Book Review: A Rich Man's Secret by Ken Roberts

The book, "A Rich Man's Secret," by Ken Roberts is about Victor Truman, a fictional character and his quest for self worth. The book takes us on a fictional account of a man looking for his "calling" in life. Done in the style of a treasure hunt, the story has clues for the character all through the story line. The story begins with the main character, Victor and his doubts about himself and his life. His wife is invited on a company vacation and he accompanies her. Thus begins the quest. During that vacation he finds a grave with a mysterious saying on it and tries to solve the riddle. He is led to meet or visit several people and places in his treasure hunt. During his encounters he meets an old woman named Minnie who enlightens him to the man who is in the grave. She is the one who tells Victor the philosophy behind the "rich man" in the book's title. During the course of the storyline, Victor changes from a self doubting, worthless feeling adult man into a satisfied with his life and a feeling of a positive future.

As a work of fiction it is entertaining but extremely long winded getting to the main points of the book. Don't get me wrong, the ideas were good but the presentation was terrible. The actions of Victor running all over the place looking for this and that were certainly how most people feel in real life looking for answers in real life, but to drag a reader around like that is a disservice. All that running around just to teach us that we should think about "Now," not to worry about the future or let the past hold us in its grip, but to just take a hold of the NOW. I as came toward the end of the book I was left with the feeling, "is that all there is?" What Mr. Roberts may or may not have hit upon is the fact that life is an adventure and everyone is looking for something. Once the answer is found, we are off on another quest for an answer. That is human nature at its finest, always seeking answers.

As you can tell by now, the book was an utter waste of time with me. There were no characters in it that I related to nor were they developed enough to form an attachment to, in fact I was repelled by Victor, the main character. In the story, Victor was a worry wart that had not realized that his wife did not care if he was the bread winner or not. His feelings of worthlessness was brought on by how society views the family, husband is bread winner and wife may or may not work outside the home. In reality his relationship with his wife was just fine if only he took a step back and looked at the whole picture. In fact he was lucky that his wife earned a good living that he didn't have to be the bread winner. Since the book was written by a financial "guru" there is no wonder why money played a large part in the book. The title, "A Rich Man's Secret," was obviously written to entice people who are seeking wealth to buy the book.

The book taught me nothing that I had not already known about life and thoughts. Did it change my life? No, not one bit. Would I recommend the book to someone? Are you kidding? I felt like the book was the biggest waste of paper I had ever had the misfortune to read.