The Book I Will Never be Recommending

I was recently clearing out an old bookcase in a closet and came across a book I had forgotten that I had ever read. It’s the 3rd of 7 editions on how to use the Wall Street Journal. Almost sounds like tortuous reading.

My First Encounter with The Wall Street Journal

I think the owners of the Wall Street Journal were running a money racket when I was in school. They would bribe university business and accounting professors with a free subscription to their paper in return for forcing students to buy a subscription.

And so I did. I subscribed and my papers piled up in my dorm room. Funny thing–I noticed similar stacks in rooms of my fellow classmates.

How could anyone in their right mind read this paper? It was thick. There were no pictures, and heck, where was the sports section? Boring, boring, boring.

Looking back, life was hard. My parents used to tell me those stories about walking 5 miles to school uphill and barefooted in blizzard conditions. I one-upped my parents however. I got to tell my kids I read the print version of The Wall Street Journal.

Wow, I Actually Read this Book

Before you think I’m something special for reading The Business One Irwin Guide to Using The Wall Street Journal, I’m far from it. There was a period in the early 1990s that I was reading a lot of books on corporate finance and stock investing. This book looked good. Somehow, I guess my Wall Street Journal scars ultimately healed allowing me to buy this book weighing in at nearly 380 pages.

Even though I see my highlighting throughout the book, it still looks boring. My best advice? Don’t buy it. What’s that? You didn’t even know the title existed till I mentioned it? Sorry.

Title Photo by Marco Verch