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'Cityboy': Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile

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'Cityboy': Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile by Geraint Anderson List Price: £8.99
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Customer Reviews:
I quite liked it actually
For those looking for further ammunition, and to confirm all they thought ill about decadent bankers, in "City Boy" Geraint Anderson is so kind as to provide an entire arsenal of armour piercing bullets. Decadence, debauchery, disproportionate remuneration and soul-sapping resentment fly off the page in vicious arcing uppercuts.

The quick narrative follows the rise of a London stockbroker, through the ranks of the square mile. We follow his start as a wayward hippy into the unexpected position of megalomaniac investment superhero. Against my expectations I quite enjoyed reading about the arrogance driven, short selling, god complex route through this world, although I'm not sure id enjoy actually meeting many of these er... people. That is of course if Anderson's depictions are accurate, city types could in reality be fluffy-bunny style loveable characters who just got a few sums wrong during the credit crunch.........mmmm.

The novel is illuminated by lots of colourful if horrid characters, and viciously funny one-liners. I was very entertained but did find some of the hypocrisy a bit wearing. The "drugs are so normal" tone running throughout the book is also a bit annoying (yes I know they're normal for a lot of people but I don't care).
In summary if you want an overview to the dark side of the city with fat "all you can eat" portions of sarcasm then this does the trick. Very good for a debut.

Read Liar's Poker first
I liked this book. Geraint Anderson's free-flowing style, peppered with funny anecdotes and self-critical remarks is a refreshing read. Contrary to what other people have said about him, I think the book is worth reading, so long as you read Liar's Poker (by Michael Lewis) first. Cityboy is essentially a 2007 version of Liars Poker which is the ultimate tell-all about excess, gambling and corruption in the financial markets.

So what did I like about Cityboy? I loved the parallels between Anderson's life as a drunken, cocaine snorting, city analyst versus his hippy, left-wing mentality which manifests itself in several drug-fuelled reflective episodes in Goa and Glastonbury. The book is funny and you'll probably learn more than you needed to know about what happens in the City (if this book is to believed), but it's worth reading. I'd give it 3 stars out of 5 meaning that you'd probably like to sneak a copy of this inside your Financial Times on your commute to the City.

Spot On!!
If you work hard and play hard you'll love this book!.....if your up for a bit of the city life then this is a must read......i always thought i was a wide boy, after reading this book which seemed vaguely similar to my day to day life i realised i was a "City Boy"

Overrated
I worked in the city for seven years, and recognised characters from many of the stories and anecdotes which concur with my own experiences, for example, I certainly never encountered cocaine users, that I was aware of anyway, until I started working there, as are the stories of general laddishness and the walk of fame if you turn up for work in the same shirt as yesterday....nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

Where the book loses credence with me however, is the author's general smugness and desire to turn against the world which made him so much money, and which he obviously enjoyed being part of greatly at the time. Now, we are led to believe he's turned his back on his shallow, consumerist existence and become a tree hugger and philosopher (no mention of whether the drugs bit is still true tho)...spill the beans Geraint, are you donating the royalties from this book to some worthwhile charity?

All in all, can't recommend it at all, unless you have the ability to ignore the author's ego and concentrate on the city anecdotes, many of which are entirely accurate. I'd personally still recommend it as a great place to work and play!

disarming
Realistic and disarming. People need to know how many times unexperienced "bankers" are led to take too high responsibilities and how all financials data can be manipulated according to anybody's goals.


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Cityboy: Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile: Amazon.de: Geraint ...
Cityboy: Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile: Amazon.de: Geraint Anderson: Englische Bücher.
http://www.amazon.de/Cityboy-Beer-Loathing-Square-Mile/dp/0755346181
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