Short Synopsis
John Lanchester's brilliant survey of the current financial crisis explains how the booming global economy collapsed seemingly overnight.

Full Synopsis
The wildest story in the world these days is not fiction; it's what's really happening all around us as the world's global economy has gone into freefall. How did we get here? What does it all mean? How could so many smart people be so dumb and believe their own hype?

Accessibly, cleverly, and with mordant humor, journalist John Lanchester trots the globe in search of the answers to these questions—to Iceland, the scene of catastrophic bank collapse; to Hong Kong, the city of his birth built at the altar of free-market capitalism; to the high-stakes leveraging of Wall Street; and to the tragedy of lost homes in small-town America. And in his capable hands, we see and understand what went wrong and why.

Lanchester believes that the current crisis gives us an opportunity to bring about much-needed change and that a stronger and more compassionate system can emerge from the wreckage.

"A fine introduction to the latest financial frenzy, with a suitable degree of outrage." ---The Wall Street Journal

"Laypeople seeking to understand the crisis, and what it means for their own bank account, will find Lanchester's volume an oasis of understanding in a sea of partisan spin and convoluted financial language." ---Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"Warning to bankers everywhere in the world. You better buy every single copy of I.O.U. because Lanchester's painted the target on you that the rest of us so desperately wanted to see." ---James J. Cramer, host of CNBC's Mad Money

Salon.com Best Nonfiction

The New York Times' Dwight Garner's
Top 10 Book

Publishers Weekly Review