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Summary: Try Thinking Out of the Box
Review: Taleb's latest is a refreshing look at the world of trading, and moreover, at the tired world of thinkers who all think alike. Thank heaven there is someone who is not another lamb heading off to slaughter. He pokes fun at philosophers, journalists, and all those who are pretentious. A great book for the lay reader, unlike the brilliant Dynamic Hedging, which is for those who read formulas. After finishing this masterpiece, you will see the world of trading, writing, and culture with amusement and clarity.
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Summary: just how intelligent am I?
Review: The book is disappointing because of the authors need to prove how intelligent he is compared to the rest of us mental pigmies. Although taleb infers thaty he has a small ego in trading, it seems that in everything else in life he suffers from a massive one (ego). there are some interesting facets in the book ,but these are clouded by the disappintments.
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Summary: Managing Unpredictable Variations in Order to Prosper!
Review: Every person who is interested in investing should read this book!In investing, few can tell the difference between being lucky and smart. Being successful in the short term can come from either source. If it is coming from unrecognized sources of luck, however, the behavior that the investor associates with success can sink the ship. The cautionary tale of Long Term Capital Management is cited in the book as an example of this point. 'If you're so rich, why aren't you smart?' is the wonderful reversal here on the old saw. I see this effect all the time in my consulting practice with helping companies understand how their decisions affect their stock price. A large percentage of people feel that they know all the answers when their stock price is rising. They keep doing the same things when the stocks are falling. Few survive to still have top jobs when the cycle shifts again. Then a new group of self-confident people take over who often don't know any more than those who preceded them. It's just that their track records look better. Fooled by Randomness will help make you more knowledgeably humble about what you can expect to accomplish with investments. Not only do fewer than one percent outperform the market averages over long time periods, the ones who do are probably often being aided by luck as well. 'Get thee to the index funds as soon as possible' is the message that most should take away from this book. Better yet, buy them when multiples are low! The book's fundamental point is that there is tremendous volatility in any investment. Ignore that volatility to your peril. At the same time, you should be cautious about how well you understand the volatility. Stocks at their lows can still go to zero. There are all kinds of events that can happen, that have not done so yet. When they do, throw out all the old rules of investing. The terrorist attacks on the United States last week are probably an example of this. So each investment must be made as though you could be totally wrong. This means that you have to manage your risk exposure to events you don't even know how to expect. I loved his example of the joint probabilities of having a rare disease if you get a positive result on a test for that disease. Even most doctors apparently don't know how to evaluate that one. If even well educated people cannot quantify two known risks occurring simultaneously in their own field, how can investors be expected to make good decisions? Dr. Taleb has some very good advice for how to handle the psychology of being able to do this. He upholds the Stoic ideal -- 'the attempt by man to get even with probability' which encourages 'wisdom, upright dealing, and courage.' This means not chasing the latest investment fad or fashion, not looking at your investments very often, and being open to both sides of any idea (it could go wrong as well as right --what are the consequences of both?). I especially liked his idea of watching CNBC with the sound off so that the 'experts' seem humorous and you are less likely to hear and follow their advice. Even more poignant was his advice not to live on Park Avenue where living with all of the arrogant, temporarily lucky can make you feel small. Instead, live somewhere that the results of your cautious approach will cause you to be the envy of all. Dr. Taleb impressed me with his willingness to tell stories on himself about how quickly he can become superstitious when things are going well, take on excess risks, and start looking too short term. After all, we are only human! The importance of this book can only be appreciated if you go back and think about your biggest investing successes. How much was luck versus skill? A good way to test is to see if the same approach has continued to work for you whenever you use it. Another good test is to see how often it would have backfired in the past. In my research on good decision making, I find that those who guard the downside first make the most money in the long run. They are able to find ways to get the best of both worlds! Remember that the two-edged sword can cut in either direction!
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but the author's pedestal is too high
Review: Luck and the random events playing a large role in "inducing" this luck in life and various tasks in life is something even the most intelligent of people fail to perceive. This book brings this to our attention and from a traders' percepective, highlights the importance of not being fooled by lady lucks role in providing the "comet" trader with a shine of glory.
Unfortunately, this important subject is over shadowed by Mr Taleb's pompous and condescending style of expression in his attempt to flex his intellectual muscles. Mr. Taleb should beware as history is full of such people being knocked off their high pedestals, a victim of their own arrogance.
Nevertheless, an enjoyable book.
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Summary: The Rich Art Different from You and Me -- They're Luckier
Review: On Wall Street and in life, people make two big mistakes. They think there is always a reason other than randomness that the winners come out on top. And they undervalue the albeit remote likelihood of catastrophic setbacks. A great book by a delightfully cranky author.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: Not a "trading idea" book, but an interesting look at how randomness fools some into thinking they "know" something when it is really no more than chance that provided the opportunity. I highly recommend it to anyone in the financial arena or interested in probability.
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Summary: A great read for curious minds
Review: ..and not just for the Wall Street traders ( this being said....understanding the survivorship bias could save them a lot of pain at bonus time :-)
A very entertaining and helpful book, which taught me a lot about the role of "chance" in life.
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Summary: uncommon sense
Review: 'fooled by randomness' is a book that can be read with pleasure by almost anybody. nassim taleb's conclusions have wide application and not just to the business of trading and finance. for instance, the book should be required reading for policy-makers.
nassim is an irreverent fellow who demolishes shibboleths as he goes along. the story appears to be semi-autobiographical, hence authentic.
i recommend it without reservation.
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Summary: Fooled By Randomness
Review: The principal subject could have been adequately covered in a dozen pages or less. The rest of the book is just a lot of rambling. Numerous put downs of famous people that only reflected the author's lack of maturity. Also many pages of trying to convince you of his brilliance. You time and money can be better spent elsewhere.
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Summary: What is this guy's problem?
Review: This is a painfully bad book. Nassim Nicholas Taleb's observations are completely trivial, lacking any depth and conclusion whatsoever, and it takes you a while to understand that this book is not about randomness and the way the human brain is easily fooled when interpreting information.
This book is about Taleb himself - one huge ego trip and at the end impossible to read. No one can criticize the intellectual message of the book - that humans make bad decisions because they underestimate the fundamental effect of uncertainty. But the point is that Taleb misses to discuss the huge amount of research available in this field performed since quite some time by economists, psychologists, and others. There is absolutely nothing new in this book; it does not even provide a synopsis of interesting research or real-live implications or applications.
What makes this book so unbearable is that Taleb is so full of himself for knowing Greek mythology and all the philosophers while at the same time knowing about financial engineering. He tells us several times that he is working out. At the end of this book you would like to beat the b'jesus out of this guy for writing a book so irrelevant and arrogant.
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