Word: book
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...surprise the boss - especially on the negative side. Lewis was reportedly apoplectic about the size of Merrill's losses in the fourth quarter. But here's a question: What were BofA's risk managers doing? When BofA did its due diligence, it certainly went over Merrill's trading book. If the losses were tied to positions that had already been taken, then shame on BofA. If Merrill's traders made bad bets in the fourth quarter, it's worth asking again, Where were BofA's risk and compliance troops? Wouldn't you want to be all over these people, especially...
...cynical and joyless. The members of the mysterious organization are villainous to the point of cliché. (They have hairy hands and thin lips and slight accents - those bastards!) Even the possible-rape victim is shrill and self-serving and, well, cynical and joyless. As a result the book hangs on Kyle, and Kyle remains something of a cipher. He's got a kindly divorced father who lives in a small town in Pennsylvania and hunts deer, so we know we're supposed to like him. But mostly he just flip-flops between being angry and being very, very tired...
...None of this is to say that The Associate is a bad book. God knows it's not hard to read - with the exception of a miscalculated subplot about one of the frat brothers going to AA, it ticks along lightly and pleasantly - it's crafted and paced with the same signature glossy perfection that makes Grisham, book for book, probably the best-selling novelist in the world. It's just that it's not about anything. In fact it's amazing that anybody could put together a book that is this compulsively readable while at the same time being...
...world of The Associate is subtly distinct from our own reality. Take a look at a thriller like Daemon, by Daniel Suarez, a software consultant who actually understands how cutting-edge networks work. This is a book that's got the shock of the new, that's so fresh and well-informed that it's still covered in metal shavings and PVC dust. Reality is everywhere in Daemon, and it's exciting and scary. But who wants to be excited and scared all the time? The Associate is high-calorie comfort food, a thriller that doesn't actually thrill...
Frustrated by years of wrangling with city business restrictions and what he considers infringements of his First Amendment rights, Kenneth A. O’Brien—owner of the used book stand on Mass. Ave between Linden and Holyoke Streets—said he plans to give away his entire inventory by April.O’Brien, who said he has spent most of his life on the streets, recently found a home in Cambridgeport with his partner and pets. But the 55-year-old said slow business has made paying the rent difficult, and now he faces possible...