I'm just wrapping up two books this week: Ugly Americans by Ben Mezrich and Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbings. Ugly Americans is a short, interesting story (270 pages) and Jitterbug Perfume is a re-read. I don't usually read more than one book at a time, but it is easy with these two.
Ugly Americans is mostly the story of John Malcolm, a former Princeton footballer, who moves to Japan in the 1990s to trade derivatives. He has no financial background before making millions trading in Asian markets. The inside account of Malcolm's brief dealing with Nick Leeson (Ian McGregor in Rogue Trader, if you know movies but not finance) at Barrings and the look at Japanese culture, ex pat lifestyle and the yakuza were, for me, the best parts of the book. Mezrich's writing is breezy at points, but that is his style. He writes interesting, readable stories about rich, young, mostly Ivy League kids. I'll check out all of Mezrich's non-fiction books.
Like Mezrich for non-fiction, I love reading Tom Robbins' fiction. This read has me reconsidering Still Life for Woodpecker as my favorite Robbins' book. Although, I hate reading Vlu's diction. Like Their Eyes Were Watching God.
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