The rollicking true story of a 1930s version of Bernie Madoff - and the building and loan crash he helped precipitate - in a wonderful work of narrative non-fiction. Shortfall opens with a surprise discovery in an attic and launches into a fast-paced story that uncovers the dark secrets in Echols's family. In a narrative filled with colourful characters and profound insights into the American past, Shortfall is also the essential backstory to more recent financial crises, from the savings and loan debacle of the 1980s and 1990s to the subprime collapse of 2008.

Author Biography

Alice Echols is a professor of history and the Barbra Streisand Chair of Contemporary Gender Studies at the University of Southern California. She is the author of several books including Scars of Sweet Paradise: The Life and Times of Janis Joplin, Hot Stuff: Disco and the Remaking of American Culture, and Shortfall: Family Secrets, Financial Collapse, and a Hidden History of American Banking (The New Press). She lives in Los Angeles.