Título: American Rascal: How Jay Gould Built Wall Street's Biggest Fortune
Autor: Greg Steinmetz
Sinopse: A gripping, “rollicking” (John Carreyrou, New York Times bestselling author of Bad Blood) biography of Jay Gould, the greatest of the 19th-century robber barons, whose brilliance, greed, and bare-knuckled tactics made him richer than Rockefeller and led Wall Street to institute its first financial reforms.
Had Jay Gould put his name on a university or concert hall, he would undoubtedly have been a household name today. The son of a poor farmer whose early life was marked by tragedy, Gould saw money as the means to give his family a better life…even if, to do so, he had to pull a fast one on everyone else. After entering Wall Street at the age of twenty-four, he quickly became notorious when he paralyzed the economy and nearly toppled President Ulysses S. Grant in the Black Friday market collapse of 1869 in an attempt to corner the market on gold—an event that remains among the darkest days in Wall Street history. Through clever financial maneuvers, he gained control over one of every six miles of the country’s rapidly expanding network for railroad tracks—coming close to creating the first truly transcontinental railroad and making himself one of the richest men in America.
American Rascal shows Gould’s complex, quirky character. He was at once praised for his brilliance by Rockefeller and Vanderbilt and condemned for forever destroying American business values by Mark Twain. He lived a colorful life, trading jokes with Thomas Edison, figuring Thomas Nast’s best sketches, paying Boss Tweed’s bail, and commuting to work in a 200-foot yacht.
Gould thrived in an expanding, industrial economy in which authorities tolerated inside trading and stock price manipulation because they believed regulation would stifle the progress. But by taking these practices to new levels, Gould showed how unbridled capitalism was, in fact, dangerous for the American economy. This “gripping biography” (Fortune) explores how Gould’s audacious exploitation of economic freedom triggered the first public demands for financial reforms—a call that still resonates today.
Contexto da obra
Como livro em inglês, esta obra costuma ganhar também uma camada própria de interesse editorial e linguístico. “American Rascal: How Jay Gould Built Wall Street’s Biggest Fortune”, de Greg Steinmetz, publicado pela editora Simon & Schuster, em 2023 e com 320 páginas, integra a categoria Livros em Inglês. Por isso, o interesse da obra tende a se ampliar quando o leitor considera também a relação com a língua em que ela circula.
Editora: Simon & Schuster
Páginas: 320
Ano: 2023-08-22
Edição:
Linguagem: en
ISBN: 1982107413
ISBN13: 9781982107413
Sobre a editora
Os livros da editora Simon & Schuster revelam uma variedade notável de estilos e temas, transitando entre narrativas ficcionais e obras de não-ficção com forte apelo biográfico e histórico. O catálogo privilegia histórias que exploram transformações pessoais, desafios sociais e momentos decisivos da história, com uma linguagem que ora é densa e reflexiva, ora mais acessível e envolvente. Há uma presença marcante de relatos de jornadas, sejam elas físicas, emocionais ou intelectuais, que convidam o leitor a acompanhar personagens em processos de autodescoberta, superação ou investigação. O tom varia do íntimo e pessoal ao crítico e analítico, com textos que abordam desde conflitos internos até grandes eventos políticos e culturais.
