The definitive volume on Enron's amazing rise and scandalous fall, from an award-winning team of Fortune investigative reporters.
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"Very well writen study of the rise and fall of Enron. Not only was the book easy and fun to read, but Mclean does a fabulous job of explaining the complicated Enron fraud to a non-finance person like myself. I feel like I understand so much more about recent corporate fraud having read this book."
— Elizabeth (5 out of 5 stars)
The best book about the Enron debacle to date.
— BusinessWeekThe authors write with power and finesse. Their prose is effortless, like a sprinter floating down the track.
— USA TodayWell-reported and well-written.
— Warren Buffett" A fun way to learn about slimy Enron and the sleazy slimy goons who took it down. "
— Joyce, 2/20/2014" deja vu' all over again "
— Tim, 1/27/2014" This was deeply in engrossing and kept me talking about the abuses of Enron for a good month. Now I worry about what the expose book of our current economic situation will say! "
— Catriona, 1/24/2014" Information overload. This was easy to digest in pieces. After reading I watched the documentary. Although some interesting stories were left out, such as Rebecca Mark's contribution to the smoke and mirrors, it was well worth the 109 minutes. "
— Dana, 1/2/2014" This one was sometimes tough going, trying to follow the ins and outs of the questionable accounting and business schemes, but, in the end, it's about the people whose greed and vanity caused one of the biggest buxiness scandals in living memory. I'm satisfied to be able to say I have read it, and I did like the book, but not enough to recommend it to many people. "
— Dave, 12/27/2013" Why reported narratives can make sense of confusing sagas like the Enron scandal. "
— Mark, 12/12/2013" Interesting and disturbing at the same time... "
— Mike, 12/12/2013" If you are going to commit a crime make sure the monetary value of the crime is the highest posible to enure the lowest punishment possible "
— Cortney, 12/9/2013" Good subway read. The story was far more intriguing than I anticipated. It just confirmed suspicions for me, but sometimes you gotta do that. "
— Derek, 11/11/2013" Good read not quite as gripping as barbarians at the gate and less character development. Kinda shows how tough it is to build real value and also how if short term profits are high enough, folks don't worry about long term effects as they don't care. "
— Shriram, 10/23/2013" One of the best books I've read. Very interesting - detailed and possibly boring at times, but overall it was an informative and entertaining book. "
— Julia, 8/29/2013" I think I'm drawn to books with "rise and fall" in the title. "
— Sarah, 8/28/2013" Very complex, but a good inside look at what went terribly wrong at Enron. "
— Victoria, 8/24/2013" I can't believe these people got away with what they did. One jaw-dropping revelation after another. McLean does an excellent job of delving into the minute details of the deals that brought down Enron. "
— Gail, 4/21/2013" The topic is crazy interesting. The book does a decent job covering a dense history of a muddled company and keeping it readable. "
— Jasmine, 2/8/2013" Great book. Hard to put down. "
— Robin, 11/16/2012" Decent read, but very dense and redundant at times (in addition to being quite long). Also, the "updated" information was only recent as of 2007. "
— Paul, 10/31/2012" Great story about the imperfection of human systems. "
— Michael, 3/28/2012" This book is very, very well researched. I just had to stop reading because I was appalled at all of the shit those people did. "
— John, 2/16/2012" Essential reading for any American who lived through the tech bubble of the 1990's and through the Enron debacle. The authors do a terrific job of not writing it like a HBR case study. Intriguing stuff. "
— Jason, 6/16/2011" Interesting, I was just done reading Wall Street corruption books. Maybe I'll get back to it someday "
— Brian, 6/4/2011" Interesting and disturbing at the same time... "
— Mike, 5/10/2011" Great book. Hard to put down. "
— Robin, 2/25/2011" great investigative reporting...well written...easy to read.<br/>turns your stomach what this group of people got away with, and how. "
— Dan, 2/2/2011" Read this book if you have ever heard someone in authority tell you something that sounds confusing to you. There's a lot of corporate talk that industry leaders get away with because NOBODY dares question them. This author dared ask some questions. "
— Barb, 1/19/2011" I saw the documentary first. The author is interviewed in it and I thought it would be a great book. It was and i learned a lot. "
— Bob, 11/21/2010" Good book! Took me awhile to read it though because very technical. "
— Katie, 11/19/2010Bethany McLean is a writer for Vanity Fair and the coauthor of The Smartest Guys in the Room. She was previously editor at large of Fortune and spent three years working at Goldman Sachs. She lives in Chicago.
Peter Elkind is an editor at large at Fortune magazine and an award-winning investigative reporter. He has written for the New York Times Magazine, the Washington Post, and Texas Monthly, and he is a former editor of the Dallas Observer. He lives in Texas.
Dennis Boutsikaris is a two-time OBIE award winner. He has received five Audie Awards and seven Golden Earphone Awards for his work in over 100 audiobooks and was voted one of the Best Voices of the Year by AudioFile magazine. He has appeared in numerous Broadway, television, and film roles. He played Mozart on Broadway in Amadeus and has appeared on television shows including Shameless, The Good Wife, House M.D., Grey’s Anatomy, ER, and Law & Order.