Customer Reviews

All the Money in the World

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2 star:		(1)
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For a first novel, Mr. Siegel has created a masterpiece reminescent of novels such as Grapes of Wrath, God's Little Acre, and A Long and Happy Life.
This novel is not about a fatcat lawyer moving through a double-standard New York Law practice. It is about a man who is a caring, considerate, loving man who is ultimately destroyed by a cowardly client, Brian Brianson, who recognizes what could be his eminent demise and figures, "What the hell, might as well take my counselor to the bottom with me!" It is one of the most memorable betrayals in American Fiction.

Protagonist, 59-year-old, Lou Glasser, has led a relatively comfortable life as a New York attorney. He has a partnership with one other attorney, and together they have built their business into a fairly lucrative one. Mr. Glasser's tragic flaw is manifested through his helping his foil, Brian Brianson, escape a drug distribution charge early in his career.
One cannot help but notice the similarities between Willie Loman and Lou Gla

All The Money in the World is a novel of rare beauty and intelligence. The protagonist, the complex and flawed Louis Glasser, is a marvel--a somewhat shady defense attorney for drug dealers, Glasser is rendered with great compassion and insight. In its scope, bravery and clarity of vision, Siegel's work stands up with the work of Roth and Bellow--but Siegel has staked a claim that is entirely his own. His writing is jazzy, lyrical, absolutely captivating. Read this novel if you want to read about the dynamic between a son and his difficult father, the workings of the criminal law system, and society's obsession with status and money. This is an unforgettable, important book.

I couldn't have said it any better than the reader from NYC did... I feel lucky to have happened upon this book. I agree, too, that Lou Glasser may not deserve his fate but he doesn't not deserve it enough to escape it, and that the pace never flags in this novel. I think Siegel is an impressive writer. This book is funny and intelligently written. I enjoyed the plot, the language, the characters, the philosophy. He juggled a lot in this novel, and did a great job doing so.

Stumbled on this book and picked it up without knowing what it was because I had a plane trip to kill. Lucky for me. ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD is a truly unique novel that defies easy classification -- it's a thriller/character study/philosophical mystery. Attorney Lou Glasser is amoral but not evil; his descent into the wrong side of the criminal justice system, catalysed when a pot-dealing client turns him in on a manufactured charge to cut a deal, is played for irony, humor, and something not completely unlike tragedy. Glasser may not deserve his fate but he doesn't not deserve it strongly enough to escape it. The book is slyly humorous and savagely well-observed as it gets inside his mind and reveals that his son is being groomed, like it or not, for a similar fall later in life. The writing is topnotch -- and unlike some "literary fiction" the pace never flags. Only at the end does the author show his hand and reveal that this "thriller" is something much more profound, a meditation on modern life, morality, and the gray zones we all inhabit. Really a brave, interesting, excellent book.

Wanted something more from this book. However, I gave this a shot and tried so hard to make it like Death Of A Salesman. Geepers, it didn't happen for me. Is it me or was I just having a bad day?