For the Love of Money

Part coming-of-age story, part recovery memoir, and part expos of a rotten, money-drenched Wall Street culture (Salon), Sam Polks unflinching account chronicles his fight to overcome the ghosts of his pastand the radical new way he now defines success.At just thirty years old, Sam Polk was a senior trader for one of the biggest hedge funds on Wall Street, on the verge of making it to the very top. When he was offered an annual bonus of $3.75 million, he grew angry because it was not enough. It was then he knew he had lost himself in his obsessive pursuit of money. And he had come to loathe the culturethe shallowness, the sexism, the crude machismoand Wall Streets use of wealth as the sole measure of a persons worth. He decided to walk away from it all. For Polk, becoming a Wall Street trader was the fulfillment of his dreams. But in reality it was just the culmination of a life of addictive and self-destructive behaviors, from overeating, to bulimia, to alcohol and drug abuse. His obsessive pursuit of money papered over years of insecurity and emotional abuse. Making money was just the latest attempt to fill the void left by his narcissistic and emotionally unavailable father. Vivid, picaresque...riveting (NewYorker.com), For the Love of Money brings you into the rarefied world of Wall Street trading floors, capturing the modern frustrations of young graduates drawn to Wall Street. Polks raw, honest and intimate take on one mans journey in and out of the businessreally gives readers something to think about (CNBC.com). It is compellingly written...unflinchingly honest...about the inner journey Polk undertakes to redefine success (Forbes).