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Book Review: The Bursting of the Bubble
Bishop, Joseph
Bishop, Joseph
Abstract
The interest of, homo sapiens in money is almost as prurient and pervasive as his interest in sex. Indeed, although accurate data are not available, it seems likely that he spends more of his time pursuing the former than the latter. At any rate, books about money seem nearly as numerous and popular as books about sex. Ralph Ginzburg demonstrated his characteristic flair for profitable publishing when he switched from Eros (under some legal pressure, to be sure) to Moneysworth. But while good writers on sex are so few as to be virtually nonexistent, at least in modern times, there are several writers on finance whose works have genuine literary merit. Of these John Brooks is among the best. He may well be the best historian of high and low finance since those observant young men, Charles Francis Adams and his brother Henry, chronicled the rascalities of Jim Fisk, Jay Gould, Daniel Drew, and Cornelius Vanderbilt more than a century ago. It is unlikely that The Go-Go Years will sell as well as Jacqueline Susann's current novel, whatever it is called, but it will deserve better reviews.