John D'Agostino) has graduated with an MBA from Harvard Business School right after 9/11 and jobs are scarce. He accepts a job offer from Merrill Lynch doing grunt work just to pay his rent & groceries. Then he & his girlfriend Serena are at the National Italian American Heritage Institute dinner where the It. Am. Man of the year is Anthony Giovanni, David's hero. He meets him there & eventually becomes one of his "kids" at the NY Mercantile Exchange where the current commodity is oil. Because of his degree, his mentor, and the belief that he thinks himself better than them, he has a hard time being accepted by the rough & tumble traders on the floor or by the board members. All except his immediate boss Nick Reston are from Italian & Jewish ghettos in Brooklyn or Staten Island. He gains respect, is sent to Dubai in place of Reston and makes friends with a young Bedouin Arab prince who sells him on an idea that they together then have to sell to the NYMEX board & the religious arbiters of the Arab world. Terrific read for non fiction.
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dead on. What did you think of all those colorful burkas?? While the women wearing them were probably suffocating under them. But hell they sure were colorful. This guy is an asshole. Period. Good point about all the chocolate hands and almond eyes.. I threw it out after pg 183.And please let us not forget his real girlfriend who is just so REAL- even if she is drab-and the screaming mother- old home week for the real girls in his life. Puke city. J
—Elaine
This is an "Inside Edition" story with a focus on the glitz of the oil trading lifestyle experienced be a subset of NY oil traders. It focuses specifically on one personality, but includes a close group of 5 or 6 others who had an influential impact of the formation of an oil trading exchange in Dubai.If you are looking for fundamentals of oil trading or wanting to see how weather, war, national emergencies, etc. might impact oil trades and the mechanics behind the pricing of these effects, then a 3 minute search on Google and reading the results of the previews from the search results will give you much more than is presented here. This book has nothing to do with fundamentals or mechanics, other than conveying the impression that the movement into electronic trading would impact the existing system and lifestyles.. The author tells a very engaging and fast paced story that I would rank ahead of most action fiction sequences available today. There are probably tons of interesting detail facts underlying the story revealed here, but the author either didn't understand and know how to convey them, or he was distracted by the shine and missed the gold.
—Joe White
This is the third Ben Mezrich book I've read, and he clearly has a theme of, fantasy worlds that normal people can never live in. I've tagged it as a fantasy despite the fact that it's a true story because it's truly what many dreams are made of - well most male dreams anyway. It's fast-paced, much like the lifestyle of the protagonist and delves into the world of the stock market and crude oil money. Basically it's a perfect weekend book to get you through long airport layovers and flights, and a book that you'll be perfectly happy leaving behind when you finish it. If you're up for a no-brainer, that's actually well written and makes you feel like you're in a Lamborghini in Dubai, then go for it. It's not a thinker, so don't get your expectations too high.
—Dave Archer
