They Hit "The Street." Forget what you've read, forget what you've heard, forget what you've been taught. Monkey Business pulls off Wall Street's suspenders and gives the reader the inside skinny on real life at an investment bank, where the promised land is always one more twenty-hour workday and another lap dance away. "The Street" Hit Back. Fresh out of Wharton and Harvard business schools, John Rolfe and Peter Troob ran willingly into the open arms of investment bank giant Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette. They had signed on as foot soldiers in a white-collar army of overworked and frustrated lemmings furiously trying to spin straw into gold. They escaped with the remnants of their sanity-and, ultimately, this book. Uncensored, unsanitized, and uncut, it captures the chaotic essence of the Wall Street carnival and the outlandish personalities that make it all hum...and it will become the smartest, most entertaining investment you'll make this year.
Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle
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From Publishers Weekly
As eager-beaver business school students, Rolfe and Troob garnered job offers as junior associates at the elite Wall Street investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, lured by dreams of wealth, glamour and power. Readers whose fascination with Wall Street shenanigans has been fueled by Michael Lewis's Liar's Poker will find this thorough rundown of an investment bank associate's daily routine sobering. By the time Rolfe and Troob were able to discern the key fact that the "investment banking community has long been an oligopoly, with only a handful of real players with the size and scale to drive through the big deals," they were already grappling with the gritty reality of performing grunt labor in an environment ruled by despotic senior partners who called innumerable meetings to set unrealistic deadlines and make superhuman demands on anybody within screaming distance. The authors' resulting disappointment and disaffection leaps off every page. Unfortunately, they take out their frustrations with indiscriminate potshots at such easy targets as word processors ("Christopher Street fairies"), copy center personnel ("a platoon of patriotic Puerto Ricans" they offhandedly refer to as "militants") and female research analysts (whom they describe as "under-sexed, eager-to-please"). Long before the hapless authors have stooped to expressing their fury at the bank by such puerile antics as urinating into a beer bottle while seated at a banquet table at the Christmas party, readers will have had enough. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Time was when you took a job that you realized was not for you, you made the best of it and moved on. Now, though, you get your bitter revenge by writing a book trashing your former employer and coworkers. Rolfe and Troob worked as associates at investment banking powerhouse Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. It's hard to sympathize with the pair. Their first full-year compensation was about eight times what average college graduates earn at their first job, and they traveled by private jet, stayed in the best hotels, and ate in the best restaurants. On the other hand, they put in 20-hour days, suffered the abuse of "rabid, power-mad bosses," and lacked meaningful personal lives. Relying heavily on "frat-house" humor, they tell the tale of their brief careers. Rolfe and Troob do provide some insight into what investment bankers do, and their story may serve as a warning to others considering entering the field. But if, as they claim, business school graduates are clamoring for such jobs, this warning will fall on deaf ears. David Rouse
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I don't normally write bad reviews, but felt compelled after I saw the gushing praise on this site, many from young people who say they were considering a career in investment banking but decided against it after reading this book.
Well, I am a senior investment banker in my tenth year at one of the bulge bracket firms - one of a group that the authors like to make fun of - and I feel compelled to say that this book gives a twisted, exaggerated, and very shallow view. This is not surprising given that the authors only stuck around for 2 years, hardly enough time to understand what investment banking is. Their inexperience shows in this pathetic attempt to emulate Michael Lewis' Liar's Poker.
Yes, investment banking is grueling much of the time, there are jerks above you, and the atmosphere can wear you down. But think about it: you could say the same about being a medical intern, and I don't see many interns trashing the medical profession.
The fact of the matter is, no company or organization is going to give you glamorous, intriguing work straight out of college or any graduate school. FRESH GRADUATES OF ANY DISCIPLINE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THIS. This is especially true of the professions (law, architecture, medicine, and I would include investment banking as a profession) where you have to pay a price early on to really master the in-depth knowledge and know-how that the profession demands.
I went through the same disillusioning process that these authors did. I went to law school, and during my summer internships at law firms I was given drudgery to do, which is why I decided to go into investment banking instead. But, alas, I realized the hard way that the life of a junior investment banker is equally painful. But unless you are a rock star or a star athlete, is anything at the junior level terribly exciting? No, all jobs will have their share of tedium, stupid politics, and exasperating colleagues, especially at the junior levels. Yes, investment banking has more of these pains than your regular corporate jobs, but you also get to learn more and make more money in the process.
That's not to say that investment banking is for everyone - you do have to sacrifice more in terms of personal life. Moreover, investment banks have dysfunctional management philosophies, where the managers' solution to most problems and dissatisfactions that bankers have with the organization is to throw more money at them.
If you want to learn how to be a leader and learn how great organizations are run, then stay away from investment banks and join GE or P&G instead. But if you like challenges, problem solving, understanding how businesses work (other than management) and, yes, making lots of money, then investment banking can be rewarding. But of course, if you stick with it for a year or two, you may think it is stupid too, though I think you learn quite a lot in those two years. And I bet that the authors of this book will admit, when they are alone and don't have to try to be so cute or glib, that it was a good learning experience.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is spot on about the life of a junior person at an Investment Bank. As they said, you can change the name on the door but the stories are the same. My wife read the book first and I basically laid out for her practically every topic they'd be touching on before she'd get to it.
For anyone considering investment banking as a career, you really must read this book to understand EXACTLY what you are getting into. (The same is true for the spouse/perspective spouse of an associate.) Although, I should warn you that by reading this book before getting into the business, it'll remove one of the main self-motivational tools that we all used to deal with it day in and day out, the "THEY REALLY NEED ME HERE BECAUSE I'M ESSENTIAL TO THE ORGANIZATION!"
Both authors realized at many of us did that you aren't. Once you have that epihany, you either buy into the life 100% and drink the Kool-Aid, or you say thanks for the training and experience and move on. (BTW, the authors lay out for you where the real power center of the bank is. Hint for those entering the business, learn a little something about the local sports teams in order to effectively BS with the copy room guys. You REALLY, REALLY want them to like you. Pay particular attention to that chapter and lose the "I'm an MBA from Wharton/Harvard/et al" attitude.)
Overall, a quick and interesting read and highly recommended for those who invest, are contemplating the business as a career, or those who've left and just want to laugh at the insanity we went through.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Aaron Katon
Format:Paperback
It's not often that a book can make me laugh outloud but this one did just that on multiple occasions. The authors' descriptions of their lives as associates gives a different perspective on what's viewed by most outsiders as a glamorous job. The book is engaging throughout and is a quick read. I highly reccomend it to anyone with even a passing interest in the inner workings of the I-banking world.
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4.3 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
I couldn't finish it.
Wow. Such blatant mysogeny is surprising in the 21st century. I was getting annoyed by it, and then the language suddenly turned extremely vulgar and borderline homophobic, too. Read more
Published on Jun 8 2004 by Jennifer Hyatt
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hillarious!!!
This book made me laugh out loud several times. It is very entertaining but sometimes gets graphically vulgar so it should be rated R++. A great guys book and an eadsy read. Read more
Published on May 4 2004
3.0 out of 5 stars
A fun read but overall not substantive
A fun look into the world of investment banking. It won't make a great impact on your life but is definitely worth checking out from the library.
Published on April 21 2004 by David J. Firth
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding Insight.
As a student whose major was finance,I do wanna work in I-banking industry.But honestly speaking,you can't learn much about what real work is in classes. Read more
Published on April 16 2004 by Michael Liao
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very funny. Great intro to I-Banking.
This book is about as honest of an account of the investment banking lifestyle as one could expect (as far as I can tell, I'm not an I-banker). Read more
Published on Mar 28 2004 by Andrew Modelski
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very interesting
I read this book on two airline flights, and the time FLEW by! Very, very interesting look into the world of investment banking. Read more
Published on Feb 21 2004 by S. SUNDBERG
3.0 out of 5 stars
Highly recommended for MBA's
Good book to take on your vacations. Fun and easy to read. It will defenitely give MBA students something to think about before evaluating jobs within the Investment Banking arena.
Published on Feb 2 2004 by Mariano G. Undank
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sadly It's True
After doing a three year tour of duty in the investment banking industry, I can say with much confidence that this book is more true than it is fiction. Read more
Published on Dec 3 2003
4.0 out of 5 stars
Glamour in Investment Banking????
One of those books that MBA graduates must read before considering entering the Investment Banking industry. Fun and easy to read. Read more
Published on Nov 18 2003 by Mariano G. Undank
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sad but true
One of the things I find so interesting about this book is that when reviewers who either still work in investment banking (or who cite friends who do) undermine the veracity and... Read more
Published on July 31 2003
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