Lewis’s Boomerang (2011) is a slick read that coasts on its author’s reputation for writing well about others fiscal knavery and financial stupidity. I usually don’t pick up a book if the author’s name on the cover is twice the size of the book’s title, especially when that title is anything but fresh and intriguing (How many gazillion books are named Boomerang? Do a Goodreads book search and marvel at the results.); but this one came to me on loan from a neighbor who heard I liked to read (bless his heart), and I felt obligated to look through it. What I found was a fast, entertaining romp through post-bubble Europe ... part travelogue, part chamber of horrors ... that to my surprise, took pride of place among a tall stack of ghoulish Halloween reads teetering on my nightstand.

Lewis’s latest book is a cartoonish discussion of what happens to a society after it has been presented with almost unlimited credit, as many Western countries were between 2002 and 2008. Last Spring Lewis visited some of the Eurozone’s fringe states (Iceland, Ireland, Greece) who drank far too deeply from the proffered cup and now are tottering on the edge of insolvency. The result of his journey, this snarky read, is sort of a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! of economic and social shortcomings. The book isn’t long on explanations, and Lewis’s caricatures and stereotypes of supposed national traits are crafted to shock and offend in a way that has become fashionable with modern broadcast journalism. Look to be entertained first and enlightened only by accident.

Its anecdotal explanations aren’t limited to little countries in Europe, though. The final chapter hints at what may be about to happen to several cities in the United State which have been squeezed nearly out of existence by the same forces that have bankrupted parts of the Old World. Like most good journalism, Lewis’s book is illustrated with intriguing trivia that at least flirts with logic ... and scatalogic. Parts of the book are distasteful, but there are enough bizarre figures and non sequiturs to satisfy most readers’ appetite for the absurd. My favorite tidbit?

A color-coded map of American personal indebtedness could be laid on top of the Centers for Disease Control’s color-coded map that illustrates the fantastic rise in rates of obesity across the United States since 1985 without disturbing the general pattern.

If you take a big swig of the Daily Show along with your viewing of the Nightly Business Report, you'll love Boomerang.