The Wolf of Wall Street

This has so much more detail than the movie. It is also well written. I really enjoyed it! So many stories.

I had no preconceived notions of this story. I had never heard of Jordan Belfort or Stratton Oakmont. Last year we saw the preview for the movie, we like Leo, we like Scorsese, the movie had a lot of buzz. So we went to see it. Now, we have four kids. So we actually make it to the movie theater to see a non kids movie, maybe three times a year. Most movies we watch at home. But we went.(hey isn’t this a book review, yes, but this is going somewhere I promise. Especially for those who saw the movie and are considering the book)The beginning of the movie was excellent. Extremely good, we really enjoyed it, but as with Belfort’s life the wheels started to come off. My wife HATED it. In fact I am not sure she has ever hated a movie more. She has not stopped talking about how much she hated it. I thought it was OK. In fact I thought it mostly needed editing. The movie is three hours long. DiCaprio was brilliant, McConaughey was brilliant. One hour of the movie is incredible, hilarious, amazing. One hour of it was gratuitous and appalling and one hour of it was just superfluous and boring. Again it really needed editing. The other problem and I think really the main problem my wife had is the movie didn’t keep its covenant with the audience. American movies for the most part are about the protagonist making a journey and growing as a person. The person at the end has usually gone through some trials and tribulations that lead to transformation. The problem with this Hollywood movie is it is a farce that takes itself too seriously. Belfort is one dimensional and does not seem to be aware of the havoc that surrounds him. He really never grows as a person in the three hours. No remorse, no understanding, nothing. Just massive amounts of excess.Now, the book. Finally. The book in my opinion was amazing. It is fairly long (over 500 pages) but has a quick pace. Much of the main scenes from the movie are in there (although as movies do, they change them around to make them play better on screen.) But here is what is great about the book that is missing from the movie. Belfort’s personality really comes through. I thought Leo’s performance in the movie was great, but he was playing a cartoon character. The real life Belfort, at least as he writes it has depth, intelligence, emotion, growth, regret. He is a REAL person. I am not sure they could have made a Hollywood movie that stayed true to the real story. It would probably be better as a 10 hour Ken Burns Documentary.Another thing I really enjoyed in the book is Belfort did an incredible job of explaining the complex ways he made so much money on Wall Street. How he did it, how he kept a step ahead, what he was thinking and why he did the things he did. I found it fascinating (although admittedly I read a lot of financial genre stuff, so it may just be me.) The other characters in the book are real people too. The chaos, and then some, is all in there. It is just not the focus of the book. His real journey is in the book, with all of the highs and lows. In the movie there is no attempt at creating empathy for Belfort. But in the book you take the journey with him and while you recognize his faults, you see the multi dimensions as well. You will absolutely have empathy for Belfort in moments of the book. In the end that is what really makes the book so much better than the movie. Belfort is he does grow as a person.In fact I would almost say I admire him. But admire, would be the wrong word because he does exhibit so much reprehensible behavior. But understand and appreciate him I do. He is fascinating. I am very glad that I read it and gained more perspective on the story. I doubt I will ever convince my wife to read it, but if she did I am sure she would lose some of her animosity towards the story.

I gave this 5 stars, not because it is a good read or a truthful memoir, but because it is a fine example of criminal psychology and drug addiction.The supposed facts related by Belfort must be taken with a large dose of salt. He readily admits with some pride deceiving everyone he deals with including his wife and supposed friends and business partners. We would be quite gullible to then take his writing at face value. He portrays himself as generous to a fault, but of course the money he passes out is mostly stolen. The judgement against him included a requirement to pay over 100 million in retribution to those he defrauded. Most of that has never been paid even though his income from books and movie rights is quite substantial. By the way his sentence was lighter than those of all his cohorts because he turned against them when the law caught up with him. This after spilling a lot of ink in his book about loyalty, trust and "omerta." Does he still have hidden assets that rightfully belong to the victims? You guess. I bet he does.He tries to present himself as a reformed bad actor who has seen the light and conquered his addiction. I hope he has conquered his addictions, but that wasn't his only problem. He is quite intelligent and seen as such by all around him. The schemes he ran were carefully designed and couldn't have been conceived and executed while stoned, so there is more to this than addiction. The most important part of the story is left out. How did a broke guy starting at the very bottom of a major brokerage firm get to be a criminal millionaire? That's the guts of the real story, and it was left out. We only see him at the climax just before the downfall.Sex and drugs sell books and movies and that's the new scheme, and it is lawful even if only partly true and even if the main facts are left out.The schemer and deceiver is still at work.

The book was great although I think it ended to quickly, I wanted to know more about his prison experience and if he was still a crook after prison, it ended about 3 chapters too soon. It’s too bad Belfort didn’t use his genius for good and not evil. Apparently he exaggerated his drug use or drugs are mot nearly as dangerous as we thought, and his sexual exploits may be exaggerated too. But it was a fun read either way.

What happens when you add together a financial genius, a sales demigod, drugs, and an extraordinary strong loyal model wife - you get “My extraordinary life - the Jordan Belfort story, Chapter One”.After watching the movie, I bought the book and was hooked - the movie doesn’t do the book justice. As a matter of fact, the movie doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of the incredible young life of one of Wall Street’s most infamous movers and shakers.I couldn’t put the book down, and as soon as I read the epilogue, I wanted to learn more about the “My extraordinary life - the Jordan Belfort story, Chapter Two”, the financial genius, the sales demigod, and the creator and founder of the Straight Line Sales system, so …… I bought “Catching the Wolf of Wall Street”, signed up for the Straight Line Sales system certification program, and started my own “My extraordinary life, Chapter Two” - stay tuned …

Ótimo livro, histórias sensacionais e muito bem escritas, recomendo a todos essa grande obra. Ps É parecido com o filme

There are lot of twists and turns in this thrill ride of a book. Sort of like Fight Club, it's not what you expect. And like Trainspotting, it really is a warts n all roller-coaster and a compulsive tale. It's thought provoking. It's very funny in places. There's no pretence with this book. It's very naked in its detail throughout, and will cause a variety of reader reactions and interpretations alike. It's obviously lacking in morality. And it doesn't pretend to be moral. But I think the reader can learn something new about themselves in relation to Jordan and his crazy world along the way. Loved the book and now one of my all time favourites.

High Octane engaging page turner of a book. From page one this book gripped me. The story itself is incredible and the way Jordan chose to tell it, is superbly funny, engaging en very honest.

What is there to say, it’s a paper back book, good price, delivery time was good