God Is My Broker: A Monk-Tycoon Reveals the 7 1/2 Laws of Spiritual and Financial Growth [Paperback]

Christopher Buckley (Author), John Tierney (Author), Random House Inc. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 24, 1999

This is an incredible story. The author, a failed, alcoholic Wall Street trader, had retreated to a monastery. It, too, was failing. Then, one fateful day, Brother Ty decided to let God be his broker--and not only saved the monastery but discovered the 7 1/2 Laws of Spiritual and Financial Growth. Brother Ty's remarkable success has been studied at the nation's leading business schools and scrutinized by Wall Street's greatest minds, but until now the secret to his 7 1/2 Laws of Spiritual and Financial Growth have been available only to a select few:

• 87 percent of America's billionaires

• 28 recent Academy Award winners

• Over half the recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize

• No members of the U.S. Congress

Now, for the first time, Brother Ty reveals the secrets he has gleaned from the ancient texts of the monks, and tells how you can get God to be your broker. God Is My Broker is the first truly great self-help business novel. Open this book and open your heart. It will change your life.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The whole point of a monastic existence is to put aside worldly things. Brother Ty, the narrator of God Is My Broker, has put them aside with a vengeance, and his task is all the more impressive when you consider just how many he used to possess. "I had traded the life of a Wall Street trader," he tells us, "for the contemplative life, my briefcase for a rosary, the roar of the trading floor for Gregorian chant." Hunkered down in a rural monastery, he seems finally to have escaped the iniquities of Mammon, along with rush-hour traffic and a major drinking problem.

A vow of poverty, however, isn't what it used to be. The monastery of Cana is falling to pieces. And Cana Nouveau--the wine the brothers have always produced to sustain themselves--has hit a new, undrinkable low. As the desperate abbot looks to Deepak Chopra and Anthony Robbins for advice, Brother Ty begins to get financial tips from the Supreme Insider: "That day God had revealed Himself to be our broker." Sometimes, of course, the Lord speaks in mysterious ways. Even a stray line from the Song of Solomon may encourage the narrator to take a flier on Apple Computer stock: "Comfort me with apples. It sounded like a 'buy' recommendation to me." By heeding his divine broker at every turn, however, Brother Ty manages to transform the monastery into a financial powerhouse. His story amounts to the funniest bit of ecclesiastical satire since J. F. Powers's Morte D'Urban. What's more, the authors send up the entire self-help industry with hilarious expertise, concluding God Is My Broker with what even Deepak Chopra would recognize as a home truth: "The only way to get rich from get-rich books is to write one." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Billed as a self-help novel, this satire features Brother Ty (for Tycoon) and his wondrous advice for getting rich with God's approval. Optioned by New Line Pictures.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; 1 edition (March 24, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060977612
• ISBN-13: 978-0060977610
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #925,669 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The secrets of self help books revealed., August 4, 2000

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: God Is My Broker : A Monk-Tycoon Reveals the 7 1/2 Laws of Spiritual and Financial Growth (Hardcover)

Christopher Buckley is an accomplished writer of several genres, although his humor and wit when committed to paper are very special, and at times especially sharp edged. Sharp, as only a quick intellect, a novel view on life, and a willingness to bring humor where others fear to tread can be. As the Son of one of the most accomplished men of letters, he has created a style that is all his own, and which frequently, one imagines, causes Buckley The Elder to wince.

The photo on the inside of the jacket is a good visual summary of Mr. Buckley and John Tierney as could be staged. Taken, I believe, in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral a monk enigmatically robed and seated in the back of a limo, resembles one of the cloaked Jedi Knights of Star Wars fame. No Jedi he, as this is the Brother Ty that will lead you, the reader, to riches. Bracketed on either side of the Monk, stand the authors; both nattily dressed, raising their glasses of wine, more as a challenge than a salute. I am not familiar with Mr. Tierney's work, but whatever he contributed to this book is very well done.

Divine inspiration guides Brother Ty as he seeks to replenish the coffers of the Monastery he has joined, after alcohol and his failure as a stockbroker brought him to a contemplative life. However what he finds is an Order that is rapidly becoming extinct, the Monks are on food stamps, the treasury depleted, and it falls to him to save it.

What follows is a wickedly written satire on self-help books in general, and those that concentrate on business in particular. But this book is different, for it is infused with the divine, and as He created the world in 6 days and then rested, His picking of stocks and commodities not only is a sure play, it is here for all to learn.

Another great work from Mr. Buckley, this time with his co-conspirator, Mr. Tierney.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Buckley Effectively Punctures Self Help Balloon, May 14, 1998

By 

Robert Derenthal "bucherwurm" (California United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: God Is My Broker : A Monk-Tycoon Reveals the 7 1/2 Laws of Spiritual and Financial Growth (Hardcover)

A few years ago Wendy Kaminer wrote a book, I'm Dysfunctional, You're Dysfunctional, that took on self help books and programs. Now Christopher Buckley assigns himself the same task writing a fictional account of a monastery headed by an abbot who is a devotee of Deepak Chopra. It's a fluffy, hilarious, yet incisive probe that makes a lot of self help writers and their readers look silly. Its a slim book, but with about 3 laughs per page you get you're money's worth. Don't read it if you are a fan of Chopra, Robbins or Covey though, as I'm sure it will stunt your spiritual growth, and set you back on your path to make millions of dollars in this lifetime.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Health Warning to Heed!, November 4, 1999

By 

Lindy (Concord, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: God Is My Broker : A Monk-Tycoon Reveals the 7 1/2 Laws of Spiritual and Financial Growth (Hardcover)

I feel I must WARN EVERYONE who has had RECENT surgery ...DO NOT READ this book till you are COMPLETELY healed. Pressure from laughing so hard could send you back to the hospital!