Bryan Burrough is out with a timely look at the rewards of entrepreneurial risk taking in a time of economic depression. Burrough, who co-authored “Barbarians at the Gate,” one of the best books ever written on business, just published “The Big Rich: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes.”
It gets positive reviews in the most recent issues of Business Week and The Economist.
Business Week gives the book four stars (out of five) calling it “elegant.” It notes that this tale of four oil wildcatters shows what can happen to people who bet boldly in a time of economic crisis. In this case, they filled the gap in exploration at a time when the Great Depression caused the big companies of the day, like Gulf and Humble, to stop such crucial activities. The four men became rich almost beyond belief and reshaped American politics by funding right wing causes.
The Economist, meanwhile, seems delighted by the book. In Slick and Dirty, it commences with “WHAT’S not to enjoy about a book full of monstrous egos, unimaginable sums of money and the punishment of greed and shortsightedness by the march of events?”
The Economist does note that while “a ripping read,” it can be confusing at points. It’s clear, too, that these four men succeeded against odds that crushed the hopes of scores more, now forgotten, and that even the vastness of their wealth could not save them in the end.
