- Hardcover: 351 pages
- Publisher: Crown Business (21 July 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0307588335
- ISBN-13: 978-0307588333
- Product Dimensions: 16.6 x 3.3 x 24.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 530,875 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
One of the biggest questions of the financial crisis has not been answered until now. What happened at Lehman Brothers and why was it allowed to fail, with aftershocks that rocked the global economy? In this news-making, often astonishing book, a former Lehman Brothers Vice President gives us the straight answers—right from the belly of the beast.
In A Colossal Failure of Common Sense, Larry McDonald, a Wall Street insider, reveals the culture and unspoken rules of the game like no book has ever done. The book is couched in the very human story of Larry McDonald’s Horatio Alger-like rise from a Massachusetts “gateway to nowhere” housing project to the New York headquarters of Lehman Brothers, home of one of the world’s toughest trading floors.
We get a close-up view of the participants in the Lehman collapse, especially those who saw it coming with a helpless, angry certainty. We meet the Brahmins at the top, whose reckless, pedal-to-the-floor addiction to growth finally demolished the nation’s oldest investment bank. The Wall Street we encounter here is a ruthless place, where brilliance, arrogance, ambition, greed, capacity for relentless toil, and other human traits combine in a potent mix that sometimes fuels prosperity but occasionally destroys it.
The full significance of the dissolution of Lehman Brothers remains to be measured. But this much is certain: it was a devastating blow to America’s—and the world’s—financial system. And it need not have happened. This is the story of why it did.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I bought the book for an insider's view of the Lehman Brothers collapse - but it is so terribly written. The worst thing about this book is the "author"'s overuse of cliches - not one per page, but about three to four per page, consistently. Furthermore, he writes in such a manner that makes it sound like he OBVIOUSLY KNEW the credit crunch was going to come along and that if he, or his buddies, were the CEO, this would never have happened. The only vaguely positive thing I could hope to get out of this book is that a)it was a cathartic experience for the author, b)that it brought him some revenue after losing his job at Lehman. If you want the real story, you have to read Ross Sorkin's "Too Big To Fail". That is an amazing read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I don't even know where to begin with my review of this book. I purchased it for an "insider's view" of the Lehman collapse and eighty golf cliches and self congratulatory chapters later, I only needed to know that the author was the type of employee that succeeded at Lehman Brothers to know why it failed. "A Colosal Waste of Time" would be a better title for this book. This guy talked about studying for and passing the Series 7 exam like he was earning a doctorate in finance. This confirmed my suspicion that current events books are usually awful and that bankers have the mentality and writing style of high schoolers.
Format:Hardcover
Aside from the shockingly poor writing, the hyperbole and offputting and constant personal focus, the most disturbing part of this book is that it is presented as if written by someone who was privy to the decisions, meetings and conversations that decided Lehman's fate.
This guy was nothing more than a mid-level trader who had absolutely no position to know what was going on in the Boardroom, let alone in DC. To pass this off as if it is first-hand reporting, when in fact it is some undisclosed mix of conjecture and second-hand information (with very little in the way of acknowledgement to sources, by the way) is just plain dishonest.
If you want to read a thoroughly-researched, well-written book on the subject: Too Big To Fail is your book.
Don't waste your time or money on this.
This guy was nothing more than a mid-level trader who had absolutely no position to know what was going on in the Boardroom, let alone in DC. To pass this off as if it is first-hand reporting, when in fact it is some undisclosed mix of conjecture and second-hand information (with very little in the way of acknowledgement to sources, by the way) is just plain dishonest.
If you want to read a thoroughly-researched, well-written book on the subject: Too Big To Fail is your book.
Don't waste your time or money on this.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A great read
As a recent graduate looking to broaden my financial understanding, this book provided an excellent perspective on the world of trading and the corporate structure. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Premila
Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose
First, the bad news: (1) The author's pre-Lehman life story, although much more interesting than average, is not really relevant. (2) The book is somewhat repetitive. Read more
Published on 12 Feb 2010 by Dr. C. G. Oakley
HUMAN GREED AT ITS ZENITH
" This book - or should I say horror story - should be required reading for all those so-called experts practising financialregulationnd oversight. Read more
Published on 9 Oct 2009 by john leslie langton
Fascinating
This is an astonishing book which describes in the greatest detail exactly what was going on in Lehman Brothers. As an employee the author really doesn't miss a trick. Read more
Published on 19 Sep 2009 by qwakko
Self indulgent history book
Every financial point of inflection be it a recession or a boom has its signature event. The internet boom was marked by the IPO of Netscape and the merger of AOL with media... Read more
Published on 16 Aug 2009 by Mr. G. Carroll
Listmania!
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