(...)when I say I was completely impressed with this book and applaud Clinton for having appointed Arthur Levitt as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, you can be sure I mean it! This book is absolutely required reading for anyone even thinking of investing in the stock market. It was a total eye opener and written in an accessible, readable style. I highly recommend it.

Sometimes the truth hurts. In "Take on the Street," Levitt tells it like it is. A sobering account of Wall Street's hidden mishaps, the book examines such things as the opaque accounting practices that precipitated the Miltonic fall of Enron and Worldcom. The real merit of the book resides in a chapter Levitt devotes to the reading of financial statements, wherein he recapitulates the necessity of doing one's due diliegence before investing in any company. A classic, indeed.

I've been reading a lot of books about personal finance and the markets, and Levitt's is my favorite. He explains technical concepts in simple terms that are understandable to the average person. His stories about his years as SEC chairman wonderfully illustrate his points. If you insist on believing that basic intergrity prevails on Wall Street and in corporate America, don't read his book. As Levitt so ably demonstrates, it's like believing in the Easter bunny.