The Buy Side by Turney Duff

When I think of Wall Street, I think of Gordon Gecko in the move Wall Street, I see where millions are made and lost each day, lives are changes, for the better or worse and a world that I can't even imagine.

I recently read the book The Buy Side by Turney Duff.

Here are some information about the author
Author's Information

I thought crazy things went on in Wall Street but boy, this book revealed even more than I imagine.

Turney Duff, was in Wall Street's eyes, someone who didn't fit the typical Wall Street Trader.  He didn't come from an Ivy League school or a top 50 university, he didn't come from money and he had absolutely no experience in finances.  What did he have was perseverance, work ethics and a work hard play hard attitude.

He was just a kid who wanted moved to NY to try to become a journalist but all he got was doors slammed in his face.  Through his Uncle, who was well known in Wall Street, he got his foot in the door at Morgan Stanley and from being the assistant to Traders worked his way up to work at Galleon Group, for Raj Rajaratnam, who was indicted for insider trading and to other hedge funds.

What is most interesting about this journey is that how he changed a long the way.  From being a down to earth simple party guy to someone who became addicted to alcohol and cocaine.  He went from penthouse to rehab to outhouse to penthouse several times.  You can see the transformation in his personality as he obtains more money, fame and power on Wall Street.  This is not the first story of they type where, money, fame and power changes someone so dramatically in the span of years, most of the time the change is not positive.

I think the things that I got out of the book are:

1.  He writes about his father throughout the book, at times very critical of his father's simple life.  His illustration of his father shuffling snow is a prime example. But as I read, I realized that he longed for that simplicity that his father had. His father might not have had money, fame or power like Turney, but he had this simple and strong work ethics and lived a life that wasn't corrupted by money, fame and power
2.  The pull of children.  His daugher Lola, is what I believe, helped Turney pull his life out of the outhouse.  This is a reminder of how powerful and positive influence our children can be one us, if we let them be
3.  Money, fame and power, is what most of us seek but it's not what it's made out to be.  Be careful what you wish for.  His one line after he threw himself a huge 34th birthday bash is "...it's just, as I stand there, right beside the stage, looking out at this sea of privilege, I'm empty. And, for the first time in a long time, I don't know what can fill me"

This book was a great read that I finished it in three days.  If you want a peek into the excess of Wall Street, this book is it.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review