He got his PhD in the pricing of derivatives, and wrote the book Dynamic Hedging almost 20 years ago, far before he started with his so called "philosophical musings".

If you are gonna criticize someone, it would be better to criticize something that person has said rather than calling him a crank.

That aside, the book you posted seems interesting indeed.

http://www.amazon.com/Dynamic-Hedging-Managing-Vanilla-Optio...

This one is the best:

http://www.amazon.com/Dynamic-Hedging-Managing-Vanilla-Optio...

The first thirty or so pages offer the most intuitive introduction to vanillas I've read. The middle is must read, and the end gets into exotics if that's your fancy.