Heart of Darkness On Speed.

I just finished reading Ugly Americans by Ben Mezrich. Mezrich claims its the true story of John Malcolm (not the dude's real name), an American who made millions trading stocks on the Asian markets in the 1990s. On the one hand I find the story a bit hard to believe because it is just so wild. This stuff is movie material. Malcolm and his cohorts flaunted million dollar portfolios, raced Ducatis and Ferraris, dated Japanese supermodels, and didn't even blink when coworkers went down with billions in debt. The story is almost unbelievable because I just can't relate to that world. Who wrecks a Ducati at 140mph while fleeing Yakuza gangsters, returns to work in two days, and is back out racing a brand new (literally hours old) Ferrari less than a year later? These guys worked and lived by a set of rules, the final and most telling is "The ends justify the means, but there's only one end that really matters. Ending up on a beach with a bottle of champagne." On the other hand the story is incredibly believable. John Malcolm turns out to be a really good guy who got caught up in his boss's twisted variation on the American Dream. Their relationship was a painful reminder of one of my previous employers. In the end the story is about a kid from New Jersey who didn't want to lead the typical lifestyle, found out that the hotshot life isn't all its cracked up to be, and made out very well in the process. It is a very entertaining book if anyone wants to borrow it, but don't if you can't handle a smattering of profanity and immorality.