The Recessionistas
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It's the day after Labor Day, 2008, and the elite universe of New York's Upper East Side is about to unravel along with the economy. Socialite Grigsby Somerset is barely aware of her changing world, and has no idea her investment banker husband Blake is about to enter into a devil's bargain with hedge fund owner John Cutter. As autumn unfolds, Grigsby's fairytale life starts to unwind. Street-smart Renee Parker has been hired as John's executive assistant and is convinced that something is amiss with her new boss. Renee enlists her friend Sasha Silver, CEO of Silver Partners, to help her decipher what is happening. They soon discover that John is nearly ruined, except for the assets he is hiding in the Cayman Islands from his wife Mimi, and has concocted with Blake a scheme to redeem himself. This tale of expulsion from a modern-day Garden of Eden captures what happens when economic decline spells ruin for Manhattan's pampered elite.Publishers WeeklyAn inessential romp through the economic collapse of 2008 from Lebenthal, member of a "storied Wall Street family," follows two Streeters as they scramble to salvage their money and their lives. Brash hedge fund owner John Cutter is busy hiding his money from his estranged wife while his accomplice, Blake Somerset, hangs on by a thread at crashing Lehman Brothers. Blake's shrewish wife, Grigsby, meanwhile, keeps a white-knuckle grip on the top rung of Upper East Side society. Look for oodles of air kissing, high-society shindigs, Wall Street jargon, and Bernie Madoff-like skullduggery in this diary of craven greed and its inevitable comeuppance. Lebenthal, unfortunately, has a better handle on matters of the purse than matters of the heart, and while the business dope has its own velocity, the characters are little more than cutouts. (Aug.)
