Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle

A lot of people compare this book to Liar's Poker, and with good reason. Both tell the tales of young MBAs and their experiences at invesment banks. The big difference here, is that this book answers the question of what it's like to be a junior investment banker in your first year. Liar's Poker is more of a book about the climate on Wall Street in the Reagan years, spliced with personal stories. Monkey Business is ALL personal stories, most of them quite funny, about what you can expect if you're considering being a junior investment banker at a bulge-bracket firm. Of all the Wall Street books I've read (I've read several) this one offers the least insight into the financial climate of the times, what kind of business was being done, etc. It's basically a diary of two guys, one who worked on Wall Street and should have known better, and one rookie to the world of I-banking, from enrolling in top-tier MBA programs to their last frustrating days as co-workers at DLJ. Because of this, it's a quick read and highly relatable.

Anyone who thinks this book is untrue or is in any way an exaggeration obviously has not gone through the experience of being a junior investment banker. I have spent the past two years as an analyst (pre-MBA) at an investment bank and can honestly say that this book is an accurate representation of what goes on in investment banking. When the book came out, many junior bankers (analysts and associates) immediately picked up copies of the book and thoroughly enjoyed it as it summed up what makes banking such an awful work environment in a fast reading format. The book gave comfort to us bankers as it demonstrated that the type of things that happens at DLJ happens at other banks as well. Investment banking is truly a dysfunctional place to be with senior bankers having absolutely no concern for what happens to the junior bankers. I would highly recommend this book as it is very entertaining and very accurate and I would also recommend anyone thinking of working at an investment bank to do something else, as the money is really not worth all of the (...) you have to deal with on a daily basis.

Before going into my review, let me start with a caution. This book is the grossest, most vulgar business book I have ever read . . . by a very wide margin. This book would have been banned in Boston 50 years ago. If that sort of thing offends you, this book is a minus ten stars. Many women will feel this book is anti-female. On the other hand, if you happen to like your humor male, bold and brassy, this book will be one of the funniest you will ever read.As someone who often works with investment bankers, the descriptions about how business is sold and delivered should be tempered a bit. This book describes pretty much every investment banker as shoddy, shallow, and manipulative. That has not been my typical experience. There are terrifically smart, talented, ethical and humane investment bankers. For example, one of my favorites never used a pitch book during his first meeting with a client. Pitch book preparation is one of the banes of the young investment banker's existence. But like all professions, investment bankers vary a lot. There are certainly some less capable ones, and I have seen their work too. I would describe it much like the authors do.In terms of the working conditions, they are mostly a reflection of weak management in the industry. Investment banks reward doing deals, not being good managers of the deals. A fellow I know became CEO of a major investment bank, and made much less money after that than when he was just a deal-maker. He found little interest on the part of his colleagues in improving management, so it was pretty frustrating. It just doesn't pay to work on making life better for the investment bankers in training, compared to producing more business. The book's main point is that many young people enter investment banking without knowing what it is like, and are overly impressed with the financial prospects. If your values really favor having time for yourself, your family, and developing your other interests, this is probably the wrong career for you. There are plenty of other ways to make lots of money. The richest people I know are entrepreneurs, not investment bankers. The book's other main point is that you should take a look at close yourself before you compromise too many of your values. The authors should have never joined an investment bank. Having done so, they should have left much sooner. CEOs and CFOs should read this book also, to know what to check out carefully in the work that investment bankers do. Most companies now develop their own ideas, and just hire the investment bankers for implementation. In that role, fewer problems will occur of the sort described here. Perhaps the most dangerous role is having an investment banker help you select and pursue an acquisition. Many expensive mistakes follow under those circumstances. Caveat emptor!You will probably find the monkey drawings in the book add to the humor. The text frequent

Monkey Business is the finest glimpse of life on Wall Street since Michael Lewis' Liar's Poker hit the shelves over 10 years ago. When I first got my hands on a copy of the book , I was contemplating a career as a veterinarian versus that of an investment banker. The book made my choice clear: I prefer to treat animals than be treated like one, which apparently is the norm in the investment banking industry. Not only did the book chart my future, it also entertained me along the way. Monkey Business is humor at its best and literally had me laughing out loud as the chapters rolled by. Delightfully descriptive, its unsanitized similes, metaphors, and allusions were so direct and honest that they became charming and sweet. In their prose, Rolfe and Troob give the reader that fly-on-the-wall feeling as they escort us around the confines of the investment banking powerhouse, DLJ. Monkey Business is a must read for anyone considering business school and a highly recommended read for anyone who can read and wants to be educated, informed, and entertained.

Monkey Business is great! The book is well written and extremely entertaining. The story is lively and the overall cadence of the book makes it easy and fast to read. Rolfe and Troob have a nice style of writing and are two authors that the reader really likes. They seem like good guys. What I really like about the book is that it is not about deals. I was worried that when I picked it up to read that it would be about boring deals. It is just the opposite. It is a joy to read and I think I learned something in the process.I have lots of friends who are bankers and I never understood why they never seemed happy. They made lots of money, but always seemed nervous and jumpy. This book allows the reader to "jump on board" and experience what junior investment bankers do. The stories are great and the characters are unforgettable. This book is not just for men. Monkey Business is a great read for anyone who wants to understand banking and laugh while reading and learning. It is perfect for a plane trip or while on vacation. It is lots of fun.