Stephen

From the book's description on Audible, I thought listening to this book would give me a better understanding of the causes of the financial crisis. That was not the case. To me, it seemed that McLean and Nocera assume their readers already have a working understanding of the financial market, and the aim of their book is to use that knowledge to assign guilt to various individuals involved in the crisis. Since I didn't have that working knowledge, the narrative incomprehensible most of the time.

Initially, I was amused by how Boutsikaris would adopt the voice of a stereotypical car mechanic when reading direct quotes from finance professionals. But that got very old very quickly.

In short, if you already have some familiarity with the financial market, there's a chance you'd find this book informative. Otherwise, I do not recommend it.

I don't really understand why the critics have raved about this book so much. It's not a bad history of the Revolutionary War, but there isn't anything special about it either. There isn't enough new historical evidence or interpretations to interest history buffs, and it's too slow-paced for mainstream audiences.

I also think the audiobook would have benefited from a narrator with more training. McCullough's prose is clear and stylish enough, but his voice can get very monotone.