Maxed Out

Hard Times, Easy Credit, and the Era of Predatory Lenders

By: James D. Scurlock

Narrated by: James D. Scurlock

Length: 4 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

Maxed Out exposes the recent history and culture of debt for all of its absurdities and contradictions. From the gilded, master-planned communities of northern Las Vegas to America's Deep South and inner cities, the world's largest financial institutions are trolling for customers - from the nouveau riche to the poorest members of society, who counter-intuitively make for the largest profits.

Another profitable group can be found in and around our nation's universities, where credit-card issuers are forming "partnerships" with colleges: paying them millions of dollars for access to their students' personal information and essentially setting kids up for financial ruin.

Maxed Out examines an industry that thrives on making people fail, then pursues them relentlessly to death's door. The industry's frontier is called "debt buying" and it's a veritable Wild West in which young men are hoping to make vast fortunes off of the misery and misfortune of others. Their tool is a vast trove of personal information that can be bought for next to nothing - as well as intimidation, guilt, and fear.

By turns hilarious, fascinating, and deeply disturbing, Maxed Out is ultimately one observer's answer to the question, "Why can't we get out of debt?"

©2007 James D. Scurlock. All rights reserved (P)2007 Simon and Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"Scurlock deserves credit (no pun intended) for opening more eyes to this dire issue." (Publishers Weekly)
"Can it be fun to read about people's lives being ruined by predatory lenders? Yes, oddly enough, if James Scurlock is doing the writing. He's as fiendishly clever as the banks and credit-card companies he goes after, which is saying a lot. After reading Maxed Out, you're going to want to shed your creditors and reacquaint yourself with the concept of cash." (Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch)

FANTASTIC

I recommend this book to everyone. Especially those who find themselves one paycheck away from being homeless.

Terrible

Terrible, anti-corporate and bemoaning of reality. The author needs a lesson in basic economics.