When I read “Serpent on the Rocks” I wasn’t as familiar with the Prudential scandal as I should have been. I was amazed and delighted by the detail in and readability of the book. With “Conspiracy” I worried that being more familiar with Enron would make it less interesting. But it was a great read. I wonder if others were as frustrated as I was — and if K. Eichenwald was — by the people who had the morality to be disturbed by the fraudulent behaviour but not the moral backbone to do something or leave the company? It drove me crazy. I wonder how many mid-level people did leave when they saw how badly the company was being run? (A view from the oilpatch in Calgary.)

I saw KE’s speech on C-SPAN on Saturday, bought the book on Sunday and finished Wednesday. I couldn’t stop reading. Now I’m scanning news outlets to learn more about the main players. I have to read KE’s The Informant. His style makes the complicated business issues understandable to the layperson. Thank you, KE!

If there’s a lesson in Conspiracy of Fools, it’s “ask questions.” It’s a stunning, disturbing, often darkly-comic look at the fall of Enron. Remember the “me first” corporate philosophy that bankrupted thousands in the 1980s. Guess what, it’s back! This time it’s ruined the lives of millions. Eichenwald has written a page turner thats insightful and entertaining. Highly recommended for fans of narrative non-fiction.

Geoffrey Jennings - Rainy Day Books, Fairway, Kansas

“I’ve only gotten through about 150 pages, but - WOW. It is truly monumental. It took everything I had learned in years of economics, accounting, finance, banking, and synthesized it all with the enormous upheavals in the market, in history, in politics of the last decade. It’s amazing achievement as well as an education. Extremely readable, if challenging. It should open a lot of people’s eyes about the mind-boggling financial wranglings that have become a reality. Eichenwald is especially good at illustrating the awesome art
and power of our imagination and creativity when applied to the exploitation of loopholes.”

— Linda Marotta of Shakespeare and Co., NY.

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Enjoy!