As I neared the end of The Accidental Investment Banker, a very entertaining behind-the-scenes look at Wall Street's power brokers, I couldn't help but think, "So what?" Yes, it's a little shocking, a little fun in a gossipy way, and even a little grotesque when you see the gobs of money bankers make and how they still seem unsatisfied. But, in the end, why should we care about overpaid, whiny brats who believe they're deserving of such ridiculous compensation?

To his credit, author Jonathan Knee predicted readers might have this reaction, perhaps because he seems to have forged a successful run at investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley without losing his amusement at the surreal world in which he's worked. In Knee's view, investment banks had a history of integrity as trusted advisors to businessmen who had difficulty getting straight answers elsewhere. However, the business boom of the late '90s, especially the Internet bubble, turned investment banks into sycophants willing to go to any lengths to do a deal, even if it was in no one's best interests (other than the investment bank's of course). The subsequent bust made things even worse, as mass layoffs created cutthroat competition within the banks, making survival more important than quality of work.

Again, so what? Well, in Knee's view, this shift to focusing on the transaction over the relationship is what leads to advisors becoming "yes men" who rubber stamp instead of offering qualified opinions. And that is what allows the Enrons and WorldComs of the world to cheat investors as their advisors willingly go along for the ride.

There was a time that investments banks brought an IPO to market with the distinct message that the company was a good buy. These days they take whatever's available--buyer beware. And, while buyers used to be mainly institutions that paid no heed to stock recommendations, in the '90s, we all became the buyers, snapping up Internet stocks through online brokers charging $7.99 per trade--and paying the price when it all collapsed.

So, that's sort of the serious, "message" side of the book. Luckily that's just a sliver of the whole.

The greater part of the book reads like a Wall Street soap opera. Knee's ability to bring the characters he's met alive on the page--and his willingness to dish the gossip on how they treated others and were treated themselves in the stormy internal politics of these firms--makes the book more of a page-turner than you'd expect. You've never heard of these people, but suddenly you find yourself very keen on rooting for or against them, or just laughing at the ridiculousness of it all. (Of course, it seems ridiculous to us, but as Knee's $2 million + salary can attest, it's serious business as well.)

For those who've never understood what Wall Street is about, Knee does a fine job of explaining exactly what an investment bank does and why a corporation would pay one such ungodly amounts of money.

Knee's "accidental" career as an investment banker (unlike most bankers, who are recruited straight from business school, Knee was recruited from his job as an airline employee by a former classmate) makes him the perfect person to tell this story. Always something of a misfit in the button-down investment world, Knee comes across as the "normal" guy you'd gravitate to in a new job when everyone else seems crazy and/or annoying. And when Knee jumps ship on his own terms (for the most part), you can't help but cheer from the sidelines.

The Accidental Investment Banker is a great read regardless of your interest in the subject at hand. Knee's career as an "accidental" writer seems to be going just as successfully as his accidental banking career.