David Einhorn's father wanted to write a book by the time he was 40. At 39, with the deadline looming, he self-published a joke book.

His son tells this story at the start of his own book, which he also wrote at 39. This one has few laughs in it. Fooling Some of the People All of the Time: a Long Short Story is the six-year saga of Mr Einhorn's battle with Allied Capital.