Author: Sam Polk
Publisher: Scribner
Release Date: 7/19/16
Version Reviewed: digital ARC via NetGalley
Rating: ★★★
It took thirty years for Sam Polk to learn a valuable lesson: there's never *enough* to fill the void. Never enough money, never enough sex, never enough praise, never enough accomplishments. If you have a hole inside, nothing on the outside call fill it. Not that Polk didn't spend about a decade trying. After graduating Columbia, he rose up the ranks of investment banking. But there was always something just out of his reach. One year he earned a bonus of nearly 4 million dollars, but his old insecurities of being undervalued and unappreciated resurfaced, causing him to fly into a rage. He'd hit his breaking point. How did he get to the point where 4 million dollars wasn't *enough*? After dedicating his entire adult life to the mass accumulation of wealth, Polk decided to make a change.
This is an honest, naked memoir, which, despite the title, is more about Polk as a human being rather than a larger statement on greed and Wall Street. There were times I wanted to hug Polk and times I wanted to throttle him. Mostly, I just felt sorry for him. I don't think I'll ever forget the passage about the death of his poor childhood dog, OJ. Polk is a classic addictive personality, and I'm not convinced he has the greatest perspective on it. He blames his excesses on both his father and the Wall Street "culture," but I think a lot of it is just him. While Polk tries to get a grip on his demon with the help of a "spiritualist" whose sole "credentials" are a Native American heritage, I would strongly recommend a licensed therapist to those who find themselves in similar shoes.
I'm disappointed this book isn't as much about economics and Wall Street as I'd assumed, but Polk makes his life a compelling story.
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