Description
From the white trash ghettos of post-war Chicago to the marbled heights of Wall Street, the career of Jeff Beck embodied the manic exuberance of the eighties on Wall Street. The start of the decade marked the dawn of a new financial optimism. In the brave new world of mergers and acquisitions a “rainmaker” like Beck could conjure profit from a seemingly cloudless sky, his magic a product of charisma and conviction.
This is the story of a man who destroyed three marriages and made untold enemies in his pursuit of wealth and status. His creation of a hero’s personality for himself earned him friendship with the actor Michael Douglas and a cameo role in the film Wall Street, but his inability to distinguish fantasy from reality led to exposure and breakdown.
Through the rollercoaster career of this self-styled “mad dog” we meet the major players of a generation: Boesky, Milken, Levine. From Oppenheimer to the notorious Drexel Burnham Lambert, Beck’s rise encompassed the takeover deals of legend, while his fall epitomised the end of an era. Rainmaker is the story of one man’s agonizing odyssey of self-discovery and a masterly portrait of a decade of hope and greed.
Hardcover, 469 pages. In very good pre-loved condition with the exception of a couple small tears to dustcover.