The Wolf of Wall Street

By: Jordan Belfort

Narrated by: Bobby Cannavale

Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's Summary

Soon to be a major motion picture directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

By day he made thousands of dollars a minute. By night he spent it as fast as he could, on drugs, sex, and international globe-trotting. From the binge that sank a 170-foot motor yacht, crashed a Gulfstream jet, and ran up a $700,000 hotel tab, to the wife and kids who waited for him at home, and the fast-talking, hard-partying young stockbrokers who called him king and did his bidding, here, in his own inimitable words, is the story of the ill-fated genius they called...

The Wolf of Wall Street

In the 1990s Jordan Belfort, former kingpin of the notorious investment firm Stratton Oakmont, became one of the most infamous names in American finance: a brilliant, conniving stock-chopper who led his merry mob on a wild ride out of the canyons of Wall Street and into a massive office on Long Island. Now, in this astounding and hilarious tell-all autobiography, Belfort narrates a story of greed, power, and excess no one could invent.

Stratton Oakmont turned microcap investing into a wickedly lucrative game as Belfort’s hyped-up, coked-out brokers browbeat clients into stock buys that were guaranteed to earn obscene profits - for the house. But an insatiable appetite for debauchery, questionable tactics, and a fateful partnership with a breakout shoe designer named Steve Madden would land Belfort on both sides of the law and into a harrowing darkness all his own.

From the stormy relationship Belfort shared with his model-wife as they ran a madcap household that included two young children, a full-time staff of 22, a pair of bodyguards, and hidden cameras everywhere - even as the SEC and FBI zeroed in on them - to the unbridled hedonism of his office life, here is the extraordinary story of an ordinary guy who went from hustling Italian ices at 16 to making hundreds of millions. Until it all came crashing down.

©2007 Jordan Belfort (P)2007 Random House Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House Inc.

Critic Reviews

"A cocky bad boy of finance recalls...[his] career as a master of his own universe....A hell of a read." ( Kirkus Reviews)

THIS VERSION IS ABRIDGED.

Any additional comments?

When I downloaded this in April 2013, it was the only version available on Audible. I did not realize that it was abridged until I was discussing the book with a friend. We realized that there seemed to be a lot that I was missing. There now is an unabridged version available (that they released just before the movie)...get that one! There was a lot missing from this one.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

nice

loved it better than the movie though it was a really tough sell wish I could have a friend with him

Good book

entertaining and exciting. I like that Jordan narrated the story. a must read. very enlightening into the concept of greed

Extremely Entertaining

I have a long train commute to work everyday. I laughed my ass of listening to this book for 4 days straight.

Good story of life in the 90's Bull Market

Loved it what a wild life he lived. It'll make some people very angry to see the lies and deceit he caused so many

Great

This was my first audio book to listen and I loved it :)

Thank you for the good times audible :) see you soon

I just couldn't stop listening...

Would you consider the audio edition of The Wolf of Wall Street to be better than the print version?

I've always struggled with reading due to my dyslexia. I recently started listening to audible books. Wolf of Wallstreet being my first. I couldn't stop listening. I blew through the first two books in a couple of days. I was so mesmerized by the tale and the narration.

Who was your favorite character and why?

It's easy to say that your favorite character is Jordan, because the story is told from his perspective. But really the Dutchess is on point. Beautiful, loyal, and strong.

What does Bobby Cannavale bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Bobby Cannavale brings a voice, and really makes you feel the emotions of Jordan as he tells his tale.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did want to listen to it in one sitting, but instead it took a couple of days since I only listened to it on my commute to work.

Any additional comments?

I've seen the movie many times. If you love the movie, you will adore the book. So much more detail and it doesn't feel as rushed.

Obnoxious

Any additional comments?

Just a pointless book about a wealthy man with no morals. The author just brags about his past life of a crazy, shameless human being.

Didn't make it past second chapter.

What would have made The Wolf of Wall Street better?

Lost interest very quickly,writing style bored me.

Would you ever listen to anything by Jordan Belfort again?

not likely

How could the performance have been better?

ghost writer?

Any additional comments?

It never grabbed my attention. Seemed very self indulgant, lacking depth and character development but I didn't listen to much of it before realizing it wasn't a book I'm interested in.

Way too Abridged!

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes and no. I find this subject fascinating, but this book was way way way too abridged. The story jumps around, and it's obvious that major pieces are missing. I feel like I read five random chapters. It was not abridged well.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

What Belfort was able to accomplish in so little time is amazing. And the hazardous way he lived his life is quite entertaining.

Some of the characters blended together for me. So many new people were being introduced that it was hard to keep track of them. Perhaps if the book hadn't been so condensed, these characters would have stuck around longer and made more of an impact.

Which character – as performed by Bobby Cannavale – was your favorite?

Probably Belfort. He's a douchebag, and most of the characters are super-unlikable.

What else would you have wanted to know about Jordan Belfort’s life?

All the stuff that was cut out of the abridged book. What was he thinking on the way up? Did he worry about getting caught? Did he realize the implications?

Any additional comments?

I debated buying this audio book for a long time, and I kind of regret it now, because now I won't go back and read the entire unabridged book, so I feel cheated out of 75% of the story.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Good entertainement

Don't expect to learn investment stuff when hearing this biography. It's all about the lifestyle of this guy.
Compare it to the Financial "Scarface" (al pacino)...
You might also be offended by language, respect to women

Good narrator+

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Very poor audiobook

What disappointed you about The Wolf of Wall Street?

This seems very badly abridged. It literally goes from "first day in the office" to being a multimillionaire in a single sentence which makes no sense and breaks the flow of the book.

Feels like 1/3 of the book has just been hacked out. The remainder is just a sad story of addiction and greed without any soul or humour.

0 of 2 people found this review helpful