Ugly Americans: The True Story of the Ivy League Cowboys Who Raided the Asian Markets for Millions [Paperback]

1) what happens when young people make way too much money
2) the Yakuza
3) its author

The only real low point to the book is #3: Ben Mezrich keeps inserting his research and interviews into the narrative, and it only serves to draw out the story about Malcolm, Akari, and the other main characters in the story.

Having lived in Osaka, I felt that Mezrich had never actually visited the city. He paints it as a small backwater when it's actually the size of Los Angeles and, commercially speaking, just as important. The images of Tokyo, Singapore, and Manhattan are much more accurate.

The story itself, about Malcolm's entry into and escape from the arbitrage business, is fascinating, but only because we see how much the money has affected Malcolm and his co-workers, and the personal risks they often have to take to get their money. This is where the Yakuza come in, but Mezrich doesn't spend too much time on it.

As a whole, the book is a solid story and a surprisingly good read on a purely visceral level. I imagine that finance people wouldn't enjoy it too much, because it's not about "real" finance: it's about the fantasyland finance of Asia in the bad old days, and it comes across as more of a fairy tale than a hard-hitting docudrama.

Mezrich isn't a "Great" writer by any stretch, but he's good enough, and the guy knows how to tell a story. Better yet, he knows how to make you want to be that guy. I heard an NPR interview with him a few months ago, and he says some interesting things about what makes him tick, and I think it helps explain his writing style. For instance he likes doing the research, living the life, and then the book tours. He doesn't particularly enjoy the actual writing process. It's hard work, and can be an agonizingly slow process. But who can argue with his success? He's a best-selling author, who has just cut a movie deal with Kevin Spacey. So there you go.

There are a few plot holes, some of the dialogue is unrealistic, and he over-uses certain terms and phrases. "His hair was platinum blonde." "She had saucer-shaped eyes." "She had almond eyes." "She screwed up her face." Granted, he used the last one only once, but whenever I see it in writing I always think about the video for Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden, and how everyone's facial features get all screwed up and distorted. Then I start giggling. Or in Raiders of the Lost Ark, when the Nazis faces melted. It's kind of unfortunate. Actually, when I read that part and started chuckling, my wife looked at me and asked, "What's so funny." I looked up at her and started singing, "Black Hole Sun won't you come, and wash away the rain..." She just stared at me Then she screwed up her face and said, "What the (...) was that all about." But I digress.

Oh, and did Akari ever manage to resolve his loan fiasco? But these are just minor details. The book has all the ingredients for a satisfying story, which most of us can envision as a movie. So Kudos to Ben Mezrich for recognizing a good story, and having enough talent to make it into a fun read, which will probably end up as another movie. He's a wealthy guy for doing it, and all the Wall Street guys, the expat bankers, and hedge fund workers should at least recognize that. Good for you, Mezrich. Continued success!

Finally, my real problem with digesting the pulp fiction of "Ugly Americans" was Ben Mezrich's disturbing fascination with anything and everything Ivy League (ok, ok, Stamford and MIT would do, too), like the "blond, athletic, tanned" Ivy League graduates (see Chapter 13, for example) or other characters that belong to a cover of J. Crew catalog, but not to the book that is purportedly "non-fiction". Add to this his endless rants about Porsches, Mazeratti s, Ducatti's and other "bling-bling" and you end up having a bad cross between P. Diddy videos, the entire lineup of Wesley Snipes/Asian fetish movies, "The Talented Mr. Ripley", "The Bourne Identity", "The Rainmaker"... Oh, did I mention more than two Matt Damon movies? Well, you got the point!