Jesse Livermore: Speculator King [Paperback]

Paul Sarnoff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1993 | ISBN-10: 0934380104 | ISBN-13: 978-0934380102

This biography of Livermore by prolific writer Paul Sarnoff is a fascinating account of Livermore's life, which explores in detail his market operations and maneuvers, his hopes, his fears, his successes and his failures. Live again the market experiences of the trader known variously as The Wall Street Wonder, The Boy Plunger, The Cotton King, and The Great Bear. You'll love this book!

Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Traders Press (July 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0934380104
• ISBN-13: 978-0934380102
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #728,142 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Pathetic garbage, May 10, 2001

By 

In-Chul Sohn (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jesse Livermore: Speculator King (Paperback)

I got this book from a library because I have other books on Livermore (Reminiscences, How to Trade ..., Amazing Life ...), and having read the poor reviews of this book on Amazon, I even felt curious to learn about the negative sides of the famed trader,if only to have balanced view of him. But what utter nonsense this book is! Let me quote just a few phrases from the book, because just about every sentence in the book is a demeaning invective at the great speculator. (I can feel the intense hatred of Livermore on just about every sentence. I wonder what Livermore ever did to Sarnoff.) Judge for yourself ...

"Luckily for Livermore, he just happened to be right." (p. 40) "Livermore-a regular loser with his own money ...." (p. 51) "Livermore's station in Wall Street deteriorated quickly to that of a stock market prostitute." (p. 53) "For each word was a building-block in the construction of the phoniest legend (meaning Livermore) ever built and foisted upon devotees of the stock market game." (p. 59) "For Jesse, gifted with the cunning of an alley-cat ..." (p. 63) " ..when Livermore found himselfs badly squeezed by the bulls, he resorted to a stock market coward's strategem ..." (p. 66) "Basically, his forecasting prowess depended upon a black cat." (p. 101) "Perhaps Jesse Livermore now wanted to show the world that he was as much a man as Charley Barney ... who bravely shot himself to death." (p. 112) "But Livermore, who had left school at age fourteen, cared little for theories or educational exercises." (p. 118)

There are some other truly disgusting sentences that I cannot repeat on this public forum. I searched Sarnoff's name on Amazon to see if he ever wrote any other books, but found none else. Maybe he couldn't find any publisher after demonstrating his literary talent on this volume. Sarfnoff makes a clever comment about J.L having no formal education beyond age fourteen. Well, the author writes like he dropped out of kindergarten. I'm surprised that he found any publisher for this level of writing. I have heard and agreed before that there is no such thing as a bad book, and I've agreed all my life. But this is a bad book, the only I ever found.

The only interesting comment Sarnoff made was that the Reminiscences of a Stock Operator was really penned by Livermore, with editorial assitance of Lefvre. Sarnoff gains no creditility on anything with me, but if this were true, I'm doubly impressed with the Great Bear, who left for generations of traders one of the finest investment classics ever written on the markets, along with the other treasured classic, "How to Trade in Stocks", a book which Sarnoff trashes in this reviewed volume.

Mind-boggling, total trash. I wasted a few hours of my life reading this book. Don't make that mistake. Get a refund if you paid for it.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Gee Sarnoff - What did JL ever do to you?, March 13, 2002

By 

"ck444" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jesse Livermore: Speculator King (Paperback)

Sarnoff's book is pure tripe. The anger & spite seethes throughout. It's hard to take the author serious when it's so appearant he has some ax to grind.

Sarnoff comes across as a Wall Street sucker who's swallowed alot of hooks. His anger & resentment towards Livermore seems more like a loser with a vendetta, than an author with a biography to tell.

Life's short - There's better books to read than this.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Avoid!, January 18, 2000

By 

Frustrated Gamer (The Greatest Civilization ever = USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jesse Livermore: Speculator King (Paperback)

This is one of the most poorly written books I have ever read. Do not expect the thorough examination of Jesse Livermore you would get from a normal biography - here you will only find occasional snapshots of his life. Such a dearth of information! I decided that it wasn't worth keeping on my trading shelf and threw it out.