Rating: 
Summary: good fiction
Review: Its billed as a non-fiction book of finance in the "wild east" but its really a nice work of fiction that's really about the personal story of an American living in Japan and his life in bars and strip clubs. If you know anything about trading or hedge funds, there isn't enought to satisfy you, but its a nice backdrop to the one-dimentinal character's story. Definately a quick fast fun read...sure to be a movie. But don't read it as a work of non-fiction finance or insights into investing. I reccomend it just as a fun fast summer book.
Rating: 
Summary: A fun read
Review: Mezrich has a way of making a true story into a somewhat fictional account that had me turning the pages to find out not only what happens, but to learn more about the world of high-roller finance, the Japanese mafia, and the "water trade," i.e., the Tokyo sex industry. But don't believe you're reading about a Princeton football player who appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated as the story suggests. Mezrich has used a number of techniques to disguise the main protagonists beyond easy discovery via Google. (There is a web site for all SI covers which you can search by Ivy school, for example). I look forward to the movie starring Matt Damon.
Rating: 
Summary: Buy Liar's Poker instead!
Review: My review is directed at those suckers who bought and read the book in the first place as well as those who are contemplating the purchase. Honestly, comparing the book to "Liar's Poker" is a stretch, at best. First of all, the author doesn't posses the style, the knowledge and, quite frankly, the wit of Michael Lewis. Secondly, those interested in the world of finance and specifically the inner life of hedge funds should avoid this book at all cost! "Ugly Americans" will not tell you how "millions" are or were made by hedge funds in the Asian markets, or anywhere else, for that matter. For a sensible alternative turn to "When Genius Failed" by Roger Lowenstein or "Inventing Money" by Nicholas Dunbar. As far as the whole Japanese backdrop is concerned, well, I have never been to Japan, but having read the book I was left with the strong aftertaste of all the clichés normally found in the 80's Hollywood flicks...Finally, my real problem with digesting the pulp fiction of "Ugly Americans" was Ben Mezrich's disturbing fascination with anything and everything Ivy League (ok, ok, Stamford and MIT would do, too), like the "blond, athletic, tanned" Ivy League graduates (see Chapter 13, for example) or other characters that belong to a cover of J. Crew catalog, but not to the book that is purportedly "non-fiction". Add to this his endless rants about Porsches, Mazeratti s, Ducatti's and other "bling-bling" and you end up having a bad cross between P. Diddy videos, the entire lineup of Wesley Snipes/Asian fetish movies, "The Talented Mr. Ripley", "The Bourne Identity", "The Rainmaker"... Oh, did I mention more than two Matt Damon movies? Well, you got the point!
Rating:
Summary: Future blockbuster movie with the right cast
Review: One reviewer stated: "I look forward to the movie starring Matt Damon." The same thought ran through my head as read the book, right down to Matt Damon as the protagonist. He'd be perfect for the role. I bought the book to read on the plane ride home and I finished it the next day. IMO it's a quick, exciting read because the storyline and characters are intriguing. Some reviewers here have given the book a lackluster review because, while categorized as a non-fiction piece, is lacking accurate details in regards to hedge funds. While I do not deal with hedge funds and have little to base the story's facts against, the author did state that he had to hide identities and details in order protect the real life people that the story is based on. Therefore readers who are educated with hedge funds or Ivy League particulars will likely pickup on inconsistencies. I bought the book because I wanted to read a story that grabbed my attention and never let go. IMO the author fulfilled my purpose for this book. For those of you looking to start a career in hedge funds, apply to an Ivy League university, or move to Tokyo, you may want to do further research beyond just reading this book. For the rest of you looking for a non-stop ride of a young American thrown into the Japanese business culture, you will get your money's worth with this quick read.
Rating:
Summary: cheap knock-off of movie "Boiler Room"
Review: The author is no F. Scott Fitzgerald, and this book will never be considered for the Pulizer, or any other major literary award. This is one case where the movie was better than the book. The movie "Boiler Room" may have been plagiarized in this novel; simply change the names from New York and Long Island to Tokyo and Kobe and you have most of the same story: some people involved with finance are corrupt. You're probably better off buying the book, "When Genius Failed : The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management" by ROGER LOWENSTEIN.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining account of the life of a professional trader
Review: The best way to describe this book is a work of fiction that is loosely correlated to real life events. The book is lacking in technical details and is not recommended as a handbook for how to arbitrage Nikkei futures. Of the several hundred pages in the text, only a small handful are dedicated to the mechanics of arbitrage and trading. The description of trading is very generic and does not provide any insights to anyone with even a passing knowledge of finance.
Nonetheless, like his last book, this one was entertaining. He could have fleshed out his main characters with a little more relish, so that the reader could feel more empathy with their stories. Overall, an entertaining narrative if approached as such. If you are hoping to learn the intricacies of trading, then expect to be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Gunslingers of the east
Review: This book covers the atmosphere in japan form the beginning to the middle of the 199 0's of with a group of Ivy league graduates who are making a killing trading on the nikkei average covers appoint which culminates in the biggest deal ever seen. The author tells at the start other then a handful of reconizable traders names such as Joesph Jett Richard li and nick leeson who was responsible for the down fall of one of englands oldest institutions are the only real names while he describes the actions and the play at any risk trading but make a profit atmosphere.
The author uses a fictional character named John Malcolm who in the start comes from a blue collar family john is a receiver from princeton who goes with a group of ivy league football players to play a game in japan where he meets Dean carney who ends up being his link to a chance career in japan and potential to make alot of money.
This story shows the excess linked to alot of the highrolling atmosphere dealing with japanese business and also ties to Yakuza.This was a pretty good book and fast paced but i do think that his book on the MIT students and blackjack was better
Rating: 
Summary: Real Fiction
Review: This book is amazingly stupid. As an expat who actually trades the Asian markets for a living, I can tell you first hand that this book is complete fiction. There's nothing of any substance regarding the financial world. The little that he does talk about markets and traders, he manages to both oversimplify and get it wrong. In order to make-up for the lack of real information, Mr. Mezrich spends roughly half the book describing every minutia of every scene. The dust cover talks a bit about Mr. Mezrich transforming himself from a suspense writer to a non-fiction journalist. This book is certainly not journalism. At best, "Ugly Americans" is a third rate novel.
Rating:
Summary: Lame
Review: This book is fluff -- its description of the hedge fund world is laughable. You mean to tell me that scalping Nikkei futures is how the "Ivy League cowboys raided the Asian markets for millions"? Clearly, this author is in way over his head attempting to understand the complex strategies employed by hedge funds to achieve their extraordinary returns (as well as blowups). The description of the Japanese sex trade is a boring diversion that eventually becomes an irritating pebble in the shoe of the book. Ultimately, the book is a superficial story lacking any real insight into how real money is made. And why is that? Because they ain't going to tell you!
Rating:
Summary: Garbage~
Review: This is the type of garbage that gets plugged in the Style section instead of critiqued in the Book Review of the NY Times and I am the bigger fool for buying it! What a waste of paper. The Pacific Century Cyber Works trade was non-sense as everyone had knowledge beforehand of Richard Li's government connections. The big score numbers make no sense. There is no way to get that kind of leverage on the Nikkei exchange as no options trade on the underlying securities.
The 9th rule of Carney - Garbage in Garbage out!
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