Grind offers an account of Washington Mutual (“WaMu”), the nation’s largest savings and loan, and how it was mismanaged in the first decade of the century as a result of the boom in subprime mortgages and then excluded from the charmed circle of financial institutions deemed worthy of saving in 2008. Traber Burns’s punchy, gruff delivery is well suited to this story of small-time (and not so small-time) bankers drawn to disaster by the siren song of easy profits. Burns’s pace is even and easy to follow. Like the author, Burns refrains from conveying scorn but leaves it to the listener to judge. As in other books on similar subjects, the depictions of the wild mortgage market and the collapse of 2008 are riveting.
Pub Date: July 1, 2012
Duration: 14 hrs, 15 mins
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
The readers can't compensate for the unbearably pompous prose style of this extended parable about corporate politics and strategy.
Pub Date: N/A
Duration: 3 hrs
Publisher: Random House Audio
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
An engaging experience.
This audiobook deals with everything from the historic investments that led to world-dominating companies, such as the Chinese technology company Tencent, to predicting the products and services of the future. An audiobook of such complexity requires a narrator who can handle the task, and David Thorpe manages it admirably. Thorpe uses his masterly voice, which sits somewhere between that of a BBC World Service presenter and an easy, relaxed Home Counties accent, to guide listeners through a sea of numbers, acronyms, and terms such as YP, RPS, and market cap. Rather than simply reading, Thorpe presents the work with excitement and enthusiasm, and this enjoyment transfers to the listener.
An engaging experience.Pub Date: Feb. 20, 2026
Duration: 13 hrs
DD ISBN: 9781668103425
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Review Posted Online: March 17, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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