[scott_s]

I slogged through The Black Swan with the same attitude. He had some good insights, but he was so pompous I had difficulty following his reasoning. I'd continually get derailed when I encountered something that I thought was pure self-promotion.

[Prrometheus]

There is no greater crime in this country than creating something of value and being proud of it.

Other people often called "arrogant" - Paul Graham, Steve Jobs, etc.

[scott_s]

Be proud all you want. Just be able to explain your idea clearly. Taleb intersperses self-promotion in his explanations, which muddies them.

His writing style in general is meandering and lacks focus. The book I read had a handful of insights amid pointless narration. I read books like The Black Swan to learn new ideas, not to learn how great the author is.

[0x44]

Often it seems that people don't have a problem with the "arrogant" people themselves, but those who choose to surround them.

[gz]

Totally agree - pompous. That's the word I was looking for. The kind of author who creates a fictional character based 100% on himself, makes said character the intellectual and professional superior to his peers, the only one who survives the ups and downs of the market; and to top it all off names the character Nero! Seriously!

I found that "When Genius Failed" gives a great story-telling journalistic perspective on some of the same incidents Taleb talks about in his book while "The Drunkard's Walk" provides a good mathematical intuition (sans math sadly) behind seemingly rare events.