I respectfully disagree with several other reviewers who said this book was clearly written. It's clear perhaps for investment bankers. I have an MBA from a top business school and I got lost in the numbers and just skimmed them. The only numbers that really stood out for me were the compensation ones. What does one do with $20 million annual salary?
Even if the numbers weren't completely accurate, William Cohan gives the reader a good sense of the Wall Street culture and personalities. It's very entertaining reading.
The structure of the book was confusing. I felt the second half of the book was rushed and wandered all over the place. It's almost as if an edited and shorter version of this section should have been first, since it gave a lot of background into the key players, culture and economic times. The story of Lehman Brothers collapse at the end, while interesting, seemed more of an afterthought.
It would have been interesting to have more analysis done on the economic effects. Several other reviewers have alluded to Cohan's shallow analysis of the housing meltdown.
Overall, I would give this book a lukewarm recommendation.
Get more detail about House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street.
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