Updated November 27, 2021
I picked this up Michael Lewis’ Boomerang at a book sale for 50 cents, so to use a finance reference, I guess this was a good return on investment. Eh? Eh? Or was it?
Against the Grain
This book was hard to finish. It was so boring. I love finance- I was an economics major- so this book was right up my alley. I think Michael Lewis is a great author. I loved Liar’s Poker and The Big Short but I honestly did not like this book. I say “against the grain” here because the feedback on Boomerang is overwhelmingly positive. In my personal opinion though, it was not any good.
What’s it about?
After the Great Recession and credit crisis in 2008, Michael Lewis goes around to world to places that were affected the most from lax lending policies, bad due diligence, carelessness, or just plain bad luck. And he writes stories about each place. Here is where he travels to:
- Iceland
- Greece
- Ireland
- Germany
- United States (California)
That pretty much sums up the whole book.
A Thought Experiment
As I said, I think Michael Lewis is a great author. But I had this thought while reading: If I read these pages and didn’t know who the author was (think “blind taste test”), what would I think? In other words, I believe this book is popular just because it has Michael Lewis’ name on it. But on blind merit, it’s boring and unremarkable.
One Takeaway from Boomerang
Policymakers and politicians are human beings and sometimes they have no idea what they are doing. Also, California is f**cked. 😉
How Many Stars?
2 🙁
There are plenty of other Michael Lewis books to check out before this one.
BOOK DETAILS ONE MORE TIME
Title: Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World
Author: Michael Lewis
Publish Date: October 3, 2011
ISBN: 0393081818 | ISBN-13: 978-0393081817
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Ryan’s Reading Reviews is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
Comments?
I gave Michael Lewis’ Boomerang a pretty harsh review. I know you disagree with me! Give me your opinion in the comments! Thanks for reading!