Barbarians at the Gate

The Fall of RJR Nabisco

By: Bryan Burrough, John Helyar

Narrated by: Bryan Burrough, John Helyar

Length: 3 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

Barbarians at the Gate has been called one of the most influential business books of all time, the definitive account of the largest takeover in Wall Street history. Bryan Burrough's and John Helyer's account of the frenzy that overtook Wall Street in October and November of 1988 is the story of dealmakers and publicity flaks, of strategy meetings and society dinners, of boardrooms and balls. It gives us not only a detailed look at financial operations at the highest levels but a richly textured social history of wealth in the twilight of the Reagan era.

©2003 Bryan Burrough and John Helyar (P)2007 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"A superlative book...steadily builds suspense until the very end." (Los Angeles Times Book Review)

Review

This audiobook gives details of the RJR Nabisco leveraged buyout. It is a decent read because it gives shape to the story of how greed and shortsightedness contributed to probably one of the most poorly done managed corporate takeover in history. I think the authors did a really good job of covering all aspects of this story, at times it brings home the meaning of fact can be stranger than fiction.

I am glad I got the abridged version because I bet the unabridged version was just full of details that I was not necessarily into. I must admit the reader kind of blew it for me. At times it felt like he was rushing to the end and at times it was to monotoned for me. Not to mention I could hear breathing gaps.

Not bad, but I am sure the book will be better

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Yes. I would have been happier to have spent some more time infact. A 4-5 hour audiobook would have been better, I think.

What didn’t you like about John Helyar’s performance?

Way too fast. Cannot blame him alone, I suppose this is a heavily abridged version, and the narrator had to do with what was given to him. But especially with the bids, I believe a bit more of elaboration would have helped.

Could you see Barbarians at the Gate being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

It must have been already. Would be irresistable.

Hire a professional narrator!

In what’s always a fun exercise in self-indulgence, Helyar chooses to treat us to his delightful reading voice rather than hiring someone trained and paid to use theirs. He has zero cadence and what sounds like a small amount of peanut butter on the roof of his mouth. Fantastic research and book but come on man!!!

Great book, not so great audiobook

The book has lost a lot in transcription, the original is far too heavily abridged. It is too linear, and has lost a lot of its journalistic depth. The book itself, however, is an absolute must.

Barbarians

interesting story. makes me wsnt to see the movie. The LBO process became confusing in how it was executed, but it sounds like it WAS confusing.

Unabridged version would have been better.

Fascinating story. It went by so quickly that I'm sure it left out a lot of details that I would have liked to learn about. I wish Audible had an unabridged version.

The readers are pretty bad, especially one because he read so fast I had to listen at 0.75 speed.

Excellent

What did you love best about Barbarians at the Gate?

It's a very good story.

What did you like best about this story?

A great listen to one of the biggest, most chased business deals ever.

Have you listened to any of John Helyar’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No

Any additional comments?

A1.

short, interesting story

multiple narrators, some worse than others. the story introduces lots of names at a fast clip, and can be tricky to follow in audiobook format BUT at only three hours, this classic finance book is a great listen that I'd compare to an ultra high quality podcast. very glad I listened, even if it didn't meet all of my admitidly high expectations

stupid music and bad readers but great story

not sure why they play music randomly throughout. switching narrators is also dumb. really interesting story though and great content.

Great story / Terrible narrators

Cool story but one of the guys reading it makes it almost unbearable. Would read this one or find a different recording.