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Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the FinancialSystem--and Themselves
 
 
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Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the FinancialSystem--and Themselves [Paperback]

Andrew Ross Sorkin (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (306 customer reviews) |
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Book Description

Publication Date: September 7, 2010
A brilliantly reported true-life thriller that goes behind the scenes of the financial crisis on Wall Street and in Washington.

In one of the most gripping financial narratives in decades, Andrew Ross Sorkin-a New York Times columnist and one of the country's most respected financial reporters-delivers the first definitive blow- by-blow account of the epochal economic crisis that brought the world to the brink. Through unprecedented access to the players involved, he re-creates all the drama and turmoil of these 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.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"...comprehensive and chilling..."
-TIME

"...his action scenes are intimate and engaging..."
-The New Yorker

"Sorkin''s prodigious reporting and lively writing put the reader in the room for some of the biggest-dollar conference calls in history. It''s an entertaining book, brisk book...Sorkin skillfully captures the raucous enthusiasm and riotous greed that fueled this rational irrationality."
-The New York Times Book Review

"...brings the drama alive with unusual inside access and compelling detail...A deeply researched account of the financial meltdown."
-BusinessWeek

"...meticulously researched...told brilliantly. Other blow-by-blow accounts are in the works. It is hard to imagine them being this riveting."
-The Economist

"Sorkin''s densely detailed and astonishing narrative of the epic financial crisis of 2008 is an extraordinary achievement that will be hard to surpass as the definitive account...as a dramatic close-up, his book is hard to beat."
-Financial Times

"Sorkin''s book, like its author, is a phenom...an absolute tour de force."
-The American Prospect

"Andrew Ross Sorkin pens what may be the definitive history of the banking crisis."
-The Atlantic Monthly

"Andrew Ross Sorkin has written a fascinating, scene-by-scene saga of the eyeless trying to march the clueless through Great Depression II."
-Tom Wolfe

"...Sorkin has succeeded in writing the book of the crisis, with amazing levels of detail and access."
-Reuters

"Sorkin can write. His storytelling makes "Liar''s Poker" look like a children''s book."
-SNL Financial

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Andrew Ross Sorkin is the award-winning chief mergers and acquisitions reporter for The New York Times, a columnist, and assistant editor of business and finance news. He is also the editor and founder of DealBook, an online daily financial report. He has won a Gerald Loeb Award, the highest honor in business journalism, and a Society of American Business Editors and Writers Award. In 2007, the World Economic Forum named him a Young Global Leader.

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Product Details

  • Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  • Paperback: 640 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Updated edition (September 7, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0143118242
  • ISBN-13: 978-0143118244
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (306 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,331 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Andrew Ross Sorkin Page
Andrew Ross Sorkin
Andrew Ross Sorkin is The New York Times's chief mergers and acquisitions reporter and a columnist. Mr. Sorkin, a leading voice about Wall Street and corporate America, is also the editor of DealBook, an online daily financial report he started in 2001. In addition, Mr. Sorkin is an assistant editor of business and finance news, helping guide and shape the paper's coverage.

Mr. Sorkin, who has appeared on NBC's "Today" show and on "Charlie Rose" on PBS, is a frequent guest host of CNBC's "Squawk Box." He won a Gerald Loeb Award, the highest honor in business journalism, in 2004 for breaking news. He also won a Society of American Business Editors and Writers Award for breaking news in 2005 and again in 2006. In 2007, the World Economic Forum named him a Young Global Leader.

He hosts three daily business reports on radio that are syndicated nationally called "The Business Brief with Andrew Ross Sorkin."

Mr. Sorkin began writing for The Times in 1995 under unusual circumstances: he hadn't yet graduated from high school.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
137 of 154 people found the following review helpful
A Real Page Turner November 18, 2009
By Alan
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is an excellent book that reads like something that Dan Brown might have written. But its real. The part that amazed me was the level of detail Sorkin was able to get about behind the scenes conversations that took place. Stuff about how people such as Dick Fuld of Lehman reacted to the problems when it was becoming clear that the company was going down and he was in denial. How Paulson was reacting to things when there were no rules about what to do.

But probably the most interesting parts were how the different personalities were reacting while the ground was shifting under them. At the peak, many of the people involved were literally working 24 hours a day highlighted by a phone call made to Vikram Pandit, CEO of Citibank at 3 am telling how a deal he made at midnight for Wachovia had instead been trumped by another and that that deal had already been signed and blessed by the government. How major decisions were being made on the run and how solid institutions became institutions on the brink in a matter of hours.

The book also explains how companies like Barclays and China Investment Corporation were working behind the scenes as well how Paulson, Geithener and others in the government were scrambling to keep things from collapsing. There is a lot of Monday Morning Quarterbacking going on and some of the things these people did may not have been the best, but they pulled it off and we should all be grateful.

But there some bad guys, namely the short sellers and as usual some in congress. The book makes clear that out of control short selling added fuel to the flames that were occurring and that when we were facing this emergency some members of Congress were focused on their own butt instead of doing what was needed.

There is a huge cast in this book and its is sometimes hard to keep the people and their roles straight, but make the effort. You will be rewarded.
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264 of 315 people found the following review helpful
Simply a chronology December 1, 2009
Format:Hardcover
The book details the events, the people and the conversations that roiled the banks in 2008. The book does not really discuss why the events happened. If you're looking to understand why these banks fell, this is not the book to read.

The book is very readable and even at 539 pages, a person can finish it quickly. Another plus is that unlike most NY Times reporters, the author keeps most of his opinions out of the story until the last 2 pages.

His opinions are:

The government allowing Lehman to go into bankruptcy was the catalyst that caused the floodgates to open. This is probably why he spends a lot of the book developing the Lehman story.

He's ambivalent about whether the government players could have prevented the collapse of the banks or even if they did the right things when they did act. But he's quite clear that more banking regulation was needed then and is needed now.

One can disagree with his opinions, but he does well to leave most of them till the end of the book.

A few criticisms:

As mentioned, he does not discuss why exactly these events happened. In the epilogue, he briefly mentions 4 events that percolated over 10 years that conspired to cause the perfect storm in 2008. But he could have spent a chapter (prologue) describing these events and how they conspired to cause the problem. Apparently he's not a banker or an academic, so maybe he didn't feel qualified to do this.

Second criticism: In a few places prior to his epilogue, he lets us know his (negative) opinion of some players. It's obvious his disdain for Chris Cox and Sheila Bair. But he's particularly vitriolic towards the Wall Street Journal editorial page. I thought that as a chronicler, the author should have omitted his opinions of these people/institutions. Except for these incidents, he does largely keeps his opinions out of the manuscript until the last few pages.

Overall, a quick read that details the players and the chronology of events. If all you need is to understand the crisis, then this book should suffice.
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80 of 96 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
After reading two other well-publicized books on the real estate bubble and following market crash, I felt like I had been had. One book, primarily about Lehman, was shallow and written by an egotistical prima donna. The other was too technical and appeared to not have been edited well.
This book was written by a finanial author and is fair, thorough, and puts everything in perspective. It is well-written and flows for an easy read.
If you have any interest in financial history, this book belongs on your shelf along with other classics like When Genius Failed, Barbarians at the Gate, and the Smartest Guys in the Room. Ignore the poor ratings by those who were disappointed in the Kindle price. That is another issue.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Too Big to Read
This book benefited from very good marketing and a timely release following the collapse of the global financial markets. Read more
Published 12 days ago by Fedya Dolokhov
Wall Street's Ultimate Soap Opera
The biggest take-away from this book I found was in the Epilogue. Banks will have to be large to compete on world markets due to globalization. Read more
Published 22 days ago by Mark Eversfield
Fascinating but questions remain
A fascinating portrait of a large cast of characters behind the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent rescue. Read more
Published 23 days ago by Silence Dogood
Too Big to Fail an Alternative History
I've read a lot about the financial crisis described in this book. It is interesting how a political/economic prespective colors the story telling. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Joseph M. Lipiec
Very readable narrative account
The amount of detail in this book is staggering. The author even recounts conversations and telephone calls. At first I was pretty dubious as to how accurate he could be. Read more
Published 1 month ago by The Emperor
Sit at the table with the big guys . . .
This is an amazing look at the inside workings and behind-the-scenes manipulations of our financial industry as it happened. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ken Deshaies
Great Book.
Great book with a lot of behind the scenes story telling to better understand the characters involved in this near fatal debacle of our financial system. Read more
Published 2 months ago by tkidd94
endless recitation....
...of interminable conversations between multi-millionaire financiers who have an overwheening sense of their own importance, with virtually no underlying analysis: you don't see... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Carole
Good, a bit Hollywood though
All in all, a very engaging work.

I was very happy with it, and at some point I will read it again. Read more
Published 2 months ago by PunjabiPrincess
Great look at the "human" side of the crisis
This book is an inside look into the people who were in the middle of the financial crisis and how they helped shape a public/private response to it. Read more
Published 3 months ago by N. Theisen
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