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A review by menaquinone
Young Money: Inside the Hidden World of Wall Street's Post-Crash Recruits by Kevin Roose
5.0
"I've been saying to people who are planning to go into finance, 'I'm disappointed in you,' Marina said"
I liked this book not so much because of the subject matter (though examining Wall St culture post-'08 was interesting) but because many of the thought patterns, experiences and social phenomena in the book have surprisingly familiar parallels in contexts I've been in.
The first few chapters of the book were funny and concerning in equal measure as they examined why the various interviewees went to Wall St despite most of them having alternative plans prior to doing internships in college + their adaptation to Wall St culture. The middle chapters of the book were interesting but kind of a let-down to hear ppl complaining about poor working experiences / work-life balance. I suppose it's bad but it's not a unique problem. The end of the book was ostensibly hopeful? but kind of sus because it celebrated the decreasing prominence of Wall St careers though some of the alternatives (this book was written roughly a decade ago) aged like milk.
Overall, I think if you've ever been in an environment that's very competitive, where people have sought to chase prestige for the sake of doing so, or witnessed finbros in the wild this book would be quite an entertaining read.
I think for myself, witnessing a number of ppl around me mirroring some of the behavioral and thought patterns the interviewees in this book exhibited when initially entering or striving for positions in Wall St, as well as strongly considering "traditional careers", I can't help but worry about whether their outcomes will be like some of the people in this book. I suppose only time will tell.
I liked this book not so much because of the subject matter (though examining Wall St culture post-'08 was interesting) but because many of the thought patterns, experiences and social phenomena in the book have surprisingly familiar parallels in contexts I've been in.
The first few chapters of the book were funny and concerning in equal measure as they examined why the various interviewees went to Wall St despite most of them having alternative plans prior to doing internships in college + their adaptation to Wall St culture. The middle chapters of the book were interesting but kind of a let-down to hear ppl complaining about poor working experiences / work-life balance. I suppose it's bad but it's not a unique problem. The end of the book was ostensibly hopeful? but kind of sus because it celebrated the decreasing prominence of Wall St careers though some of the alternatives (this book was written roughly a decade ago) aged like milk.
Overall, I think if you've ever been in an environment that's very competitive, where people have sought to chase prestige for the sake of doing so, or witnessed finbros in the wild this book would be quite an entertaining read.
I think for myself, witnessing a number of ppl around me mirroring some of the behavioral and thought patterns the interviewees in this book exhibited when initially entering or striving for positions in Wall St, as well as strongly considering "traditional careers", I can't help but worry about whether their outcomes will be like some of the people in this book. I suppose only time will tell.