Business World Novels and Films
 

     Given the current economic environment, it's a good time to write a mystery set in a business organization. That's where my second mystery takes place. (see Fatal Impressions synopsis) I've read many books and watched many films and videos set in the business world. Here are some I've liked.

Books:

Blake, Nicholas. End of Chapter, 1988 (Publishing)

Brenner, Marie "The Man Who Knew Too Much," Vanity Fair, May, 1996 (Tobacco).

Burroughs, Bryan and John Helyar Barbarians At The Gate, 1991. (Finance, Food, Tobacco)

 
 


James, P.D. Original Sin, 1982 (Publishing)

Neel, Janet Death's Bright Angel, 1988 (Textiles. The first novel in an interesting series.)

Films

Jordan, Glenn, Director. Barbarians at the Gate, 1993 (Finance, Food, Tobacco)

Mann, Michael, Director. The Insider, 1999 (Tobacco)

Nichols, Mike, Working Girl, 1988 (Finance)

Stone, Oliver, Wall Street, 1987(Finance)

     I don't like most novels taking place in the business world; they seem to date too fast. I enjoyed the Emma Lathen series featuring banker John Putnam Thatcher when I first read them, but when I read them again recently, they seemed old-fashioned. Meanwhile, corporate crime has become so outrageous, fiction writers haven't caught up with reality. A handful of films where the characters once seemed like caricatures (Gordon Gecko: "Greed is good!") now seem like ordinary guys compared to contemporary real-life corporate criminals. What can fictional characters do that those thugs at Enron didn't do? And what about the Bernie Madoff story?