Customer Reviews

Cleaning Up: One Man's Redemptive Journey Through the Seductive World of Corporate Crime

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(2)

 

 

Rarely do I read autobiographies where the author so honestly discloses his past and current flaws. Cleaning Up is a story that will inspire, encourage and motivate those who have failed--even to the point of prison. The book reads like a movie and no doubt one will shortly follow. It is the perfect gift to inspire a loved one or friend who has just suffered a huge set back.

One more thing. I am easily bored and yet I could not put the book down and finished it in two sittings. The book has such continuity and is very well written. The publisher should offer a money back guarantee on this one and would have no takers!

Barry Minkow does not mince words nor spare himself in this detailed mesmerizing account of his life. In his zeal for popularity and success as a very young man, a teenager, he misused his brilliance and perpetrated a colossal business scam that caused him to be sent to prison. Having repaid his debt to society and the banks and folks he defrauded he is both wiser and more mature. He has picked up the pieces of his existence and now serves a purposeful life as a Minister helping others. He also uses his skill and experience to aid in fraud-prevention.

His book reads like the best of adventure stories or a mystery novel, but it is all true. He delves into the egos of success-driven personalities, the mystik of financial wizardry, survival in prison, and spiritual redemption.

Well written. An excellent inside look at investment pitfalls.

This book is not a business book. It is not a how to identify fraud book. It is not a book that lectures to those is corporate America on ethics. What is it? The most inspiring book I have read in years. If there are still doubts in your mind about whether or not people can change, Cleaning Up once and for all will prove to you that people can change and in the case of Barry Minkow thousands of would be investors would be a lot poorer if he hadn't!

Barry Minkow spills his guts in this tell all book. I believe it is truly an honest account of how took the wrong path early in life, then changed his ways for the better. His analysis of fraud, and the fundamental reasons behind why people commit fraud are outstanding. The relationships he experienced with people he met along his life path were also very interesting. Once I started to read this book, I could not put it down. Highly recommended.

Nonfiction never read so well! Minkow reveals a combination of strength and vulnerability that can only come from having gone through hell and back. Cleaning Up is no ordinary tale of why crime doesn't pay, but an exciting adventure that page by page draws the reader further in. Clever writing of an intriguing story makes one wonder...who will get to play him in the movie?

An autobiography detailing the creation of a business while still in high school that eventually is worth millions and then falls like a matchstick creation as it was started with fraud from beginning to end. This is the story of how that was accomplished, his time in prison where he meets the most important person in his life, and after he gets out about his failures and his acceptance of his new found accomplishments. A wonderful read!!

The book really shows that no matter how bad things get for you, there is always hope. What a great come-back story. In this post-Enron world, it's nice to see a bad guy turned good How amazing that things turned out so well for him. Remember, no matter how bad things are for you...someone always has it worse! Barry proves that you can fail and still turn out ok.

MUST READ FOR AN INVESTOR IN STOCKS & MUTUAL FUNDS:

I watched Barry Minkow speak at a local event in San Diego. Then, I read this book. Second part of the book is quite intriguing and enlightening. After reading the book I realized I had just avoided investing in a Ponzi Scheme simply out of my gut feel. Had I read it before, I would have notified him of a scheme in progreess. I wish Barry wrote more incidents of Ponzi Schemes and how to avoid them.

I have recommended this book to my closed friends.

Recently I saw Barry Minkow on 60 minutes. Upon reading amazon reviews, I couldn't help but notice the outstanding ratings but I was a bit concerned that this was just another criminal who found religion and subsequently got his act together. I am a slow reader but I've got to tell, I started this book on a rainy Saturday morning and I finished it early Sunday morning -- even the college football on television couldn't subplant my interest in this story. To say that Barry has led a very interesting life would be an understatement. He doesn't make excuses and I think he recognizes his recovery is going to be lifelong process. Look, take it from a sports junkie. You want something different, something that will captivate you from page one -- then this is your book. It's not spiritual and Minkow doesn't preach, he just tells his story. Perfect book for the train, plane or a quiet weekend at home. Gotta give it 5 Stars because its only the second book I've ever read in one day (Glory Denied is the other).

I found this to be a great read and page turner. If you enjoy reading a personal account of one living a life of dishonesty, pride, greediness, and the downfalls that come with it then this book is for you.