5 Smart Books: Holiday Reading

Nestled into a long holiday weekend with family and friends, why not sneak away for some reading time? Among the works that our editors and writers have chosen are a memoir from former Alaska governor and VP candidate Sarah Palin’s memoir, a Wall Street Journal reporter’s examination of the characters involved in the collapse and cleanup of the real-estate bubble, and an exploration of quality-vs.-convenience among companies and their products. In thrillers, we review Vince Flynn’s latest takedown of terrorists, while the late Michael Crichton brings us 17th-century pirates of the Caribbean.

By Sarah Palin
Reviewed by: William Swarts

As has been widely chronicled, Sarah Palin’s political memoir describes the 2008 presidential campaign — and Palin’s rebellion against the strictures imposed by John McCain’s staff. With the help of a five-writer team, headed by Lynn Vincent, the former governor of Alaska names names and points fingers. Her disillusionment with the American political process is palpable as she describes the disorienting experience of being subjected to “the blood sport known as presidential politics.” That experience seems to have hardened Palin, who loudly discounts the role of compromise in electoral politics, and perhaps accounts for her resignation as governor.

This genre of memoir/manifesto of course makes minimal allowance for personal introspection, so it’s hard to fully understand the evolution of her thinking — or if "Going Rogue" is a book-length exercise in 2012 fundraising or simply the cultivation of a powerful populist brand.

By Gregory Zuckerman
Reviewed by Alexandra Scaggs

Ever wonder how a single trade can create a legend? Gregory Zuckerman outlines how just such a thing happened with John Paulson and the rest of the characters who profited wildly from the collapse of the real estate bubble.
"In The Greatest Trade Ever," Zuckerman, who writes The Wall Street Journal’s "Heard on the Street" column, focuses as much on the personalities and characters of the investors as on the bubble and collapse that increased their wealth exponentially. (Smartmoney.com is a joint venture between Dow Jones, the publisher of The Wall Street Journal and the Hearst Corporation).

Players here include Paulson, whom Zuckerman characterizes as a reformed playboy and true skeptic; Paolo Pellegrini, a Wall Street outsider who went to Paulson for his last shot at a career; Jeffrey Greene, the Hollywood version of a big-shot investor; and Andrew Lahde, the young West-Coast investor who cashed out and left finance for good.

The book addresses how deals are made and how personality counts just as much as the financial mechanics behind the trade, which may be why Paulson has come out with a statement saying he is “disappointed” with the book. But Zuckerman shows that in finance, office politics can matter as much as smarts.