Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, By Nassim Nicholas

Taleb, the trader-turned-thinker whose The Black Swan sniffed the global meltdown, is an invigorating mind.

His follow-up – seething, repetitious, ideas-packed – aims not merely to shockproof us against new, unforeseeable upheavals.

"Antifragility" will mean we profit from random black-swan blows in a volatile world. Taleb excels at heretical thought-bites: he's Nietzsche on Wall Street, not a rich man with a plan.

He can be vulgar, silly, vain. But one asks, about his core ideas, is he right, and does it matter? This reader's verdict? Yes, and yes.