Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World

Part travelogue, part finance journalism, this latest from Lewis tours the countries hardest hit by the financial crisis of 2008%E2%80%94e.g., Iceland, Greece, and Ireland%E2%80%94taking on complex economic issues filled with arcane minutiae and making them utterly compelling. Over the course of his travels, Lewis has numerous culture clashes: while touring Iceland he boards in a room with a natural heat source "so powerful... that some great grinding, wheezing engine must be deployed to prevent it from cooking me." Dylan Baker offers up folksy, everyman narration that is clear and entertaining. He both elucidates complicated financial passages for listeners and captures the spirit of Lewis's adventures. Additionally, Baker is adept at conveying Lewis's dry%E2%80%94and slightly morbid%E2%80%94sense of humor. A W.W. Norton hardcover. (Oct.)