While this book is really a cross between a novel and tell all about an aspect of the financial industry related to the trendy subjects oil and the Middle East, and I am not qualified to verify the facts in the book, it did introduce me to petroleum trading I had not known about, so it makes a good jumping off place for learning more. ( )

I enjoyed Bringing Down the House by the same author, but this book didn't quite rub me the same way. First off, even though I don't care for gambling myself, it's a more interesting topic than the sale of oil (to me at least). As a consequence of the subject of trading oil, a fair amount of the beginning of the book is expositional. This is okay, considering this is a work of nonfiction (although it reads like fiction), but it’s a little slow going. After that, the narrative picks up a little more and I enjoyed reading about Dubai in particular. However, I did not appreciate the stereotypes tossed around about Arabs and Middle Eastern countries in the middle part of the book. The underdog story is always a winner, and I liked reading about subjects I didn't know much about, but I wasn't overly thrilled with this particular book. ( )

I had already read "Ugly Americans" by the same author when I bought this paperback while on a trip. It was a mistake.

With it's conversational style, Mezrich's writing flows easily, and is a quick read. However, the storyline here parallels Ugly Americans a bit too much. Even if the character backgrounds are similar, Mezrich could focus on other facets and not rehash the same old story: a kid from the tough side of town makes it to an Ivy League school on the back of sports abilities. He gives up a chance at a sure but boring investment banking job for something exciting and unknown. The opportunity comes from a chance meeting with a respected guru who makes the offer on the basis of a one-minute talk, but only after some time has transpired. After half the novel, there is a bit of divergence from the Ugly Americans story, which is the same up to this point.

Unfortunately, there's a recognisable element from "The Firm" involved too, which is so obvious I expected the beautiful girl who magically appeared at the right place in the right moment had been hired. It doesn’t really add much depth to the novel when it’s actually one of the “good guys” that did it.

Lastly, the excessive use of the words fuck or fucking was simply bothersome, and in some cases did not even fit in the dialogue. Unless the expletives are central to building the atmosphere, I find they always pull the reader out of the novel. This happened almost every time. ( )