Rebecca Smith (1)

A really good book that covers the stories written by these two Wall Street Journal reports over the course of October through December 2001. I did enjoy "The Smartest Guys in the Room" and when I saw this one, that describes the fall of Enron as happening in only 24 days, I realized I had to have it.

There is a lot of business talk in this book. I was not a business major, nor do I fully grasp how debt is anything but something to get rid of as quickly as possible. The idea of "leveraged debt" is an oxymoron in my (many) books! But all kidding aside, the fact that Enron created such complicated balance sheets and explanations for what they did was part of the problem. So was the complicity of rating agencies - they fell for guys in power who charmed their way through quarterly stock updates instead of asking the tough questions.

This book is along the lines of "All the President's Men," in that it involves the lives of the journalists who uncovered the lies and asked the right questions. And it is fascinating to remember that a couple of tough questions, and a couple of tips shared, began the questioning process that led to the collapse of this industry behemoth. In only 24 days.… (mais)

I just finished reading the Kindle version after finding a recommendation in Library Thing. The subject of the Enron collapse is fascinating but this is not the best coverage of the subject. The authors are Wall Street Journal reporters which usually gaurantees good writing but here they spend way too much time sorting out the differing views and contributions of the respective authors; who cares? Rather than telling a story about their work as reporters, the authors should have told the story of Enron. Those who are interested in that story should read The Smartest Guys in the Room instead of this book.… (mais)