This is an excellent overview for anyone beginning to invest or who has become disillusioned with active investing. It does a solid job of arguing the merits of asset allocation and index investing as a worry-free means to long-term financial security. I felt the most original part of the book and one of its most useful was the scathing but accurate indictment of financial journalism. As the author admits at the outset, this material is rather dry despite his attempts to inject some wit, but is truly valuable.
My only criticism is that, in terms of winning converts to this unexciting but intelligent approach to investing, the same objective has already been achieved more concisely, entertainingly and convincingly by the original works of John Bogle (Bogle on Mutual Funds, for example), whose contributions are glowingly acknowledged here.