In The Monster by Michael W. Hudson we have, despite the fact that it’s a carefully researched piece of nonfiction, a true novel of corporate and political crime, crime that reaches to the highest and lowest levels. The book wins the Writer Working award for the longest and best subtitle of this or any other year [How a gang of predatory lenders and Wall Street bankers fleeced America–and spawned a global crisis.] The add-on was a great idea because the title tells nothing of what the book is really about, and you don’t find out what it means until halfway through. All this is fine with me, because once you know the answer it was worth the wait, and the subtitle sums things up nicely.

This book will angrify you and raise your blood pressure, but I still encourage you to read it. Once you have, you’ll know that it’s not just the naive and greedy people who signed up for loans they could never pay back; not just the thug frauds who designed, misrepresented, and sold the loans; not just Wall Street and the bankers; not just the politicians; not just the president. It was all of them, and we’re paying while they play. Grrr.