Back in April, I wrote the post An Urban Version of the 48 Laws of Power and broke my own rule about endorsing something before it even came out. Is the book The 50th Law as good as Robert Greene’s other books? No, it is even better.
The 50th Law by 50 Cent and Robert Greene exceeded my expectations. The 48 Laws of Power and Art of Seduction are classics. They are extremely rich with history and drawing out lessons that one could use or defend against in life. Those books to me are strategy books. The 50th Law takes a different approach. It speaks directly to the gut. Whereas 48 Laws and Art of Seduction are about dealing with the external world, in The 50th Law the lessons are more internal. This book is less intellect and more wisdom. I found the lessons more accessible and less manipulative than his earlier books.
My one complaint with this book is the lack of a table of contents and the complete absence of an index. All the other Robert Greene books had extensive indexes, which make them ideal reference books. Although this book is beautifully designed to look like the Bible or a hymnbook, I really hope future printings or editions include an index and table of contents. You can’t even tell what chapter you are on by looking at the top margin printing. It just restates the author’s names and the title.
Despite my issues with the book editing, I highly recommend this book. After I read the library copy of this book, I immediately bought my own copy.