Agatha Christie and the Dandelion Poisoner.
All the Devils Are Here Audiobook By Bethany McLean, Joe Nocera cover art

All the Devils Are Here

The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis

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All the Devils Are Here

By: Bethany McLean, Joe Nocera
Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
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As soon as the financial crisis erupted, the finger-pointing began. Should the blame fall on Wall Street, Main Street, or Pennsylvania Avenue? On greedy traders, misguided regulators, sleazy subprime companies, cowardly legislators, or clueless home buyers?

According to Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera, two of America's most acclaimed business journalists, the real answer is all of the above-and more. Many devils helped bring hell to the economy. And the full story, in all of its complexity and detail, is like the legend of the blind men and the elephant. Almost everyone has missed the big picture. Almost no one has put all the pieces together.

All the Devils Are Here goes back several decades to weave the hidden history of the financial crisis in a way no previous book has done. It explores the motivations of everyone from famous CEOs, cabinet secretaries, and politicians to anonymous lenders, borrowers, analysts, and Wall Street traders. It delves into the powerful American mythology of homeownership. And it proves that the crisis ultimately wasn't about finance at all; it was about human nature.

©2010 Bethany McLean (P)2010 Penguin Audio Americas Banks & Banking Economic History Economics Real Estate United States Banking Global Financial Crisis Mortgage Stock Financial Crisis
Comprehensive History • Thorough Research • Exceptional Narration • Educational Content • Compelling Storytelling
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Author covers all the parties contributing to the crisis in considerable detail: lenders and rogue loan officers, MBS parties including the GSEs, regulators, credit rating agencies, and all the parties who played both long and short sides of the credit derivatives. Many or most of them did not understand the details of what they were buying.

Would have liked to see more on the culpability of lawmakers who pushed for lower underwriting standards for low income /credit borrowers as well as the many borrowers who knowingly took on too much risk or walked away from underwater properties when the could afford repay their debt. Of course there were many who bought unaffordable homes and got loans out of ignorance (as well as plenty who were intentionally and criminally misled by lenders, but these were covered in the book) .

Great overview of the crisis.

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When I read "Too Big to Fail" about the story of the financial meltdown of 2008, I expected some background information about how this whole mess started. Instead, it was a story about the people participating in that mess.
"All the Devils Are Here" is all about the facts; facts about people, events, corporations, successes and failures. Sometimes your head might hurt from all the financial acronyms, even though they’re all explained in some details. But there’s just too many of them and they all sound the same.
However, it’s still a great a read that has a lot of details about how the financial meltdown and its roots since the Regan administration.
One thing is completely true about this book, the title.

Very True Title

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Riveting story of the leadup to the financial crisis. Shocking details of industry norms at the time which contributed to the situation.

Riveting

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Great, well-researched chronicling of the great financial crisis. Excellent job diving into each one of the firms and personalities that played a role in the melt down.

Excellent Book

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Regulators & Financial Companies were up to it again. Good story kind of depressing not because of the author or the narrator but the fact that this should have been seen before it happened.

Financial Services Does it Again

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The book ripped the scab off the wounds inflicted by the Financial Crisis. I hope this generation and generations to come read this book. Blind faith in your government and in the institutions that control it will either get you killed or ruin your life. Do your own homework and follow your gut.

Fannie & Reddit absolved, and All The Devils Got Away

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Having worked in the NYC area, and exposure to mortgage backed securities, I got a clearer picture of the true race to the bottom. I'm not sure if bailing out homeowners instead of the lenders would have been better for the country, but morally it should have been what was done. The book timelines the events in a "Frontline" fashion but requires a bit of foreknowledge into financial knowledge to really appreciated the events. It documents the path from Wall Street to the White House. Presuming the parties involved weren't duped, and they weren't, one has to worry about what the real underlying horror would have been realized had the bailouts not occurred. If we could turn back the clock and chosen the moral choice, that might have resulted in a longer recovery but our country would have been better for it. Time will tell.

The backstory behind the bailouts

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What did you love best about All the Devils Are Here?

It did an excellent job covering a complicated subject. I would have to listen to it several more times to really understand all the things that contributed to the finanacial system meltdown, but not due to any shortcoming of the book.

What about Dennis Boutsikaris’s performance did you like?

It's not a work of fiction with multiple characters so the reader does not have to do multiple voices or anything, but he read it like he was telling a story and sounded like he was interested in what he was telling. That makes a big difference over a dead pan recitation.

If you could give All the Devils Are Here a new subtitle, what would it be?

The Financial System Perfect Storm

Any additional comments?

This is a pretty long audiobook and often with long fact-filled non-fiction books, I grow tired of them before they are over, even when I am intrigued with the subject matter. Not with this one. It was written well and read well and held my attention throughout.

Excellent all around.

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This book would have been difficult to follow if it were not for Dennis B’s delightful narration.

He can make a subject that may be dull for some-interesting.

The story is very telling if nothing else but pointing out a blissful marketplace with greedy financial few. Very telling, on both sides.

Recommend.

Excellent listen

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This book goes deep into the financial crisis. The depth can be difficult to understand without some knowledge of the industry. I wouldn’t advise this book for finance beginners.

Great deep dive BUT some background is helpful

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