Enron: 24 Days

<body stylesrc="../_private/template_title.htm" topmargin="10" leftmargin="10" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" link="#333366" vlink="#000000" alink="#000000"> <div align="left"> <table border="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" cellpadding="0" id="table2"> <tr> <td width="780"> <div align="center"> <table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" height="206" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" id="table3"> <tr> <td align="right" height="198" width="1%"> <p align="left"> <img border="0" src="../images/book_smith_and_emshwiller.gif" width="132" height="200"></td> <td valign="top" align="left" height="198"> <table border="0" cellspacing="1" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" cellpadding="0" id="table4"> <tr> <td colspan="3" width="0%"> <p class="book_title">24 Days</td> </tr> <tr> <td width="1%" class="book_details_tags" valign="top" height="16" align="left"> <img border="0" src="../images/blank_2x2.gif" width="2" height="2"><img border="0" src="../images/blank_2x2.gif" width="2" height="2"></td> <td width="52%" class="book_details_tags" valign="top" height="144" align="left" rowspan="9"> <map name="FPMap2"> <area href="../main/ratings.htm" shape="rect" coords="73, 0, 164, 33"> </map> <img border="0" src="../images_title/smith_15.gif" usemap="#FPMap2" width="176" height="175"></td> <td class="book_details" valign="top" height="16" align="left" width="50%"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="1%" class="book_details_tags" valign="top" height="16" align="left"> </td> <td class="book_details" valign="top" height="16" align="left" width="50%"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="1%" class="book_details_tags" valign="top" height="16" align="left"> </td> <td class="book_details" valign="top" height="16" align="left" width="50%"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="1%" class="book_details_tags" valign="top" height="16" align="left"> </td> <td class="book_details" valign="top" height="16" align="left" width="50%"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="1%" class="book_details_tags" valign="top" height="16" align="left"> </td> <td class="book_details" valign="top" height="16" align="left" width="50%"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="1%" class="book_details_tags" valign="top" height="16" align="left"> </td> <td class="book_details" valign="top" height="16" align="left" width="50%"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="1%" class="book_details_tags" valign="top" height="16" align="left"> </td> <td class="book_details" valign="top" height="16" align="left" width="50%"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="1%" class="book_details_tags" valign="top" height="16" align="left"> </td> <td class="book_details" height="32" align="center" width="50%" rowspan="2"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="1%" class="book_details_tags" valign="top" height="16" align="left"> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" id="table5"> <tr> <td width="50%" valign="top"> <p align="left" class="body"><strong style="font-weight: 400">Smith and Emshwiller are the two <i>Wall Street Journal</i> reporters who broke the story of accounting shenanigans at Enron during October 2001. This is their account, focusing primarily on the intensive 24 days of disclosures that sealed the company's fate.</strong></p> <p align="left" class="body"><strong style="font-weight: 400">The book is divided into five parts. The first two are the most gripping. Part One focuses on the authors' work as journalists during the Summer of 2001 when Enron's CEO Skilling resigns and they have the first inklings that something might be amiss. Tension builds as the two piece together what is going on within Enron, all the time trying to not tip their hand to Enron management or journalists at competing newspapers. </strong></p> <p align="left" class="body"><strong style="font-weight: 400">Part Two covers the 24 days when Smith and Emshwiller start breaking stories. The stories attract new informants ... that lead to more stories. Soon other newspapers get involved, and our two journalists scramble to avoid being "scooped" on the latest revelations. Part Two closes with Enron facing the stark choice of either being acquired or filing for Chapter 11 protection. </strong></p> <p align="left" class="body"><strong style="font-weight: 400">Be forewarned. This is not a book about Enron. It is a from-the-trenches book on investigative journalism. If the authors were investigating scandal in the Catholic Church, it wouldn't make much difference. Smith and Emshwiller tell a tale of unnamed informants, plenty of spadework ... and more than a little luck. We learn about newspaper deadlines, coveted front-page space, and byline etiquette. We have front-row seats for how top-notch journalists pursue a story.</strong></p> <p align="left" class="body"><strong style="font-weight: 400">For the authors, breaking the Enron story was a major career achievement. Their book speaks as much to fellow journalists as it does to general readers. The authors are careful to allocate credit between themselves and other reporters. We learn which of them was primarily responsible for writing each and every breaking article. On the book's cover, Smith's name appears before Emshwiller's, but they let us know this was decided by a coin flip. Reading this book, you are in the journalists' world, where recognition is the currency.</strong></p> </td> <td width="50%" valign="top" class="body"> <p align="left" class="body"><strong style="font-weight: 400">The last three parts (about the last third of the book) are not as gripping as the first two. Now the Enron story is broken wide open, and it is largely a frenetic mopping-up action for the authors and numerous other journalists. We learn about the failed merger with Dynergy and the descent into bankruptcy. The book then turns to the aftermath. At this point, the story starts to get disjointed. The authors continue describing events in the chronology that they wrote about them as opposed to the chronology in which they actually occurred. We read about the California energy crisis <i>after</i> reading about the Enron bankruptcy. The authors only compiled detailed biographies of key players after the bankruptcy, so we get background information on Lay, Skilling and Fastow now, only when the story of their antics is almost concluded. </strong></p> <p align="left" class="body"><strong style="font-weight: 400">In the closing chapters, the book doesn't build to a climax. Rather, it starts to fade. Individual chapters are very strong. In particular, chapters on Baxter's death and the trial of Arthur Anderson offer the most informative accounts I have read anywhere. However, as the book nears its end, the tension of the earlier chapters is absent.</strong></p> <p align="left" class="body"><strong style="font-weight: 400">In summary, this book is different from others on Enron, which start with the early history of Enron and then proceed inexorably through time. This book tosses you right into the middle of the story, and fleshes out details as the journalist authors discover them. A lot of history, including the formation of Enron, the international debacles, president Kinder's fall from grace, and Sherron Watkins' "whistle blowing" receive little mention. The focus is on the accounting scandals the authors uncovered, how they uncovered them, and the aftermath.</strong></p> <p align="left" class="body"><strong style="font-weight: 400">If you read one book on Enron, it probably shouldn't be this one. If you read two, then consider making this one of them. It offers a unique perspective. Also, the authors are good writers. Their story offers engrossing reading, especially for the first two thirds of the book.</strong></p> <p align="center" class="body"> </p> </td> </tr> </table> <div align="left"> <table border="0" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" bordercolor="#111111" width="100%" bgcolor="#FFFFCC" id="table6"> <tr> <td width="100%"> <p class="body" style="margin-bottom: 6"><b><font color="#333366" size="3">For related books, see sections:</font></b></p> <p class="bullet"><img border="0" src="../images/bullet.gif" width="20" height="10"><a target="_top" href="../link_topic/history_enron_books.htm">History - Enron Debacle</a></p> <p class="bullet"> <img border="0" src="../images/bullet.gif" width="20" height="10"><a target="_top" href="../link_topic/history_bubbles_and_blow_ups.htm">History - Bubbles and Blow Ups</a></td> </tr> </table> </div> </td> <td>  </td> </tr> </table> </div>  <table border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" width="100%" cellpadding="0" id="table1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <tr> <td colspan="2" height="12"> <p style="margin-top: 0"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="right"> <p align="left" style="margin-bottom: 2px"> <a target="_top" href="http://www.riskexpertise.com/link/advertising.htm"> <font size="1" color="#000000" face="Arial">Ads by Contingency Analysis.</font></a></td> <td align="left"> <p align="right" style="margin-bottom: 2px"> <a target="_top" href="http://www.riskexpertise.com/link/advertising.htm"> <font size="1" color="#000000" face="Arial">Advertise on this site.</font></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" colspan="2">  <iframe src="http://servedbyadbutler.com/adserve/;ID=147917;size=300x250;setID=93136;type=iframe" allowtransparency="true" background-color="transparent" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px" width="300" height="250" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"> <![if lt IE 4]> <script src="http://servedbyadbutler.com/adserve/;ID=147917;size=300x250;setID=93136;type=js" type="text/javascript"> </script> <noscript> <a href="http://servedbyadbutler.com/go2/;ID=147917;size=300x250;setID=93136"> <img src="http://servedbyadbutler.com/adserve/;ID=147917;size=300x250;setID=93136;type=img" border="0" height="250" width="300" alt=""></a> </noscript><![endif]> </iframe>   </td> </tr> </table> <p align="center" style="margin-top: 20"> <map name="FPMap0_I1"> <area href="http://www.riskbook.com" shape="rect" coords="0, 0, 184, 29" target="_top"></map> <img border="0" src="../images/open_book_riskbook.gif" usemap="#FPMap0_I1" width="185" height="30"></p> <p class="a" align="center"><font face="Arial" size="2"><a href="../main/disclaimer.htm">disclaimer</a></font></p> <p class="a" align="center"><span class="verdana10">website:</span> <a target="_top" href="http://www.contingencyanalysis.com"> <font size="2" face="Arial">http://www.contingencyanalysis.com</font></a><br> <span class="verdana10">books direct link:</span> <a target="_top" href="http://www.riskbook.com"><font size="2" face="Arial">http://www.riskbook.com</font></a><br> copyright <font face="Times New Roman">©</font> Contingency Analysis, 1996 - current</p> <p class="a" align="center"><map name="FPMap1_I1"> <area target="_top" href="http://www.contingencyanalysis.com" shape="rect" coords="0, 0, 240, 88"> </map><img border="0" src="../images/logo_book_white.gif" usemap="#FPMap1_I1" width="241" height="89"></p>  </body>