Review by ReyvrexQuestor Reyes -- The Billionaires’ Handbook

[ReyvrexQuestor Reyes]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Billionaires’ Handbook" by Andrew Stevenson.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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The Billionaires’ Handbook: A User’s Guide to Wealth and Power by Andrew Stevenson — as the title explicitly states — must have been written for billionaires. That’s what I’ve thought. However, after fully reading, I begin to second-guess my judgment. Moreover, I have this inkling that Andrew Stevenson could have really targeted the general public rather than only the superrich which had constituted only about 1% of the world population. And besides, of this miniscule share of the potential readership market, it is doubtful if any of them would still be interested in being reminded of the practices they, too, might have been so familiar with, being billionaires themselves.

What I could not yet make out is if you have to be first a billionaire in order to profit from the practices herein stated. Or, at least, would you have to be a millionaire first, for how would you change the rules without the power of wealth or political clout? Whereas kings in a feudal system of economy — or billionaires of the present global economy — would change the rulebook in their favor, the vassals and ordinary employees would just stand watching.

On my part, I hate to think of missing up on Stevenson’s decades of attempts at making sense of the global economy, just so he could spill its nitty-gritty for our benefit. And what a delightful surprise, this handbook was steeped in humor of such heightened witticism and apt satires. Thank goodness; we could all die laughing. I am in awe of this quaint attempt at euthanasia! At any rate, this sets the bar for humor greatly higher.

Nonetheless, it begs the question, is Andrew Stevenson himself a billionaire? On second thought, however, I decided that this question was needless, either to be asked or to be answered. The fact is, his writing of this handbook for — or, of — the billionaires did not really require him to be one. It’s like saying that you do not have to be a chicken in order to know how eggs are laid.

I like that this handbook is concise and straightforward, not to mince words — or to miss up on even the least damning punctilio. Take for instance, Rule no. 8 of the 30 rules put in place after capitalism fell on its face: “Preach what you practice. You have to respect a man that can get poor people to buy him two jet planes in the name of God.” And in the new set of 25 rules that will make the billionaires much wealthier, Rule No. 3 reads: “Be a dick; in the (sic) game of life, sin beats virtue.” Well, we didn’t have to be mussed so much on this one. Probably, it was written and meant to be satirical.

I’d recommend this as a compulsory, non-fiction reading for those who desire a humorous diversion from the usual, serious reading list they might already be having. This handbook is well-edited and illustrated, complemented with striking artworks. I would not hesitate to give The Billionaires’ Handbook: A User’s Guide to Wealth and Power a perfect rating of 4 out of 4 stars.

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The Billionaires’ Handbook
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