Conspiracy of Fools

A True Story

By: Kurt Eichenwald

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Length: 30 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

From an award-winning New York Times reporter comes the full, mind-boggling true story of the lies, crimes, and ineptitude behind the Enron scandal that imperiled a presidency, destroyed a marketplace, and changed Washington and Wall Street forever.

It was the corporate collapse that appeared to come out of nowhere. In late 2001, the Enron Corporation - a darling of the financial world, a company whose executives were friends of presidents and the powerful - imploded virtually overnight, leaving vast wreckage in its wake and sparking a criminal investigation that would last for years.  

Kurt Eichenwald transforms the unbelievable story of the Enron scandal into a rip-roaring narrative of epic proportions, taking readers behind every closed door - from the Oval Office to the executive suites, from the highest reaches of the Justice Department to the homes and bedrooms of the top officers. It is a tale of global reach - from Houston to Washington, from Bombay to London, from Munich to Sao Paolo - laying out the unbelievable scenes that twisted together to create this shocking true story.  

Eichenwald reveals never-disclosed details of a story that features a cast including George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Paul O’Neill, Harvey Pitt, Colin Powell, Gray Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Alan Greenspan, Ken Lay, Andy Fastow, Jeff Skilling, Bill Clinton, Rupert Murdoch and Sumner Redstone. With its you-are-there glimpse into the secretive worlds of corporate power, Conspiracy of Fools is an all-true financial and political thriller of cinematic proportions. 

©2005 Kurt Eichenwald (P)2005 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

• 2005 Audie Award Nominee, Nonfiction (Unabridged)

"As an unadorned attempt to get into the heads of some major manipulators, this book can hardly be bettered." (Publishers Weekly)

“The thriller of the year - and it’s all true!” (Dallas Morning News)

“Ranks with A Civil Action as one of the best nonfiction books of the last decade.” (New York Times Book Review) 

"Conspiracy of Fools is a splendid achievement. Mr. Eichenwald has an encyclopedic grasp of a watershed business collapse, and has turned it into a gripping read, a true tale for our times." (The New York Times) 

Great Story

Great listen! Couldn't put it down, all 4 volumes and 30+ hours. I was sceptical however read like a story, felt close to the characters like no other non fiction. Movie "Smartest guys..." paled in comparison. Highly recommend especially if intrigued by the scandal. The narration was also exceptional and added to my enjoyment.

In Depth

Outstanding book that takes you through the whole story of Enron and Arthur Andersen. It allows you to know the personalities involved and make your own judgements. Very informative and enjoyable. Excellent reader also. It is a long book with lots of detail. I am very glad I listened to this book.

Highly recommended

I was hestitant about downloading this book at first, my only real knowledge of the Enron story was from the DVD, "Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room." To be honest, I found the DVD lacking in the detail I needed to understand what happened; I was bored quickly.

This account delivers! Another reviewer stated that all of the blame was placed on Fastow, I have to disagree. Fastow took advantage of an environment that allowed his actions to go unchecked and capitalized on that advantage. We've all worked for people like that (although not to this extreme, I would hope.)

The account is even-handed; there is plenty of blame to go around and the telling of the story is completely engrossing.

I could not put my iPOD away

This book is a page-turner from beginning to end. Like other very engaging books, I was swept into another world -- this one a world of corporate greed and human foibles -- and I was upset when it was over. I highly recommend this book. The subject matter might seem dry but Eichenwald cuts through the complications and weaves a fantastic story. The story is all the more chilling in its truth. Well researched and wonderfully written, I give this book my highest recommendation. I only hope that Eichenwald writes a follow-up. The subsequent conviction and death of Ken Lay reminds the reader of the very real toll this true story took on people's lives.

Take a Second Look

Remember Enron? Well, Kurt Eichenwald gives a blow-by-blow account of what happened and why. This is a good book to read as we are distanced from that disgraceful period in our financial history. The characters drawn by Eichenwald are vivid, their actions are unbelievable, and the results of their audacity are greater than we will know.

The unabridged version is the way to go so far as this audio version is concerned. Just when you think you have heard it all, something new jumps out and says "boo!" Don't be put off by the length of the audio version.

The underbelly of greed is all here. To understand what people are capable of, listen to Conspiracy of Fools. Well written and well read.

Brilliant Approach!

I loved the way this book was written. The author made me feel like I was getting the inside scoop on how this disaster unfolded. I enjoyed it so much, that I listened to the entire audio twice!! I want to find more from this writer!!

Fascinating doings at Enron

Although I followed the debacle at Enron as it was unfolding in the press, I was astounded by the scope of the scandal as detailed in Conspiracy. The narration is crisp, the story troubling and nearly disorienting and the detail fascinating. Most disturbing of all was the palpable absence of integrity at the highest levels of corporate enterprise and those institutions the public relied upon to check greed and mismanagement. This was a great tale, well presented and highly informative. The recently reported jury verdict convicting Lay and Skilling is the icing on the cake.

Very enlightening

I really enjoyed this book, but could not help thinking that it could be slanted. It makes Fastow and Copper look extremely guilty and Skilling and Lay as just unknowing involvement. While reading it, Fastow's prison sentence was unexpectedly reduced from 10 to 6 years. Who is to know why. The courts found Skilling and Lay guilty. I would really like to ask the author how he came up with some of his information. It sounds very personal at times.
In spite of all my questions, it was very engrossing. A great listen.

Excellent

We have all heard bits and pieces or what we thought was the whole story, but the detail in this book is incredible. This is the best audiobook I have ever listened to. Dean Robertson does a great job in subtly changing inflection for the important character voices and captures mood very well. Excellent!

Engrossing

I went into this not sure if a 30-hour book about Enron would really be all that interesting. However, I ended up really enjoying it. It was very, very detailed and thorough, and the author did a great job of making the financials easy to understand. I could follow what was happening with the money with no problems and I have no financial or accounting background. The book is very much a narrative, and in spite of the large cast of characters and the detailed series of events, you get so that you are really engrossed in the story. It was hard at times to remember that this all really happened! The author obviously went to a lot of trouble (as he discusses in the interesting interview with him at the end of the book) to tell the story based on facts and not demonize anyone. The people come across as authentic and complex, just like they should. Even the corrupt people can be sympathetic (or at least pathetic) at times. I was a teenager when Enron went bankrupt so I really didn't know anything about the story going in, but that didn't affect my ability to follow the book - the author didn't make any assumptions about what people already knew about Enron.

I really enjoyed the narration. It engaged me in the book and was neither over-dramatic nor monotone. There were only two or three mispronounced words that I caught, which is honestly pretty impressive in 30+ hours of reading.

My only complaint is that there wasn't another 10 hours about the trials and the aftermath. I understand why - because the trials were ongoing when the book was written - but I still wanted it to continue! In general, the ending wasn't that satisfying, but it is real life, so obviously it couldn't all get neatly wrapped up. Overall, I would recommend the book to people interested in history books, actually, since it reads like a good history book, with a clear narrative and interesting in-depth coverage of the whole history of Enron as well as its demise.