IGX

Traces the aftermath of the sub-prime financial crisis and the looming problem of countries being unable to pay their debts, across Europe and back to the United States.

Each section (Ireland, Greece, Iceland, Germany and the United States) is a bit of a hit piece -- but in a funny way.

In fact, I think the US gets off the easiest.

Good interviews, insightful thoughts.

9.5/10

Good book.

All the stories first appeared in Vanity Fair, in case anyone subscribes.

Entertaining book, but Michael Lewis is about as loose with the facts as you can get from a writer of this renown. Does anybody really believe that Iceland has a governmental agency that verifies the absence of earth dwelling elves on potential building sites, or that numerous Icelanders die in their showers every year from scalding hot water? That motherfucker never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Kazuya Mishima wrote:Entertaining book, but Michael Lewis is about as loose with the facts as you can get from a writer of this renown. Does anybody really believe that Iceland has a governmental agency that verifies the absence of earth dwelling elves on potential building sites, or that numerous Icelanders die in their showers every year from scalding hot water? That motherfucker never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Well, Icelanders do believe in the existence of elves, and the Ring Road goes around several sites where elves are thought to live.
I'm pretty sure the shower thing is bullshit, as is some other stuff. He happened to get bumped, twice, by an Icelandic banker, and drew the conclusion that Icelandic men like to bump each other all the time.
And came to the conclusion that in one of the more egalitarian societies on earth, men somehow don't respect women, and that was a major cause of the countries problems.
I noticed a lot of the shit he wrote revealed more about his own biases then it did about the subject at hand

Well, he can get off on some weird tangents...love the part where he psychoanalyzes the supposedly scat obsessed collective psyche of Germany.

Icelandic men drink massive amounts of alcohol and become Viking warriors. Go anyplace downtown Reykjavik after about 10pm and guys will bump into you, purposely.

seeahill wrote:Icelandic men drink massive amounts of alcohol and become Viking warriors. Go anyplace downtown Reykjavik after about 10pm and guys will bump into you, purposely.

Wasn't my experience, but it was a long time ago and I am a badass Icelandic American

An icelander weighs in:

http://loud.anotherquietday.com/post/89 ... ut-iceland

Basically confirms Michael Lewis' comments.

Btw,

any other books he's written you all recommend?

Read the big short and reading home game.

I enjoyed this book, The Big Short, and Moneyball.

I refuse to read The Blind Side because of that sappy movie, the fact that Michael Oher himself told my own father that the book was about 75% bullshit, and it's about a nigger and I don't have much interest in those folks.