Bank: A Novel

Every July, a fresh crop of college graduates clad in spiffy new suits fills the offices of investment banking firms, each newly minted analyst longing for big money while sacrificing anything that resembles a normal life. In this enormously entertaining first novel, a lovable, stressed-out guy nicknamed Mumbles tells the story of how he and his cohorts not only struggle to survive corporate purgatory, but also find satisfying ways to strike back at the system. Fueled by a constant flow of Starbucks coffee, Mumbles and his friends take on such tasks as secretly filming a despised colleague's boardroom romp with an assistant, creating footage they plan to broadcast at the company's holiday party. But true gratification comes only when they actually start standing up to the bank's evil minions, those who have no qualms about piling on a weekend's worth of work on a Friday afternoon. With sharp comedy, episodes of inspired hijinks, and its glimpse into a world of fleeting elevator romances and not-so-infrequent nervous breakdowns, BANK is a touching and lively novel that is, at its heart, about figuring out what really matters in life.

Customer Reviews:

Laugh out loud

By Kyla Epstein - May 4, 2007

I have realized lately that life is not as full of 'laugh out loud' moments as it should be. Reading BANK is an exception. I laughed out loud numerous times. BANK is witty, funny and insightful. I have never worked in a bank and I sure wouldn't want to now. In addition to many laughs BANK also made me think about what I do for a career and why it is important to me. Any book that makes me laugh and think deserves full five stars. I'll be buying this book as a gift for many people I know and I encourage everyone to do the same (after reading it themselves of course)! I also think this would be a great book for a reading club and will recommend it to the group I participate in.

truth or fiction?

By JH - May 15, 2007

Anyone who works for an investment bank has heard the analyst horror stories. Why anyone would sacrifice the majority of their prime years to go work "white-collar slavery" hours, is beyond the ability of most people to rationalize. "Bank" gives you a bit more perspective into what is going through the minds of these 20-somethings as they work relentless 110+ hour weeks, sacrifice every relationship, and absorb ridiculous amounts of abuse from their superiors. Oh -- and then there's the money. The money is good, but its interesting to note how the characters in Bank aren't as preoccupied with money as they are with simply getting through the week alive.

Bank has a cast of characters whose traits are obviously exaggerated, but to a very amusing effect. We have Postal Boy, Clyde, The Defeated One and Mumbles (the narrator). Postal Boy is expected to explode and "go postal" at any moment. He has a facial twitch which he claims is caused by working at the bank. The Defeated One... read more

Fairly accurate, unfortunately.

By Mike G - March 23, 2008

This was a fast read that gives a pretty realisitc look at what it was like being an M&A investment banking analyst. The awful hours, alternating late nights between, say, the complex financial modeling that could determine whether or not two companies with thousands of employees merge or not (and have layoffs or not), based on the vast experience of a 22 year old college econ major who prays to god that someone will and will not look over his work for different reasons, and the next night, bribing the guy in the copy room with a free pizza to get your pitch books to the front of the line since you need 15 copies by morning, and you just had to re-do the original since the margin crept up on the footnote no one will read in the 4th page of Appendix C. I think the author is at his best though, when he captures fairly well the 'how did I get here; why was I on this bandwagon' sentiment that creeps in about 1 year in, just when you're starting to get good at what you're doing, but also... read more

AVAILABILITY
Merchant	Format	Price
Amazon US	Paperback	$0.01 - $13.99
eBooks.com	Digital (PDF)	$9.99
BookByte	Paperback	$10.49
eCampus	Paperback	~~$10.91~~ discount!