Product Description

Tommy Quinn just landed his dream job as an investment banker, as well as his dream girl, the daughter of one of New York's oldest moneyed families. But in the course of a year, as he moves from the bank's boardrooms and Park Avenue bedrooms to the yacht of a debauched Mexican billionaire to a Ritalin-strewn prep school dorm room, he finds that neither the job nor the girl are quite what they seem.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #472202 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Greenwich, Conn.–bred Vachon did a stint at JP Morgan after graduating from Duke, an experience that no doubt influenced this dizzying romp through investment banking heaven and hell, which rises and falls among numbing corporate indoctrination, pressure-choked deadlines, fabulously swank parties and an obscenely over-the-top business junket complete with kidnappers. At the heart of it all is Tommy Quinn, an upper-middle-class kid from Westchester whose Georgetown degree in Interdisciplinary Studies leaves him bereft of finance know-how. No matter, once Tommy hooks up with Princeton grad Roger Thorne (who has a real pedigree, a reputation for sexual prowess and a hot sister), and the two pursue careers based mainly on smoke and mirrors. Vachon's glee in poking fun at this complex, debased world is evident in his purposefully excessive descriptions of sex (particularly Roger's "dude"-laden monologues), drugs and ruthless execs, but there's a certain amount of drooling involved, too, in the intricate descriptions of jewels and bonuses. Tommy's romance with Frances Sloan, a troubled trust fund heiress, is predictable (though still diverting), and his and Roger's careers (along with several gratuitous deaths that mark them) have denouements and aftermaths that feel forced at best. Imagine a tyro Jay McInerney without the pathos and the been-there, done-that offhandedness. (Apr.)
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From AudioFile
Tommy Quinn is out of place. He is a young, not so ambitious man starting out in the financial world who is surrounded by wealthy and oblivious people, from his bosses to his circle of acquaintances. He tells his story through a wonderfully written first-person account in this debut novel. It succeeds as a poignant, often hilarious coming-of-age story. Narrator Kirby Heyborne crafts perfectly appropriate voices for the characters, including a benevolent and gregarious Indian man, a Latin boss, air-headed men and women, and a sad girlfriend. The best characterization, though, is given to an especially shallow friend, whose dialogue keeps the reader chuckling. Long live hedonism and laugh-out-loud writing. Vachon is here to stay. Lets hope he and Heyborne team up again. M.B. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About the Author
Dana Vachon was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, and raised in Chappaqua, New York. He attended Duke University, and graduated, as he claims, "cum nihilo" in 2002. After graduation, Vachon landed a job as an analyst at JPMorgan and began work on this novel. His writing has appeared in the International Herald Tribune, Men's Vogue, The New York Times, and Salon. He lives in New York City.