ridiculously valuable material, if true

Yeah, well... a lot of things are like that, trouble is you cannot tell if they are or not. Certainly the justification for the 4HB claims is grossly inadequate, and you, of all people, should have been able to tell that.

My opinion of the book (I read about 40%, cbb with the rest): 80% common sense, 10% stupid advice, 10% - who knows, but chances of it being good are low (a bit like religious texts, heheh). It's main value is that it is somewhat entertaining, and it might inspire some people to do some exercise.