Rating: 
Summary: Memoirs of a Carpetbagger
Review: Only published because it was first on the scene; given the author was an apparently unemployed junior credit-derivatives salesman (who had worked at Enron for just a few months before it went bankrutp, and who continued to receive paychecks for not showing up for some time thereafter) at the time, it's not too surprising he had the time to jump right on writing it. Kudos to him for exploiting the opening, but there's not much of value here, and the book is marred by the author's racism and sexism. The made-for-TV movie is actually better than the book, which says it all.
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Summary: The Consequence Of "Management By Vice"
Review: The ugly truth is revealed in this saga of corporate corruption and avaricious CEOs at the energy trading giant, ENRON. It gives the reader an interesting insight into life on the energy trading floor and the greed that was part of the management culture. This book shows some of the consequences of mismanagement in self-centered corporations, as outlined in another book, entitled, "MANAGEMENT BY VICE" by C.B. DON --- a witty-sharp, candid and hilarious satire, which I read a while ago and really recommend for a well rounded insider's look at company management.As "Anatomy of Greed" describes life in the energy trading sector, so "Management By Vice", which was written before the ENRON scandal while all looked fine on the stock market, exposes a range of technical mismanagement "vices" along with unjust compensation/profit sharing schemes, employee mistreatment etc. All these are thriving in high-tech R&D --- right now --- and "Management By Vice" shows how they can corrupt the inventive process and new product development in the high-tech R&D sector. I would therefore, highly recommend "Anatomy of Greed" for a look at past managerial and financial corruption in the energy industry as well as my favorite satire, "Management By Vice", for an eye-opening insight into what must be going on behind "the R&D bench" at present in the high-tech R&D industry. Investor read and beware: "...who makes the deal/And sits behind the wheel.." (R&D Caveat, "Management By Vice"), the "unshredded truth" ("Anatomy of Greed") lurks in all investment sectors!
Rating: 
Summary: Kind of interesting, but not well done or an insider story
Review: This book had some interesting stuff in it and mostly held my attention, but it should be no great surprise that it wasn't an outstanding book. First, the author was not even close to being an "insider". He was a mid to lower level employee in a startup function who didn't even encounter any of the key characters and who wasn't around long enough to provide much personal experience as background. Second, he acknowledged he didn't have a clue about writing a book, and it showed. He filled a lot of pages with material from readily available public information. In addition to the basic criticisms above, I found the anecdotes to be questionable. A book should be fact or fiction or fiction based on fact and it should be clear what it is. What's this book? I've read that "Mr. Blue" is not an individual, but rather a composite of several people. Cruver presents Blue as a long time family friend. Was he? I doubt it. I'd guess he just made up the meetings with Blue to fill pages and try to earn his author's advance (he got one?). I'd bet he just took some rumors and wove some fictional meetings and calls with Blue to make it look like he had access to some inside perspective. And why couldn't he use real names for his co-workers? Were they ashamed of what they did? Or were they made up? It really boils down to a lack of credibility. Like Enron, to me this book doesn't have much.
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Summary: do mba's ever learn?
Review: This book is a waste of time. Read it only if you need evidence that an MBA can work at Enron, get the shaft, and still be ethically clueless.
Rating:
Summary: Alice in Wonderland with numbers attached
Review: This is a very hip & funny explanation of the surreal goings-on inside what was possibly the world's most bizzarre corporation. Brian Cruver saw it all happen and makes you feel as if you're living through it with him. The humor is sly and unexpected - this is not a book for accountants and won't make your head spin with meaningless numbers. For the first time, I actually understood what happened and why - he tells the human story and that, fundamentally, is the most important one. It's a great read, highly informative and very, very entertaining!
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Summary: The shredder's nickname is Sherman--you gotta love that one!
Review: This is one of the most entertaining and educating books I've ever read. In some ways I feel like I just read tabloid trash, in other ways I feel like I just read a college business theories textbook. The characters are well-written and the plot is a colorful example of the old "truth is stranger than fiction" adage. I loved the sarcastic, smart a*! style of writing. His style is almost Bob Newhart meets Lee Iacocca. I really liked the day-in-the-life-of-an-Enron-employee details. I can visualize the trading floor where Brian's desk was, the meetings he had by simply swiveling his chair around, the fraternity culture (August), the footballs on Fridays, the 5s on the performance reviews (ouch), the goofy inspirational signs on each level of the parking garage, etc. I especially liked what the employees did when they saw the writing on the wall (3 hour lunches, keg parties, bowling, Dell computer partnerships). More importantly, I am glad to see that somebody was able to catch the spirit of the Enron culture for the rest of the world to see. What an experience!
Rating:
Summary: GREAT BOOK
Review: This is the Enron book I've been waiting for - entertaining, the real story (from the inside, not a reporter with a note pad on the outside), and easy to understand everything you need to know about Lay, Skilling, Fastow, and others and how the company crashed...and the running stock ticker is just COOL. From parties... and car shows to the details of off-balance sheet financing, all tied together brilliantly. Classic.
Rating:
Summary: Worthwhile
Review: This story is very readable. Many thanks to Brian Cruver for sharing his perspective and brief experience as an ENRON employee. I give it 5 STARS for pointing a spotlight on corporate deception.
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Summary: Review from a former Enron employee
Review: To provide some context, I worked at Enron for four years through a substantial portion of the company's transformation from being a North American pipeline company into the world's leading energy company. While at Enron I worked on deal orgination teams and eventually landed a spot on the infamous energy trading floor(s) as a trader. Brian Cruvee admits that his book isn't the definitive Enron book. This book is a collection of anecdotes and personal observations on the culture of Enron. It is a highly credible and interesting story, but ultimately it is incomplete. Brian worked at Enron for less than a year, and in a non-core start-up operation. He offers a few funny stories and fleeting glimpses into the core problems (e.g. his conversation with an analyst in the RAC group, possible fraud at EES), but mostly the cupboard is bare. Throughout the book, he demonstrates that he is merely a cog in a machine but he can't even describe what the machine is or is doing. Early on, his Wall Street analyst friend quizzed him about Azurix, broadband, and international strategy, but all he can say is that is not his business and everything will be fine. Perhaps, that attitude among employees is one reason why the company came toppling down on itself. Nor was he exposed to any of the major principals that you see in the financial press (unless you count running into Andy Fastow at Cafe Japon a major incident). Most of his anecdotes about the principals (Lay, Skilling, etc.) are drawn from the gossip/rumor mill. He does have interactions with an unnamed senior executive, but those conversations merely confirm what we all know - something is wrong. With respect to the annoucements that led to the exposure of accounting regularities due to LJM and other partnerships, he threads them into the story with brief explanations. The explanations are useful to the layperson who hasn't read the Wall Street Journal, but that's about it. Despite the overall negative tone of the review, I do credit Brian with publishing the first Enron book that I found worthy of purchasing. I consider this book to be an interesting autobiography, but it definitely isn't the definitive investigation into Enron. It might not even be the definitive book on Enron's culture. Perhaps I should take up my pen.
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Summary: Looking Through A Peephole
Review: We all know that the downfall of Enron will be a much beloved topic for regulators and scholars for years to come. And, we also know that discussion of the various organizational, financial and accounting angles pursued by Enron, which could be attributed as reasons for its downfall, will continue to mesmerize the public at large while irritating former employees. Brian Cruver's book, Anatomy of Greed, delves into one of those many angles (organizational culture) and in doing so his book fits neatly into the public's desire to keep on looking at this man-made disaster. But, Brian's perspective is more like looking through a peephole, than through an open door. Be that as it may, I have to hand it to Brian, in getting this book out he is an example of the hype that Enron was filled with eager, intelligent, go-getters willing to pursue the entrepreneurial spirit. But, unlike Enron, Brian is not necessarily a risk taker in his language or the facts he provides. He obviously does not want to get sued but he did want to be one of the first 'insiders' with something to say. So, what you will find in this book is:
The fairly well thought out perspective of basically a management entry level professional (from a good school).
Personal humor.
A few interesting tidbits which corrected general 'facts' reported by the media during the more gossipy stage of the scandal (before actual documents were made available).
...BR>A fairly decent but superficial look into a dysfunctional corporate culture run-amok. But, I may be a little too critical because as a seasoned professional I've seen this type of corporate behavior before so I may have expected more in-depth understanding then the author was capable of giving. For those of you who aren't as exposed as I, I recommend the reading material.
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