“I'm glad I read both Fooled and Black Swan before reading The Bed of Procrustes, otherwise it would have been a very odd collection of ideas from a random stranger. Having read Taelb's previous works allows you to remember back to the full discussion of the underlying ideas and recall his genius.”
“Taleb repeatedly makes reference to people sipping 'caffe latte' [sic]. BUT the correct Italian is caffè latte, which reflects the right pronunciation of the word. He ain't as clever as he thinks he is! ”
“I am with jsalvati on the style and my impression of his personality - not high on my "I'd like to have a beer/coffee with this lad" list. Nonetheless, the ideas are very stimulating, and I enjoy gaining access to the myriad intellectual influences that have shaped his thinking. If used for nothing more than a gateway to some of the important thinkers and ideas in the book (Popper, Wittgenstein, Tversky, Kahneman), it would be well worth the read. However, the intellectual schizophrenia of the topics and the directions in which his interests lead are highly entertaining - like following a brilliant, if not somewhat narcissistic, kid through a Montessori education. ”
“I haven't finished this one. Pretty heavy lifting, like its successor, The Black Swan. I did finish that one. If you're intimidated by deep thinkers with a mischievous sense of humor, you won't like it. If you like that sort of thing, dig in. For more info, go here:http://www.delmio.com/explorations/the-black-swan-main/”
“taleb challenges the way u think about events in life...how we underestimate the role of randomness in our life ....a good read ....”
“I read Taleb's books in reverse order (Black Swan -] Fooled) and I think that was a good order. The Black Swan idea seems considerably more important than his other ideas. While I enjoyed his books, I must say I am not at all fond of his writing style; Taleb is far too angry and his writing is far too unstructured for my tastes.”
“Great book. The case studies on markets and options trading might confuse those who aren't versed in the financial world, but the lessons of this book go well beyond Wall Street. My favorite part of this book is the last chapter, where Taleb fuses the role of randomness with "soft" philosophy. Sure the world can deal us random blows - whether to our advantage or not, but how we roll with these blows is what makes us ultimately who we really are as human beings. This guy is a genius. Rarely can we find a trader so immersed with literature, and rarer still that one can express lessons from both in a seamless and easy-to-chew manner.”
