And it took me five months to finish the book - “Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco” by Bryan Burrough.

The investment bankers at Shearson plotted their strategy around three words: Cash is king. By this they meant that they believed the special committee analyzing the bids would consider cash a superior form of payment than securities. To Johnson, historically a seller, the three little words made a lot of sense.

The story was an interesting kind of it own. Investigated by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, it dawned to me that the world by itself is greed. Having the introduction to the LBO, it dwelled between the two most prominent characters in the story - Ross Johnson and Henry Kravis.

It is a recommended book for those whom interested in learning about economics and the world of money.

Last Friday I was having a meeting with my partner around PJ Section 14. As they finished the discussion somewhere between 5.30 in the evening, I received a phone call from the VP. He called in to question me, indirectly.

He was having the dilemma when he knew one of his staff is planning to resign. Was not sure whether he had any meaning when he mentioned that there is another company is hiring him for his due expertise and value added relationship with one of my client. This further added with the delaying of the maintenance contract that has been due diligence. The truth was not as dark as he imagined.

After the conversation, I decided to drop by to the MPH Warehouse Clearance sale. By the time I reached there, it was already 30 minutes past 6 in the evening. With that few minutes in hand, I quickly run through some stacks of the books. Eventually, I came out RM85 poorer. It was a bargain with 5 books and I managed to finish one title on the way to Kota Tinggi the next day.

Luckily I do not have much time otherwise I do not think it will be only RM85. Probably far more than I expected.

Silent Boy - Torey Hayden

Going to Cameron Highlands as I mentioned, I bring along a book to read just in case I needed to kill time. True enough that the whole trip there in Cameron, it was quite a traffic congestion and thus I manage to finish the book with tranquility.

It was a heartbreaking story that tells the of a boy trapped in silence and the teacher who rescued him, literally. So when special education teacher Torey Hayden first met fifteen-year-old Kevin, he was barricaded under a table. Desperately afraid of the world around him, he hadn’t spoken a word in eight years. Imagine that even the kid who weep did not even produce a sound. Maybe it was a form of defense to protect himself and others.

The Zoo-boy was considered hopeless, incurable but Hayden refused to believe it, though she realized it might well take a miracle to break through the walls he had built around himself. With unwavering devotion and gentle, patient love, she set out to free him; slowly uncovered a shocking violent history and a terrible secret that an unfeeling bureaucracy had simply filed away and forgotten. This shows that the world is built upon a perception of the mass. Just like what happened to another character inside the book, Jeff who got transfered just because he is gay.

Torey refused to give up on this tragic “lost case.” For a trapped and frightened boy desperately needed her help and she knew in her heart she could not rest easy until she had rescued him from the darkness. It took the greatest thing of all — love to save a person.

Yes. Love was a greatest thing of all. Although I have never read the Murphy’s Boy but being a republication or so, still it is heart wrenching story to say the least.

Dewey

It took me about 7-8 hours ordeal to finish a book. Doesn’t know what came over me that I decided to drive down to the MPH Alpha Angle to look for this title. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

Along the story of Dewey Readmore Books, it consists of the author Vicki Myron experiences in life dealing with alcoholic husband, the breast cancer and being a singlehood mother. Most of the time, the author had to deal with losses in life which involves her two brothers.

Both Dewey and Myron reminded me that life goes on despite the ups and downs. There is no one straight line of road like they had in Iowa. Instead, every things that come will eventually passed and just like Dewey, he only touched one person at a time. He does not do great things. He does not do big things. Just one small gesture, one at a time is more than enough.

Throughout the entire book, I dealt with death few times and each time confronting it was a painful ordeal. Every single death, is a reflection that life goes on; people come and go.

Yes. It is a worthy book to spend the hours ransacking the content.