"The Second Assistant: A Tale From the Bottom of the Hollywood Ladder," by Clare Naylor and Mimi Hare

"The Second Assistant: A Tale From the Bottom of the Hollywood Ladder," by Clare Naylor and Mimi Hare, (New York: Viking; 2004), 321 pages, ISBN 0-670-03307-03.

The Second Assistant is similar to The Devil Wears Prada: a bright young woman gets a glamorous and desirable job with a difficult boss and, after a year of employment with various ups and downs, emerges as a talented young worker in her industry. The industry (if you could call it that) is the movie making business known universally by its city-host's moniker as Hollywood. As you would expect in a story about the movie business, our bright, young and enthusiastic protagonist works for a drug-addicted movie producer of considerable ability. Our protagonist also has some ability, but first has to learn about the movie business in between getting the coffee and generally embarrassing herself both at work and in her private life. She eventually demonstrates her ability and initiative and brings a new client to her company, manages to keep her job during vicious office politics and the company's near implosion to keep the new client from deserting the company.

This is a work of fiction deeply rooted in the Hollywood work experiences of the two authors. It could be called "faction'" but that would be disingenuous to the authors' abilities to portray the movie business as full of drug addicted, narcissistic, philandering nutcases who somehow seem to find time between trips to the therapist, restaurant, drug dealer and each other's bed to actually do some movie making.

If a career in movie making interests you (as either a producer or agent - in the people or non technical side of the business), then you may benefit from this "thinly veiled" story to see just what it is that you are getting into.  The Second Assistant is not great literature: its self important and self indulgent, yet provokes curiosity in the reader in the same way that a car wreck piques the interest of a driver: we slow down, take a bit of a look and eventually move along to attend to our other things. Nonetheless it is a light and breezy book that is adequately entertaining - its perfect for a long trip on either bus, ferry or train.

“The Money Culture,” by Michael Lewis

“The Money Culture,” by Michael Lewis, (New York: Penguin Books; 1991), 282 pages.

The Money Culture is a compilation of essays and stories written in the later 1980s and early 1990s for various publications, such as Manhattan Inc., New Republic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal – Europe, and The Washington Post. The book was published in 1991, and appears to attempt to capitalize on Lewis's success with his very successful first book Liar's Poker, a tell all account of his brief career as a Wall Street bond salesman. 

The Money Culture is arranged into three parts. The first part, "New World," examines the new world of modern finance from a variety perspectives, namely, a critique of the absurdity of mass marketing the American Express card as a symbol of exclusivity, to a series of commentaries on the then largest ever leveraged buy-out (the purchase of RJR Nabisco by leveraged buy out firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts). Lewis gives a glimpse into the democratization of retail investing through his participation in an expensive cruise to the Amazon where customers will be given investment tips and ideas from a host of a television program about investing. We learn how the major new beneficiaries of the new money culture funded by debt are investment bankers educated at the "best school" (meaning Harvard, Wharton, Stanford etc). We also get a glimpse into the future when Lewis states that the late 1980's corporate expansions and corporate takeovers were predominantly funded by debt fund sourced from outside America. So great was the growth in debt that Lewis quoted a Princeton economics professor who made a strong case that the leveraging of corporate America would end in tears. That professor was quoted as stating that the last time we had debt in this range was in the 1920's. The professor is Benjamin Bernanke, the same man that is presently the Chairman of the New York Federal Reserve.

The second part, "Old World," contains essays on the spread of the new model of American-style, debt-fueled business activity to the old world of the United Kingdom and Europe. These stories demonstrate the manifestation of the new, brash, avarice in places where a go-getter graduate from Oxford or Cambridge with fire in the belly and a bit of hard work and a bit of leverage make a fortune as an investment banker, just like his Harvard and Stanford contemporaries.

Part three, "Other World," is a selection of essays about Japan's influence on global finance, how its savings underwrite the West's debt binge, and how it all could come undone in the West if there is another massive Tokyo earthquake and global savings are repatriated to Japan.

The Money Culture is one of two books that mark the beginning of Lewis's career as a writer. The 2010 book The Big Short is his examination of the collapse of the credit bubble. Lewis saw both the end of the credit bubble, and the beginning, so these two books complement each other quite nicely. Although its been over 20 years since these essays were written, The Money Culture marks a useful historical resource on how things were when the credit boom started, how outrageous the behavior and actions were at the beginning and at the end, and how by comparison after two decades these events in comparison ht deals seem so small, and the numbers miniscule and activities somewhat quaint. We are now used to financial scandal and endemic bad behavior that it flows over us like water off a duck's back. We are the poorer for it. The Money Culture is also a timely reminder to us as a mile marker on the road to the insolvency of the West and the financial armageddon potentially facing the United States: The Money Culture shows us that things weren't as bad as they are now, and with a bit of clear thinking and foresight, all (or a lot of) the present problems facing the world could have been avoided or ameliorated.

The Money Culture has passed the test of time. it is well written and covers topics relevant today. Some of the people featured are known to us today, and others are now forgotten, captured here at their moment of their greatest impact when their impact was at its peak. This also serves as a kind of colorful financial history of the mid to late 1980s, a passing parade of colorful characters the like of which we will not see again, not right away, but for perhaps fifteen to twenty years or do.

“The Good Girl’s Guide To Getting Lost: A Memoir of Three Continents, Two Friends, and One Unexpected Adventure,” by Rachel Friedman

“The Good Girl’s Guide To Getting Lost: A Memoir of Three Continents, Two Friends, and One Unexpected Adventure,” by Rachel Friedman (New York: Bantam Books; 2011), 287 pages.

The Good Girl’s Guide to Getting Lost is part travel memoir and part autobiography about the effect of international travel on a young, college-aged American woman from rural New York.

The story centers on three trips: the first to Ireland; the second to Australia; and third, a trip to South America. In Ireland, Friedman is an innocent abroad; she lacks confidence and the worldly experience of the perpetual backpackers with whom she associates. The experiences, customs, and attitudes of the acquaintances she makes in Ireland are all very new to the bookish, conscientious and timid Friedman. Integral to her budding maturity and confidence is her friendship with a gregarious and care-free Australian girl (Carly), an experience and confident perpetual traveler who takes Friedman under her wing. Carly convinces Friedman to visit Australia and once Friedman is newly arrived in Sydney, convinces her to stay with her family and use their house as a base for her travels during the duration of her stay. While in Australia, Friedman travels to various outback attractions on her own, and in a further example of her growing confidence, tours the east coast of Australia, breaking her journey every so often at places that strike her fancy. Once she returns to Sydney, and after a few other explorations through the south-east of Australia, she agrees to Carly’s suggestion to continue their travels together and to meet in South America. Friedman initially travels alone in South America, and alone and with Carly, meets new people from all over the world. She listens to the stories of their lives and their reasons for travelling, and, bit by bit, day by day, realizes that she too doesn’t want to stop travelling and that she has the confidence and ability to do it herself with or without her Australian friend.

This book is somewhat unusual because it is both a travel book and a memoir/story of personal growth. At the outset, Friedman is unsure of herself and hopelessly naïve in the ways of the world compared to the people she meets during her travels. By the end of the book, Friedman is more mature and experienced, and has the confidence to believe in her abilities. Her experience of other people’s motivations for travelling leads her to question her own life so far. She becomes close to Carly’s mother, an experienced traveler in her own right, whose life story has a lasting impact on Friedman. At the end of the book, we see how these people encountered through her travels have touched Friedman, who now has more confidence and courage to face life’s uncertainties, and the relentless parental and peer pressure for conformity. Friedman also reflects on the places she visits, the customs and practices of the local peoples, and the travelers she meets. She is critical and amusing without resorting to prejudice or knee-jerk reactions. Her powers of observations are acute, and her observations first rate and amusingly written with an eye for fairness and rationality peppered with the occasional criticism written in a wry and gentle manner. This ability adds spice to an enjoyable and thought-provoking book that should be considered for readers interested in travel experiences in Ireland, Australia, and South America, as wells as testaments to the belief that travel is just as much about the (physical and internal) journey as being about the destination.