false 49488 18 A fool and his money are soon parted--and nowhere so quickly as in the stock market, it would seem. In David Liss's ambitious first novel, <I>A Conspiracy of Paper</I>, the year is 1719 and the place London, where human greed, apparently, operated then in much the same manner as it does today. Liss focuses his intricate tale of murder, money, and conspiracy on Benjamin Weaver, ex-boxer, self-described "protector, guardian, bailiff, constable-for-hire, and thief-taker," and son of a Portuguese Jewish "stock-jobber." Weaver's father, from whom he has been estranged, has recently died, the victim of a horse-drawn carriage hit and run. Though his uncle has suggested that the accident wasn't quite so accidental, Benjamin doesn't give the idea much credence: <blockquote> I blush to own I rewarded his efforts to seek my opinion with only a formal reply in which I dismissed his ideas as nonsensical. I did so in part because I did not wish to involve myself with my family and in part because I knew that my uncle, for reasons that eluded me, had loved my father and could not accept the senselessness of so random a death. </blockquote> But then Benjamin is hired by two different men to solve two seemingly unrelated cases. One client, Mr. Balfour, claims his own father's unexpected death "was made to look like self-murder so that a villain or villains could take his money with impunity," and even suggests there might be a link between Balfour senior's death and that of Weaver's father. His next customer is Sir Owen Nettleton, an aristocrat who is keen to recover some highly confidential papers that were stolen from him while he cavorted with a prostitute. Weaver takes on the first case with some reluctance, the second with more enthusiasm. In the end, both converge, leading him back to his family even as they take him deep into the underbelly of London's financial markets. <p> Liss seems right at home in the world he's created, whether describing the company manners of wealthy Jewish merchants at home or the inner workings of Exchange Alley--the 18th-century version of Wall Street. His London is a dank and filthy place, almost lawless but for the scant protection offered by such rogues as Jonathan Wilde, the sinister head of a gang of thieves who profits by selling back to their owners items stolen by his own men. Though better connected socially, the investors involved with the shady South Sea Company have equally larcenous hearts, and Liss does an admirable job of leading the reader through the intricacies of stock trading, bond selling, and insider trading with as little fuss, muss, and confusion as possible. What really makes the book come alive, however, are the details of 18th-century life--from the boxing matches our hero once participated in to the coffee houses, gin joints, and brothels where he trolls for clues. And then there is the matter of Weaver's Jewishness, the prejudices of the society he lives in, and his struggle to come to terms with his own ethnicity. <I>A Conspiracy of Paper</I> weaves all these themes together in a manner reminiscent of the long, gossipy novels of Henry Fielding and Laurence Stern. Indeed, Liss manages to suggest the prose style of those authors while keeping his own, less convoluted style. This is one conspiracy guaranteed to succeed. <I>--Alix Wilber</I> 2362185 3 5 2000 A Conspiracy of Paper total:1004|5:211|4:457|3:269|2:57|1:10| 1004 3814 1524 201 5 3 false false Thu Apr 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Feb 27 14:57:01 -0800 2008 Thu Apr 24 08:29:52 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 3 false false Mon Mar 10 19:29:05 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 17 17:18:09 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Wed Apr 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 10 13:29:57 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 10 13:42:59 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Wed Apr 18 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Mar 18 19:01:21 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 18 19:02:50 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 4 1 false false Tue Jun 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 05 11:52:28 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 11 11:07:28 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Jul 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 11 22:07:35 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 30 00:19:52 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Mar 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Feb 26 09:26:29 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 11 20:16:07 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 2 false true Sun Nov 27 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Sat Dec 13 22:04:40 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 13 22:05:43 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 23 18:08:45 -0700 2009 Sat May 23 18:38:11 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue May 12 03:26:31 -0700 2009 Tue May 12 04:00:48 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Sep 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 19:23:32 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 26 19:30:56 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu May 21 08:53:12 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 09:01:10 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Nov 23 09:21:29 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 23 09:22:39 -0800 2008 Ao avançarmos na leitura vamos ficando cad...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri May 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 05 08:54:28 -0700 2009 Sat May 09 20:36:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 08 23:01:51 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 08 23:01:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jun 28 19:17:16 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 28 19:32:50 -0700 2009 I find Da...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu May 21 08:31:22 -0700 2009 Sun May 24 08:55:26 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 15:37:46 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 20 15:37:57 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 26 21:18:58 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 13 20:33:21 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Mar 23 07:47:38 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 17 14:06:07 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 23 07:47:38 -0700 2009
This is the second book I've read by Davis Liss and I am certain now that I will be reading everything he writes.

I recently read The Whiskey Rebels with my book club and loved it, as did everyone else. I thought that story's male protagonist Ethan...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1019633