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I don't have much interest in "How to get rich" books, in part because they are so often written by people who a.) overestimate the skill and underestimate the luck that brought them their own success or b.) made more money writing books telling people how to get rich than they ever did at whatever business they were previously in.

I decided to give this one a try, however, since it was written by Felix Dennis, a man who had the foresight to purchase a major stake in the crack-like news periodical The Week, hands down my favorite magazine of all time.

The subtitle of Dennis' book is "Hint: You won't get rich working for your boss." This is a book about entrepreneurship, as told by someone who has been wildly successful in that arena.

The opening chapters were rather on the folksy side, making me wonder if there was going to be any really useful information in this book or if it was going to turn out to be just another rich man's vanity project. As soon as Dennis started getting into the meat of his material, however, I began to sit up and take notice.

Dennis started out as a young man with few resources and enormous ambition. He has a very clear-eyed view of his subsequent journey to multi-millionaire status, and shares valuable insight about both the things he did right and the things he did wrong. He also has a very realistic understanding of the role luck played in his fortunes (his first big financial success came from being in the process of co-writing a biography of Bruce Lee when the star suddenly died), as well as the steps he took to maximize those breaks.

Dennis is brutally clear that getting rich is horribly hard work and you shouldn't undertake it unless you really are committed, since it will probably ruin your marriage, friendships and health. This is the kind of advice that most people will ignore, human beings having that tendency to think they will be the exception. Most people who read this book will not believe him when he says that being rich really won't make you happier (though he does admit it will up your chances of having sex.)

So while I don't know how valuable this book will be to people who have no entrepreneurial experience, as someone who is two years into the grueling process of running a start-up, I found a lot of useful information in this book. Some of it is practical - such as how he handled the 4 employees who politely threatened to leave his firm and start a competing company if he didn't give them a quarter of his equity, or the rules he requires all board members to adhere to.

What I really enjoyed about this book, however, was that I found it oddly reassuring. When my husband and I started our shoe company, we were, like all other entrepreneurs, completely in denial about what we were in for (despite having both started businesses before). Building this company has turned out to be one of the hardest things I have ever done. Reading Dennis' stories about his journey - and being reminded that, no, it's not just you, that's just the way it is - was profoundly comforting.

This isn't a perfect book - parts of it could probably be condensed, and I'm not sure he really succeeded in his attempt to explain that key point of how to know when you need to persevere and when it's really time to throw in the towel - but despite these flaws, I think it's quite useful reading for anyone who is thinking about starting or who has recently started a business.

Fun fact - Dennis has made much of his fortune in the publishing industry, starting out with computer magazines and ultimately founding Maxim. To my great surprise, he said that The Week is the most profitable magazine he has ever owned.