Customer Reviews

The Anatomy of Success by Nicolas Darvas (the author of How I Made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am so pleased that this book was republished. It has been out of print for some time and is by one of my favorite authors, Nicolas Darvas. In his time he was a world famous dancer, and in the sixties he did what was considered impossible: turned a few thousand dollars into $2.5 million in about 18 months in the stock market. He was an entertainer, business man, and was very pragmatic and loved studing to discover how things worked and what caused people to act the way they do. I have really enjoyed reading all of his books, you will find his writing style pleasant and informative. Below I have listed a summary of his main principles in this book. The value is in how he covers them all in great detail.

Analyse yourself.
Choose your field.
Analyse the field you have chosen.
Choose your goal with in that field.
Prepare your plan to achieve the chosen goals.
Execute your plan.
Protect your achievements.

I wish I would have had this book when I was 18 and starting out. I agree with this books principles, this book can show you the path to success.

This book's title reminds me of another book by Prof JK. Galbraith (Harvard University) caled "The Anatomy of Power". However, under close scrutiny, the two books are quite different. Prof Galbraith's book is rigorous and footnoted while Mr Darvas's book is anecdotal and has no footnotes. It does not even have an index. Furthermore, apart from the quotation by Wiliam James before the book starts in earnest, no attempt was made to introduce further quotations to illuminate his chapters. However, not all is lost. I find his summary on how to analyse the best possible route, a complete list of rules for achieving the success goal, his summary of how to hold on to the success we already have and his 7 basic steps to assume lasting success on pages 78, 104,135 and 168 are particularly useful. The rest of the topics he handles are unremarkable. The power of positive selfishess, which is the cornerstone of his approach has been handled much better elsewhere. I would recommend this book to those who have plenty of time to read.

If you liked Darvas' "How I made $2,000,000 In The Stock Market," don't bother with this book. It is a disappointing litany of self-evident traits that Darvas observes as being important in order to succeed. There's nothing of interest here, and it's not very well written. My tip for success: Don't waste your money on this book.

What I liked most of this book is that it develops a series of rules in a manner similar to a brick wall. Every rule is the base for the next one to apply. As always, Nicolas Darvas offers an entertaining way to describe a rather complex theme.

Price and delivery time were excellent. I was glad to find the book in print and pleased to be able to add it to my collection of Darvas's books.