Synopses & Reviews
Some chick asked me what I would do with 10 million bucks. I told her Id wonder where the rest of my money went.”@GSElevator
Over the past three years, the notorious @GSElevator Twitter feed has offered a hilarious, shamelessly voyeuristic look into the real world of international finance. Hundreds of thousands followed the account, Goldman Sachs launched an internal investigation, and when the true identity of the man behind it all was revealed, it created a national media sensationbut thats only part of the story.
Where @GSElevator captured the essence of the banking elite with curated jokes and submissions overheard by readers, Straight to hell adds John LeFevres own storyan unapologetic and darkly funny account of a career as a globe-conquering investment banker spanning New York, London, and Hong Kong. Straight to Hell pulls back the curtain on a world that is both hated and envied, taking readers from the trading floors and roadshows to private planes and after-hours overindulgence. Full of shocking lawlessness, boyish antics, and win-at-all-costs schemes, this is the definitive take on the deviant, dysfunctional, and absolutely excessive world of finance.
Review
Advance Praise for Straight to HellOne of Entertainment Weeklys 10 Must-Reads of Summer”
LeFevre . . . sharply observes the lives of globe-trotting, overindulging, investment bankers.”Entertainment Weekly
If you thought the Wall Street culture portrayed in his tweets was bad, the one in LeFevres new book Straight to Hell is worse.”CNN Money
Reads like a frat boys fever dream of the highflying life: morning drinking, late-night drinking, and drinking all the hours in between; pranks, bar fights, cheating, travel, and prostitutes. . . . Equal parts fun and train wreck, this is a tale engineered to astonish.”Publishers Weekly
Bad Behavior 101 . . . No, its not a day at Hunter S. Thompsons ranch but . . . a day at an ordinary big ticket investment bank. . . . Youd be forgiven for keeping your money under the mattress henceforth.”Kirkus Reviews
Praise for John LeFevre and @GSElevator
Darkly funny.”New York Times
Always amusing.”USA Today
We cant get enough.”Politico
Lefevre built an impressive reputation at Citigroup, earning the respect of his colleagues and peers for his ballsy pricing calls and smooth salesmanship.”Reuters
Hilarious.”Business Insider
Review
A New York Times BestsellerOne of Entertainment Weeklys 10 Must-Reads of Summer
A Time magazine Ultimate Summer Reads Pick
An Amazon Best Book of the Month in Business/Leadership and Humor/Entertainment
Shocking and sordidand so much fun.”New York Daily News
Shots are drunk, nether parts are exposed and rubbed against food, bread rolls are hurled, drugs are inhaled and prostitutes paid. Its Bertie Woosters Drones Club via the darker corners of Edward St. Aubyn and Bret Easton Ellis.”Wall Street Journal
LeFevre . . . sharply observes the lives of globe-trotting, overindulging, investment bankers.”Entertainment Weekly
If you thought the Wall Street culture portrayed in his tweets was bad, the one in LeFevres new book Straight to Hell is worse.”CNN Money
Don't mistake this book for something it doesn't strive to be. The core themes of Straight to Hell survive attacks on its claims to credibility, and the book is not about boasting so much as entertainment. So should you read it? Maybe. It depends on your appetite for debauchery . . . Straight to Hell . . . offers a window into a deviant culture, and suggests the mechanisms by which it perpetuates itself, even in todays climate.”Newsweek
There's no question that [LeFevre] knows his way around the business, and it's a dirty one. There's collusion, competition, nepotism, and a whole lot of reprehensible stuff going on in the business side, and it's fascinating. . . . A great read.”Business Insider
LeFevres stories are eye-opening. Also Im pretty sure he confesses to several felonies, and theres a price-fixing conference in a Hong Kong hotel room that I hope he ran by his lawyer. But you dont want to read about bond deals. You want drugs and hookers. LeFevre delivers them with overwhelming force . . . Teenage boys at Choate will want to be investment bankers after reading Straight to Hell.”Bloomberg Businessweek
In some memoirs, the author tries to pull back the curtain to provide a glimpse into a particular time and place, but LeFevre attempts to rip the drapes right off. He gives a naked look at how business in the world of finance is conducted. LeFevre . . . doesnt shy away from witnessing and partaking in some of the seedier antics . . . You may not like LeFevre's tact, but he knows what he's talking about.”CNBC
Reads like a frat boys fever dream of the highflying life: morning drinking, late-night drinking, and drinking all the hours in between; pranks, bar fights, cheating, travel, and prostitutes. . . . Equal parts fun and train wreck, this is a tale engineered to astonish.”Publishers Weekly
Bad Behavior 101 . . . No, its not a day at Hunter S. Thompsons ranch but . . . a day at an ordinary big ticket investment bank. . . . Youd be forgiven for keeping your money under the mattress henceforth.”Kirkus Reviews
Stories . . . that entertainingly and unapologetically flesh out the excesses of the banking industry.”Library Journal
Full of shocking lawlessness, boyish antics, and win-at-all-costs schemes, this is the definitive take on the excessive world of finance.”IndieBound
Shocking.”Times (UK)
Beyond the shock factor, its the humour in the book that stands out. . . . [LeFevre] flinches from nothing: the Herculean inappropriateness of trading-floor antics, the hookers, the cocaine. . . . This book is going to annoy and offend a lot of people, with good reason. It is a vicious, vacuous, caustic world he illuminates. But it would be a shameful waste if we didnt have LeFevre to find the humour in it all.”Euromoney
About the Author
John LeFevre has enjoyed a distinguished career in international finance. He joined Salomon Brothers immediately out of college, and worked for Citigroup in New York, London, and Hong Kong. In 2010 he was hired by Goldman Sachs to be head of Debt Syndicate in Asia, a position that he eventually did not take due to a contractual issue. He has written for Business Insider and has been interviewed about @GSElevator by the
New York Times, CNN, and other outlets.