Customer Rating: 
Summary: Uninspiring, unless you like this stuff
Comment: Leave it to the Uber's and Franks of the world to find meaning in this 900-page behemoth that makes the IRS tax code look like a first attempt at a Haiku by a retarded child who has the emotive skills of Dustin Hoffman in "Rain Man" while dressed like Dustin Hoffman in "Tootsie."
I for one, look to areas other than Real Estate Finance for my vision. But I have read this work, and have endeavored to provide an objective review, so alas I will push on....
Madison's book reminds me of a poem I can't remember, in a song that might never have existed, that I heard in a place I'm not sure I've ever been. However, it is clear that within the realm of finance and art lies the essence of "The Transaction." Madison, in an allegorical throwback to, what I presume is "Aesop's fables," conjures images in the traditional law and economics school that sharply contrasts with the results of his views. But otherwise, it gets its point across, and, heck, even geniuses pay through the nose for unmarketable title every once in while, right? Am I right?
Now I'm not saying that Madison is a "bad man," I assume reasonable people can disagree on the meaning of that term. I am only saying that rather than looking at his glasses with a quizzical expression, he would do well to don them and look out onto his creations.
Lexi F. Pildock
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Summary: Madison's Genius Knows No Bounds
Comment: Truly a fascinating piece of work. It appears Mr. Madison is constrained only by the jealousies of others and the limited vision of his peers. This book changed my life. It will change yours too.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Better than researching title insurance...
Comment: To those who know him, Mike Madison presents the proverbial mystery wrapped within an enigma: fiercly guarded, yet strangely open with regard to his dangerous ideas on antiquated doctrines such as the Rule in Shelley's case.But it is this sense of "danger" that pervades Madison's entire work. The sense of the fear that his ideas could engender in some people. It is almost as if Madison is thumbing his nose at the powers that be; daring them to challenge him head-on to a Socratic battle between the legal giants of upstate New York, in an epic battle that will leave only one opinion affirmed, whilst the other will taste the bitter order of defeat, with no reargument available.
Madison discusses, in depth, his view on how one should approach a late-season transaction. "Visualize a blank sheet of paper," he preaches, "and draw three perfectly vertical lines equidistant along the page." It is within this triumverate of linearization that the battle takes place; the opposing ideas on the periphery, and the result in the center.
It is the simple elegance of such a system that validates Madison's research; after all, two hunters will catch a fox more quickly by flanking the beast from opposite positions. Who will ultimately acquire possession is the crux of the debate. (See Pierson v. Post). However, Madison teaches that both would be better off by dividing the beast in two, and feasting upon the bloody entrails in a celebration of brotherness, in the great wisdom of Solomon.
In short, Madison has only benefitted mankind with his latest work, and we would all do well to thank him for it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Bible for Real Estate
Comment: Extremely good coverage of real estate transactions, from simple to very complex. Excellent analysis of tax aspects and tax shelters.
Customer Rating:
Summary: It's like a treatise on acquiring title to wild animals!
Comment: Madison goes on and on about silly grown men scampering after noxious beasts. Who has legal possesion? Who cares? After the first chapter I started daydreaming about the month I spent in Turkey held captive by a syphillitic transvestite ENT doctor.
