The Recessionistas
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3.8 • 23 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
It's the day after Labor Day, 2008, and the elite universe of New York's Upper East Side is about to unravel along with the economy. Socialite Grigsby Somerset is barely aware of her changing world, and has no idea her investment banker husband Blake is about to enter into a devil's bargain with hedge fund owner John Cutter. As autumn unfolds, Grigsby's fairytale life starts to unwind. Street-smart Renee Parker has been hired as John's executive assistant and is convinced that something is amiss with her new boss. Renee enlists her friend Sasha Silver, CEO of Silver Partners, to help her decipher what is happening. They soon discover that John is nearly ruined, except for the assets he is hiding in the Cayman Islands from his wife Mimi, and has concocted with Blake a scheme to redeem himself. This tale of expulsion from a modern-day Garden of Eden captures what happens when economic decline spells ruin for Manhattan's pampered elite.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An inessential romp through the economic collapse of 2008 from Lebenthal, member of a "storied Wall Street family," follows two Streeters as they scramble to salvage their money and their lives. Brash hedge fund owner John Cutter is busy hiding his money from his estranged wife while his accomplice, Blake Somerset, hangs on by a thread at crashing Lehman Brothers. Blake's shrewish wife, Grigsby, meanwhile, keeps a white-knuckle grip on the top rung of Upper East Side society. Look for oodles of air kissing, high-society shindigs, Wall Street jargon, and Bernie Madoff like skullduggery in this diary of craven greed and its inevitable comeuppance. Lebenthal, unfortunately, has a better handle on matters of the purse than matters of the heart, and while the business dope has its own velocity, the characters are little more than cutouts.
Customer Reviews
Beach read
Fun two day book for the beach. Characters were believable and after living through 2008 with my hedge fund husband, I was both astounded and repulsed by the manner in which all the women in this book, except Renee and her parents. Many New Yorkers with jobs in finance never conducted themselves in this way, before or after the fall.
Unnecessary and waste of time
A lot of the book drones on unnecessary background and conversations. Seems like the author has not any real knowledge of Wall Street or what these job roles really are. Very annoying CEO character in Sasha who complains about not getting any work, but is never in the office and constantly shopping— what do you expect?
Boring! Had to skip chapters hoping this would not be a complete waste of time and money! Unfortunately turned out to just that! Not even good for a free book. Just awful and disappointing!
Recesionista
Not very believable. Sasha came off as a kid who wanted her way and when she didn't get it she made up a lie as to why things didn't go her way.
I felt sorry for Harry. He was clearly dealing with a young lady who was given a job by her family and he was stuck with the spoiled brat she had become.
Why did Sasha find it so important to put the price of everything she purchased in the book. Just another sign of her lack of maturity.
In the end it came off as sour grapes. If Sasha was so important to the industry and was SO worried about her employees why did she "walk away"? Can you say FIRED!