Bust is Shortlisted for Best Business Book....

I'm getting a lot of awards right now. 'Bust' has just been short-listed for the Spear's Book Awards Business Book of the Year award. The results are announced in June. Fingers crossed.

Great Review of Bust

There is a great review of Bust in Canada's Financial Post. "Public finance seldom makes for a juicy read. But Matthew Lynn, a financial journalist who, as a sideline, writes military thrillers, turns central banking into a seesaw of ghastly revelations and roaring hilarity," it says. "Bust is solid macroeconomics, practical trade theory, and fiscal policy that anybody can understand. It’s valuable reading for anyone investing in euro-denominated assets and a morality tale too."

The FT's Reviews Bust...

The FT is running a review of Bust. You can read it here.

Overall, I'm quite pleased with it. Lynn’s book is fast-paced, entertaining and perceptive about the causes of the crisis," writes Tony Barber.

Of course, they don't agree with the conclusion. But the FT is a slavish pro-EU paper. so I wouldn't expect them to.

On Motley Fool

You can hear me talking about Bust, my book on the Greek crisis, on The Motley Fool website.

Fact vs Fiction....

Fact vs Fiction:

I haven’t been writing very much on this blog, largely because I’ve been rattling out a quick book on the Greek crisis for Wiley. The book was written at huge speed – a couple of months – and will be out in November. That was exhilarating in itself. As most of us know, the process of writing can be pretty leisurely. It takes a long time to write a book, and just as long for the publisher to bring it out. This one will be about five months total from Wiley getting in touch about the idea to the book hitting the shelves.

For me, it was also a chance to reflect on the difference between writing fact and fiction. I wrote a couple of business books much earlier in my career, but this was the first one I had done since I took up writing fiction.

It is a very different process. Obviously, the non-fiction book involves a lot more research. On the other hand, the story is just there. You collect the facts, marshal them into a coherent argument, then tell the story.

In fiction, you have to create every detail of the story yourself. You have to create the characters, and make them real. You need twists and denouements. It’s far harder work.

The funny thing is, most people looking at ‘Bust’ would assume it was a far more serious book than, say, ‘Fire Force’. But a book like ‘Fire Force’ is far more difficult to write.