Automatic Wealth for Grads

Posted by: Andrew Cross on June 27, 2012

Full disclosure: Before I even opened this book, I’d already proverbially judged it by its non assuming cover and overtly pretentious title. I couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps Michael Masterson accrued his wealth not by selling books, but by skimping on cover-artist fees.

Aesthetics aside, the book totals 236 pages and is of enough mass to suggest it would contain some classically stodgy financial advice. However, this couldn’t have been further from the truth. Masterson’s pedantry becomes tiresome very quickly, and the majority of “advice” he offers would be more pertinent in a book titled Create Unsubstantiated Expectations of Personal Wealth and Convince Yourself You’re Happy While You’re at It.

Most frustratingly, Masterson fills pages upon pages speaking to his successes while demonstrating an utter ignorance of the book’s target demographic. There are certain things recent graduates (college graduates, as he explicitly states in the book’s second paragraph) should be expected to have an understanding of – the economics of Thirsty Thursdays, the return on energy drink investments, and the compounding nature of interest. Far too much of the book is dedicated to meandering concepts college sophomores, let alone graduates, are already familiar with.

That being said, Automatic Wealth for Grads isn’t a complete waste of a read. The author’s observations and conclusions are for the most part sorely misguided and without basis in reality, but there are several takeaways that could be useful to young adults. Here’s the summary:

Work hard
Find a fulfilling job and ask your boss for a raise at any and all opportunities
Living well is more a mindset than anything
Invest in real estate
Index funds and ETFs are the only worthwhile forms of trading
Pen horribly written books that people will inexplicably still pay you to read (this was more an implied lesson)

An Oral History of the Zombie War

Posted by: Andrew Cross on October 13, 2009

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War

Having not really read a book since high school, I decided it was time to discover if I had become illiterate. I was smart about it though. I wasn’t about to jump into reading anything too challenging and run the risk of destroying my self-confidence. Walking around Borders, judging each book by its cover, the blood splatters (and 50% off sticker) on World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War caught my eye. As a New York Times Bestseller, it seemed like a safe read at just under 1 inch thick and 342 pages long.

The first thing to note is that it’s not written like a “traditional” book. There are no chapters, no main characters, and no fluent storyline. Instead, it’s written as a collection of futuristic interviews with fictional people that survived the zombie infection. At first I wasn’t sure how I felt about this method of story telling, but by the end I realized that it is an absolutely perfect way to write a story about such a seemingly implausible apocalypse. Max Brooks‘ technique of leaving gaps between the events in interviews allows the reader to use his imagination to piece together his own story, thus scaring the hell out of himself.

By the middle of the book, the authentic and emotional feel of the interviews begins to confuse those with active imaginations into believing this isn’t exactly a fictional story. It’s been about a week since I finished reading through it, and I am seriously now more worried about a zombie infestation than a nuclear holocaust. Brad Pitt must have felt the same way, his production company is producing screen-adapted version of the book.