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Oedipus Finance The slim pages of Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad contain a surprise: three books for the price of one! The only problem is that none of these books is particularly good. The first book lurking in Rich Dad, Poor Dad would have made a nice pamphlet, or about 20 powerpoint slides, describing the author's financial philosophy. Some Kiyosaki's sound bites are on target(Americans need more financial education; working for your self is empowering; it's a good idea to acquire assets that generate positive cash flow), some are provocative (a house should be considered a liability, not an asset), and some are downright loopy ("pay yourself first", even when you don't have enough to pay your bills, so that angry creditors make you work harder). Right or wrong, the basic ideas are all worth thinking about. But you can't charge much for a pamphlet, so this thin layer of material is padded out to fill a second book, which strains to reach 195 pages of random transitions and endless repetition. It's a bit like being stuck next to a talkative but slightly drunk businessman for six hours on a plane. You don't need to worry about missing anything, because you're going to hear it again. Just one example: "In fact, if you really want to be confused, look up the words 'asset' and 'liability' in the dictionary. I know the definition may sound good to a trained accountant, but for the average person it makes no sense." (p. 59). "If you want a lesson in confusion, simply look up the words 'asset' and 'liability' in the dictionary. Now it may make sense to trained accountants, but to the average perion, it may as well be written in Mandarin." (p. 61). Yes, folks, that's a mere two pages apart. And it's hardly an aberration in this book. You have to wonder what co-author Sharon Lechter and the editor of this book did for their paychecks besides press "play" on the tape recorder. The third book contained in Rich Dad, Poor Dad is the most interesting--and most disturbing. It's hard to tell how seriously to take the backstory behind the author's financial genius--one suspects a lot of embellishment to serve the clever title. Still, there is an alarming genuineness to Kiyosaki's repeated trashings of his real father, whom he alternately refers to as his "educated dad" or "poor dad". This fellow seems to have enjoyed a successful career as a teacher, government official and union leader (and supposedly acquired enough assets to be subject to the estate tax--not bad for a "poor" dad). Nevertheless, his son views him as a pathetic failure compared to his "rich dad", the entrepreneur-speculator father of his best friend. This vaguely drawn figure (perhaps based on a real person) gives Kiyosaki some helpful advice at a young age, but there's nothing to elevate him to "dad" status--other than Kiyosaki's all-too-real loathing of his own father. Kiyosaki's own raging insecurities (centered on his lack of educational attainments and paternal disapproval of his career path) take center stage in this Oedipal drama. This part of the book gave me the creeps.