Great book about Jim Cramer's life as a young author to being one of the most powerful wallstreet traders.

This is a great book. I've watched Jim Cramer on television, but never knew the whole story. From his days working as a reporter, to his time at Harvard Law School, on to Goldman Sachs, and eventually his own hedge fund. This is an up close and personal look at one of America's favorite money men. I highly recommend this book.

I enjoy watching Cramer's Mad Money tv show, but I had no idea how chaotic his career was before he had the show. I just assumed he made lots of money and everything was hunky dory. It was not, you have to read the story to believe it.

If you like Cramer even a little you will truely enjoy this book. It really helps to understand where he has come from, and how he got to where he is today.....
I have passed this book along to many and they also loved this easy read. I, too, believe it would make an interesting movie....enjoy.

James Cramer wrote a great autobiography. I love the show and wanted to learn more about the host. After hearing about this book, I bought it and read it without stopping. Cramer begins with his childhood and describes all the seasons of his life. His time in college, LA and at Goldman Sachs. I enjoyed reading about someone who never quits. There were many times in his life when he could have given up, but he never did. He also shows the importance of having someone in your life who always believes in you no matter what. To me, this novel shows the hard work and grit that are required to become great: whether you are lucky or not.

This is another great "American" story. Becoming successful like Jim Cramer does not come easy. He had rough times but he learned and battled with himself and with the world and made it big. He exposes the simple principle of being a little smarter with our money.

Now I understand some the antics and actions taken by Cramer.
I have a better understanding of him and have changed my opinion of him from an attention craving maniac to a gifted person with the ability to help me achieve my investment goals.

Awesome book and great read, just could NOT put it down! I'm a newbie to investing and this book gave me the added cofinidance to start getting my hands dirty and make something of the floundering portfolios that I already have. No more brokers to "tell" me how to invest MY moola! No way SKIIDADDY!!! Brokers beware, you're not getting your mits on my hard earned cash anymore, THE CRAMENATOR is 'da man!! Can't wait to get the other 2 books (which BTW were the last in stock at Amazon - hahahhahaha!) either, time to start raking it in! My wife has an early retirement planned for herself and I will not disappoint!

Okay, it is only January, but this well written autobiography is hard to put down (and if you have any interest in the stock market it is worth 5 stars).

The way Jim Cramer pulls no punches and names names makes it easy to understand how he can be such a polarizing character (and wonder how many people and organizations considered libel suits because of this book). The fact that he is so explicit and so honest about some of his own shortcomings gives the book a lot more credibility.

The book gives good balance to different phases of his life, as student, reporter, law student, intern, broker, hedge fund manager, TV personality, and dot com entrepreneur. There is a lot of conflict and laugh out loud humor (well for me anyway).

This is not a "How to" investment book, but there are some nuggets in it (e.g., about Manias). If you want that, get "Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World".

There is no doubt that Jim Cramer is a good writer, a self promoter, extremely driven, and very intelligent. After reading this, some people will like him more (I did) and some may not like him at all.

This is excellent reading, I found it very hard to put down once I started reading it. It is both very entertaining and is very practical as far as giving a real candid look at the life of a successful stock broker.

this book gives a good look at the receint history of the stock market. this book also shows you how you can prosper even in difficult times in the market. though it it is a bit hard to read. for me it is a bit slower than what I read normally also.

This is required reading for any day trader or MBA student.

Cramer's recanting of his experiences are inspiring, heartwarming and sometimes troubling.

This book isn't a substitute for the Real Money book, Confessions is educational if you are already a trader or semi experienced / skilled trader.

From his childhood to the day he retired from his hedge fund, this book is his invaluable recitation of life as a hedge fund manager and it will remind you that family matters above all else.

His wife Karen was just as important to his success as his savvy, Jeff Berkowtiz the Sr. Trader at the Cramer Berkowitz was equally as important along with his investors who later shunned him and capitulated despite the mad gains Cramer had earned them.

Even if you aren't a student of the markets, don't actively trade or could care less about what a stock market is, this book is worth the read -and impossible to put down.

Confessions of a Street Addict offers a glimpse into the seedy world of Wall St. not seen on CNBC. If you've seen Boiler Room, you know what I'm talking about. The pressure in the finance world is inhuman. Consider: the amount of money that flows through New York is measured in the trillions. Consider: on a down day, Bill Gates's net worth is subtracted by billions. When he's at a cocktail party and he's asked about his wealth, he can answer, "Oh, 40 billion, give or take a few billion." Yeah, literally.

Stakes are so high, that if you're involved in that culture, you quit by the time you're 35, either insanely rich or completely bankrupt. Wall St. is the ultra modern jungle and battlefield, where its warriors wear Armani instead of chain mail, and wield Bloombergs intead of battle axes. Companies beating analyst earnings estimates during fiscal quarters is like winning battles at Gettysburg or Normandie. And epic characters emerge, like Yahoo, who survived the dot com slaughter, or Long Term Capital, a bohemoth hedge fund that nearly crashed the market after losing a series of risky bets.

It's a competitive arena, and in such an environment, like all its other forms (be it with pens or swords), stories and legends emerge. And Jim Cramer, involved in the thick of it during the 80s, 90s, and 00s, tells it as such. Cramer takes the reader from his formative years as a Harvard Law student struggling to rub two pennies together for stock trades, to his high pressured hedge fund that netted 25% annual returns. Along the way, there are adventures involving Goldman Sachs Group, Rupert Murdoch, an alcoholic CEO he hired for his startup [...], and his Trading Goddess wife. It is a riveting tale set with the financial capital of the world as its backdrop and brilliant, motivated minds as its ensemble cast. I couldn't put the book down; it was the best thing I've read in a long time.

Love him or hate him, Jim Cramer is one hell of a passionate guy. He shoots from the hip first, and asks questions later. He routinely throws water bottles and chairs and smashes keyboards into smithereens. But he also looks out for the little guy, because he's been in the dumps, and he knows how unfair the cut-throat world can be. He paid his hedge fund employees bonuses in the millions to compensate for his manic style. In short, he has the perfect bi-polar-esque personality for Wall Street, and the succint ability to translate it into words. There are no concrete financial advice in the book. If that's what you're looking for, get his other book, Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World, instead. Confessions of a Street Addict should be read as a novel--not just by 'street addicts, but anyone who enjoys a damn good rollicking story.

Jim Cramer...wow, what a freak job. Fortunately, I enjoy freaks...people who dont let times define them and try to define the times. This guy is hyper type A and he lets it hang out in this auto-biography. I did get the impression sometimes that he was making some passive apologies and not telling the whole story or softening his role in one controversy or another but I cant say for sure. I read the book, enjoyed it, will read his others...and yes, I even learned a few things about investing.

This book is more about his autobiography, and albiet amusing at times, isn't a real investing book. His other one: Jim Cramer's Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World is much better.

Unlike most, I wasn't a big Cramer fan before picking up this book. I'd read his columns at the [...] during the dot com craze, but now only occasionally catch his act while channel surfing. However, I'm a big fan of biographies and thought his would make an interesting read.

I wasn't disappointed. I didn't know much about the man, but it was interesting and inspiring to hear about his ups and downs. Cramer takes us from his Harvard education to living out of his Ford Fairmont to running an amazing hedge fund.

What was especially refreshing was the fact that Cramer owned up to many of his mistakes in dealing with people. Too often auto-biographies become platforms for excuse-making and blaming others. Not this one.

You won't learn many tips to help you double your portfolio's value, but you will learn alot about one of Wall Street's most identifiable characters as well as getting an inside look at how hedge funds operate. You'll enjoy it.

By far one of the best AutoBiography I have read, fast paced with his ups and downs, not really a book for learning to trade but has a lot of hidden wisdom if you can read between the lines.

One of those hard to stop reads.

This is a great story in context - the year is 2002, the author is switching from being a hedge fund manager to a full-time journalist and TV prognosticator. He's a branding machine, so the book contains a lot of self-promotion. You see Jim the Hyper, Jim the Genius and Jim the Buffoon - all part of the brand.

The biography takes you from Jim at Harvard, to Jim the homeless journalist to Jim the financier to Jim the Hedge Fund operator. Jim fesses up to a lot of the personal problems that he caused for himself along the way, writing in the same style he rants on TV. As such, the story carries the same fast pace as the TV. Even if you don't like him, you'll keep reading.

Is this a book on how to make $ in the stock market? Not really - there are much better out there. Is this the definitive biography on Cramer? That probably won't be written until after his lact act. Will this help you understand the guy sweating, screaming and pulling his hair out in the lightning round? Absolutely!

Going into this book I was extremely skeptical about its content considering what seems to be Cramer's incessant desire for attention. There is no doubt that he is a successful short-term trader and entrepenur, but in the go go years it was unusual to see him acknowledge a mistake on a recommened sector/stock (although his admissions now have become a lot better).

After reading the book I was quite impressed with Jim's self-reflections and the myriad of mistakes that were made in the making of this media icon. Those mistakes were not just blunders on the "Street" but were personal gaffes...from betraying a trusted friend to always neglecting his family for a buck (which is his ultimate confession). This book really gets you inside his head and lets you know why he was doing some of the crazy things that lead to his hedge fund almost closing..and eventually his personal success.

All in all...a very good book that is well written by the man who always wanted to be a writer...not a stock picker!

An autobiography of one of Wall Streets most importatnt people of the last 20 years, Jim Cramer's "Confessions..." is a real winner. (in my book) Here's why:

In so many Wall Street "journals", you don't get the detail and history that Cramer included in this book. He starts at his child years, and ends in the current. So many other books like this start and end with the career on wall street. But there is so much in life that builds up to such momentous events! Cramer tells it all.

He does it in such a fashion, that with a little refinement and expertise on drama, could make it as a top grade movie someday. This is as story of poverty, romance, greed, humility, and success that is enthralling. I always ended a chapter wanting to read more.

It is also a book of heroism as the man who should not have, did! And he did at almost everything he tried. It is why many wonder if Cramer has the midas touch. He's that successful.

This is a book that should be studied and read by any aspiring business professional (such as myself), any investor, or business minded historian who would like to get a shot at one of the most successful men, 1990's and current money managers, and investors that has lived in our time. The lessons and histories in the book are great and inspiring; and at times entertaining!

And with a great touch, the book ends with a great, suspensful moment in Jim's life that you will not want to miss!

A great read! Now one of my favorite business books of all time!

Wow! This was a quick read because it's an incredible story. Cramer is not only a talented stock picker, but a gifted writer as well. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about his life journey taking him from magazine writer to Goldman Sachs to his own fund. I have a new-found appreciation for the individuals working on Wall Street in such a stressful environment. I like watching Jim Cramer on TV and I enjoyed the book...it's well worth it.

Jim Cramer. The name comes up again and again. Thestreet.com pulses with his rants, CNBC prominently features him, and even sites like the venerable Motley Fool write articles about him. What's the story? Is he a wild hack, or a shrewd investor and advisor?

This book answers some of those questions, and answers a whole lot more. It starts when he graduates from college, and follows him through journalism, law school, and through the investment world, culminating when he hangs up his hedge fund at the peak of success. He didn't get too far from the lifestyle though, as you can tell from his omnipresent, uh, presence.

I didn't like him going in, but the book made me look at him in a new light. There are so many lessons, and so much truth in this book that I have to give it my highest recommendation. Even if you don't agree with Cramer's analysis and investing style, you should read this book! I'm a religious listener to his Real Money podcast, and though it makes Ben Graham roll over in his grave, this guy has done it all, and genuinely wants to help people make money. That's at least partially because I think he wants recognition as a guru- he makes money from thestreet.com, but he doesn't need it. If all he wanted was money, he'd still be at his hedge fund.

If this book teaches nothing else, it proves that the average person sitting at home has no hope of competing with hedge funds as a day trader. They have too much info and control too much money. You have no chance of beating professional (i.e. Wall Street)day traders at their game. Not that there aren't other ways of beating the street- it's just that you are inevitably scooped if you ever think you're making a move on folks when it comes to trading (vs. investing).

And, it's a good story. This book gets the seal of approval.

It seemed like this book could have been written in a matter of 50 pages. Long story short: Cramer's wife taught him what he knows, and bailed him out when he didn't have a clue in 1998. This guy is a journalist and a marketer, not a great trader.

Jim Cramer falls into the catagory of he who would walk over his own mother for an extra eighth of a point. Yet this personal portrayal of his own full blown neurosis accompanied by his self effacing, almost day-to-day story makes this one of the best books of its kind I've ever read. If you've ever been a trader and been leveraged on the wrong side of a hopeless down market, you'll get to relive your emotions from that hopefully forgotten time. I know that I did, and it wasn't comfortable. But, as egotistical and looney as Cramer is, you can't shortchange his obvious talent.

One of the most compelling segments in the book is where his wife comes back to trade for a day in a horrible W-shaped market where Cramer is about to lose everything (this would make a great movie by the way.) However, in reading it and projecting myself into the situation I must say that she had to be more lucky than good - and she's really, really good. What a story!

It's a fast, riveting, read filled with Wall Street jargon and arcane financial terms. But again, to the trading cogniscenti (?), it's a priceless story. If you're not a Street type you'll just get yourself in trouble should you try to copy he or she, but there's one thing that shines through from here. That is that all good partners cover their other partners' blind spots. To digress, chemistry is often one of the main reasons that pop music groups are popular beyond their good material. However, when they break up and go solo they rarely achieve the kind of success they've enjoyed as a group. It's like McCartney shaping Lennon's raw talent, so evident in his songs, but if Lennon went at it alone he all to often ended up with the Plastic Yoko Ono band banging garbage can lids together. Take Hall and Oates? Who was Oates? But, Hall by himself wasn't the same without the little guy in the background. Nor was Don Henley without the Eagles, nor Lindsey Buckingham without Fleetwood Mac.

Cramer's wife, the acknowledged trading goddess, covered his blind spots and helped polish him into the talent he was. This is a great read and vastly informative, and if you've ever wondered how hedge funds operate on Wall Street, it's terrific. And, it never lets up.

OK maybe not his soul . . . but something close to it. What a daring revelation of one man's life from Cramer's early obsession with stocks to his later obsession with the market. Cramer is a force of nature. His understanding and insights into Wall Street are compelling and his eagerness to let the reader in on everything is remarkably refreshing. His adoration of "The Trading Goddess" (his wife) is delightful. If she's as wonderful, intelligent and savvy as Cramer suggests (and I'll bet she is), I want HER to write a book! Cramer is unique. He is able to teach a pure stock-novice such as myself how to make the market work for me. I have tried to read other books on the stock market, but never managed to finish even one. They seemed either irrelevant or aimed toward insiders. By contrast, Cramer never tries to confuse the reader. The audiotape (read by Cramer himself) is also terrific--full of energy and emotion. And don't stop your "education by Cramer" with this book, read his others as well. Catch his radio program and his CNBC "Mad Money." You and your pocketbook will be glad you did.

I didn't know what a hedge fund was until I read this book. I read Jim Cramer's articles on stocks and I wanted to know about him. He's an intelligent but somewhat volatile man(at least, when he was in the hedge fund biz). He was fortunate to pick an excellent woman to be his wife. She helped keep him on the righr path to success. I learned a great deal about staffing a fledgling company. I also learned about trusting those who are true friends and not to be persuaded to deviate from that trust. I thought the book was an enjoyable read and I personally learned a great deal about life in the fast lane of investing.

I wrote a review of this before and it disappeared so hopefully this one will appear. My husband and I took turns reading this book aloud to each other, which meant we spent basically a day in front of a roaring fireplace, snowed in and riveted by the memoirs of a guy who defied normal human behavior.

First off, how many kids start off in life fascinated by the financial section of the newspaper, let alone making pretty shrewd jusdgments of which stocks would be wise investments? How many try to get their fellow students to play "the stock market game" (he didn't succeed in getting them to do so in spite of his game attempts). How many grow up and get a Harvard law degree and chuck it to work on Wall Street, grueling by most people's standards, high stress, high risk, etc?

What struck me about this book were several things:

1. Cramer is a far different person within the confines of a book than he may appear on tv. Yeah, he admits to craxy behavior, workaholism, talking business while on vacation and even during the delivery of one child...but at least he isn't there shouting and sweating and leaving the impression he is about to have a heart attack, right there, on air. Yes, he admits to having tantrums, trashing keyboards, throwing bottled water at people, etc. But hey, he is at least admitting this!

2. His wife is the woman behind hin and perhaps the major reason for his success, since she pulled him out of a major tailspin..according to his account. Either he is a very savvy husband or he is wise enough to give credit where it is due.

3. He finally wakes up and realizes the costs of his behavior, after alienating a good friend (they make peace afterwards), talking business during a funeral, etc.

If you are buying this book to learn the details of trading and Cramer's "method" you'll have to read between the lines. But this didn't matter to us. Take one excellent writer, some superb anecdotes, tons of humor and some moments that give a whole new meaning to the words "risk tolerance"...and you have a wonderful book, perfect for even those who think they'd never want to read about a guy in the financial/ hedge fund business.

And yes, we have started perusing the financial sections of the papers more closely. So there's that, too.

I started reading this one even though I wasn't too sure I wanted to read it because I admit I do find it hard to watch "Mad Money" sometimes, what with Cramer yelling and pushing buttons and sweating so much that he looks like he might keel over from a heart attack.

Well, I could NOT put this book down and even insisted my husband hear some parts because they were simply that good. This book goes far beyond Cramer's own beliefs about trading and the market. It is part memoir, part instruction book and part history lesson about the ups and downs in the market during the 70s, 80s and 90s...clear up to the present.

Also, Cramer worked for many of the "bigwigs" in the industry. One major plus - his personality is much easier to take within the confines of a book. Sure, he still seems larger than life but not so "in your face". For me, anyway, that was better.

True, he has a rep for having a big ego but in this book he comes across as a humbler, gentler person (well, at times) and he even admits to plenty of mistakes - in detail. How many guys would confess to being on the phone, deciding whether to short stocks or not, while helping deliver his child?! Well, Cramer does, along with several other mistakes he later came to rue.

He also explains how obsessed he was with the market from his very earliest days, turning to the financial sections of the newspapers when other kids were reading comics or playing baseball. He tried to get his fifth grade class into the action but somehow he didn't convince them. Maybe some of them regret it now.

This is a very, very lively and engaging read. My husband, who is often put to sleep by financial reports and market info, was riveted by this book as well and has actually started to pay closer attention to the stock market reports.

Cramer writes with real passion and zest. Not only did we learn more about the market (and Cramer) but we had a heck of a good time doing so! How many books can you say that about?

Just as a good novel has twists and turns, you will find yourself riding up and down with this book. In the chapter toward the end, I couldn't sleep or put it down till I found out where the business and Kramer wound up that day, and more importantly to me, how they made it. I was breathless on Wall Street! It was a shot of knowledge, on top of a truly great read. If you love trading, or love the market whether you trade or not, this is your novella, because it takes place deep in the world of Wall Street. It also gives an insider's look at hedge funds, which most of us don't have. Great reading for anyone who ever bought or sold a share. No matter what you think of the personality, read the book.Now I am giving it out to selected friends as a gift.

a 5-star

i was pleasantly surprised by how good this read was. the book offers insight into how the market and a hedge fund work; it is funny, witty, full of self-deprecating humor. jim cramer came out as a surprisingly honest and decent guy, in particular, one from wall street. highly recommended!

Confessions of a Street Addict really brings to light the career of James Cramer starting off as a struggling writer to successful hedge fund manager.

I liked how Cramer didn't focus on just his success. I really liked the beginning of the book that clearly showed Cramer's interest in the market, talking about the market and struggling as a writer in southern California. Cramer's story is inspiring and not sugar coated. As he eventually finds his way, he is offerred a more lucrative career path in New York and that eventually leads him to his stock market business where he meets his wife.

I liked how Cramer talked about how rough it was trying to get started in the business, how to succeed and how crule the reality of it was. Cramer doesn't wave any flags for Wall Street and doesn't make it sound like it's an easy, forgiving world out there. Cramer's story about his sruggles with TheStreet.com, his hedge fund, managing people, family and the roar of trading in the 90's really comes to life in this book.

I recommend this book because Cramer tells it like it is. He doesn't praise himself, he doesn't sugar coat and it was very intriguing reading.

Confessions of a street addict is a great book. It reads very fast and Mr. Cramer is very funny and insightful. The book gives the reader an insight into how the world of Hedge Funds actually works. How do they research their information on companies ? How they decide to buy and sell a company ?

I also enjoyed reading about how thestreet.com was founded. It's amazing that a company that started in such caos can now have 100 million in revenues.

Finally, I loved the insight on his family life and how his obsessive nature affected his relationships with them.

To fully understand Cramer, you need to read this book first before reading Cramer's latest book, Real Money. In this book, you will learn about the cool maniac that we see on Mad Money. This man defines greatness through his tenacity at Cramer and Company to his Sandy Koufax-ish decision to leave the game at the top! If you love success stories, you will find that this book is hard to put down!

Booyah, Cramer fans!If you're as big a fan of Mad Money on CNBC as I am, you have GOT to read this book! It really chronicles the life and mind of Jim Cramer - starting from his childhood, then on to Harvard where he was coaching his professors in the market, then on to Goldman Sachs, the Hedge Fund [...] His ups and downs - his addictions and manic personality so very well captured. It's funny and insightful, just like the Lightning Round. Read this book, Skidaddy - you won't be dissapointed!

Initially, when I first saw Jim Cramer on t.v. back during the internet craze, I was was put off by his over-the-top, bullish personality. His new t.v. show "Mad Money" only furthered this feeling. However, I felt compelled to watch for some reason, as he seemed to have an intelligent insight on nearly every company mentioned by viewers. I had seen his two books at Borders on various occasions, and decided to give his first a shot. This book has completely altered my view of this guy.

From his humble beginnings, which later consisted of living out of his car, all the way to the top of his profession as an addicted, hedge fund manager, this book details every step of Jim Cramers journey. Incredibly insightful, Cramer is never afraid to call things how he sees them, but he is also humble enough to admit to his mistakes, and give credit where is has been due, i.e. his wife.

Note, however, this is not a guide to making money, as Cramer does not go into great depth on why/how he picked certain companies. Look to his newer book, "Real Money", for that sort of information.

Excellent insight into the "real" workings of Wall Street and not the glossed over view that the brokerage firms and the major investment banks want you to believe. A must read for anyone that is serious about managing their own money or other people's money.

After seeing Jim on TV a number of times, I found him entertaining (in a cartoon-ish sort of way), but had little interest in learning more about him. When a friend raved about the book, I figured I'd give the first chapter a read. Twenty pages in, I was hooked!

Cramer's sharp, to-the-point messages are balanced with an easy going, conversational writing style. Although critical of individuals throughout the text, he opens the book with passages where he is very hard on himself also. In the end, the blunt remarks become just one of many admirable qualities that shine through, as Jim reveals himself to the reader.

Cramer becomes that one friend, that everyone has, who will tell you how it is... even if you don't want to hear it! In this role, he crafts an intriguing story about the two biggest human drivers: Fear and Greed.

great insights into hedge funds and starting an IPO.jim cramer put a very human face on it all,I was hooked.

Liked this book. Cramer is straightforward and, at times, very humble in his posture. It goes to show you how a small trader, like a lot of us, can struggle against the insider big-dog tide. While everyone is anylizing charts, moving averages, Bolingers, candlesticks, et al, the real insiders trading word-of-mouth info at Wall St are the ones who really make the money.

Good read and I highly recommend it if you are a amature stock junkie like myself.

I'm not mad about Jim Cramer and I guess I'll never be. His brash, arrogant, loudmouth way of commenting on different business or even political issues on tv, whether it's on "Mad money", "Kudlow and Cramer", "Squawk box", "Good morning, America" or any other television show he's ever been on can get on my nerves sometimes. As a matter of fact, it's not so much his comments rather than his behaviour, his body language and his way of making a point that grate on me.

But he is one of the very few investors/traders that I have ever heard say "I was wrong about this stock or this company, and I don't have any problems admitting it", and I give him credit for that. The guy seems, if not honest, at least sincere to me. And I guess brashness, arrogance, sincerity, his loud mouth and the fact that he craves public attention make of Jim Cramer a highly colourful, flamboyant character. I'm always interested in what he has to say, even if I don't agree with him: sometimes, when he's on tv, the guy can be downright funny in his own way!

And so, not very enthusiastically I picked up this book and began reading it on a rainy weekend. Contrary to some of the readers who have posted reviews here at Amazon.com, I didn't really expect to learn any valuable trading methods or technical stuff, since the book's title is "Confessions" and not "Methods". No, as a matter of fact, when I think about it, I did learn something original. Cramer's idea of visiting department stores to find the next big thing and asking the right questions to the store clerks was very amusing to me.

This turned out to be a very honest, sincere and interesting book indeed. I was amazed by a few things in particular though:

1-Dedication, hard work and brains do pay in life. But that's not always enough. Sometimes you have to be lucky too. And Cramer was lucky, and he still is. His luck is called Karen Backfisch, and he is honest and humble enough to admit it. I mean, how many times did she bail the guy out? Reading the "Crisis in 1998" chapter, I almost felt I personally lived every infinitesimal instant of that crazy October 8, 1998 with Mr Cramer. Where would he be now, had the trading goddess not returned to the desk just for that day? "Hey, chum, looking glum!"... Sometimes all you need is a divine intervention.

2-I would have never thought a guy so successful in making money for himself and others could be so naive and blind as a bat in his relationships with business partners or close friends. That Ravi Desai story is quite revealing in this regard. It lead to Cramer's falling out with the guy who started it all for him, Marty Perez, and that too is unbelievable. Once again, his wife seemed to understand relationships and sense betrayal and disloyalty much better than he did.

3-I simply couldn't believe how unhappy and miserable this man was. I mean the guy almost had no life, he was constantly yelling and screaming, smashing cell phones and keyboards, calling people names; he misses his sister's marriage and talks about call positions on the phone while his mother lies dead in front of him...How miserable can you be? I think Howard Kurtz resumes it very well in his book: "It's amazing that a man so wealthy and successful can still be so manic and miserable!"

4-Again, I wasn't disappointed by the lack of trading methods or technical issues in this book. One little remark though: I thought cutting your losses short and being ok with some losses from time to time were "generally accepted trading principles" in the trading/speculating/investing world. Well, oddly enough, these two don't seem to be Cramer's principles. The guy takes losses personally, small and big ones, and he seems driven by emotions almost all the time. I thought that was something every trader tries to avoid. But then again, I guess that's ok. Mr Cramer has made millions over the years, so he must have had a bunch of other golden rules.

Many people couldn't wait (and I guess they still can't) to see Jim Cramer go to jail. Good Lord, people, you only have to blame yourself if you did poorly in the market during the last years. Cramer was pumping stocks he owned on various shows? He wrote "it's time to dump everything" in his recent column? He said he loved this company and hated that other stock during his last appearance on tv? So what, quit listening to him and start thinking independently! What do you think the analysts at Goldman, Merrill, Fidelity or Schwab have been doing over the years? Their buy/hold/sell recommandations can move the market, but sometimes the stocks don't go in the direction they expected or predicted them to go. Should they go to jail too?

All the back and forth on this book is amazing. Jim Cramer rocks! Don't believe all the stupid negative reviews. Read this book and learn something.

Wow. I have to say that, when I picked up this book, I was not prepared for the profound impression it would make on me. I have followed Cramer for a short time now, as long as I have followed the stock market, and have been very impressed by what strikes me as his candidness and apparent sincerity. Cramer, unlike so many Wall Street bigshots (not that Cramer is a bigshot), seems to genuinely care about those he sets out to advise, and this is what drew me to his book.

First, let me say that Cramer is a remarkably good writer, and recounts his story in such an intense, exciting, yet compelling way that I don't see how anyone could not be drawn in by this book, no matter how little interest they have in Wall Street. Second, while I wouldn't call Cramer an egomaniac (as others have done), I certainly agree that the man has a lot of self-confidence (that's what makes him such a good investor), and that confidence certainly comes through in this book.

Finally, Cramer is so brutally honest in this book (I've heard him say many times on the radio that he's embarrassed of how open he was) that you cannot help but like the guy. He did some horrible things in his quest to rise to the top of the financial world, but he admits what he did and takes the blame for all of his misdeeds. This is a great book from a fascinating man, and one which paints a very clear picture of the price men often pay for success on Wall Street.

love the book esp. the beginning,
it is so funny and insightful of
wall street, some chapters are boring
but overall, great book for anyone who
wants to laugh and know a little
about the street

You may not like Jim Cramer--I find him a little abrasive--but you can't deny that he is a riveting and excellent writer. This book is one of the best inside accounts that has come out on Wall Street, and by far the best book ever to come out on the hedge fund biz.

What a refreshing change from all the puffery that comes out on Wall Street! Contrast this with other flaccid, mealy mouthed books that come out on other moguls, and you can see the difference. Instead of portraying himself as "philanthropist" or other self-indulgent crap that we get in other books of this kind, we have an honest, warts and all portrayal. The shame is that a lot of the negative reviews on this book are a result of its chief asset, which is its honesty.

I think this was an excellent read. The book kept me interested throughout. I was a little disappointed that running a hedge fund really seems to be about insider trading. It seems you have to call and act on analyst info before they release their reports to really make the big money.

I think Cramer is a great trader, but I can't understand how the anger and stress of his daily life did not kill him long ago. Funny to read about, but sad to think about.

All in all, it was an interesting book.

James J. Cramer (Cramer & Berkowitz, TheStreet.com, CNBC's Kudlow & Cramer) takes you to a stock market trader's hell and back in "Confessions of a Street Addict." The analogy of investing being a war zone was coined at least 70 years ago with Gerald Loeb's "The Battle For Investment Survival" (1935). And you can't make it through the pages of this book without realizing what a battlefield it is. No book comes closer to approximating the giddy highs or heart-wrenching lows that trading puts a person through. The glory of victory and the agony of defeat are never more real as Cramer bares the trader's soul.
The book reads almost like an adventure novel - ricocheting from one crisis to another, each scene set up with hero and villain, with Cramer not always coming out on top. He starts you off with his basic biography, of being a teenage stock picker (paper trader), of his march through journalism (which shows in his writing), of Harvard Law, and eventually to Wall Street's most intense stage of conflict - the hedge fund.
The beauty of this book is that you get the fly-in-the-brain's view of how traders think (or don't think when their emotions get the best of them), how Wall Street really works, and how it all congeals together to produce the daily statistics. You are there as Cramer learns the ropes from his wife-to-be, The Trading Goddess, Karen Backfish. You sweat with him as he does deals, takes chances, high-fives victories, and crashes so low with failures he could probably seep out under the door unnoticed. A lot of the things you learn run counter to what the official Wall Street line wants you to know - the inside story of the blow-up of LTCM, and how analysts, brokers, and fund managers continually jostle each other for positions of power and influence, and profit.
The most interesting part of the book is being there as the Internet springs to life in the mid 90s - the wild enthusiasm and the unbelievable cluelessness that much of the Internet was built upon. But it was built, and it was built by the types of people Cramer came in contact with regularly - half geniuses, half dreamers, and half con men. And you're right - most of the time, it didn't add up.
Cramer, in addition to being a market manic, had a populist's belief that the little guys should have the same access to what the big guys had, and that the technology was now here to make it possible. TheStreet.com was the result. It's still here - one of the survivors, as is Cramer.
A lot of the book is a sad commentary on how far an addiction can twist your life around. Cramer chastises himself for talking stocks beside his mother's deathbed, his tumultuous relationship with his benefactor Marty Peretz, the destruction of computers and equipment and abuse of employees when the market went against him, and how he deserted his family for the sake of "the game." He simply couldn't stand to lose. In the end, he had enough common sense (though he makes it clear that his wife was always the steady rock in their relationship) to quit while he was ahead.
I particularly enjoyed Cramer's honesty at the extremes, (the emotional soul-wrenching limit) especially the bottom in 1998 (when he caved in - "sell everything, the market's gonna' crash - it's the end of the world"), and at the top in 2000 (when he publicly announced Internet stocks would live forever), and Cramer's final tantrum with the market on 22 Nov 00 when he met his match in a long Brocade position (I quit!). Each time, Cramer was so sure he was right, nobody or thing could dissuade him of his fallibility. But each time, it was his wife (1998), or reality (2000), or, finally, his own cathartic understanding of himself that led him back to humility...and humanity.
Given his personality, one must believe that if he had taken up stamp collecting, little would have changed, and it would be the philatelic world which would have had to live through Cramer's manias. Summing up his career, Cramer quotes his wife's 1998 pronouncement as they recovered from nearly panicking out at the bottom: "It's better to be lucky than to be good." However, with the success Backfish and Cramer had, I expect their luck was more of the variety of being smart enough to be at the right place at the right time than that of a pure roll of the dice. Good traders aren't just lucky, they're good. And Cramer was good, even if he was an addict.

With a rolodex of of brokers, analysts and CEO's at their fingertips... Cramer & Co. spent their day hyping or deflating stocks (depending on whether they were long or short), or just trying to get a reading of where the analyst community was (hoping to short or long the stocks -- which they would then go on to hype or deflate)... in the end, of course, the poor sucker holding the bag was John Q. Public.

So is this what hedge fund managers spend their day doing? Is this what trading was to Cramer & Co. (manipulating and in cahoots with Wall St. analysts)? Are analysts nothing but cheerleaders for their favorite stock of the day?

Oh, what a web of deceit and collusion Wall St. is...

This book rules. I have read both it and Nicholas Maier's "Trading with the enemy", and after completing both, hands down give the trophy to Cramer. Both books tell the same stories, but Cramer is a significantly more intelligent, insightful and entertaining writer. Great balance of Jim being Jim, an insider's view into Cramer Berkowitz and the impact of social and political activities on Wall Street. Jim spends about 20% of the book talking about how drastically he was impacted by the events which unfolded in 1998, specifically in regard to the LTCM liquidation in the fallout of the Russian bond default.

If you have any interest in Wall Street get this and read it.

Much like the first time I watched Cramer on his CNBC nightly program Kudlow & Cramer, his book had me hooked instantly.

This quasi-biography, quasi-self help piece offers intimate insight into one of medias most interesting charachters. Cramer is a hard driving, hyper opinionated, "kill or be killed" Wall Street Shark. Or at least that's what I thought before I read this book. What changed? Well, I was intrigued to learn about the humble beginnings that shaped and conditioned him, the people who helped him, and the trials and tribulations that almost destroyed him. Much like he treats the guests on his show, he puts his own life out to the reader for fearless examination.

Often funny, always interesting, I recommend this book highly.

Enjoy...