The Dismal Science / Peter Mountford 275 pg.

An extremely smart book if not, ultimately, an enjoyable one; in any case, I rapidly developed huge admiration for the author while reading.  It's quite something to create a compelling and moving story  with the world of economics as a backdrop.  I mean, Paul Wolfowitz is a character!  Mountford takes us right inside the World Bank in a way that we can see and feel through the story of Vincenzo d'Orzi, who is having a mid-life train wreck.   The reader knows he's screwing up, but it's Mountford's skill that makes us feel his bad decisions are inevitable and deserving of compassion.  Intriguing.