Details of Greg Smith's Goldman Sachs Book Are Leaked

Source: Amazon.com

Greg Smith - the former Goldman Sachs salesman who sent the world's most famous "take this job and shove it" letter when he wrote a blistering op-ed article in The New York Times about life inside Goldman - will release his book, "Why I Left Goldman Sachs: A Wall Street Story" next week.

But the Times reviews a leaked copy of the first chapter of the book. "During Greg Smith's first week at Goldman Sachs, he was issued an identification badge and an e-mail address and each morning he had to scramble to make sure he got an 18-inch folding stool, " the Times reports.

There's apparently a lot written about humiliation—at least in the first chapter titled, "I Don't Know but I'll Find Out." The chapter begins on Smith's first day at Goldman, where he joined more than 70 others in the sales and trading program.

(Read More: An Anti-Goldman Sachs Op-Ed...And Resignation )

According to the Times,

"Twice weekly he attended what are known inside Goldman as 'Open Meeting, ' which he says is the firm's version of boot camp for trainees. The meetings started at 6 a.m. and if enough people showed up late, the entire class had to attend a makeup meeting at 5 a.m. the next day.

He writes that a partner would stand at the front of the room, list in hand, and call on people, asking questions ranging from the year the company was founded to Goldman's position on a certain stock. Mr. Smith had a strategy for survival, volunteering to answer the questions he knew the answer to, in hopes of avoiding being called on for questions he could not answer.

Not everyone survived, he says, recalling an exchange in transcript form between one intern and a Goldman vice president over Goldman's view on Microsoft that sent the intern running from the meeting in tears."

Running in tears? Sounds like most of the newsrooms I worked in. But I digress.

(Read More: It's Not Just Goldman Sachs )

The first chapter was leaked on Apple's iTunes store on the eve of Goldman's third-quarter earnings report— which, by the way, beat analysts' expectations, thank you very much.

Up next—the big promo push. Smith is scheduled to appear Sunday on CBS's 60 Minutes, and next week he'll be on CNBC's "Closing Bell ."

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