Boomerang
Oct 2011 · W. W. Norton & Company
4.2star
107 reviewsreport
Ebook
240
Pages
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About this ebook
“Lewis shows again why he is the leading journalist of his generation.”—Kyle Smith, Forbes The tsunami of cheap credit that rolled across the planet between 2002 and 2008 was more than a simple financial phenomenon: it was temptation, offering entire societies the chance to reveal aspects of their characters they could not normally afford to indulge.
Icelanders wanted to stop fishing and become investment bankers. The Greeks wanted to turn their country into a piñata stuffed with cash and allow as many citizens as possible to take a whack at it. The Germans wanted to be even more German; the Irish wanted to stop being Irish.
Michael Lewis's investigation of bubbles beyond our shores is so brilliantly, sadly hilarious that it leads the American reader to a comfortable complacency: oh, those foolish foreigners. But when he turns a merciless eye on California and Washington, DC, we see that the narrative is a trap baited with humor, and we understand the reckoning that awaits the greatest and greediest of debtor nations.
Icelanders wanted to stop fishing and become investment bankers. The Greeks wanted to turn their country into a piñata stuffed with cash and allow as many citizens as possible to take a whack at it. The Germans wanted to be even more German; the Irish wanted to stop being Irish.
Michael Lewis's investigation of bubbles beyond our shores is so brilliantly, sadly hilarious that it leads the American reader to a comfortable complacency: oh, those foolish foreigners. But when he turns a merciless eye on California and Washington, DC, we see that the narrative is a trap baited with humor, and we understand the reckoning that awaits the greatest and greediest of debtor nations.
Ratings and reviews
4.2
107 reviews
A Google user
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January 29, 2012
I had already read the US (California) excerpt in Vanity Fair a few months ago, but this book really opened my eyes to the "financial play" set on a worldwide stage. These real-life characters made unprecedented decisions based on greed and stupidity. Now we're all holding the broom to sweep up their mess. Grab your mop, because this house is dirty.
A Google user
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January 22, 2012
This is an easy read that will open your eyes about the excesses of easy money. Lewis uses great storytelling to reveal how Iceland, Greece, Ireland, Germany, and California used unrestrained borrowing power to destroy their public finance.
I give it only 4 stars for two reasons. 1) A couple of the chapters read less well than other, especially Ireland. 2) The epub file here at the Google store is formatted strangely. On my Nook, it shifted, almost randomly between font formatting provided by the publisher and adjustable fonts. Annoying, and not something you expect from a book you pay for.
Jose R Magana
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January 19, 2013
The book provides a lot of details about each of the countries in difficulties that we read on the news (Spain was missing). Is a fun reading for both the financial illiterate and the WSJ avid reader. Great for everybody to understand the recent crisis.
3 people found this review helpful
About the author
Michael Lewis is the best-selling author of Liar’s Poker, Moneyball, The Blind Side, The Big Short, The Undoing Project, and The Fifth Risk. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his family.
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