Jun 16 2008
“Money for Nothing” by Edward Ugel
Money for Nothing: One Man’s Journey Through the Dark Side of Lottery Millions by Edward Ugel was not about a guy winning the lottery, as I had originally thought it was. Instead, Mr. Ugel worked in the lump-sum business: Basically, if someone was receiving an annuity payment over the course of 20 years because of winning the lottery, he would buy them out upfront and give a lump settlement to them, all for a fee, of course. He made very good money, but it was an extremely competitive business and some of the tactics he used to find and sign up lottery winners was, to put it nicely, cutthroat. He never broke any laws, but he did use some amazing salesmanship to “get ‘er done.”
It’s a fast-paced read - I finished the 235-page novel in just one day - and overall, I enjoyed it quite a bit. There were several things that detracted from the novel though: First, the author didn’t shy away from using swear words. If this were a movie, it would be rated PG-13 just for the language. Yeah, sure, cutthroat salesmen probably weren’t worried about whether their language was clean or not, and I realize that it’s realistic this way, but still, I’m not a fan of swear words, and that did bother me. Second, the author tended to tell stories within stories, and jump back and forth through time without explaining what he was doing. The book is not organized chronologically, and he would refer to his wife, then fiancée, then child being born, then suddenly she’s his fiancée again. I never quite knew where in time we were at. And he’d also start telling a story, then start another story, go back to the first story, start a third story, then finally finish the first one. For a speedreader like me, that was hard to keep up with.
It was worth jumping through time though, because the stories were absolutely fascinating. I kept thinking to myself, “Why aren’t any of these people smart about the money? Why do they blow through the money so quickly?” And then of course the requisite, “If I won millions in a lottery, I would be smart about it.” 
Which I believed all the way until I got to the end of the book, where Mr Ugel made the following statement:
“If you were handed a thousand dollars, if you won it out of the blue, what would you do with it? No lying. Yeah, I’d blow it too. Now, if you were made to dig a ditch or paint a house, or do any job for a day or two in order to receive that same money, what would you do with it then? Exactly. Me too. Bills are bills.
“Earned money is more valuable than found money because it is more valued.” Page 207, Money for Nothing
Touché, Mr Ugel.
Anyway, if you don’t mind a PG-13 book because of language and gambling (no sexual scenes, murder, or drugs in it anywhere, just swearing, drinking, and gambling) then you’ll be fine with this book. And if you’re wanting to know more about the gambling industry, lottery winners, and the lump-sum business, then you’ll thoroughly enjoy this book. I learned some pretty interesting facts, like the idea that lotteries help fund education is a bunch of bull, which took me by surprise because I live in a lottery state and I am constantly watching ads on TV about how lotteries help our schools prosper, blah blah. Turns out that is a complete lie. The government, lie about money? Never. I know, I know, shocking.
I give Money for Nothing 4.25 out of 5 stars.
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