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Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System--and Themselves Paperback – September 7, 2010

by Andrew Ross Sorkin (Author)

544 customer reviews

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Named a Best Book of the Year by: The Economist, The Financial Times, Business Week, and 800-CEO-Read

Winner of the Gerald Loeb Award for Best Business Book

“Too Big To Fail is too good to put down. . . . It is the story of the actors in the most extraordinary financial spectacle in 80 years, and it is told brilliantly.” —The Economist

“Vigorously reported, superbly organized . . . For those of us who didn’t pursue MBAs—and have the penny-ante salaries to prove it—Sorkin’s book offers a clear, cogent explanation of what happened and why it matters.” —Julia Keller, Chicago Tribune

“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, brisk book.” —Paul M. Barrett, The New York Times Book Review

“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.” —John Gapper, Financial Times

A brilliantly reported true-life thriller that goes behind the scenes of the financial crisis on Wall Street and in Washington, the basis for the HBO film

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

From 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.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Paperback: 640 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books; Updated edition (September 7, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0143118242
ISBN-13: 978-0143118244
Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 1.3 x 8.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 544 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #35 in Books > Business & Money > Economics > Banks & Banking
- #83 in Books > Business & Money > Economics > Economic Conditions
- #98 in Books > Business & Money > Biography & History > Economic History

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“Too Big to Fail:” Andrew Ross Sorkin’s compelling tale of how America narrowly avoided financial catastrophe… for now.

June 13, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

“Too Big to Fail” is an altogether excellent book by financial journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin. It’s a compelling narrative that tells the story of how the nation’s largest and most prestigious financial institutions came to the brink of collapse – and almost took the entire economy with them – in the great economic crisis of 2008.

According to Sorkin, the financial downturn that occurred in the summer of 2008 was actually years in the making. Many of the nation’s greatest investment banks, along with their commercial bank counterparts, had been busily dealing in high-risk subprime mortgages for years. As long as demand for housing remained high, so did housing prices; however, when massive numbers of people began defaulting on mortgages they could no longer afford, the housing market suddenly crashed, credit froze up, and banks began to fail…

…Thus begins the story of America’s economic meltdown in the late summer and early autumn of 2008. With the collapse of the housing markets, many of America’s oldest and greatest investment banks – among them Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and Morgan Stanley – also find themselves threatened by total failure. So do commercial banks like Citigroup, Wachovia, and Bank of America; insurance companies like AIG; and the two government sponsored mortgage guarantors (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac). Now, U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, New York Federal Reserve Bank President Timothy Geithner, Congress, and other government regulators must find a way to save these financial institutions from ruin. If they don’t, America faces the very real possibility that its entire economic system may collapse…

I read “Too Big to Fail” not long after watching the HBO movie upon which it’s based. I was actually very impressed by how well written this book is. Andrew Ross Sorkin is a highly knowledgeable financial journalist who is also a very gifted storyteller. He writes with prose that is both clear and concise. He makes highly complex financial matters easy to understand by explaining them with a minimum of technical jargon. His portraits of the key players in the drama – Hank Paulson, Tim Geithner, Dick Fuld, Chris Flowers, and Erin Callan, among others – are unbiased, allowing readers to form their own judgments about them. Best of all, Sorkin avoids making “Too Big to Fail” a political treatise, focusing instead on the efforts of government officials and Wall Street executives to bring the nation back from the precipice of financial disaster.

“Too Big to Fail” is actually quite a page-turner. Sorkin tells his story in a crisp, fast-paced narrative style that’s never boring. Overall, I found it a very enjoyable and informative reading experience. Highly recommended.

13 people found this helpful

Barbara E. Goll

Too Big To Hold, buy it in kindle

July 11, 2016

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

I purchased this book in hardcover, and it was Too Big To Hold. Then purchased it in kindle form and nearly found it Too Big To Read. Actually, I read it cover to cover, and it is a very extensive and detailed account of the events. Minute by minute coverage. It was difficult to keep all the players and what firms they were with in mind. To my delight, the players themselves had the same problem with who's who and from where. A real Cecil B. de Mille epic extravaganza with a cast of thousands. It paints Hank Paulson as savior of the world, the ironic Second Coming of a Wall Street broker turned patriot. The movie did not and could not do justice to the book.

13 people found this helpful

Tense Financial Thriller

March 9, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This book provides a fly-on-the-wall narration of the shocking and momentous events on Wall Street in 2008, especially the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, and the at times inconsistent reactions by government agencies including the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, the SEC, and the FDIC. Andrew Ross Sorkin has collected reams of information about what went on in the boardrooms of numerous corporations and he recounts copious phone calls, meetings, and interrupted vacations to provide a fascinating, at times gossipy, at times wonky look at this unprecedented time in the economic life of the republic. If there is short shrift given to some of the detail behind, say, the commercial real estate loan portfolio of Lehman Brothers or, say, the Financial Products of AIG, he more than makes up for it with detailed transcripts of meetings and phone calls which show just how unprepared Wall Street executives and government officials were to deal with a crisis the size and scope of which were as mystifyingly arcane as the contents of those synthetic collateralized debt obligations. You might not come away from this book understanding why things blew up, but you will definitely know when, where, and how they did.

Fascinating Perspective

June 3, 2018

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Having lived through the 2008 crisis as a CFO and later CEO of a small specialty finance company, the experience was one of the defining moments of my career. Sorkin is able to bring alive the panic, frenzy and brinksmanship that characterized a few critical months in 2008. In hindsight, the steps taken went a long way to effectively stabilizing the markets. In the moment, I recall the doubt, fear and concern for the stability and reliability of a financial system that was the machine that drove the business world. Sorkin brought those days back to the fore of my memory in dazzling technicolor using a clear, clipped writing style and well a researched account. A great book.

Tremendous book! Highly recommended.

December 22, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is a tremendous book. I followed the Street's near disaster in 2008 as it happened, so I had some background knowledge of the principal players and events. .But Sorkin blew me away with the fascinating detail he gathered, first as the lead reporter for the New York Times and then a gazillion interviews with the players major and minor. He recreated all the key meetings, phone conversations and even the thinking of the key people. He tells the story event by event, and I found myself staying up late at night to read the next chapter(s). Sorkin is a very good writer and tells his story very well. The only minor quibble I had was the way he described almost every meeting and conversation as "agitated" or "frustrated" or some similar adjective; maybe they all were, but it was repetitive after a while. But this is a minor criticism of a very good book. It now is eight years past the 2008 crash, but this is still a fascinating story and tells a lot about the mindset of Wall Street that we should keep in mind as President-elect Trump tries to loosen government regulations and oversight of the Street. Highly recommended.

9 people found this helpful

Most recent customer reviews

Floccinaucinihilipilification

Inside the tumble drier of liquidy crises

Sorkin writes a compelling tale of the unfolding of the financial crisis. The literary style is more romping fiction than dry factual account.Read more

Published 3 days ago

Published 5 days ago

or they ALL had fantastic memories.

Interesting read. However, the plethora and detail of the quoted statements by the cast of characters involved in this debacle seems incredible.Read more

Published 15 days ago

James C. Newman

A good history book

This book covers part of the answer to what happened to the banking system. I am not an expert by any means but it looks like it could happen again.

Published 1 month ago

James W. Beatty

I am currently reading another book. Will get to this book before long. Definitely one for the library.

Published 2 months ago

Crystal Waggoner

Published 2 months ago

As a Realtor I endured the market crisis and never thought the ripple effect would last nearly 8 years.Read more

Published 3 months ago

Amazon Customer

Fantastic book that provides both scientific and psychological insights into ...

Fantastic book that provides both scientific and psychological insights into the financial crisis. A must read for perspective bankers and financial analysts.

Published 3 months ago

excellant writer

Published 3 months ago

Allowed me to learn a lot about financial crisis. ...

Allowed me to learn a lot about financial crisis. Get a fair perspective on the banks and the government and what role each of them played.

Published 4 months ago

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