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" It's partly about how winning the lottery totally fails to fix your life, partly about how and why businesses turn your yearly lottery payment into a heap of cash (lump sum) for you, and partly about what Ugel was like when he worked in this business. It was pretty interesting, and parts were funny. "
- Joanna, 2/12/2014
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" I enjoyed reading this, but I felt like a lot of information was missing. It seemed likes the book was more a series of vignettes than an actual cohesive story, and most of the characters weren't as fleshed out as I would have liked. That being said, he's a good, entertaining writer, and the book gives a good overview of the other side of the lottery culture. "
- Randy, 1/10/2014
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" More of a salesman's memoirs than the interesting study of lotteries and their winners that's promised on the book jacket. "
- Ray, 12/15/2013
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" I heard the author in a radio interview, and so read the book. Edward Ugel worked for the "lump sum industry", making a living getting lottery winners to sell their tickets for a price. The Firm took a huge cut, the lottery winner got quick cash (instead of having to wait for a future check), and the Firm's salesman went looking for a new lottery winner. To be a salesman in the business one had to be a bit of a gambler. To sell the deal to the lottery winner took guts. It is a world I could hardly imagine existed. "
- Nancy, 12/2/2013
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" This book is supposed to be about the dark side of winning the lottery. So far I'm not convinced. The writing is witty and engaging, but not laugh out loud hysterical. A good light read. "
- Kayla, 10/23/2013
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" Note to self: Do not buy any more lottery tickets, it's a scam that will ruin my personal relationships should I win. "
- carmie, 10/18/2013
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" I read this because of the This American Life piece on it. I read it a few years ago, though, so I couldn't say much about it except that it was a quick read and I enjoyed it. "
- Jason, 9/12/2013
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" funny writer. Ugel had an insane job and tells about it in great detail. He reminds me of David Sedaris. "
- Eric, 8/3/2013
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" Well, he's a despicable man revealing the seamy underside of lottery annuity sales. Like the JG Wentworths you see advertised on bad TV, these folks pluck coins from the hands of lottery winners, who often outlive their means and end up back where they started. Yikes. "
- Jeremy, 4/12/2013
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" Not a bad book but not a good one either. The business he writes about sounds a whole lot like the mortgage business - I was hoping for some more lottery-specific details. "
- Bill, 4/1/2013
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" Learned a lot but it ended abruptly and I didn't really like him, although I got the impression he didn't really like himself for a long time. "
- Tatrd, 2/13/2013
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" A look at how people who win lots of money suddenly blow it, and the predators who prey on them... "
- Tobias, 10/27/2012
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" It could have been more interesting if he had stuck to the stories about the lottery winners. I wasn't interested in the sales stuff and just didn't like him. "
- Deborah, 11/5/2011
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" Not as good as I had hoped. "
- Gary, 9/25/2011
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" Very interesting book and I learned a lot about the lottery system. I wish there had been more about the various deals he made and I felt the ending was a bit of a let down. I wondered what happened next. "
- JJ, 5/18/2011
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" This was a really interesting book to me about lottery winners, gamblers and salesmen. It was a fast read but there were parts where I actually laughed out loud. "
- Margot, 3/2/2011
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" The idea was good, but the book itself was not very well written. I learned some things. "
- Tim, 1/8/2011
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" It could have been more interesting if he had stuck to the stories about the lottery winners. I wasn't interested in the sales stuff and just didn't like him.
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- Deborah, 12/21/2010
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" I was hoping for about lottery winners. What I got was a navel-gazing, self-indulgent bunch of drivel, written by a total loser. I quit after about 40 pages, and that was 39 pages too late.
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- Foster, 6/15/2010
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" Fascinating look into the biography of Edward Ugel, a "lump-sum" salesman.
Appeals: salesmen (is this an appeal? to me it is), sub-culture, money, addiction, gambling, luxury, clear beginning-middle-end, recovery.
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- Oleg, 4/3/2010
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" A look at how people who win lots of money suddenly blow it, and the predators who prey on them...
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- Tobias, 10/1/2009
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" Not so much. A wonderful premise that seems like it could be seedy, but the entire time he sounds like a used car salesman, not a journalist. D-.
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- Lulu, 3/4/2009
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" This book is supposed to be about the dark side of winning the lottery. So far I'm not convinced. The writing is witty and engaging, but not laugh out loud hysterical. A good light read.
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- Kayla, 12/21/2008
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" More of a salesman's memoirs than the interesting study of lotteries and their winners that's promised on the book jacket.
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- Rcharbon, 11/13/2008
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" Well, he's a despicable man revealing the seamy underside of lottery annuity sales. Like the JG Wentworths you see advertised on bad TV, these folks pluck coins from the hands of lottery winners, who often outlive their means and end up back where they started. Yikes.
"
- Jeremy, 9/10/2008
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" Disappointing. It started out with an engaging anecdote about deep-sea fishing with a broke millionaire, then a few more anecdotes...and then it was over. Expected more from it, it never really got going for me. Oh, and what's with that epilogue, too?
"
- Ed, 8/5/2008
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