Belly Up: The Collapse of the Penn Square Bank (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: special litigation report, rig loan, truck banking, Penn Square, Oklahoma City, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Wall Street Journal reporter Zweig details how the Oklahoma City Penn Square Bank went under. PW recommended Mark Singer's account of the same events in Funny Money unless "the reader's appetite is for unembellished facts, presented in plain prose, of events that are of themselves exciting."
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 520 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (August 12, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449902056
• ISBN-13: 978-0449902059
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #296,556 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable that this could happen, April 1, 2003

By	David C. McLary (Grand Haven, MI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Belly Up : The Collapse of the Penn Square Bank (Hardcover)

Belly Up is the story of how a small bank located in a strip mall in Oklahoma City could cause the collapse of the giant Contentinal Illinois Bank, and the weakening of Seafirst, Chase and MichNat. Spanning locations from the gas fields of Oklahoma, the halls of Congress, a boardroom in Chicago, and the parking lot in front of Penn Square Bank, Zweig does an admirable job of weaving this saga through apt characterizations of the major players involved in this debacle. The effects of this bank's failure continue to be felt 20 years later and have shaped the banking industry as we know it today.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece, February 2, 2007

By	Katja "katjalouise" (Midland, TX) - See all my reviews

This book is a well-written account of a bizzare episode in banking history. Employing well-researched fact, astute observation of human behavior, and occasional sprinklings of dry humor, Zweig manages to pen a very readable account of the rise and fall of a small bank in Oklahoma. Though criticized by some as being dry in parts, laden with banking jargon foreign to a reader not well-versed in commercial banking, I found it not at all difficult to get the basic ideas of the banking sins committed by those who brought Penn Square to its knees during the early 1980's. Zweig makes up for occasional- but I believe necessary- dryness with brilliantly entertaining accounts of the many people who had a hand in the debacle. All in all, I found it a readable and enjoyable book, and I think that anyone interested in banking or the oil industry would likely agree.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Belly Up: This is where America is heading in 2006, July 12, 2006

By	cyclone - See all my reviews

Though this book relates to the oil crash in the 80's and the financial destruction of Oklahoma, more importantly, it demonstrates what is about to happen all over America. Read this book, folks, and realize; IT CAN HAPPEN HERE. (and will)