House of Cards

A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street

By: William Cohan

Narrated by: Alan Sklar

Length: 25 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

In March 2008, Bear Stearns, a swashbuckling 84-year-old financial institution, was forced to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase for an outrageously low price in a deal brokered by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who was desperately trying to prevent an impending catastrophic market crash. But mere months before, an industry-wide boom had "the Bear" clocking a record high stock price. How did a giant investment bank with $18 billion in cash on hand disappear in a mere 10 days?

In this tour de force, Cohan provides a minute-by-minute account of the events that brought America's second Gilded Age to an end. Filled with intimate portraits of the major players, high-end gossip, and smart financial analysis, House of Cards recounts in delicious narrative form the dramatic events behind the fall of Bear Stearns and what it revealed about the financial world's progression from irrational boom to cataclysmic bust. House of Cards is the Rosetta Stone for understanding the dramatic and the unprecedented events that have reshaped Wall Street and global finance in the past two years.

©2009 William D. Cohen (P)2009 Tantor

Great Book!

This book read like a novel. Very well written. Once I started it, I didn't want to put it down. I am tempted to send a copy to President Obama, since I don't see the administration doing anything to re-regulate the financial industry. William Cohan did a great job of pulling this mess together into a coherent and compelling tale.

Amazingly fun

The way the author narrates the story is superbly amazing. The book doesn't dwell into details but provides great insights into the crisis

Another superb product from the Master

Yet another great product from the master of current Wall Street biographer/historian. Mr. Cohan never fails to make the absurd and menial sound so entertaining and absorbing. This one topped the Lazzard saga. I resolved to buying a print edition for keep. Mr. Sklar is absolutely superb in his tone and delivery. I can see Jimmi and Ace talking directly to me. Can't wait for the next one.

Wall Street exciting?

Very readable and understandable chronicle of Bear Sterns and the rest of Wall Street's effect on credit and the economy.

A serious achievment

Just wow! That's all there is to say. Through painstaking interviews and research, the author constructs the history of this bizarre firm, Bear Sterns, how the personalities of its CEOs determined its future from the twenties on and then how within a week it all fell apart, wiping out billions in wealth almost overnight. Though it is a book about the history of a banking firm, it has an urgency and pacing more reminiscent of a thriller. The people come alive on the pages and the incredible hubris and greed that overwhelms them will shock you, the infighting will excite you and the collapse will astonish you.

The writing is neat and evocative, the reader is amazing and the story itself is almost too eccentric to be real. But it is, and it will help you understand the financial crisis in America and how it came about.

Definitely get this book, it's so much all at once.

Interesting and easy listen

It was hard to turn off as I listened in my car on long trips. Well worth the time. Explains how smart people can be so smart they fail to check on the details. Definitely recommend.

I now have a better understanding

I now have a better understanding of how the crash of 2008 was planned and orchestrated. I still feel that the entire crash of 08 has been set up by our government!

Great narrator

I was hooked. Listened almost non-stop. So much great info about our economy and its history

Tedious, Repetitive. . . and essential reading

The book is filled with excruciatingly unnecessary detail and endless repetition. How many times do we need to hear the address of Bear Stearns? Conversations are recounted from multiple perspectives, even where they agree, We are told what someone is going to say, then told what they said.

However, if you can get through all that, the story is compelling and will infuriate you. It is astounding to hear of the pettiness, narcissism, arrogance, and ruthlessness which engulfs the executives at Bear Stearns, and other investment banks. These people didn't care about anything except enormous bonuses, and would do anything to get them. When others lost their money, these people didn't give a hoot. But then to hear them whining and carrying on like two-year olds when their firm collapsed as a direct result of their incompetence is unbelievable.

After the collapse, several of them gave interviews, in which they whined and complained about how they were treated, and tried to blame the failure on others.

In spite of the author's bizarre belief that the failures were a result of government interference in the free markets, this book will convince any thinking person that our government needs to take a major role in regulating the financial industry - if for no other reason than to protect bankers from themselves. It is abundantly clear that they are too stupid to protect themselves.

Tedius at times but overall pretty interesting

There are times during this book that you just want the author to get on with it. He goes over certain events, giving the perspective of so many involved, that you just want to move along to the next section. But after an initial rough patch it does pick up, for me, at least, when he gets into the history of Bear, Sterns and some of the central players.