Boomerang

Having made the U.S. financial crisis comprehensible for us all in "The Big Short", Michael Lewis realised that he hadn't begun to get grips with the full story. How exactly had it come to hit the rest of the world in the face too? Just how broke are we really? "Boomerang" is a tragi-comic romp across Europe, in which Lewis gives full vent to his storytelling genius. The 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 pinata stuffed with cash and allow as many citizens as possible to take a whack. The Irish wanted to stop being Irish. The Germans wanted to be even more German. Michael Lewis' investigation of bubbles across Europe is brilliantly, sadly hilarious. He also turns a merciless eye on America: on California, the epicentre of world consumption, where we see that a final reckoning awaits the most avaricious of nations too. This is the ultimate book of our times. It's time to brace ourselves for impact and, with Michael Lewis, to laugh out loud while we're doing it.

ISBN	1846144841	Pages	240
ISBN13	9781846144844 (What's this?)	Weight (grammes)	464
Publisher	Penguin Books Ltd	Published in	London
Imprint	Allen Lane	Height (mm)	240
Format	Hardback	Width (mm)	162
Publication date	06 Oct 2011	Spine width (mm)	25
DEWEY	330.94056	Academic level	General
DEWEY edition	DC23

Fascinating...the book could not be more timely...a sharp-edged narrative that leaves readers with a visceral understanding of the fiscal recklessness that lies behind today's headlines -- Michiko Kakutani New York Times Michael Lewis's bravura journey through Europe's economic underbelly brilliantly charts the consequences of a world plagued by debt...highly enjoyable...nicely politically incorrect, often very funny, and shot through with genuine insight -- Robert Harris Sunday Times Brilliant ... he has a novelist's gift Spectator, Books of the Year Lewis' investigation of bubbles across Europe is brilliantly, sadly hiliarious GQ magazine He writes with the wit and observational eye of a travel writer -- Richard Fitzpatrick Irish Examiner He writes quite brilliantly and understands the complex financial matters whereof he speaks. As polemical prose goes, it is hard to beat -- Howard Davies Management Today Lewis is the finest storyteller of our generation Malcolm Gladwell He is so good everyone else may as well pack up Evening Standard Michael Lewis meets some extraordinary characters in his excursion through the barely controlled madness that is modern finance ... lucid, entertaining -- Tony Barber Financial Times

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