Boomerang

Travels in the New Third World

By: Michael Lewis

Narrated by: Dylan Baker

Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Big Short, Liar’s Poker and The Blind Side!

The tsunami of cheap credit that rolled across the planet between 2002 and 2008 was more than a simple financial phenomenon: it was temptation, offering entire societies the chance to reveal aspects of their characters they could not normally afford to indulge.

The Greeks wanted to turn their country into a pinata stuffed with cash and allow as many citizens as possible to take a whack at it. The Germans wanted to be even more German; the Irish wanted to stop being Irish.

The trademark of Michael Lewis’s best sellers is to tell an important and complex story through characters so outsized and outrageously weird that you’d think they have to be invented. (You’d be wrong.) In Boomerang, we meet a brilliant monk who has figured out how to game Greek capitalism to save his failing monastery; a cod fisherman who, with three days’ training, becomes a currency trader for an Icelandic bank; and an Irish real estate developer so outraged by the collapse of his business that he drives across the country to attack the Irish Parliament with his earth-moving equipment.

Lewis’s investigation of bubbles beyond our shores is so brilliantly, sadly hilarious that it leads the American listener to a comfortable complacency: Oh, those foolish foreigners. But when Lewis turns a merciless eye on California and Washington DC, we see that the narrative is a trap baited with humor, and we understand the reckoning that awaits the greatest and greediest of debtor nations.

©2011 Michael Lewis (P)2011 Simon & Schuster

Critic reviews

“No one writes with more narrative panache about money and finance than Lewis.” (Michiko Kakutani, New York Times)

Follow Up From The Big Short

A follow up to The Big Short focused on the debt to GDP ratios of countries who's economies are in chaos - Iceland, Ireland and Greece. Just when things start getting interesting the book ends. It would have been nice to hear Lewis' take on the other countries on the list for pending disaster.

Layman's terms of what happened in Europe

I enjoyed listening to this book. Easy to understand; it was funny in parts but most of all, it's scary how much debt these countries have accumulated. The narrator is fine, but sounds a little smirkish at times. If you want to be able to talk intelligently about the European debt crisis, this book is a great start to understanding how it started, how the countries are dealing with it, and the magnitude of the problem.

I do wish it were a little longer and went into more detail on more of the countries. But, Michael Lewis has a knack to taking the complex and making it simple and entertaining. I have recommended it already to all my work colleagues.

The Effects of the Cheerleader Economy

There were a few people, like Ron Insana, who talked about the emerging problems, the excesses, in the 90's. He gave up, and so did most others. Everyone became a cheerleader and everything was 'fine' for a few years, despite the tech bubble collapse. But the 2008 collapse is proving difficult to fix, and there has been no recovery, to date.

This book pretty much explains the extent of the problem. It is deadly serious and seriously funny, thanks to the writing style and the over the top excess of everything described.

It's definitely worth the time and money and it's a book that works great as an audiobook.

An explanation of the world economy

Where does Boomerang rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Second only to the Big Short also by Michael Lewis. The narrator was excellent at capturing the tone of the work.

What does Dylan Baker bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He captures the intent and the humor of the author with his voice inflections. Very easy to listen to.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

The amazingly crazy aspects of the bond market and how very ordinary Icelandic, Irish and Greek citizens became overnight investment experts and bankers. A mind blowing account of how these countries bankrupted themselves with subprime mortgage securities

Any additional comments?

Michael Lewis' 3 books of Liars Poker, The Big Short and Boomerang tell the story of the subprime bond market and how it came to be, grew and collapsed in easy to understand terms. If you want to understand how we got here and where we are headed as a country they are required reading. Irreverent and entertaining and, sadly, true.

mean writing

Micheal Lewis sure does insult a lot of people and countries. the book would benefit from fewer insults but it still is a fairly good book.

Classic Michael Lewis...witty, entertaining, and illuminating

Boomerang is a collection of loosely connected essays skipping around the globe, examining the financial crises of various markets/nations/societies.

The author, Michael Lewis is perhaps the most insightful and entertaining chronicler of current financial trends and this book is no exception.

The plight of Iceland, Ireland, various municipal governments, and (of course) Greece figure prominently in Boomerang.

The section concerning Greece is especially entertaining...and disturbing.

As of the date of this review, the Greek government is on the brink of default.

After re-reading Lewis' account of his journey to Athens as well as his highly entertaining visit to the Vatopadi Monastery, it's hard to see a default and "Grexit" as anything but inevitable.

Boomerang is highly recommended to Michael Lewis fans, those interested in financial markets, and anyone who appreciates a talented writer and gifted story teller.

Interesting read

Once again Lewis takes a rather dry subject and injects it with flavour. So interesting.

Fun. Light cool

Narrative is light. I finished it expecting for more. Michael lewis is excellent writer a b

An easy intro to the global financial crisis

I’ve always found the financial crisis difficult to understand, particularly when it comes to the global level. But Michael Lewis makes it entertaining and easy-to-understand through his firsthand account of the larger-than-life characters from five nations: Iceland, Greece, Ireland, Germany, and (last but not least) the US.

The story of Iceland was especially fascinating – I remember a business acquaintance there who had to fly with thousands in cash shortly after the 2008 meltdown. Lewis not only explains the cause behind the collapse, but also the reasons for the rise of cheap credit in a nation that once made its fortune in fishing.

Dylan Baker’s conversational tone makes it feel like Lewis is talking right to you, and he gets the occasional notes of sarcasm just right too. I’ll definitely be listening to more from him, and Lewis.

Good, but not great

Kinda wish he had a better thread(s) connecting all the short stories more cohesively. One thread that seems to permeate throughout the credit crisis worldwide is how humans are too often seduced by short-term gains, sacrificing the long-term good. This was well illustrated in the book.