Gilbert J. Bradshaw

I liked the narration and the book

Reviewed: 09-26-23

The narration fits perfectly with the story. Naomi Novik is a master storyteller and this book is no exception. Sometimes I miss the nuance in an audiobook. But that’s ok. It’s a gripping story.

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Pretty good!

Reviewed: 03-16-23

My daughter read this story for school and seemed to really enjoy it. I would definitely recommend kids reading this.

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Unbelievably good and poetic

Reviewed: 04-17-22

I can’t believe the author made this book so poetic and inspiring. Incredible masterwork. I couldn’t put it down.

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3 people found this helpful

Great book!!

Reviewed: 12-21-17

Awesome book. This is how politicians should act. I can’t believe our discourse has fallen so far.

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Best book ever

Reviewed: 07-17-15

But it makes you realize how insignificant you are.
You can get through this book. I did.

It caused me to have tons of emotional reactions. Such a great read

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Blew me away!!!

Reviewed: 07-08-15

This book is so awesome it deserves the millions of five star reviews that it received. It made me so happy to read that book.

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Very Balanced View of John Wooden

Reviewed: 09-17-14

I'm constantly surprised at the detail of this book. Seth Davis would tell you what Wooden had for breakfast on random dates in the 1960s. This was a very thoroughly researched book and since I didn't have very much exposure to Wooden, I was gripped by the storyline.

This book is well written and definitive. He also digs into the Samuel Gilbert so thoroughly that this book is practically a biography of Gilbert as well.

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Fantastic Audiobook

Reviewed: 01-14-12

What did you love best about Extra Virginity?

You will crave high-quality olive oil during and after reading this book. Fantastic narration, juicy history, and a nice dose of business and politics this book has it all. Olive Oil is such a rich topic, from mafiosos to Greek gods and models it is a truly rich subject. The author appreciates and is passionate about his subject.

What other book might you compare Extra Virginity to and why?

I compare this book to Onward (the autobiography of Starbucks founder) because the descriptions of the oil are much like the descriptions of the coffee roasts. They make you want to go to the nearest olive oil distributor!

Which character – as performed by Peter Ganim – was your favorite?

Peter Ganim is a fantastic narrator.

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3 people found this helpful

Very detailed analysis of the financial system

Reviewed: 01-20-11

This book was great if you are an investment banker or securities attorney. I guess if you are a sophisticated investor it would also be of interest. Sauer gives a good explanation of short-selling hedge funds and gives the best defense of short sellers that I have ever heard: that short sellers create a self-regulating environment for the markets.

I was always curious about what exactly happened with Overstock and the CEO's crusade against short sellers. This book went into extraordinary detail on the whole affair. It also gave me insight as to the realities of an investigation by the SEC and the internal processes and politics that occur in the SEC.

I thought this book was exciting and intellectually engaging. Usually I listen to books at 1.5-2.0 speed. This book was way too complicated to do that. That's not to say that it wasn't well-written. Sauer explains complicated ideas in a relatively simple and readable format, but it's not a light read.

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3 people found this helpful

WOW! Fantastic Book!

Reviewed: 07-12-10

Let's be clear, this is a business book. This isn't an instructional book about how to use facebook, nor is it a technical jargon-laden book for programmers and aspiring developers.

If you are still interested in a business book about Facebook, then you will love this book. Kirkpatrick gives the history of Facebook according to inside sources and also reviews any third-party publications about the company's origins (and he made a thorough review of all litigation proceedings as well).

Kirkpatrick is obviously a cheerleader of Facebook and Zuckerberg, but he is pretty honest about their weaknesses as well. This is a very straightforward account of significant events in the development of facebook as product as well as facebook as it was being managed. Very insightful about the youth at the company and how it both helped and hindered the Company's progress.

The book is well-organized and if you don't care about Facebook's litigation, you can skip the chapter, as well as management, product development, and financing. I really understand a lot about the company's inner-workings now and I appreciate this carefully written book. I couldn't put it down.

Great narration too.

I really enjoyed the exclusive interview Kirkpatrick gave at the end of the audible.com version, even though I was annoyed at how shameless Zuckerberg's sister was when she interviewed Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick's part of the interview was awesome though.

Criticism: Kirkpatrick didn't deal with the original Facebook lawsuits which were settled with competitors to my satisfaction. Kirkpatrick also didn't delve as deep into alleged privacy violations or directly deal respond to some of Ben Mezrich's obvious dramatizations of the scandals that took place. The reader is forced to believe Mezrich's account on some scandals.

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1 person found this helpful