The Only Game in Town by Mohamed A El-Erian

I was so excited to get an advance copy of this book for review. To have a preview of this book was an such an honour, and from the title and description, it was going to give a roadmap of how to plot the way forward in the volatile world of finance and economics.

High expectations for a book are usually not a good way to start. In this case, perhaps it would have been better if I had approached it not knowing that El-Erian is a New York Times Best Seller or read the blurb.

The first part of the book was history. It was mildly interesting. But about halfway through, it became more and more difficult to stay interested. Well-researched, informative, and insightful, and yet at the same time, just dull.

On I went, waiting for the roadmap. It turned out to be four policy prescriptions, all well laid out, but not much new information.

It’s not like I needed this kind of book to read like a Jeffrey Archer thriller, but some sort of planning of the structure of the novel, and also a more engaging writing style may have helped.

My preference is to read this kind of information in regular small doses - article series or news and opinion pieces, than in a book.

3 stars

ISBN: 9780812997620

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