Comments on: Ugly Americans

By: How To Weld

How To Weld — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:30:40 +0000

Bringing Down The House is a great book. I've read it three times and absolutely love it. MIG Welding Techniques | Respectable Reviews | Training An Older Dog

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 07:06:50 +0000

This post http://saltocean.blogspot.com/2009/07/recommended... indicates that the "Dean Carney" character is a combination of two separate people: John Fou (also a Princeton grad) and Adrian Brindle.

By: NotNasser

NotNasser — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 23:36:23 +0000

I suspect Carney is Tavoso, and the alleged "hedge fund" in the book wasn't a self-standing hedge fund at all, it was an operation internal to RBC, called the Global Equity Derivatives Group, that Tavoso was running at the right time to be the book's Carney.

By: Nabil

Nabil — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:49:49 +0000

Hello, I am just going through the book now and am hooked. I am currently living and working in Osaka. I was wondering if you could get in touch with me I am interested in discussing your experiences here in Japan. you can contact me via http://www.visualcv.com/nabilkhan

By: ghostoftomjoad

ghostoftomjoad — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 16:24:22 +0000

Didn’t Mezrich write in the book that Dean Carney eventually ended up moving to Los Angeles and blowing all of his money on hookers and coke? Maybe these were fabricated details to protect the true identity of the real life trader?

By: Bleep

Bleep — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 22:21:53 +0000

Richard Tavoso is not the right guy, it says he joined RBC in 1995, that is too early for the story, it may be Tavoso’s replacement.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 03:47:04 +0000

hey, i did a search in regards to Dean Carney, and i came up with “Richard Tavoso”. “Prior to this role, Mr. Tavoso spent seven years at Kidder Peabody in the equity derivatives group. As a senior vice president, he built and managed Kidder’s Tokyo equity derivatives business from 1990 to 1993. He was awarded Kidder Peabody’s equity trader of the year for his efforts in 1992. Mr. Tavoso graduated with a major in history from Princeton University.” it doesnt say anything about ASC, just that he is currently a managing director at RBC Capital Markets

By: Beltsir

Beltsir — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 04:24:01 +0000

Apparently Michael Lerch is the founder of a Honolulu, Hawaii based hedge fund that invests throughout Asia

By: steve H

steve H — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 19:02:25 +0000

There is a Michael Lerch who is associated with Evolution Capital Management that is based in Hawaii. Could that be him

By: Julian Elburn

Julian Elburn — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 07:03:53 +0000

BUMP, anyone know the real identity of Dean Carney?

By: Tokyo Observer

Tokyo Observer — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 05:18:04 +0000

For those who are interested, the person in the book is Michael Lerch. From the football to the Ducatti’s…

I have lived and worked in the finance industry in Tokyo for over 15 years and met Lurch at his old home in Tokyo and other places a few times.

He was a legend here long before the book came out.

He now lives in Hawaii and manages a fund…

By: Rally monkey

Rally monkey — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 22:31:23 +0000

I seriously doubt Mezrich would make it that easy – change the name of Malcom but leave in a true and easily identifying fact such as “NCAA divsion II receiving record”?

If Mezrich is serious about protecting this guy’s true identity, then Malcom (and Carney) went to a school other than Princeton, grew up in a different area, and possibly played a sport other than football.

I think Malcolm being an athlete is an important part of his character, but for all we know he might be a QB, RB, CB, or maybe a soccer player, catcher, or second baseman.

By: mac mcclelland

mac mcclelland — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 15:50:26 +0000

so… we’ve got the actual identity of malcom as michael lerch… what about dean carney? or is he an amalgamation of characters?

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 05:18:39 +0000

Posted by Matt:

I thought Mezrich told a very interesting story, fascinating. However, this is one of the sloppiest books that I’ve ever read. I realize that he “altered” many of the facts to “protect” the identities of many of the characters in this book. But whether Lerch was a decoy to throw us off the trail (Malcolm’s 1991 NCAA record mentioned in the book was easily found on many sports related sites, attaching his name to the book) or was the actual main character, Mezrich (and his editor for that matter) commit MANY gross errors in fact.

They range from a Tokyo Tower that’s actually TALLER than the Eiffel, not a miniature version (333 meters versus 320 for the original), to the fact that Ivy league schools do NOT give sports scholarships. More importantly, he makes up facts and statements about Mercer County that are clearly false and actually quite idiotic.

Amazingly, he claims that Malcolm supposedly grew up poor in Mercer County, with a “typical Mercer County upbringing.” Hmmm. Last time I checked, there were only a few “poorER” cities in Mercer, such as Trenton. Mercer is NOT an industrial or poor county- more typical of it include PRINCETON itself (hello?), Hopewell and West Windsor. That’s the brief on it, a whole host of other discrepancies uncovered by my girlfriend, who grew up in Mercer County in Hamilton…

In short, good story, but SO much sloppiness and poor research that I put it more in the company of Sedaris’ “Me Talk Pretty One Day” fiction bestseller than a non-fiction financial thriller.

By: lee

lee — Mon, 26 Sep 2005 02:00:24 +0000

i’m not sure if it is the same person but there is a michael lerch who is a managing director of a company called Dornier MedTech.