The Wolf of Wall Street (book)

Overview

In this book, Jordan Belfort tells his real-life story of creating the Stratton Oakmont, a brokerage house engaged in pump and dump schemes with penny stocks. The firm was shut down by regulators in the late 1990s, and Belfort was jailed for securities fraud.

Criticism

Belfort begins his memoir with a brief story of how within six years, he rose from an entry level apprentice at a brokerage house to the founder of his own investment firm. We do not read much about how his rapid ascent was accomplished, and that could have been quite interesting for ladder climbers. Though he started with less advantage than other Wall Street types, readers will not discover an American success story to be proud of. Belfort becomes the most narcissistic, immoral, crude, adulterous, drug induced, foul-mouthed, self-indulgent, and self-destructive ego-maniac that I have ever read about! Whatever the average person might consider morally or physically corrupt, you can be sure that Belfort was addicted to it. This man’s life was beyond dysfunctional. In many of his stories we learn of his wild promiscuity and his love of prostitutes (which he would charge to his corporate credit card). He even used a grading level for them and his favorites were the most expensive “blue chips.” Perhaps he found prostitutes easier to deal with than his manipulative wife who used sexual favors in order to temporarily modify his behavior to her liking. Belfort spends much of his time high – in fact he risked countless lives by preferring to fly his helicopter while overloaded on a cocktail of drugs. The manner in which he writes about the different episodes of his life make it seem as if we as readers are supposed to cheer him on and root for him.

—Review by the Dallas Public Library.