Too Big to Fail

ByAndrew Ross Sorkin

Release Date: 2009-10-20
Genre: Economics

Score: 4.5

4.5

From 654 Ratings

Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTELLER • The definitive account of the 2008 economic crisis, from the award-winning financial columnist and founder of DealBook, with unparalleled behind-the-scenes access to the key players on Wall Street and in Washington

“Too Big to Fail is too good to put down. . . . It is the story of the actors in the most extraordinary financial spectacle in [over] 80 years, and it is told brilliantly.” —The Economist

NOW AN HBO FILM

One of the most gripping financial stories in decades, Too Big to Fail delivers a blow-by-blow account of the epochal economic crisis that brought the world to the brink. Through unprecedented access to the players involved, Andrew Ross Sorkin re-creates all the drama and turmoil of those turbulent days, revealing never-before-disclosed details and recounting how—motivated as often by ego and greed as by fear and self-preservation—the most powerful men and women in finance and politics decided the fate of the world's economy.

This edition has been updated with a new afterword reflecting on the tenth anniversary of the crisis.

Reviews

A lot of investment with little return
3
By gakingmusic
Andrew Ross Sorkin deserves much credit for researching and writing this fantastic narrative of the 2008 Financial Crisis. This book is impressively thorough, built on what I am sure were hundreds of hours of interviews. The book takes the reader through scene after scene of the unfolding of the crisis, from the executive offices of Lehman Brothers to the U.S. Department of Treasury. However, this focus on the people, scenes, and narrative make it very dialogue-driven and more focused on the drama of responding to the crisis than on the crisis itself. It would have been a lot more interesting to read when it came out in 2009 than it is today. An afterward written by Sorkin in 2018 adds some helpful context, but ultimately this is a very long book without much payoff.
Excellent Read-Very Detailed
5
By Kevin M Analyst
An excellent read providing an insight into the partnership between private and government entities. The author gathered immense research to recreate intimate conversations bringing us into the room of the most historic deal making our country has ever seen. Henry Paulson and Tim Geithner are the main characters in the book as they wrestle the politics it required to save the US economy.
What a narrative!
5
By MPNVPA
I’m fascinated by the 2008 financial collapse. Greed at its core caused this. That’s why I couldn’t wait to read this book. But at first, this book was a bit hard to get into; there were so many people to sort out. But as the story came together to reveal the financial tsunami facing all of the players I simply couldn’t put it down. I consider this book to be the unofficial narrative of the collapse. But it’s scary. Proverbs says that NOT money, but the LOVE of money is the root of all evil, and this book proves it. What’s most scary is that under difference circumstances to come, this disaster could happen again, and next time it could be even worse.
Extraordinary Detail
5
By TimesAddicto.O
A fly on every wall, Sorkin carries the reader across the breadth of the crisis, from the first systemic shock in the collapse of Bear Stearns in March of 08 through the populist political aftershocks the following spring and beyond. Balancing questions of moral hazard, the government’s role in highly unusual economic circumstances, and the moral ambiguity of the people in the ring, this is a seminal topology worth a spot on the shelf.
Excellent Narrative on the Financial Crisis
5
By BigHatNoCattle
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The one feature of the book that surprised me was the extensive background offered on the major figures in the story. I recommend that you pair this book with "The Big Short" for a full picture of what was going on. I really enjoyed Sorkin's writing and storytelling style.
Educational AND Entertaining
5
By Higgidy Wiggidy
This book was so well written and rather well narrated that I have a hard time hitting stop when I get to the end of my commute. It's written as a story line, and it's written very well. This book had to take a serious amount of time to put together propertly. I am very impressed at the reasearch and information gathering. I can't fathom the amount of interviews this would have had to take, on the record or off. Great job Andrew Ross Sorkin. I will read anything you write moving forward. Regardless of party lines, you will want to read this. It's long, but you will wish it kept going, outside of the fact that this was a real story. That's the unfortunate part. This should be a movie now. I am seriously convinced there is enough information here to put one together and it would be a hit. I listened to the unabridged audio book and enjoyed the narrator. At times he was off in his punctuation, etc, but for the most part did a great job. Likely it's hard and takes forever to properly narrate this long of a book. Dang! Great job on all parts. Get it.
A great read
5
By RLRosas
It was amazing-like a soap opera that has a basis in reality. I loved it and would read more by this man. It was fantastic!
Too long to read
2
By TK88888
Read the first third of the book but got bored by the fluff. Author spent too much time paistakingly describing every character's background, unnecessarily slowing down the story to the point where it was difficult to keep track of the main plot. If there was a way to remove the "fluff" I would finish reading the book (feature request for iBooks!?)
To big to fail
5
By olddoc60
Scares the bejesus out of me on what happened. What a book it's amazing how much money was getting throw around. Great read
Extraordinary!
5
By Sherry607
The world still hangs in the balance and this book outlines exactly what needs to be done to stop the madness---is anybody listening!

Too Big to Fail

ByAndrew Ross Sorkin

Description

Reviews

A lot of investment with little return

Excellent Read-Very Detailed

What a narrative!

Extraordinary Detail

Excellent Narrative on the Financial Crisis

Educational AND Entertaining

A great read

Too long to read

To big to fail

Extraordinary!

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