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Economic Conditions Search Economic Conditions Economic ConditionsA Colossal Failure of Common Sense: The Incredible Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Lehman Brothers
Ebury Press Search Ebury Press by Larry McDonald Patrick Robinson Search Larry McDonald Patrick Robinson
Customer Reviews:
Great Read!
I liked this book in particular because I appreciate how the author broke down all the financial mumbo jumbo into common sense for the everyday person.
Definitely a great read!!
Disappointing 
This is a disappointing read. Clearly the author(s) had vast scope for delivering a gripping inside view of the goings on at Lehman. However the serious subject matter is waylaid in a geewhiz semi-autobiographical type delivery. The story is populated with pen pictures of how brilliant most of the boys and girls at Lehman's were and how hard they worked - there are just too many cringe-inducing episodes lauding peers and superiors. All of which serves to dilute the credibility of the witness and to question the balance of the presentation. Sticking with it to the finish is a real challenge with this book.
Useful, but offensive to taste. 
As a general primer on the causes of the US sub-prime catastrophe and as an explanatory and readable account of the derivations and definitions of the various financial products invented to peddle the "dream", this is a useful preliminary read. However, the style is trashy and tabloidish and is full of unreasonable attributions and suppositions of other people's personal thoughts, motivations and feelings. The author's on-going smart-alecky tone reeks of self-pity, self-justification and self-congratulation while his concluding notes on the compassion he feels for those people (i.e. his fellow operatives on Wall St.) who have been so harmed by these events is truly nauseating. Very little compassion for the real, world-wide victims will be found in these pages. And no guilt.
Interesting story, terribly written by someone with a grudge 
The subject of the book is the collapse and bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in the autumn of 2008. The book was written by Larry McDonald, a successful but mid level bond trader working in the "distressed debt" team.
Larry had one dream in life and that was to work in Wall Street for an investment bank. The book relates his journey through life until he ends up at Lehman Brothers, after being head hunted by a friend.
Sadly rather than writing the book himself he chose to use the services of a ghost writer, Patrick Robinson, so I don't really know who to blame for the appalling writing style which ruins the book. Instead of simply relating what happened factually through most of the book it lurches into passages of text like "They carried our CFO, Chris O'Meara, out of the combat trenches with a few gunshot wounds and very muddy boots. After months of internecine warfare facing the light cavalry of Wall Street's analysts and researchers. Dick Fuld, his commanding officer, pulled him back from the front line to a more sheltered position. There are no medals awarded for ducking and diving in the face of the enemy, but Chris deserved one for gallantry under fire". Other examples were "The Lehman Board contained no Prince Hal, the swashbuckling young Henry V preparing to lead his troops to victory at Agincourt." Some of the descriptions were so awful that I would put the book down and leave it for a few hours or days.
The other huge criticism of the book is that, as Lehman Brother made the author redundant and then collapsed, wiping out a sizeable shareholding that he had put up through the portion of his annual bonus paid as shares, he is always going to have an axe to grind, so its not in the slightest bit impartial. The people who work for Lehman Brothers are either described as being brilliant, especially the other members of his team or they are incompetent buffoons (Dick Fuld and Joe Gregory). The author also isn't that keen on the mortgage brokers who sold the sub prime mortgages which brought the system to its knees, he refers to them as "body builders".
If you can get past these huge failing, the book is quite interesting and gives a practionners account of how Wall Street and Lehman Brothers overloads themselves with sub prime mortgages and inflated asset purchases. From the authors perspective it was easy to see that things were going wrong and he can't understand why Dick Fuld and Joe Gregory failed to heed the warnings that they were being given.
In summary if you are looking for a well written balanced book about the Collapse of Lehman Brothers I would steer clear of this book, I am sure there will be others that do a much better job. I have read quite a few of financial books, especially about the credit crunch and this is probably the worst.
Truly amazing book 
Really interesting book. Understandable even by a 11 year old.
Besides the main theme of the economic meltdown, and the Lehman Brothers, it is full of interesting stories that show you how hardcore you have to be to become a Wall Street trader.
I immediately ordered hard cover with "deckle edge"
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September 2009); Sprache: Englisch; ISBN-10: 0091936152; ISBN-13: 978-0091936150; Größe und/oder Gewicht: 19,6 x 12,6 x 2,6 cm; Amazon.de Verkaufsrang: Nr. 6.491 in Englische Bücher (Die Bestseller Englische Bücher) ...
http://www.amazon.de/Colossal-Failure-Common-Sense-Collapse/dp/0091936152
の秋！
だから、単なる楽しみ読書ですが（笑） まぁ、面白いので、日本語版、出るかもです。 http://www.amazon.co.jp/Colossal-Failure-Common-Sense-Incredible/dp/0091936152/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=english-books&qid=1256569709&sr=8-1 ...
http://blog.livedoor.jp/cfnets_unno/archives/1494992.html
