The Auditor: An Instructional Novella

This is a nice resource for audit students or new auditors. I doubt it would be entertaining for most others. The book was written as an "instructional novella" for students and it offers some good information on public accounting audit careers. The story follows the career of a fictional auditor in a large, fictional firm in Oakland, California. He goes through various typical experiences to give students insight into what public accounting and auditing is really like. This is the type of information that is hard for students to come by. The story follows the career of a star, and may create an overly optimistic impression of what an audit career might be like. But the author also throws in some of the negatives. The narrator is asked by both managers and clients to makes some questionable moves, and he and others suffer from the grind of being over-worked, and even outside of the expected busy season. He also points out that pay is not quite in balance with the level of work and responsibility. I think this book would have been better if it didn't focus on a fast-rising star. The narrator made partner at age 32, after nine years, which seems pretty fast to me. The book does offer some good information and helps new auditors know some of what is coming, but I wouldn't expect most careers to follow this path. However, I would still recommend it for anyone who is considering a career in public accounting.