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)

One of Michael Lewis's best

Would you listen to Boomerang again? Why?

I would listen again as there are a lot of interesting detail that I may have missed and / or want to review. The subject is complicated and needs to be fully understood.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Boomerang?

The sense of humor and the funny sagas about an issue that is not fundamentally funny, but there are times in life you just have to find the humor in events even though it hurts.
One event that stuck out a little was the fisherman turned Investment banker literally overnight.

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

Yes I have and he is a fabulous orator and story teller. I will seek out his other narrations.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

This is my third Michael Lewis book and I plan to read them all eventually.

Worth rehearing, even if you read the originals

If you haven't discovered Lewis's dissection of how crazy things have become in his Vanity Fair articles, then this collection is a must.

Financial Debacles Made Easy

Would you consider the audio edition of Boomerang to be better than the print version?

Yes.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Boomerang?

The manipulation by the Greeks to get into the euro financial community.

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

Excellent presentation, but I do not know if I have heard him before.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

It is not that kind of book. It is more the kind of book where you slap your forehead wondering how they could have done what they did.

Any additional comments?

If the financial idiocy of other people and other countries make your life seem, somehow, or comforting, you also quite sure after reading this book. Even if the United States torpedoed its own economy, Michael Lewis makes it clear that we were not alone.

The US section was a bit odd. Fun, but out of sync with the rest of the book.

All in all, a fun book to listen to. It feels like Lewis is whispering stores in your ear.

Awesome account of the fall of countries

Any additional comments?

I am only a third of the way through and felt compelled to tell you that this is a great book, at least so far. I can't see it getting worse, just better and better. His sense of humour is perfect and his candour is sometimes cringing when you imagine yourself listening to Michael Lewis' opinion about you. He pulls no punches and I wouldn't put it past countries to ban him or set people out to get him. I follow the news, and the news around the European debacle fairly closely, but you don't get this deep via the news. It is amazing how these countries operated. They seem like kids in a candy store. I am a quarter Icelandic and he sure trashes us. Then the Irish and...look out Greeks! I don't think any country will come out looking good. Even the Germans, who are the supposed saviours of this crisis (Greek vote is tomorrow!), get trashed by him. Nicely, convincingly, but still trashed. Loving it.

Fascinating story, well told

Lewis does a great job at getting to the roots of and differentiating the 2008 economic collapse in several of the hardest-hit countries, providing a cultural backdrop for context. His investigation of the Icelandic, Greek, German, Irish and American cultures and motives of the players involved (bankers, govt officials, etc) illustrate that events leading up to the crash differed greatly by country. Lewis details the absurdity of the key players actions with side-splitting humor, although at times he is a bit too snarky.

I listen to this for 2 times

Any additional comments?

It's a fascinating novel-like read that takes audiences to a tour around Eruope, in the name of finacial disaster investigation. And bring audiences back to US financial crisis at the end of the book.
I am not sure how accurate is the material since the tone of the book is quite funny(as michael lewis always has been), but definetly a book worth reading, even if you know nothing about what's happening in Europe.

Sequel to The Big Short

Not as spell-binding or funny as the Big Short, but nonetheless quite interesting. A fairly quick read and well worth the time.

Another excellent title from Michael Lewis

This book is done with humor and sarcasm to produce an understandable outline of the current problems faced in the global financial crisis. Lewis breaks down the issues of Iceland, Ireland and Germany...tracking back to the inevitable start of this mess - WE THE PEOPLE OF THE US. This is a mirror that is unpleasant to gaze in, but the presentation will leave you laughing as you shake your head at what all this may mean for our future.

Michael Lewis' Boomerang: Best Book written yet!

What made the experience of listening to Boomerang the most enjoyable?

Great Voice Easy to listen to.

What did you like best about this story?

Michael Lewis has a fascinating way of describing different cultures

What about Dylan Baker’s performance did you like?

He was engaging and also animated. Very good speaker

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I was fascinated with every chapter. particularly Greece and Municipal Governments.

Is this timely or what?

Fabulous book but I have to say that the narration made it a five star (instead of just a four). Funny, ridiculous, profound.