Quote of the Week: High Finance

The wells of quotedom on the Hornswoggler spread are running dry at the moment -- I add them in as drafts when I find them, but my old stock is depleted, and I lost a number of quote books I was planning to mine for more material back in that event I'm trying not to mention every damn day -- so this is something of a re-run: it appeared here as a "mid-week quote" some years back.

It's the opening of one of the best novels I've ever read, a book that's smart about work and finance and people, the closest thing the current generation has come to another Catch-22:

It was a filthy profession, but the money was addicting, and one addiction led to another, and they were all going to hell. Turner had gone to hell, and Mike McAfferey had gone to hell. Wes "Green Thumb" Griffin developed a wandering eye, while Antonia Zennario, who used to joke that "all investors are made from Adam's rib," lost her sense of humor, and then her smile, and then her job. Carol Manning miscarried. Coyote Jack began to stutter on his numbers and was moved into management. They had all gone to hell. Sid Geeder hated them all and missed them like crazy. The phone rang constantly and everyone suffered cauliflower ears, neck rashes, and cervical pain, and when the sun came up in the morning and they had already been at their desks two, three hours, they went to the 41st floor window and imagined what it would be like to have to ride a bus or find a parking place.

- Po Bronson, Bombadiers