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red pill 
The advice in this book came just in time for me. Seriously. I read it then I moved my dough out of Merrill the very week in 2006 that they announced record earnings. I sure was right that something bad was going on, huh? I'll never use a manager again.
Thanks to my firing the manager and following the plan described on a single page near the front of this book I was diversified when the current crisis hit us all. Makes me angry to think about what could have happened.
As far as I know, not one person to whom I've recommended this book to has cared to read it, they're all still in the matrix.
Finally an investment plan for the rest of us! 
I have been investing in mutual funds for 30 years without making money. Now I know why and know what to do about it.
The book is divided into three sections:
Asset Alocation, Market Timing and Security Selection.
In the "Asset Alocation" section David Swensen clearly describes each of the core assets that he recommends for a diversified investment portfolio for those of us who don't have a staff of investment analysts. He describes the risks, how the forces that move each asset's price aligns with or conflicts with the interests of the individual investor and the market charateristis of the asset. Then describes how to build and manage a portfolio consisting of those assets. The book also covers a long list of non-core assets that he does not recommend and why.
In the "Market Timeing" section he describes the reasons why most individual investors fail by listening to the news, reading marketing material and getting advice from those with theirown adjenda.
If you want to know why you haven't been able to make money investing in Mutual Funds, read the third section "Security Selection".
This book was written before the market crash of 2008 and investors following the advice would have lost money. But those that understand the material would have a plan and would be able to recover and profit.
I also recommend Unexpected Returns: Understanding Secular Stock Market Cycles for those who want to carefully add some market timeing and Spend 'Til the End: The Revolutionary Guide to Raising Your Living Standard--Today and When You Retireto layout a lifetime financial plan for retirement.
Unconventional Success: Investment guide
Good grounding in the fundamentals of the stock market, pitfalls, and a safer, less expensive way to invest. Well worth the effort to read thoroughly. Provides guidance as to how to avoid high fees of mutual funds, financial advisors (?) etc.
Unconventional Success-- an opinion
This book is a real contribution to the problem of individual investing. It
requires discipline and patience-- both of which will turn off many
potential users. However, the author is well worth listening to. He has proved his mettle in a superlative way, and has capsulized his advice in a way that can work, but you must do your part, this is not magic or alleged to be.Unconventional Success: A Fundamental Approach to Personal Investment
It left me hanging 
The author makes a compelling case for an alternative investment strategy that really does, as the title suggests,fly in the face of conventional investment wisdom. He does so by methodically working through the range of alternatives available to the personal investor, looking at risk, performance, fees and potential conflicts of interest that work to the detriment of the investor. Conventional wisdom mainstays like mutual funds, corporate bonds, REITS to name a few are tarred and feathered by the author. The remaining investment vehicles, US Government Securities, foreign and domestic index funds form the basis of his portfolio. He also advocates for a nerves of steel ridged adherence to an asset allocation model where you sell winners on the way up and buy losers on the way down to maintain allocation targets. What is missing is a concluding chapter that summarizes his approach and provides an overview of a plan for action. I was left with a feeling of "Where do I go from here?"
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