The book then switches back and forth between the story of the mortgage mess and how it happened -- with literally no original or particularly intelligent insight -- and Mr. Andrews' own financial problems, brought about by a decision to purchase a home when he had little in savings, huge divorce-related obligations, and a new wife who hadn't worked in decades.

But the best reason to skip this book was revealed by The Atlantic: ". . . It turns out the story has been tidied up a little. Patty Barreiro, Andrews' wife, has declared bankruptcy twice. The second time was while they were married, a detail that didn't make it into either the book or the excerpt that ran in last Sunday's New York Times Magazine. Andrews' desire to shield his wife is understandable -- hell, laudable. No decent person wants to parade their spouse's financial troubles in front of the world. But this is material information that changes the tenor of his story. Serial bankruptcy is not a creation of the current credit crisis, and it doesn't just happen to anyone, particularly anyone with a six figure salary."

The bottom line is this: If Mr. Andrews wanted to protect his wife's privacy, he shouldn't have written the darn book anyway. But to write a book about your financial ruin and leave out the fact that you married a serial deadbeat debtor is downright dishonest, and Mr. Andrews deserves no praise for this well-timed, opportunistic pile of garbage designed to function as his own personal bailout.