The 50th Law: Overcoming Adversity Through Fearlessness Imitation Leather – Illustrated, September 8, 2009

Full disclosure: I'm founder of Sonshi.com, the largest website on Sun Tzu's Art of War and where we interviewed Mr. Greene after he wrote "33 Strategies of War" and later "The 50th Law." But please understand this: We like his works so much we invited him, not because we invited him we like his work.Now to my review. First of all I'm an avid reader of nonfiction, specifically business books. Most business books I read are mediocre and sometimes so far from being realistic that they hold little practical value. The 50th Law is far superior to anything I have read in a long long time that I've decided to write a review here. Every paragraph in the book is PACKED with insights so profound yet clear that only someone with Robert Greene's knowledge and literary skill can pull it off. The powerfully useful concepts never let up from beginning to end (very rare in books -- most would taper off by the end). I took notes to highlight the good stuff but soon gave up because it was causing me to pause too darn often.Here is where I'm supposed to discuss the specific topics Mr. Greene discusses in his book such as: fear, having a learning mind, adapting to your environment, death, etc. But the 50th Law's depth, clarity, wisdom are impossible for someone of my caliber to render in my own words without falling short in a tragic way. Anything I say would only shortchange the book. So I won't try. Trust me on this one, once you read this book, you'll know exactly what I mean here.OK just for balance, here are some caveats: If you happen to like lame self-improvement books by Kenneth Blanchard and his ilk, move along -- you will never grasp this book's genius. Also if you want a detailed account of 50 Cent's life, you won't find it here; what you WILL find are extraordinary analyses of 50 Cent's major decisions, how they made him a better person, and, in turn, how the lessons from them can help you in your life. A small annoyance is the book's repetition of "(now known as 50 Cent)", which sounds fine after the 2nd time but after the 5th time it got downright strange and I wonder if an unyielding editor had a heavy hand in Robert Greene's writing; no big deal, perhaps it's just me.To conclude, if you have read Robert Greene's previous works -- I have read them all -- you will NOT be disappointed. The 50th Law is a must read for you. If you have never read his works and if you have an open but critical mind for strategy and personal development, you will be blown away. In summary, if you want honest, logical, and useful advice, The 50th Law has it in spades. This book will change the way you look at your life forever, and, I might add, change it for the better.Thomas Huynh, founder[...]

I have been following Robert Greene with his previous books, and I have also been following and am a fan of 50 cent. I do like 50 cents music, "except for a lot of the new stuff", but I am more a fan of him as the character that he has become. When I heard that Robert Greene and 50 Cent were comming together on a book I new that I had to have it. Once I got the book I delved right into it and read it within 7 days. Please note this book is readable in a couple of hours because of the big print and its few pages but it is better read slowly so you can think about each chapter.The 50th Law consists of an overall theme of living life without fear, to get out of your comfort zone, and live life to its fullest. It's lessons elaborate on how fear limits many of your everyday decsions. 50 cent has many of his life experiences that he shares to give an example of each lesson. If you want to read more about 50 then I would suggest his autobigoraphy "From Pieces to Weight". When you look at 50 Cent a lot of people just think that his successful life just happend to be and was easy. They may say," It must be nice", they don't see all the hard work that he put in to get to where he is. This book delves into that also, through out the lessons the hard truth is told, being successful is hard work and takes focus. There is no simple way to become successful! Life is a game and can be a rewarding one if you work hard to win.What I got from the book:Fear can limit your oportunites as well as your defenses. In life where it is best to attack the weakest point to gain ground, that weakest point can be guarded by your own fear. Once you break through that fear you can continue with that momentum to break through other fears. Once you take your first step, guard your ground with every defense you have in your arsenal. As this arsenal itself can be locked up with fear, you must work to unlock it. To be successful takes hard work. Your ability to fucus on what is real can keep you ahead of 90% of the crowd.I liked this book and thought it was a good read. It may not be for the poeple who like the old history that Robert Greene usually writes about, but I think that this is new history. What I mean by that is 50 Cent is creating his own history and he is creating is own memorable successful character that will be remembered. He is rich now, I'm hoping he gets his strategies together to get to a Billion by the time he is 40.Get it, read it, and get in the game. Good Luck!

Great book