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)

Fact stranger and more entertaining than fiction

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

absolute tops

What did you like best about this story?

great investigative journalism, blending an explanation of the sovereign debt crisis with absolutely UNBELIEVABLE and entertaining stories

What about Dylan Baker’s performance did you like?

the wryness of his voice fit the material well

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

I laughed out loud several times

A Must Read for Fans of the "Big Short"!

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

The humor. It is a very funny book, surprisingly. Lewis has such talent in irony and sarcasm.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The insight into the financial industry around to world.

Which character – as performed by Dylan Baker – was your favorite?

I have heard Michael Lewis speak and if I didn't know better I would have guessed that he did the narration. Wonderful choice!

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

There were many

Any additional comments?

As I have heard from commentators: Michael Lewis has a way of explaining detailed, esoteric financial information in a way that makes it understandable (and fun) to lay people.

OMG

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

Eye opening to the thieves in coopatate America that rob us blind! After hearing this book I realized more and more that the news on tv isn't news at all only entertainment. This book is real life society.

What did you like best about this story?

Inside scoop on Wallstreet

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Your American dollars stoen and not a dam thing you can do about it

Any additional comments?

You are required to listen to this book if you want to understand life in America.

Good book, not as good as The Big Short

Good book, scary to hear the reality of the facts. I prefer the narrator from the Big Short, but overall it was a good listen.

Great info about the banking & political crisises

I really liked learning about who and why the subdebt crisis occurred. An educational and entertaining read.

Anecdotes illustrating global economic crisis

Good, entertaining and illustrative anecdotes of people and situations that contributed to the global economic downturn. A follow-up to Lewis's Big Short.

I liked very much

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

It is an interesting book. It enlarges the perception of what is happening in the economy of the world.

What other book might you compare Boomerang to and why?

It is the first book with this subject that I read. So, I haven't any other book tho compare.

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

That corruption is present in all the countries, and that this is the main cause of the crysis.

Learn to pronounce non-English words!

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

Not high.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Boomerang?

Lewis's clear explanations of difficult financial concepts. His humor.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Dylan Baker?

This is one of the few books I would have preferred the author to read.

Any additional comments?

If you're going to make an audio version of a book about the global economy, it would be nice if the producers and narrator did due diligence in learning how to say non-English words. It sounds like it was made by a bunch of provincial, ignorant non-readers. The narrator isn't saying the text from memory so would it have killed him to add little stresses and notes on his text when he reached a name, a place or a word in another language?

An enjoyable and enlightening read

As a financial illiterate (or nearly one) I actively seek books that attempt to unscramble all things economic. This book accomplishes that, while offering some reassurance. As it turns out, I wasn't the only one confused about the worldwide financial mess. EVERYONE was taken in - EVEN the buttoned-up Germans.

Lewis capably explains how each culture was willingly bamboozled in its own unique way.
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Must read!

This should be required reading! We have become a people willing to mortgage our children and grandchildren‘s future‘s. This book is a wake up call!