Author:Ben Mezrich
The true story of the Ivy League hedge fund cowboys who gambled with the dangerously high stakes of the Asian stock market.
John Malcolm, high school football hero and Princeton graduate made his millions back in the early '90s, a time when dozens of elite young American graduates made their fortunes in hedge funds in the Far East, beating the Japanese at their own game, riding the crashing waves of the Asian stock markets, gambling at impossibly high stakes and winning. Failure meant not only bankruptcy and disgrace à la Nick Leeson, but potentially even death - at the hands of the Japanese Yakuza: one of the world's most notoriously violent organised crime syndicates.
Ugly Americans tells Malcolm's story, and that of others like him, in a high octane book, filled with glamour, money and the dangers these incur, this true story is a cross between Mezrich's own best-selling Bringing Down the House and Michael Lewis' Liar's Poker.
The author of the compelling Bringing Down the House ... returns with another vivid true story ... Any movie shouldn't lack for colour
—— GQWhen the movie rights to a novel are snapped up by Hollywood A-lister Kevin Spacey, you know its something special. And Ugly Americans most definitely is ... An incredible true story ... it's impossible not to be amazed and absorbed into this parallel universe where East meets West, gangsters meet cowboys and everyone is just an earthquake away from disaster
—— Scottish Daily RecordThe propulsive narrative fairly roars "guilty pleasure." Yet Ugly Americans is revelatory, a rush that leaves the reader reeling but reflective
—— Philadelphia Inquirer[Contains] all the ingredients of a great narrative - a main character the reader can relate to, an appealing love interest, money, danger, the need for acceptance, suspense ... In a truly engaging look at how an innocent who thinks he knows the world does actually end up understanding a small but significant piece of it, Mezrich manages to incorporate solid journalism into a narrative that just plain works
—— Publisher’s WeeklyA high-octane passion play pitting a young man's ambition against his sense of humanity
—— OregonianSuch a powerful and thought-provoking read
—— Clover Stroud, author of The Red of My BloodEmma Gannon is a "success veteran," who has climbed the ladder of achievement, and experienced the vast difference between our cultural definition of "success" and genuine happiness. In this book, speaking from her own experience and the wisdom of many others, she shows us just how misguided our collective ideas of success can be. Then she offers a fresh perspective from which readers can begin to see their own paths to joyful, fulfilling lives. A wise and immensely helpful book for anyone disillusioned by the struggle to "get ahead".
—— Martha Beck, author of The Way of IntegrityEmma is wise beyond her years and has a way of putting into words beautifully what we're all thinking. The Success Myth is inspiring, candid and intelligent - I encourage everyone to read it.
—— Elizabeth Uviebinené, author of The Reset: Ideas to Change How We Work and LiveA deeply personal, authentic and relatable read. It made me breathe countless, heavy sighs of relief.
—— Sian Clifford, ActorI don't think I have ever needed a book more than I needed this book.
—— Dr Soph, Sunday Times bestselling author of A Manual for Being HumanYou will not be able to put this book down.
—— The IndependentI inhaled it in one sitting. It made my shoulders drop three inches by the time I'd read the first chapter. Why? It is a permission slip to escape 'the achievement trap'.
—— MetroIncredibly vivid
—— Press AssociationI've read lots of books about economics this last year. This is one of the very best... Superb
—— StandardA fluent and indirect paean to Keynesian economics... this resonates with the contemporary turmoil in global financial markets
—— Financial TimesAhamed unravels the story of the most terrible financial collapse in history from the perspective of the four men who were largely responsible: the leading central bankers in the United States, Britain, France and Germany
—— Mail on Sunday[a] very readable portrait of the bankers who allowed the Great Depression to happen
—— TelegraphPossibly the most important political book that I have read since The Spirit Level
—— Stuart Weir, co-founder of Charter 88, former editor of the New StatesmanHe has prised the lid off an important and terrifying can of worms
—— Martin Vander Weyer , Literary ReviewLively and well written book
—— Toby Young , Mail on SundayA welcome account of how the sun is never allowed to set on the British empire's old islands, whose fiscal pirates hoard the tax-free treasures of the rich
—— Geoffrey Robertson , New Statesman, Books of the YearShaxson delves into capitalism's secret nooks and tells us about how a culture of secrecy can perpetuate itself. Very interesting
—— William Leith , Evening StandardA compelling read [...] an important and very much a live topic, it'll take you a few hours to read the book but it will be a worthwhile investment of time
—— Peter Magee , BookbagWhat makes this such a good read for the layman is that the author employs all his journalistic skill (he used to work at Reuters) to illustrate his arguments and uses real examples to real examples to illustrate complex issues
—— John Arlidge , Sunday TimesThis book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the world we live in
—— Brian Maye , Irish TimesThis engrossing book about the offshore banking racket, with its eye-opening scrutiny of tax havens and the suited scoundrels who profit from them, will make you think again about the murkier side of the City...This first-rate forensic work ends with a plea that the closed City "must be abolished and submerged into a...fully democratic London"
—— Boyd Tonkin , Independent[An] informed polemic against finance capital
—— Oliver Kamm , The TimesNow more than a decade old, this is still the best introduction to the world of tax havens
—— Economist, *Summer Reads of 2022*