Rating: 
Summary: Buy It But Skip The First 20 Chapters
Review: A self-described "trained philosopher" (a term which he never defines), Professor Needleman is also an undisciplined writer. Had this book not been recommended to me by one of my more intelligent students, I would have thrown it aside after reading the first few chapters. Instead, based upon my student's recommendation, I read it through to the end, and am glad I did.The topic, the place of money in the life of the modern thinking person, is a compelling one, and Professor Needleman provides a lucid and intelligent discussion of it in the third part of the book, beginning at chapter 21. Unfortunately, you will gain nothing more by reading the first 20 chapters, which consist of undisciplined ramblings by an author who considers himself charismatic. It is as if they were written by a totally different person.
Rating: 
Summary: A deeply spiritual and provocative look at life and money.
Review: Could there be a subject more charged with the drama of human life? Each of us lives in some private, personal struggle with money that to a great extent dictates the course of our dreams, our search for meaning, and our compromises with deep Self. If you read nothing else about money, give yourself the great treat of opening the pages of this book. You may finally begin to comprehend why, if you have ever attempted to make money conscious, make it work for you rather than against you, take it into the domain of spirit, you have not succeeded. Not succeeded in finding deep or lasting satisfaction with it: as it squeezes you this way, frightens you that way, appears, disappears, plays with your hidden shame, seduces you to give up your heart's desire for more of it, etc. Beginning to understand why, you may also begin to have compassion for yourself in the midst of this journey, this search for The Way, in and through money. Needleman is fluent, wise, humble, and provocative as he lays out the foundation of a timely and really comprehensible thesis about the power of the most ubiquitous of elements fueling our lives and fantasies, money.
Rating: 
Summary: The needle can be found in this haystack...
Review: I found Needleman's book inspiring and profound. Not only did I learn a great deal about the history of money, but it helped me see how it affects my life. I have recommended it to many friends.
Rating:
Summary: When Is Money Not Money?
Review: I have been on a never-ending search for a higher-paying, more satisfying job/career my entire life believing totally that this would be the answer to many of my life's challenges and problems. Further, I believed that all of these challenges and problems were for the most part being driven by external factors. After reading this book, I appreciate that my search surely was and is about more than making money. The structure of the book is somewhat like a quilt pieced together of various subject matter, ideas and reflections about money. I had to make an effort to stay with the flow when I couldn't see where it was going. Perhaps this was a strategy the author choose to use and the one that kept me reading to the end. It's not a book I was able to rush through because as I read the truth of what he was saying presented me with quite an accurate and painful reflection of my own behavior and beliefs about money. I could only read a little bit of the truth at a time because as I recall hearing once, the truth will set you free but first it's going to just about kill you. I had to let it kill me a little bit at a time. An excellent companion piece to this book and one that Needleman cites is by Lewis Hyde entitled, "The Gift."
Rating: 
Summary: Pretentious, read chapter 20 onward,
Review: I'd give it five stars but 1) It lacks an index. 2) It borders on salve for gilded yuppies much like Chopra's Seven Laws for Spiritual success. Don't feel sorry about making lots of dough, even if it's a immoral occupation - you deserve it was the main message I got. Ok, I know there's more to it than that. But when the author in Chap 20 says money can buy you everything even love, I was vexed. Or that ethics and morality can be bought and sold like a pair of sneakers. And that unless we buy them, we cannot understand the things we can't buy! So if you're middle class forget understanding higher concepts, you don't got the bucks to buy enlightenment. Hmmm sounds like Sam Walton meets Eckhart meets The Fellowship of Friends. Everything is reduced to transactionalism. No meanings or values only cost.
Your teacher is the Benjamin Franklin in your wallet. It's odd that Needleman promotes a idea which would condemed by any authentic spiritual tradition in the world. Overall Prof. Needleman did a good job, but just barely, his style of writing is as usual, excellent. But content wise it is not up to par with his earlier works on philosophy or religion.
The target audience which again seems to be well off folks with guilt trips, yuppies, dot commies, etc. Ought to love it. But start at chapter 20 cause that's where it gets interesting. If you work hard at a blue collar job skip it, this book is not meant for you. Only wealthy types with spiritual pretensions need apply, since this book is partly derived from seminars he gives around the country based on similar topics for corporate clients. He also skipped on the psychopathology of wealth and money obsession. Why are so many of the new wealthy class, anti-charity and greedy to the point of amoral? Witness the fraud on Wall Street, how money corrupted our democracy, Dot com swindles or the S&L scandals. He's seems to ignore the corrosive effect money has on people also or why it's worshipped so much in our society. Money counts not character or essence. ...
Rating:
Summary: What's "better" Than Needleman?
Review: I've read this book a couple of times, and yes, I agree with my friends that the writing is a bit weak at the beginning--but the whole is very very strong. Needleman is excellent: catch his occasional lectures at various venues in SF. Overall, I think the notion that money developed in spiritual communities for the sake of handling material needs in an efficient manner is valid. I've handed this book out to many friends, and frankly, other than Michael Phillip's The Seven Laws of Money, there are not that many worthwhile titles out there. The landscape is filled with incrediblly preposterous junk like Suze Ormon.
Rating:
Summary: A wake up call for those who live in the market economy.
Review: Needleman presents a philosophical discussion of the role of money in personal life. Rather than blanketly dismissing the material side of our existence he seeks to demonstrate the necessary balance between the spiritual and the mundane. The book is strongly based in traditional philosophy as the author attempts to clarify, sythesize, and interpret classic works that support (or can be made to support) his premise. In some instances there is inadeqate discussion of the philosophical context on which the arguments are based. A portion of the work is a narrative which I found distracting. The book is an attempt to present a philosophical treatise to non-philosophers - perhaps the author should have either written an academic text or resigned himself to more adequately developing his thesis in the beginning with more limited supporting material. Overall this is a provocative book for those who are searching to resolve the apparent conflicts between the spiritual and the material. How likely is this to occur in a global economy built on consumerism? An interesting sequel to the work might be an edited volume of articles by economists, sociologists, theologians and anthropologists related to the implications and feasibility of infusing some degree of moderation into this market-oriented world.
Rating:
Summary: Get the Cliff Notes
Review: There are good ideas, interesting asides, and new philosophical propositions to spare in Money and the Secret of Life. The basic premise--that money is a technology invented, not to accumulate wealth, but to realize human potential--is certainly worth our attention. Needleman is best describing money as the great tool of capitalism and capitalism as a great metaphysical system. The problem with Money and the Meaning of Life is that Jacob Needleman set out to write an inquiry into the spiritual potential of money, then sketched out a history of Western religious thought, and ended up writing a first person narrative full of punch lines thinly disguised as surprise philosophical discoveries. Mixing Max Weber, Guradjieff, Maimonodes, King Solomon, and an anonymous businessman (who really DOES know the meaning of life) could have been a rollercoaster ride full of unexpected connections and insights; what it actually ends up being is long-winded, self-conscious, and pretentious. In terms of the capitalist object, a good product, but, word for word, not exactly a terrific value.
Rating:
Summary: Extraordinary... provided you can *really* understand it.
Review: This book is extraordinary. Literally. It takes a mercyless look at the "unbalanced" importance human beings are giving to money nowadays, particularly in the american society. Needleman himself describes his most intimate feelings towards the power of money, and this he does objectively, corageously, without lie and -most important- with enlightning. Unfortunately I guess, not a tenth of the readers will be able to fully appreciate the unvaluable ideas (in fact many of them were new to me) contained in this book. If you are ready to stop self-deceiving as what to the incidence of money in your life refers, or if you already have, then you should read this book, no matter what.
Rating:
Summary: My Riches for an Editor--and a Better Choice
Review: This book is extraordinary. Literally. It takes a mercyless look at the "unbalanced" importance human beings are giving to money nowadays, particularly in the american society. Needleman himself describes his most intimate feelings towards the power of money, and this he does objectively, corageously, without lie and -most important- with enlightning. Unfortunately I guess, not a tenth of the readers will be able to fully appreciate the unvaluable ideas (in fact many of them were new to me) contained in this book. If you are ready to stop self-deceiving as what to the incidence of money in your life refers, or if you already have, then you should read this book, no matter what.
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