Juxtaposition

Two more books done.

Fletch's Fortune

Fletch, after being persuaded by CIA goons holding tax evasion crimes over his head, descends upon a national journalism convention to eavesdrop on his colleagues. Hijinks ensue when one of them is murdered. I think this could be adapted into a good movie. Unfortunately, it would seem Kevin Smith is sitting on any future Fletch project. He's probably trying to figure out ways to put characters from his other movies in it. Gone are Gummy and Fat Sam, replaced by Jay and Silent Bob.

Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco

This book is over 500 pages and I just couldn't put it down: bankers eating Milk-Bones at meetings, lawyers running down NYC streets, hicks calling their brokers crying, "Daddy told me to never sell my RJ Reynolds stock!" and rampant greed at every turn.

It's the story of how F. Ross Johnson decided to do a leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco after having become CEO. RJR Nabisco made everything from:

• Camel cigarettes
• Winston cigarettes (first filtered cigarette)
• Salem cigarettes (which might be first filtered menthols, I don't remember)
• Oreos
• Saltine crackers
• Planter's peanuts
• Nilla Wafers
• Bubble Yum
  
• Lorna Doone shortbread cookies
• Ritz crackers
• Hawaiian Punch
• Butterfingers
• Animal Crackers
• Fig Newtons
• Milk-Bones
• Del Monte Fruit
• Shredded Wheat
• Grey Poupon
• Baby Ruths
• Fleischman's Margarine
• Life Savers
• Chips Ahoy
• Care-free gum
  

Nearly every major firm on Wall Street gets involved as do a slew of law firms and some other private equity groups. It's a story of 1980s finance, where companies were bought with the expectation of being broken apart to pay off the debt involved with all the junk bonds used to buy the company in the first place. Eventually RJR sells for $25 billion.

Gotta watch the HBO movie that was made about it. My expectations are low.

In other news, I saw a black guy with a mohawk and a Misfits shirt today. Awesome.