Too Big to Fail

The ever-growing pile of books about the Great Recession holds two kinds of tomes: those that pontificate about what went wrong and what should change, and those that detail the minute-by-minute action in the boardrooms of Wall Street and Washington. This book is the second kind. New York Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin, who gained access to many high-level financial players, provides an ambitious, remarkably detailed account of the collapse and bailouts of 2008. He accomplishes two noteworthy feats: He digs up information that wasn’t widely known, and he beautifully writes a page-turning yarn. getAbstract recommends his book to investors, policy makers and businesspeople who seek a clear observer’s perspective on Wall Street’s meltdown.