The Fourteen Lives of Matt Perry

Publisher Marketing: Who can say how words in this book will be received ? Will readers respond to a message about immigration and resilience ? I know my own reaction. I came to the conclusion that nobody would buy in. That was a switch because I had believed people would eat up my every word. As I wrote, a change came over me. I began to believe that my words would also change others. Even Warren Buffett, the modern King Midas. I began to see that my book was not just about emigration and resilience but also about repentance and redemption. I accepted the notion that this was my Pactolus, the river which had lifted the burden of greed and threat from Midas, whose food and drink---and daughter---turned into gold at his touch. Suddenly, Midas was free to live like a person who could touch his food, drink and family members without bad results. He was freed from his addiction to wealth. ---------------------------- My 77-year-span unfolded before my eyes. I recorded all traumas in detail---a million words, hundreds of pages. Slowly, I began to understand that I was having a conversion experience. -------------------------- I went from admiration and love of pennies, nickels, dimes, riches, wealth---an addicted state of mind---to the realization that I had a condition which I call Buffett mania. As Buffett's biographer Schroeder wrote this year, Buffett did not control money. Rather, money controlled Warren Buffett. In Omaha, Buffett stole his sister's bicycle--because he wanted a trade-in as he bought a bicycle for himself. He shop-lifted golf balls at Sears in Washington so he could sell balls himself. During my careers as chemical engineer and stock-market analyst, I observed Buffett mania in my engineering and business associates but overlooked my addiction. I still have traces of this mental illness. Now I have decided to be a man---to confront Warren Buffett with my book. Buffett's biographer describes his mania in a new biography, The Snowball. American preoccupation with economics played a part in Warren Buffett's so-called success and so-called wealth. ----------------------------- There is an antidote to the poison of addiction to greed---and that is this book, My Fourteen Lives. My resilience, which saved my life 13 times, is nothing less than a gift from God, who will also save Warren Buffett from his greed. It's not just about my life and that of Warren Buffett because 500,000 other lives hang in the balance. Addiction to greed has targeted many victims for a hellish life and death. Time for repentance and redemption ! Time to give away your money, Mr. Buffett. In your own lifetime. Do it yourself. As Carnegie did. As Rockefeller did. As Morgan did. Time for everybody on "Wall Street" to refuse the end-of-year bonus. Buy books instead. Buy The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the business of life. $35 for 960 pages ! Buy My Fourteen Lives: the many lives of Matthew Valentin Perry Give them as presents. Read them yourself. ( You never know...) Contributor Bio:  Perry, Matthew Matthew J. Perry is Assistant Professor of History at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York. His research focuses on Roman social history, especially issues related to gender, sexuality, law, and social status. He is the recipient of PSC-CUNY Research Awards (2009 13). His work has appeared in the Ancient History Bulletin.