While most investment guides try to simplify the subject of personal finance for laypeople, this tendentious primer makes it bafflingly complex. Maurer, ex-chairman of the high-end financial management firm U. S. Trust, writes explicitly for the wealthiest one percent of investors. Two factors justify his decision to target such a minuscule audience. First, he assumes ordinary readers also want to know "what the affluent are like and how they manage their wealth"-that is, they may enjoy fantasizing about the financial hassles of having a multi-million dollar portfolio....