BR 79: Too Big To Fail by Andrew Ross Sorkin

Category: 1 – Read ASAP! (All Categories are 1 – Read ASAP!, 2 – BUY it!, 3 – SHELF it, 4 – SOMEDAY it)

Comments: I was hesitant to read this as I was not a fan of finance related books then. While the financial crisis intrigued me, I still wasn’t convinced if I was prepared to go through an 18 hour audio.

This book, however, is riveting. It is the financial crisis from the perspective of the massive characters/egos who battled hard to save the world from a complete meltdown. The book got me feeling up close and personal with all Wall Street CEO’s like Fuld, Dimon, Pandit, Mack, Blankfeid etc, key US treasury, federal officials like Paulson, Geithner and the like. It took me on an emotional journey that had me smiling at Jamie Dimon’s tact and diplomacy, marveling at the real power and weight that Goldman Sachs carries with it, gasping at the holes in AIG’s balance sheet  and feeling sad at Dick Fuld’s fate along with that of Lehmann Brothers. I can go on forever on this book.. it is one of the best books I have read, period.

And full credit, of course, to Andrew Ross Sorkin as it is rare to come across a book so well written.