What if we told you that one of the latest offerings from the hedge fund world was a children's book called Mrs. Buttkiss and the Big Surprise? And that Mrs. Buttkiss was a large woman with a larger internal gas byproduct issue. And that the book comes with a free whoopee cushion?
You'd probably tell us we are being too hard on hedge funds.
Then we would tell you that the author is Eric Rosenfeld. You know, the fearless shareholder activist, founder of New York-based Crescendo Funds and frequent thrower of harpoons at struggling U.S. and Canadian companies. The one who also loves to belt out Broadway show tunes at just about every conference and boardroom that will have him.
Yeah, that guy.
We had to check our call display when Mr. Rosenfeld phoned to tell us about his latest offering. He has a website to prove it. This is how the man who shook up Spar Aerospace Ltd. and Geac Computer Corp. Ltd. promotes a book on his website mrsbuttkiss.com.
"Mrs. Buttkiss is the charming tale of a big woman with a big secret. She's been holding in a fart….forever. And she's terrified of what will happen when she finally lets it out."
When we advised Mr. Rosenfeld that a similar yarn, "Walter the Farting Dog" had been around for years, he offered: "I wrote my book years before that book came out. I used to read this to my kids when they were little and wouldn't go to bed."
Who could sleep after a book like that?