[6VO]∎ PDF Free Ghosts of Manhattan Douglas Brunt 9781451672596 Books

Ghosts of Manhattan Douglas Brunt 9781451672596 Books

Download As PDF : Ghosts of Manhattan Douglas Brunt 9781451672596 Books

Ghosts of Manhattan Douglas Brunt 9781451672596 Books

I enjoyed this quick read -- it is essentially a love story against the backdrop of the leadup to the 2008 financial collapse with a Bonfire of the Vanities feel to it. The pace was good and the settings felt pretty realistic and the author did a good job of conveying the "feel" (and the sleaziness) of the whole scene of high stress trading, booze, cocaine, women and money, money money. The relationship between the narrator and his wife was interesting and despite the fact that he was immature and self-centered I found myself rooting for him. My only complaint is the number of loose ends: just one example is what, if anything, did he do with the information he had on the looming financial disaster? Also there were some things that just were not explained, such as the exact nature of Julia's relationship with Oliver and how it came about. There were others.
That said, it was a fun read and I'll read more by this author.


Tags : Ghosts of Manhattan [Douglas Brunt] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. By Douglas Brunt, his first highly regarded novel. ISBN 978-1-4516-7259-6. A wryly comic, first-person debut novel offering a withering view of life on Wall Street from the perspective of an unhappy insider who is too hooked on the money to find a way out,Douglas Brunt,Ghosts of Manhattan,Touchstone,1451672594,Family Life,Financial crises;Fiction.,Wall Street (New York, N.Y.);Fiction.,AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY FICTION,American Contemporary Fiction - Individual Authors +,FICTION Family Life General,FICTION Humorous Black Humor,FICTION Literary,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction-Coming of Age,Financial crises,GENERAL,General Adult,Literary,New York,United States,Wall Street (New York, N.Y.),Wall Street; The Wolf of Wall Street; the big short; financial analyst; great recession; market crash; white collar crime; Leonardo diCaprio; Bond Trader; Bear Stearns; goldman sachs; opening bell; Stock Market; Stock Market Crash; Megyn Kelly; Trading; Insider Trading; jordan belfort; financial future; financial forecast; investing; corruption;

Ghosts of Manhattan Douglas Brunt 9781451672596 Books Reviews

One needs to have some familiarity with the'young Turks' investment bankers of the 80's & 90's to fully appreciate this novel.Pre-existing empathy or antipathy will color your ability to withstand the debauchery of the lifestyles described.I do have some and i think the characterizations were amusing,even accurate.The evolution of the authors spousal relationship is the core element of plot which transcends the NYC ,Wall Steet characters in the end.
The added intrigue is the protaganists close proximity to the mortgage backed securities crisis of 2008.The unfolding events predict the wreckage that sub-prime loans etc. induced.
"Ghosts of Manhattan" is also about a crash. Written by Douglas Brunt, we experience the 2007 mortgage meltdown through the eyes of a Bear Sterns trader. We see the consequences of a government pushing housing ownership on those who can least afford the debt. We see corrupt bankers and corrupt brokers pushing crap on investors in a giant game of musical chairs. And you know the results bankruptcy for Bear and taxpayers forced to be the bailout. Some of the explanations of the machinations of the credit market may be a little hard to follow, but even the mucks didn't understand a lot of the swaps and derivatives. Even when the Bear chairman was told his firm was in deep trouble, he remained in denial and didn't understand the risk.

I liked the insider view. The author briefly was a trader on Wall Street and has friends in the business and news business who helped him get the book right (including Megyn Kelly).

This is an important book to read. Little has changed on Wall Street. The leverage is back; derivatives are bigger than ever; and interest rates are starting to rise. 2007 could happen again, soon.
Fiction is subjective, so I have no problem with folks who don't like this book. People hate my stuff too. Part of the game. But I do think it needs to be fairly explained to those deciding whether or not to buy it.

This isn't a thriller in the vein of The Firm or others in the "guys in white collars fleeing from baddies" genre. Don't buy it expecting it to toss you into suspenseful chases. However, you will likely stay up late into the night with it regardless.

It's closest comparison, story-wise, is The Great Gatsby. I'd throw in The Godfather Part 2 as well. Don't laugh, hear me out.

Like those classics of American storytelling, this is the story of a good man who has slowly been going bad, is aware of it, and is searching his soul for ways to fight it while still enjoying the trappings of what made him go bad. If that kind of complexity of character is appealing to you, you'll love this.

Things happen and the plot does move forward, but I'm guessing that Doug Brunt isn't trying to throw in arbitrary suspense or action. The financial crisis of 2008 never surfaces specifically but it lurks beneath the water like Jaws. It's suspenseful because you are learning the inside story of why there was a crisis in the first place.

Not the simplistic answer of "Wall Street was greedy." That is certainly true, but all of us are greedy. It's part of human nature. Brunt's genius with this book is making you feel like you are right there in the mix of these phony high rollers who are making tons of cash but behaving like spoiled children.

So many of the exhausting cliches of the genre are thankfully missing. For example, the main character's wife doesn't hate him, she deeply loves him. He deeply loves her. That makes their fights especially poignant and heart-wrenching because they sound like the fights in the homes of most normal marriages. No character in this book is completely good or completely evil. Refreshing and, naturally, controversial to folks who want to paint all Wall Streeters as devils in suits.

As far as the prose, it was a pure delight to read each sentence. They are very carefully constructed to put you in his thoughts without preaching to you. The wit is sharp, I laughed aloud in my office several times.

This will sound sexist to some, but I think it's one of the best masculine reads in years. It speaks to the hearts of men in many subtle ways. It's not that it's not for women; in fact, I very much recommend it to women as an opportunity to peer into our male souls. But few books are bold and skilled enough to examine deeply masculine issues in such a sympathetic way. The story does not condemn men for striving to attain and conquer, but it does point out the collateral damage if that instinct is left unchecked.

It deals with mature subject matter, so sensitive readers ought to be aware of that. But it's always in the context of the story, so please don't let that stop you from reading this one if you are up for it. Its very "realness" is what will likely resonate with you. It's one of those books that you put down and think about for days afterwards, and when people ask you why you loved it, you'll probably answer, "I'm not sure. It's just great."

Absolutely marvelous. I can't recommend it highly enough.
The main character is beginning to tire of managing a staff of coke-sniffing, hooker-hiring, millionaire peddlers of financial products. There is little character development here, just total immersion in a world of young hucksters with too much money who work in financial boiler rooms a few hours a day. They are so without redeeming traits that they are not believable and their escapades get boring very fast.

The plot revolves around the main character beginning to age out of the madness, but unable to let go because of his big salary. He is like a 60s introspective, self-absorbed person without much thought about how his angst is impacting his wife. There's not much background or detail about her, so it is hard to understand why she bothers any more.

This was like an addictive soap opera with beautiful but shallow characters. Not awful for a plane or a beach read.
I enjoyed this quick read -- it is essentially a love story against the backdrop of the leadup to the 2008 financial collapse with a Bonfire of the Vanities feel to it. The pace was good and the settings felt pretty realistic and the author did a good job of conveying the "feel" (and the sleaziness) of the whole scene of high stress trading, booze, cocaine, women and money, money money. The relationship between the narrator and his wife was interesting and despite the fact that he was immature and self-centered I found myself rooting for him. My only complaint is the number of loose ends just one example is what, if anything, did he do with the information he had on the looming financial disaster? Also there were some things that just were not explained, such as the exact nature of Julia's relationship with Oliver and how it came about. There were others.
That said, it was a fun read and I'll read more by this author.