Bombardiers [Paperback]

Po Bronson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 30, 2003

From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller What Should I Do with My Life?, Bombardiers is Po Bronson’s first novel, a devastating satire of the business world told through the lens of a crazed and colorful group of salespeople forced to push increasingly absurd financial products.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Regardless of how you feel about investment banking ("It's a complete scam!"; "It's a great way to make a killing!"), this non-stop novelistic indictment of the shark-infested financial world--and by extension, much of the corporate world--is bound to make you laugh uproariously--and think deeply. As fast-paced and frenetic as the stock exchange on a Monday morning. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

First-novelist Bronson takes on modern business in a black comedy about a group of money-crazed and eccentric bond traders in San Francisco.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks (December 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812971868
• ISBN-13: 978-0812971866
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #975,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Po Bronson travels the country recording the stories of real people who have struggled to answer life's biggest questions. He has built a career both as a successful novelist and as a prominent writer of narrative nonfiction. He has published five books, and he has written for television, magazines, and newspapers, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, and for National Public Radio's Morning Edition. Currently he is writing regularly for Time in the United States and for The Guardian in the United Kingdom.

Po Bronson's book of social documentary, What Should I Do With My Life?, was a #1 New York Times bestseller and remained in the Top 10 for nine months. He has been on Oprah, on every national morning show, and on the cover of five magazines, including Wired and Fast Company. His first novel, Bombardiers, was a #1 bestseller in the United Kingdom. His books have been translated into 18 languages. Po speaks regularly at colleges and community "town hall" events. He is a founder of The San Francisco Writer's Grotto, a cooperative workspace for writers and filmmakers. He has also been on the Board of Directors of Consortium Book Sales & Distribution since 1992. He lives in San Francisco with his family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Manic and Hilarious, I laughed myself into tears, November 12, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (Orion Nebula) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bombardiers (Mass Market Paperback)

"Bombardiers" is manic and funny.

Po Bronson's novel about bond traders is a candid look into the "greasemen" of the financial system. It tells the story of a dysfunctional SF bond trading office. The office is a corporate meatgrinder churning out profits, making those crazy or tough enough to handle the stress rich, and crushing the rest. In the pressure cooker of the bond market, "when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro". If you're not a pro, you're fired. One day, a new salesman Eggs Igino fresh out of grad school arrives. He's like Jesus, and he changes everything.

This book was so good, I read it in two days. At one point I had to put it down because I was laughing so hard tears were running down my cheeks. Bronson's prose is this weird melange of Joseph Heller and Hunter S. Thompson (in his early years). It's the ridiculous, mixed with base human emotions, and salted with the bizarre.

While hilarious, Bronson's plot is a bit weak. He appears to be an author who derives more from the setting then the story. I had trouble sorting out the main character's (Igino) motives. Or maybe the main character was Sid Geeder? I couldn't be sure. In addition, his two female character's (Lisa Lisa and Sue Marino) were interchangeable.

"Bombardiers" is a good read. It's got information, sex, absurdity, and cruel humor administered at an amphetamine charged pace. You won't put it down.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious AND Educational, May 18, 2000

By 

A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bombardiers (Mass Market Paperback)

Very fun and nasty satire of brokerage houses written by a briefly former insider. It's more of a fictional sociological study of the men and few women bond brokers of a San Francisco brokerage house. Standard types are presented, along with the motivations that drive them, and the lies by which they unload dubious securities. In all this Bronson is really going after the entire system which allows firms to profit massively from insane schemes and financial failures. Everything goes wacky at Atlantic Pacific when a new, young salesman appears on the floor. He ignores the rules, has the nature of a master salesman, and throws the system in a tizzy. It's all pretty over the top, but fun stuff with more than a kernel of truth.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it, learned from it, July 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Bombardiers (Mass Market Paperback)

I taught a business finance class this Spring and offered my students extra-credit for reading this book. My purpose was for them to learn more about finance while being entertained. This book is so funny that I shared it with friends (physics grad students) who loved it as much as I do.